Glimpses of Magic: 2021–22 Writing from 826michigan's After-school Writing Lab Students

GLIMPSES OF MAGIC

2021–22 Writing From 826michigan’s Writing Lab Students 2021–22 Writing After-school from 826michigan’s

After-school Writing Lab Students

GLIMPSES OF MAGIC

GLIMPSES OF MAGIC 2021-22 Writing from 826michigan’s After-school Writing Lab Students

826michigan Staff Judy Tipton, Development Director Catherine Calabro Cavin, Education Director Frances Martin, Operations Director Megan Gilson, Program Manager Michael Spaeth, Development & Communications Coordinator Caitlin Koska, Volunteer Coordinator Maya Jain, After-school Program Coordinator Kinyel Friday, Field Trip Program Coordinator

Copyright © 2022 by 826michigan and Blotch Books All rights reserved by 826michigan, the many whims of Drs. T & G Blotch, the illustrators, and the authors The views expressed in this book are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect those of 826michigan. We believe in the power of youth voice and are thrilled that you picked up this book. No part of this book may be reproduced without express written permission from the publisher, except for small excerpts for the purposes of review or scholarly study.

ISBN 979-8-88694-001-5 Printed in Saline, Michigan, by McNaughton & Gunn Designer: Ingrid Ankerson Copyeditors: Cayla Byron, Cammie Finch, Amelia Popowics, Noelle Sciarini

Community Supporters:

Altarum Institute Ann Arbor Area Community Fund Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan Domino’s Pizza Dresner Foundation EOTech Erb Foundation Galens Medical Society

The Hawkins Project Kiwanis Club of Ann Arbor Knight Foundation Kresge Foundation Leinweber Foundation PTP Management Rotary Club of Ann Arbor Warby Parker

By purchasing this book, you are helping 826michigan continue to offer free student programs. For more information, please visit: 826michigan.org

THERE IS SO MUCH TO LOOK FORWARD TO.

Also Published by 826michigan Young Authors Book Project: The Book of Many Wisdoms Because No One Else Could Do It In Our Defense In the Clouds Over Ypsilanti A Moment to Remember Rare Air / Aire raro A Lantern of Fireflies Tell Me How It Was Where Is It Coming From?

Enjoy! Recipes for Building Community All I Could Do Was Look Up: Anatomy of a Middle School What to Call the Place I Call Home: Voices of 26 Ypsilanti Middle School Students The Moons Were Jealous 2020: Visions of the [Near] Future Don’t Stay Up So Late How to Rise Or, I Put My Heart into the Close Tall Tales & True Stories Suddenly My Heart Stopped for Just a Small Portion of Time: Defining Moments

OMNIBUS: 826michigan OMNIBUS I 826michigan OMNIBUS II 826michigan OMNIBUS III 826michigan OMNIBUS IV 826michigan OMNIBUS V 826michigan OMNIBUS VI 826michigan OMNIBUS VII 826michigan OMNIBUS VIII 826michigan OMNIBUS IX 826michigan OMNIBUS X 826michigan OMNIBUS 11 826michigan OMNIBUS 12 826michigan OMNIBUS 13

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An Incomplete List of Chapbooks: 140-Character Fairy Tale Characters And I Did My Best And Suddenly, We Ran Into a Cliff of Gold Because Their Feet Will Be Wet, They Will Agree to the Monster’s Demands The Big Mess-Up and Other Stories The Big Treasure Should Be Gold Bon Temps Roulez!

A Burning Forest, An Underground Castle, and a Misled Princess: The Papaya Problem Cats Came to the Dog Party Carrying Ourselves Across: The Art of Self-Translation Cinderella’s Bad Day, Prince Charming is a Monster, and Other Tragic Love Tales The Clouds Spell Detroit Colors Came Out Crazy Soup Cuando los robots atacan Don’t Get Freaked Out, But I am a Fifteen-Year-Old Vampire Deluxe: Tales from Two Tutoring Labs Detectives on the Case The Distance Between Two Sides of a Color Dr. Von Humor’s Encyclopedia of Monster Botany Ekphrastic is Fantastic!

Even the Stars are Robotic Everybody Will Know You Every Day Got Better and Better Everything You Could Ever Want . . . and More!

Everything You Fight For And Gain Expecting Greatness and Excitement Feed Your Mac and Cheese To Your Pet Crocodile Flying High The Fog Was Geemy Four Years’ Worth of Ice Cream The Golden Nose 2.0 Growl!! Everybody Will Know You He Gets in a Pickle Almost Every Hour He Liked to Hip-Hop All Around Hello Sandwich Hey Mom, Taking Flight The Hippo Ate Like a Regular Hippo How To Be Crazy vii

How To Survive a Slime Attack with Me How To Survive an Underground Volcano How To Survive Being Chased by a Million Squirrels How To Survive Having All the Powers in the Universe How To Use Your Nine Lives I Am Thankful for the Moon So I Can See in the Dark I Have Hidden A Treasure Somewhere I Cannot Remember I Hope You Consider What I’ve Said: Kids’ Letters to President Trump I Never Want to Leave I Rode My Yak to School I Suddenly Became Noodles I Use This Pencil To Write I Wrote All the Words Identifying the Common Bot Jot If I Ever Saw Mr. JK, I Would Ask Him These Things If I was a Unicorn (Ms. Todd Would Freak Out) It All Started Like a Regular Day It Tasted Like the Sun Joy Got Up and Laughed Let’s Make a Bridge Maybe I was Born to be One of the Big Creatures MEOWCH! The Monster Had a Whole Lot of Question Marks, Volume 1 The Monster Had a Whole Lot of Question Marks, Volume 2 The Moon Smells Like Pizza My Fish is a Good Fish My Heart Felt Sad for the Bird My Robot Eats Pie and Other Habits of Highly Successful Robots My Robot Eats Pudding and Other Habits of Highly Successful Robots My Strange Outfit Near and Far Never Runs out of Battery The Nicest Car in Monsterland, Volume 1 The Nicest Car in Monsterland, Volume 2 Now I Know Many People Here Oatmeal is My Worst Weakness Once Upon a Time, There was a Baby, Then Another Baby, and Another Baby, and One More Baby One Step Closer to the Robot Takeover Perry was in Love with the Wind Playing Chess with Owls in the Dark The Quest for the Diamond Candy Corn viii

Read This Book!

Really, Really Melted Up Robot School 101 The Rothman Observer The Sandwich Never Wanted to be Eaten See Modern, Marvelous Ann Arbor by Train, Plane, or Automobile Shark Math She Found the Perfect Soup, but it Tasted Weird Shorter Days A Skeleton With Fire All Over Him With a Purple Jacket So Many Different Monsters at Monster School So Many Monsters at Monster School, Volume 1 So Many Monsters at Monster School, Volume 2 Someone Said You Were Looking For Me Spinach Doughnut The Stars Danced on the Ceiling Talking Back, Giving Thanks, and Why You Should Never Drink the Haterade That Moment Broke My Heart But Also Made Me Strong They Are Monsters, But They’re Nice Monsters They Have Pet Stars They Mean the World to Me There Was a Boom in My Ice Cream This is How I Became One of the Greatest Heroes in the History This Pencil is My Most Important Possession This Rock is Missing This Song Still Endures: A 1966 Motown Retrospective Thunder-, Lightning-, and Waterproof!

Tom the Robot Prince’s Comedy Special: Live from the Enchanted Ice Jungle Kingdom A Tough Wolf With No Name Training a Shark The Ultimate Tacocat Underworld Archives Up in the Air We Went up with the Pearls and Were All Millionaires When the Whales Celebrate Where We Danced and Laughed A Whole Bunch of Candy The Wind Shushes and Hushes The Ypsilanti Community Review Zomb, the Formalist

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Introduction Hi!!!! I’m Gabriel (Gabe) Etheridge and I’m eleven years old. Welcome to our book. You’re here because you own the book, right? Well, to start off I hope you enjoy the book. We all put a lot of effort and imagination into this! I’ve been in 826 for six years now and I’m really excited to be writing this intro!

Writing has been my main passion for a while. Though I would say if I didn’t join 826, my creative writing would be the same as it was six years ago.

I started writing with 826 when I heard about the program. I first found out about 826 at a farmers market. It was when it first came to my library.

At first I was really shy about writing because this was sorta my first time writing in a group with a prompt. I wouldn’t share my writing with anyone at first because I was really embarrassed (especially with the older kids whose writing I thought was WAY better than mine). It felt like rocky waves of embarrassment washing around inside of me. But, later I started learning more about styles of writing and this helped me develop more of what I felt comfortable with.

This book means a lot to me (along with the more than sixty other writers in it). No seriously, this book means a lot to me. Throughout After-school Writing Lab and Wee-bots I’ve been able to grow so much. 826 has helped me branch out and swim out of my inner strom. It made me feel comfortable and calm in this atmosphere. It really means the world to me that you’re reading this book. I hope you enjoy it!

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Contents Also Published by 826michigan.................................................... vi Introduction.................................................................................... xi

Xander Hoekzema

Stories from the Xandarii Forest.................................................... 2

Sarah Yordy

The Middle Lands:Battle of the Elements..................................... 4

Omniah Alakwaa

The Traveling Piece of Chocolate and Its Friends........................ 13

Leopold Heskia

Dogcko............................................................................................ 15

Eloise Combs

The Great Lynx............................................................................... 19

Yoona Choi

Getting Hit by Blue Jays: The Kitty Corn Series!........................... 27

T.W. Cheng

Super Cat........................................................................................ 28

Sophie Lai

The Neighborhood Cat................................................................... 29

Sophie Ang

The Story of Cheesy . . . ................................................................. 31

Olivia Szczepanski

Dolphin Saviors.............................................................................. 35

Kay Tian

The Six Petsketeers........................................................................ 37

Janie Shi

Tiffany’s Adventure........................................................................ 39 xii

Ella Li

A Koala Corn’s Life......................................................................... 42

Brooke Chesney

A Wondrous Adventure.................................................................. 43

Anya Hansen

Cosmo and Rebecca: The Broken Glass........................................ 45

Amyra Singla

I Think We Have a Suspect............................................................ 46

Abrielle Allen

What Are Needs and Wants?......................................................... 50

Mai-Ly Connelly

Rivers & Waves............................................................................... 51

Zoe Johnson

Family Time.................................................................................... 54

Zainab Abd

Rosie and the Magic Forest . . . ..................................................... 55

Kamea Harris

Going to School............................................................................... 57

Joan Nuñez

What Could Go Wrong?.................................................................. 60

Jayden Boykins

The Sneaky Black Imposter........................................................... 64

Harmony Johnson

Of Make-up, Paintings, and Friendship........................................ 65

Eric Lara Santos

Alex, Marty, a Talking Fish, and a Teleport.................................. 66

Emily Truong

The Toys That Came Alive............................................................. 72

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Amelia Exume

Into the Enchanted Forest............................................................. 74

Ali Kadhim

The Flat Tire................................................................................... 77

Aiden Schoeff

We Always Find Silly and Fun Things to Do................................. 78

Nayeli Karunaekara

A Dilemma in Space....................................................................... 81

Oscar Cartman

PACKS!!.......................................................................................... 88

Margherite Overlander

Truly the Best Summer Ever........................................................... 90

Alex Pototschnik

“I’m Inky. Want to Make a Deal?”................................................. 97

Griffin Pototschnik

War of the Tots............................................................................... 105

J’rick Osborne

Mr. Funwob..................................................................................... 109

Clyde Musehl

Zombies.......................................................................................... 111 Rise of the Cheese........................................................................... 112

Jessica Chen

Fancy the L.O.L. Doll...................................................................... 114

Caroline Hutchinson

The Tale of Three Sisters and their Great Powers........................ 115

Hiromichi McDonald

REVENGE........................................................................................ 116

Ian Chung

What Could Go Wrong?.................................................................. 118 xiv

Sean Chung

Into the Darkling Woods................................................................ 119

Sanai Wooley

Delaures and the Secret................................................................. 122

Adam Cho

Squishy vs. His Bullies.................................................................... 123

Magnus Ramone

Tale of the Desert Crossing............................................................ 125

Adam Lou

Lulu’s Big Adventure...................................................................... 130

Korrin McKissic

Closest to the Sun........................................................................... 135

Isabel Yip

New School, Private School............................................................ 137

Gabriel Etheridge

Waves of Emotion........................................................................... 150

Kyurin Kim

The Lucky Nut................................................................................ 151

Chaemi Kim

Rindy the Witch 1............................................................................ 153

Ruthie Zhang

The Apocalypse: Part 1.................................................................. 165

Ashley Reyes-Herrera

A Not-So-Normal Normal Life........................................................ 173

Osman Zou

Henry and Beyblade 1.................................................................... 175

Riya Mehta

Coral’s Magical Quest!................................................................... 176

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Anna Stearns

Raya and the Missing Raspberries................................................ 183

Anais Choi

The Magic of Rainbow Rice Cake.................................................. 187

Zenio Vesia

Two Friends, One Change.............................................................. 192

Wynter Miller

Chess Adventures........................................................................... 194

Noémie Wurster-Dillard

The Mystery of the Elven World..................................................... 197

Evan Macks

Sports.............................................................................................. 199

Hanako McDonald

The Three Shark Ladies................................................................. 204

Kendell Jefferson

How to Build the BEST House in Minecraft................................ 206

Akshita Tripathi

Non-Living Things in the Living World.......................................... 207

Airiel Hayter

Cereal Pool Adventures.................................................................. 211

Aasiya Syed

The Mission.................................................................................... 213 About 826michigan........................................................................ 219 The 826 Stand................................................................................. 222 826michigan’s Writing Core Values............................................... 223 Acknowledgments.......................................................................... 224

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READY? LET’S GO!

Mondays and Magic

MONDAYS AND MAGIC

Glimpses of Magic

Xander Hoekzema age 13

Stories from the Xandarii Forest One day, in a far away large forest called the Forest of Xandarii that has a big river and otherwise has mostly trees, a trox, a red fox with a gray rock colored shell, is hunting for capples. A capple is an apple that looks like a cucumber on the inside, and this is the trox’s favorite food. As the trox sees a capple tree, it also sees the weagle, an eagle with the head of a wolf, in a tree. The trox runs to get the capple, but the weagle swoops down, grabs it, and says, “You want this? Help me, and you might get it.”

“No,” says the trox, “you won’t give it to me.”

Then, the trox sees another capple as he walks over to the capple. He keeps the weagle’s eyes on him. “So, Weagle, what do you want me to do?” the trox asks as he inches closer to the capple. The weagle suddenly swoops down and grabs the capple.

“Nooooooo,” says the trox.

“Help me and get the capple, Trox,” says the weagle.

“NO, LOOK AT YOUR NEST,” says the trox as the weagle looks to her nest.

“My eggs,” says the weagle as she drops the capples and swoops down on THE SNAT. The snat is a rat with a venomous snake for a tail.

As the snat grabs an egg, it says, “Yes an egg, AHHHH.” It sees the weagle coming and jumps off, pushing an egg to the floor, and somehow the egg stays intact. The snat lands, grabs the egg, and runs.

“This is why you should guard your eggs,” says the trox.

The weagle replies, “That is the job I need you to do.”

“OK, or if we get rid of the snat, you can live without the threat of snats,” says the trox as it looks for a rock that looks like an egg.

“How do we get rid of the sn–” says the weagle as it is interrupted by the trox.

“We get a rock that looks like an egg, lure the snat to the river, and push it in.”

“Where would it go?” says the weagle.

The trox stops. “I don’t know . . . I think . . . at least it would go away,” says the trox as it thinks.

“OK,” says the weagle. The trox and the weagle walk for miles, only eat-

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ing the occasional capple, until they make it to the river and place the egg rock and hide. Ten minutes later, the snat comes and bites the egg rock and breaks its tooth. Then, the trox and weagle ram into it. As the snat falls, its tail flails, and it is biting everywhere. The snat is gone.

“No more guard work?” asks the trox.

“No guard work,” says the weagle.

“Do I still get capples?” asks the trox.

“Yes, you get the capples,” says the weagle.

“Yes,” the trox says under his breath.

“I heard that,” says the weagle.

Ten days later, the snat wakes up, and as it looks around, it sees a sign that says, “Beach.”

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Glimpses of Magic

Sarah Yordy Age 13

The Middle Lands: Battle of the Elements Grief, fury, and shame; that’s all she could feel, not joy or excitement, just pain. It was dark and gray, with a chill in the air that seemed to be getting colder by the second. This was the Middle Lands. This was the land before rest for her people. How was she here? Was she dead? Celeste looked at the pale skin of her hands, different from the gray of the people around her.

She wasn’t dead. She wasn’t sure how; only dreamers could visit the Middle Lands. Unless she was dreaming. Impossible. Dreamers were extinct, leaving her people to grieve their loss for half a century. There had to be a reasonable explanation to this. Whoosh! Air spun her whole body as it whipped at her hair. “What is happening?” she whispered to herself.

Another powerful slash of air, forcing her to roll as she narrowly escaped it. The ground trembled as the air became thicker. Think Celeste. Of all the tales she had read as a child, only one mentioned anything like this.

Elementals! Immortal beings that controlled the elements Earth, Air, Water, and Fire. She was being attacked by two Elementals, Air and Earth. She was thrown with more wind, her thoughts coming and going. Elementals only fought other Elementals—she had heard about that somewhere. They were making a mistake. They had to be making a mistake. She narrowly avoided another slash of air. She wasn’t sure what to do, or how to end this, but all she knew was that she was going to try and fight. She really didn’t know how. If by some miracle, she was an Elemental as the people trying to kill her seemed to think, how would she channel it? Water began to flow around her like a flash flood. The third Elemental. To her surprise, the water never touched her as it was thrown at her attackers.

She took the distraction as her chance to fling herself behind a mound of thrown rocks. She looked at her hands; the cold and the chill this world was bringing with it was almost suffocating. She thought about Fire. It had to be Fire! You’re not an Elemental, a god like them. She knew that; she thought she would always know that deep down. The sounds stopped, and a moment later, a girl appeared before her. She was in a hood. It was dark,

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but when she removed it, Celeste saw her eyes shining in the dim light. The purest light blue she had ever seen. “Esme.” The girl gave Celeste a hand which she took slowly standing.

Esme grinned an odd expression at the time, not that this whole situation wasn’t entirely insane from the spirits around her to the manner of the Elemental attack she just survived. It was all absolute insanity.

“What is happening?” she mumbled before coming back to her wits and noting the pale eyed girl about fifty paces ahead of her. She needed to move, she needed to do something. One by one, she moved her feet one step, then two. She started heading toward Esme with long strides.

“Was worried you weren’t coming,” Esme commented right before taking off again. She led her through twists and turns, dark places and light.

Celeste often had to force herself not to marvel at her surroundings. “And to think you’ve done this hundreds of times.” Esme’s voice held possibly a hint of disdain.

“What do you mean hundreds of times?”

Esme gave a small “hm” with a shrug, sliding open a piece of seemingly rock wall turning out to be a door. “Hurry, hurry, we don’t have all day,” she snapped, still not answering Celeste’s question with words of any meaning to her. She continued down a staircase before Esme was leading again. Left, right, forward, left, left. Yeah, she wasn’t going to be remembering this. Esme finally stopped, opening another piece of wall. “They’re going to be tracking us soon.” Esme said in a sing-song voice while motioning inside.

“How are they tracking us?” The dumbfounded stare and the shove she got was the only answer to her question.

Inside the chamber, she openly gawked at the pristine condition of what appeared to be a garden, counters, and benches around the room and a door on the other end. “You really don’t remember do you?” Esme’s voice seemed to hold a solemn tone for the first time since meeting her.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to remember.” She replied truthfully.

Esme sighed, moving water underneath the glass floor causing Celeste to do a double take.

“You and I alike are beings of immortality. As long as the elements burn, we live on life after life, fight after fight, got it?”

No not really, but the girl across from her, with the ability to drown from the inside, didn’t seem like the type of person to ask to repeat something.

“We need to get you to a channel, otherwise you can’t lower your body temperature, and they will be able to track your power.” Esme began pacing, inherently not knowing what to do. Celeste stood frozen. She wished

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she knew what to do, part of her even felt like she did. As if the answer was just out of reach.

“OK, I’m going to admit that I have no idea what I’m doing.” Esme clasped her hands together turning to Celeste. She studied her like a puzzle, her brows furrowed and her eyes narrowed.

“Hold your dominant hand palm upward to that side.” Celeste lifted her hand palm up like Esme was demonstrating. “Think about fire?” That sounded like a question—why did the girl teaching her sound like she was questioning all of this herself? “To be fair you taught me how to channel, so it’s kind of your fault if this doesn’t work.”

Celeste thought about fire. She was not exactly sure what she was doing, but she could try. If not for herself, but for the girl who looked to be praying to anyone she could think of. Her palm felt warm but nothing else happened.

Esme groaned, beginning to pace again. “OK, try again.” Celeste tried, getting the same outcome. Esme seemed to be just as confused as her, but with more urgency. She flicked her hand conjuring water before throwing it at the wall. Then again and again. This also seemed like a waste of time, but Celeste, once again, was almost too fearful to point that out to Esme. Almost.

“Maybe there’s another way.” Esme turned to her, water still dripping along the walls.

“Yes, there is. It’s called throwing water at you until you figure out what you’re doing.” She created a mini whirlpool in her hands raising a brow at Celeste. Her only response was a shrug, what else had she expected.

Yes, please nearly drown me, and pray to whatever lord you believe in that I don’t die. Celeste shut her eyes, mostly wishing the water would never come.

This room may have been warmer, but the chill she felt still remained. She opened her eyes to see Esme standing there just looking at her. No water, no impending doom, nothing but silence. Then, Esme was moving straight toward her, stopping only about a foot away.

“Well, at least I don’t have to drown you, but please don’t burn down all of the Middle Lands.” Celeste looked down to see her hands alight, looking back up wide-eyed. Esme just smirked at her reaction as she slowly forced the fire away. Esme stepped back again, beginning to conjure another whirlpool.

“Conjure it again.” Celeste focused on the fire, but it didn’t come. Instead, she focused on the chill in the air. More specifically removing it. As she did, fire materialized in her left palm followed by the right. She felt the chill in the air ease; maybe that was just her—she wasn’t sure then that the world seemed to fade away.

She was standing across from two others, looking to her left to see someone

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she vaguely recognized. Pale, blue eyes. Esme: different person, same eyes.

She looked across from them again, viewing the two people who had attacked her earlier. One looked the same, the other didn’t. She knew them not just as faces but as people. Fading, everything was fading. She was sitting in a room where counters lined the walls and vines above them. The only difference was the table she was sitting at. Across from her sat one of the people she had known as an enemy, but she didn’t hate him, not here. Then, darkness claimed her once more.

Celeste opened her eyes to see Esme kneeling over her, blue eyes full of concern. She groaned, beginning to sit up.

“Flashback?” Esme sounded excited, but Celeste’s budding migraine and confusion on what she just saw didn’t help her to feel the same.

“Why did he look the same?” Out of her hundreds of questions, of course that’s the one she asked. She needed answers, and if Esme refused to give them to her, she would find them herself. “Uziel?” Celeste raised a brow, multiple things were going on she didn’t know about. “What aren’t you telling me?” Esme took a deep breath looking away from her at a spot on the wall.

“They were the same as us living to protect the world, but Asterin got fed up with it. He told me he didn’t want to protect humanity anymore and that it would be better if we destroyed it. We weren’t as close then, but when I told you, it didn’t matter. You confronted him, but Uziel took his side. He had fallen in love with a mortal on a visit to the material plain and that mortal had died. You had refused to help resurrect them as it would destroy the natural balance. He was broken inside and out. You were always the closest of us, you two were the same.” She looked far off as if she was reliving it all. “They betrayed us!” Esme took a deep breath before continuing. “They had already begun their plan to destroy the material plane . . .” Her voice broke as she told Celeste the whole story. “With all of your strength and my help, we created a trap so that once every fifty years or so we would all be brought here to live another fight against them. Otherwise, we lived in the mortal world. The only thing keeping us safe was the fact that we only have our memories while we’re here—” “Then why don’t I have mine?” They locked eyes, and Celeste understood that her question had more meaning than she had originally thought.

Esme locked eyes with her. There were tears welling in hers, but she looked as strong as ever. “Last time we lost.” She let that sit a moment, the failure Celeste realized was why they were weakened this time. “Your memories not returning is a mercy, so you wouldn’t freeze.” Esme stood and Celeste took her place sitting. “Last time we lost because you didn’t have what it

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took to destroy him. You failed to finish because of Uziel. He played on the fact that you actually have a soul, and we lost because of it.” The world had done her a mercy by not returning her memories; they had given her the ability to see clearer.

“Wait, so why did he look the same?” Emse had entirely glossed over the question she had actually asked.

“It was Uziel’s final request to the god we serve that he would never look different in any life he lived.” Why would their god answer his request, why would they help him destroy the world? Celeste stood, she finally had gotten answers, she finally understood what was at stake here. The whole world.

“I want to train.” Esme turned her brows skyrocketing before grinning once more.

“Do you remember the rules of a duel?” *** “It’s simple, you focus on his power, and it becomes your own. See, it’s simple.” They were standing over one of the counters with maps of the battle fields and other places within the Middle Lands spread out. She had been training for two days and had quite a bit to show for it. Except the idea of stealing Asterin’s magic and using it herself. Esme had explained it over and over, and she still didn’t get it. According to Esme, she had been doing it for centuries, and as Esme had also said “It’s simple,” but it didn’t look simple not to her.

“And we can’t practice by having me steal your magic?” Esme rolled her eyes, but as always smiling even under threat of death.

“Do you know how to give it back?” She didn’t, that was true. She had no idea what to do once she stole it and used it to enhance her own. She shook her head slowly, wishing she had her memories, wishing she knew what to do. “Good neither do I, so back to the actual plan.” Steal Astrerin’s magic, imprison him, Uziel’s would fade, and they would trap him as well. Sounded easy enough. Celeste knew none of it would seem simple on the battlefield.

“Do you remember what I said about sacred laws?” Esme asked, tapping her stylus against the page.

“There’s three and we’re bound by an oath to them.” Esme had only reiterated that sentence about a hundred times this morning alone. At least Celeste thought it was morning she wasn’t entirely sure.

“Yes, and that means . . . ?”

“Uziel and Asterin are still trapped by them.” Esme began jumping up and down.

“You were listening!” Then, she grew serious, looking closely at Celeste.

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“What are the three laws?” Celeste had to think. Esme may have reiterated the other part over and over, but she had only explained the laws once.

“They can’t attack another Elemental unless it is in combat.” That was one. “They can’t attack another Elemental unless it’s in a sacred battleground. Why are all of these about attacking each other?”

It was as if their god had known this was going to happen, as if they had planned it, but Esme only shrugged. “Some things you never know, and you have one more.” Celeste took a deep breath focusing on the laws she knew, and yet she didn’t.

“They have to have a reason for conflict?” Esme furrowed her brows, setting down her stylus while surveying Celeste.

“Wish to try again, FireBug?” Celeste thought about it again, how she was so painfully wrong. Then, it hit her all at once she knew it.

“You cannot under any circumstances kill another Elemental.” Esme grinned, handing her a bowl that looked to be made of paper. “What’s this?”

Esme gave her a blank stare.

“I’m cold, that’s a fire holder that can hold a flame for hours.” Esme had the ability to make Celeste laugh in a way no one in her life ever had. *** Celeste awoke to the ground shaking, unaware of the time, seeing Esme standing, sword in hand. Celestial metal, Esme had told her all about it the day before. She threw one to Celeste, which Celeste held prepared to use.

“Asterin, they found us.” Esme’s voice shook as she told Celeste that, almost as much as the ground. “They are trying to draw us out,” she added. Celeste sucked in a breath, unsheathing her katana and laying the cover on her back.

“He can’t fight us here.” She saw the way Esme’s eyes surveyed her as if she was trying to assess how much of a liability she would be. She looked away from her a moment before turning back and handing her something.

“You used to hide these everywhere, maybe it will bring something back.”

Celeste looked down at her hand seeing a necklace made with black string and four beads on it. Earth, Air, Water, and Fire. Each of them looked to be moving; they were pure forms of each element. Celeste recognized it faintly. She placed it around her neck, not waiting for Esme to lead her out. She tapped the pattern on the rock wall. She wasn’t as strong as she used to be, but they didn’t know that, and they didn’t need to. Esme appeared beside her and with a small nod, allowed her to step out. A rock flew toward her, and she slashed it with her katana.

“Asterin Malice!” she yelled as the boy lowered himself and all of the floating rocks.

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“Celeste Anne,” he replied coldly, dark eyes boring into her.

“Where’s Uziel?” He cocked his head to the side, not replying for a moment.

“Where’s Esme?” She forced herself to remain calm, she had fire and she had a blade. He couldn’t kill her and she couldn’t kill him. “Well then, if you choose not to answer, let’s get this over with, shall we?” She glared at him, feeling the fire pumping through her veins. She manipulated her mind to not focus on the fire but the earth, the source of his power. Esme hadn’t followed her.

“Asterin is your fight; I got Uziel.” Esme had told her that; she had anticipated this play. They would separate from one another, and Celeste would be distracted with him while Uziel would take Esme. Celeste held Asterin’s gaze watching him wince but he hid it well.

“You think that’s enough to stop me?” He lifted where they were standing, forcing it into a circular battleground. He was making his own sacred battleground instead of taking them to one. Celeste knew it hadn’t been strong enough, but she truly didn’t know how to strengthen it.

“See? Simple.” Once again her thoughts landed on Esme. She hadn’t known how to show her exactly, but she had tried to help. A thought occurred to Celeste: maybe Esme had given her the exact tools to do this. She looked down at her necklace to see the earth bead glowing faintly. She ripped it off, watching Asterin’s expression; he hadn’t seen it until that moment.

She focused her energy away from him and toward the bead, the glow; the same way she had eradicated the chill when she conjured fire. She felt the bead getting hotter and saw the glow becoming stronger. She looked back up to Asterin seeing his body being pulled up by an invisible force, his skin paling to an almost gray tone as she leeched his power from him. She felt the island they were on begin to lower. She felt every pulse in her body, every nerve, every muscle, every piece of herself, was on fire.

She let the flames encase her, let herself only feel this. This was it, this was who she was, this life, or the next, one thing would never change. She had been made for this and this alone. They hit the ground and she began walking toward Asterin. She knelt beside him checking his pulse. “Still alive?” he murmured. She tapped his cheek.

“Enjoy the rest of your life. We will meet again, Asterin.” He seemed to use all of his remaining energy to smirk at her.

She stood picking up her katana and placing it on her back before breaking off into a run. She could feel the power from Esme and Uziel. She ran toward it, seeing them both slashing at one another. A beautifully fierce sight of water and air converging. She had to catch her breath before it disappeared

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fully. Uziel should be weakened. He shouldn’t be able to hold his own, not after she had destroyed Asterin’s power, but here he was. She used her fire to hover her into the air near them. Uziel saw her, and with one large motion, knocked Esme out of the air.

She threw a ball of fire, nearly blue with heat, and he barely dodged it. He was weakened but not enough. She focused on his energy but she couldn’t sense it. “You gave me a blessing last time, Celeste!” He stopped attacking, so she did too. “When you didn’t trap me right away, you showed me you are truly the best of us, and if I can never be the best of us, I can be the worst of us.” Even with the heat around them, her blood ran cold.

“Uziel?” He smiled, cold, malicious, long gone, the boy she had seen in her flashbacks, the one she had been close to, the one she had thought of as family.

It took everything in her to keep her mind focused. She didn’t know him now, but the ghost of her had. She used all of her remaining strength to throw a ball of fire at him; he didn’t dodge it, instead slashing it with air.

She continued throw after throw her arms burned, her head felt light, and yet she also felt alive. She felt human and god all at once. As she fought him everything in her felt real, for the first time in her life she felt like herself.

One wrong move from either of them, and they were gone. He made that move allowing her to slash him out of the air. She flew to him on the ground as he stood again, but she didn’t give him the chance, lacing the net of fire around him. It was a cage. She walked toward it as it finished watching him try to access his powers. He couldn’t; it was gone. She had stripped all of it away and burned it into her own. She got close enough to speak, so she did. “How’s your blessing working out for you?” He glared at her, but she just smiled.

“You are stronger than before.” He was trying to avoid getting too close to the fire burning fiercely around him.

“You’re weaker,” she responded, remembering Esme on the ground and backtracking. “In more ways than one. Goodbye Uziel.”

He would be forced to return to the mortal world once more in a minute with no memory of this remaining. When she and Esme opened the gate, they would all return them with their own free will and the others with the choices they had made long ago. She headed to Esme, seeing her on the ground. She sat beside her, aware of Uziel’s gaze on them both. “You alive?” she asked quietly, and Esme groaned.

“I despise him.” She glared at Uziel who was still glowering at them.

Celeste pulled Esme into her tightly.

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“We have to go, can you walk?” Esme made a small sound almost as if she wanted to protest, but knew she couldn’t.

“For you.” She answered instead, beginning to stand. Celeste helped her limp to the gate she had told her about. A stone arch that had once held the power of their god themself. Once they had caged the other two into mortal forms with no power and fading memory, they could access the remaining power of the gate and open the entrance to the mortal world once more.

She laid Esme down, beginning her magic on the gate. Once it opened, she helped Esme up, placing her forehead against Esme’s cool one.

“Do me a favor and take care of yourself,” she whispered to Esme, making her smile sadly.

“I hate this part.”

This part, as in the part where they have to leave each other for the next fifty years or so. Celeste kissed her forehead, preparing herself. This wasn’t the end, simply another beginning. One they would have to live without one another. Celeste understood that the world was more important but the thought of Esme and her being separate again hurt more than any other possible form of pain. “Until the next fight, Esme Monroe.” Esme smiled, getting her strength back and standing on her own, her forehead still pressed to Celeste’s.

“Until then, FireBug.” She walked through first, leaving Celeste to marvel once more at the beauty of the Middle Lands before stepping through herself.

Celeste awoke seeing the sunlight stream in through her window. Her memories were already starting to fade. By the time she got to her window sill, only little remained and even that was fading. Only one thing wasn’t; one word, one name. “Esme,” she whispered to herself, pale eyes burned into her memory with the fiercest cold as everything else faded away.

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Omniah Alakwaa Age 14

The Traveling Piece of Chocolate and Its Friends A boy, Jackson, went to a store to buy his father a chocolate. His father was always busy. He bought a chocolate and was walking down the stairs, and he wandered around and looked at the people who were having father-andson bonding time. Jackson ran quickly to his father, so he could catch him before he left for the first day of his new job. He was able to catch him one minute before the car pulled off with smoke trailing behind it. When he got to the car, his father said, “Goodbye son,” and waved. And then the father went to the movie set where he could make the movie. Then, he stopped for a burger and at the gas station. The chocolate was traveling with him the whole way. Then, he finally got to the movie set. He was having a busy day because this movie was either going to end his career or make him famous.

He put the chocolate down on a desk, and then his friend came and said, “What’s up man, do you wanna go eat some food? We have been working for eight hours straight.” They went and forgot the poor chocolate on the desk.

After that, they went back, but after they ate dinner and went back to the movie set, they found out the movie set was shut down because the family that was filming it was not comfortable and did not have enough money to make it. So, the movie set was torn down and rebuilt as a normal house. A new family moved into the house after it was rebuilt. Then, the chocolate was under the ground, very down under the ground. This kid in the new family was very, very naughty as he would eat anything on the ground. Anything, anywhere he would eat it. Even if it was gross, he would just eat it. Then, he went out to play with his dog, Frogis. The dog smelled the scent of the chocolate, and he kept digging deep down into the ground until he found the chocolate. The kid stole and ate the chocolate. It was six years old, and there were six pieces in the chocolate. He ate it piece by piece. The chocolate was falling down; starting in the mouth, it was slowly, slowly falling down.

He was starting to choke since the chocolate was pushing on his throat, and then he went to his mother, and his mother gave him a pat on his back. Her hand moved back, very back, until it touched the wall. It was going so fast

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that it seemed like it was going the same speed as a train. The chocolate was very worried about how it would break because the chocolate was feeling the speed of the hand.

The chocolate heard the “Boof Boof DANGGGG” on his back, and then the chocolate started falling. The chocolate pulled apart, and then it stopped for gas (JOKE JOKE HEHE TRICKED U). Then, the chocolate fell into his stomach, and it started to hurt. Because the chocolate was underground for six years, it was rotten. Also, the chocolate met some friends in the stomach too. They all had the same problem: they were rotting. Spiders, ants, monsters, a mini city. A big, black shadow was walking slowly, slowly, slowly, and the chocolate and all the other people who were there were jumping up and down.

They thought it was a big SCARY MONSTER, but it turned out it was a small friendly spider saying, “Hey! Hey! Guys!” They were like, “Bruh, this so sus.”

Chocolate is like living with IT friends. The friend was named Bottles, he always says, “It is always good to avoid trouble.”

SO here we are: the story ended. (JUST JOKING). (IT) the clown was inside his stomach. A IT, lITTERY, a it; a big, scary clown that was attacking people. (Sike, my peeps). It was always attacking the chocolate because the chocolate smelled gross. All the other animals agreed that it smelled awful and should be banned from the mini-city, so it got removed from the city and destroyed.

FOR REAL (THE END).

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Leopold Heskia Age 12

Dogcko I was a little boy, and I wanted a dog. Today was my birthday, and I got so much stuff. The last present was big. I opened the present, and there was a weird dog. I asked my mom what that dog was, and my mom told me that it was a dogcko. It was orange and yellow and black and white. It was so cool, but I was angry because I wanted a real dog, not a dogcko.

“I hate those, and I hate you, Mom. I don’t want something like that. I am going to call you Weird Bob. You stay here ok?” I said. Yes, I was finally out of my birthday party!

“Who is licking me? AAA! Stop licking me! Wait, how did you get here so fast? Oo right, you’re a dogcko. I hate you so much. I don’t like things like that. You stay here ok? Stay. I told you to stay. You’re not my friend, OK, you’re my enemy. OK, go now.” He was sad, and I told him to come. I didn’t want to leave him. “Come on, let’s go home.” We went back home.

“Hi Mom, hi Dad.” Dad asked, “Why did you say ‘I hate that’ to your mother? It’s not really nice to say to your mom, OK?” I said, “OK, Mom, sorry.”

She said, “That’s OK.” “Let’s go. Welcome to my room, Mr. Weird Bob. You sleep on the floor, and I sleep on my bed. Mom, can you help me climb my bed please? I need help.”

Mom said, “No.” I was sad. Then my dogcko helped me reach the bed.

“Thanks.” He was nice, but then he started to be cold. I decided to let him be in bed. “Hey, Mr. Bob, I mean, Mr. Weird Bob, come up here. You can sleep with me if you want to.” He went up to my bed. I decided to call him Mr. Bob. He said, “OK, let’s sleep.”

The next day, he was on top of me. That was funny. “Hey, it’s time to wake up.” He did a really big poop on my bed, but I wasn’t angry. It was so funny. “Mr. Bob let’s go, we’re going to eat.” So we went downstairs. “Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad,” I said.

“How is your dogcko?” Mom asked.

“Good. Can we just eat please, Mom? I am hungry.”

“OK OK OK OK,” says Mom.

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“What are we eating today for breakfast?”

“We are eating crepes.”

“Wait a moment, is today crepes day?” “ “Yes,” my mom said.

“Yummy, but my dogcko can’t eat crepes.”

“Yes he can, why, he’s a dog.”

“He’s not just a dog; he’s a dogcko, and he can’t.”

“Yes he can. Let’s just try.” My mom threw a crepe at him, and then he ate the crepe. He was so funny when he was eating his crepe. Then he did a really big poop, but this one was bigger. I laughed but my parents were really angry at me. Then, I cleaned the poop. After I cleaned the poop, we went outside.

I saw my friend, and I said, “Can I play with you guys?”

They said, “Yes.” I told them that I got a new pet.

They asked, “Where is it?”

I said, “He is right here.”

Everyone said, “Wow! I want one of those.”

My friend told me, “It is better than a regular dog. What’s his name?”

“I called him Bob. Wow, let’s play freeze tag. Can I be in it with my dogcko?”

They said, “Yes.” There were twenty of us. Ten of us are from school and the other ten of us are from the neighborhood. He was running so fast. We won the round. It took us two hours to finish.

“It’s time to go back, Bob.” We went back home.

“It’s dinner time,” Mom said. It was salad, and for Bob, it was food for the dog.

Then, we all heard a big fart from Bob. My mom was angry, then Bob went upstairs. We all thought he would poop on my parents bed but he didn’t.

He went to the bathroom and pooped. Mom was really proud, and my dad was too. We were all proud of him. He started to be nicer. Then, every day, he was getting nicer.

Twenty days later . . .

It was Christmas. I even invited five of my friends. My parents’ friends were there too. There were fifteen people at the party. We had a really big party.

First, we did a Secret Santa. I got a fountain, but it was a small one. Then, we had dinner. We ate chicken and salad. Then, I remembered that I forgot that I didn’t do the present for my dogcko. I ran up the stairs and made it. I spent ten minutes doing this present. Then, I went down stairs, and I gave the present to Bob, but he couldn’t open it. I helped him. I opened for him.

There was a stuffed animal.

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He was so happy. Then, Bob went to bed because he was really tired. I played with my friend outside. It was dark. We played hide and seek. It was so scary because two of my friends scared me. We went back inside because it was cold, and we watched a movie. It was Home Alone, the first one, and then I went upstairs to see what time it was. It was 12:59, but I still wasn’t tired. When the movie was over, everyone left. I went upstairs to my room because I was getting tired, and then I saw Bob sleeping in my bed. That was funny. I went to sleep.

The next morning, I saw my dogcko wasn’t there. I went to the bathroom to see if he was there, but he was there just pooping. That was funny. Then, we went downstairs to eat breakfast. It was eggs. Yum. Then, we went outside in the snow to play. I invited my neighbors to play in a snowball fight. It was so fun. Then, we had a break, and then they had to go. Bob and I went inside to the heat. We were cold. Then I asked my mom if I could have lunch.

She said, “Yes, I was making a salad with fish and bread. I finally finished.” Yippy! It was lunch time.

Then, my dad asked, “How is Bob?” “Good.” Then, I asked my mom how old Bob is because she was the one who bought Bob. She told me that he was twelve years old.

Then, I said that he was so old. “I got him for six years.”

She said, “Yes.” Then I asked, “Can I go to my room?” I was worried if my dogcko died.

That’s why he was slow on the stairs then.

I went back downstairs and said, “Come on, Bob, we’re going downstairs to play video games for three hours.” Then, we went back up the stairs to get a snack. Yum. I sewed, and then we went outside to relax and take in some air for thirty minutes. We went back inside for dinner. It was tacos, my favorite. I took seven tacos, and then I wasn’t hungry anymore. After dinner, I went to take a bath. I was wondering if I should play more with Bob before he died. Then, I decided that I wouldn’t play video games tonight. I would rather watch a movie with Bob. Then, I got up in the bath and put on pajamas. After we went down stairs to watch a movie, I took snacks. I took food for dogcko and candy and chocolate and chips and four crepes. We watched a funny movie. Then, at the end of the movie, we fell asleep.

In the morning, I cleaned up the mess we made, and then I saw Bob wasn’t there. I tried to find him, but I didn’t find him. The last place was my parents’ room. I opened the door, and he was there helping my mom clean the floor. Then, we had brunch. There were many things on the table, and then after we played hide and seek. I was the seeker and Bob was the hider.

I couldn’t find him, but then I found Bob. He was in the shed. He was sit-

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ting on the ground for ten minutes. I was saying, “Come on. Let’s go. OK, I am going outside.” Then, he went outside. Bob and I went to play with our friends. Some of my friends were from school and some of my other friends were from my neighborhood. We all went to the big playground. First, we all played soccer, and then we played football. We all took a break after we all ate a banana and a chocolate bar. We went to the playground. There were two people: me and Bob. Bob tagged the first person, then I tagged the second person. It was so fun. After that, there was still time. We could play one round of freeze tag.

Then my friend said, “Let’s do one tagger.”

I said, “OK, we need a spin wheel. Who would go first?” Bob was first. We ran for ten minutes, and then Bob stopped. He laid down on the ground. We all went toward Bob. He couldn’t breathe anymore. He was dying. I called my parents, and they said that they would come in two minutes. They arrived very fast. We brought him to the hospital, and then the doctor came and said to us that Bob was old and that he would die.

Then I asked, “Can he come with us?”

The doctor said, “No, but you can say bye if you want.” I was so sad. I said goodbye to Bob. I was really sad. When we got back home, I saw the shed open. Then, I went inside to see. I saw three eggs. I was so happy because I didn’t know that Bob was a she. I told my dad and my mom, and then I told all my friends. I invited them, and they all saw, and they were happy too.

The End

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Eloise Combs Age 8

The Great Lynx Chapter 1: The World A lynx named Fireflight sat on a rock and listened to the Wise Baboon tell a story: A long time ago there was a Great Lynx that created the world. She had a son whose kittens went on to become all the lynxes in all the forests in the whole world. (What a strange thing to have a son who then had all the babies!) Over the years, the Great Lynx’s descendents fought and quarreled with each other, severing their connection to the Great Lynx. These estranged Lynxes lived in fear of the fiery-eyed Basilisk, who was the mortal enemy of the Great Lynx. Only the special few whose hearts beat at the same rhythm of the Great Lynx herself need not fear the serpentine King of Beasts. When the Great Lynx was at a ripe old age, she retreated into the temple that she and the other lynxes had built for each other. It had an arch made out of emeralds, which glinted in the sun. In the place where she died, her blood was absorbed into the walls of pyrite, marble, and amber. Her magical blood nourished a liverwort plant that still grows there to this day and gives powers to descendents of the Great Lynx.

As the Old Baboon finished, a wombat named Eniachia said, “If the liverwort plant gives powers to only the kin of the Great Lynx, how do we find out who is the kin of the Great Lynx? How do we ever find out? It even might be Fireflight here.” Everyone looked at each other thinking the same thing.

“Now everyone, the story is finished. Now go home. Stop staring at me like that,” said the Wise Baboon.

Chapter 2: The Flood Fireflight thought about the Wise Baboon’s story as she walked home. She settled down and started reading a book called The Story of the Mad Lynx.

Mad Lynx went to the mall and broke everything in his path . . .

She read on . . .

Then, the minister of the mall walked right in front of him. “Mister,” the minister said, “you have caused trouble in this mall, you have to go . . .”

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And so on. Then, she got bored and slammed the book shut. She kept thinking about the story that the Old Baboon told them and decided to ask him about it. Then, she realized that she didn’t know where the Old Baboon lived. But lucky her, she knew who to ask. She walked to her friend Xinkia’s house where the bark was smooth and polished, the leaves were soft as fluff, and the moss too was even softer than fluff. When Fireflight rang the doorbell, and Xinkia answered, she said, “Hello Fireflight, I’m surprised to see you here. What do you need?”

Fireflight answered, “Hello Xinkia, I’m looking for a way to Old Baboon’s house.”

“His house? Really? But OK, I’ll tell you the way. So you know where Eniachia lives? Walk north until you see a giant rock shaped like a leaf. That is his home.”

Fireflight said, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” said Xinkia.

So Fireflight used Xinkia’s directions to get there. And when she did, she knocked on the piece of wood that she thought was the door. Then, she heard footsteps. Old Baboon was coming. When he opened the door he grunted.

“Why are you here? Go away.” And he slammed the door. Disappointed, Fireflight slouched back to her home thinking: Why is he like that? He’s never mean.

Then, it started to rain.

Chapter 3: Night Fireflight heard water rushing outside, so she went to investigate. When she did, she had to clasp her mouth mid-scream. Water was outside. A flood. She had to warn everyone, so she shouted as loud as she could . . . “WAKE UP FLOOD OUTSIDE!!!!!!!!!” Her warning worked! Animals woke up and saw the flood outside and kept shouting farther out. “WAKE UP FLOOD OUTSIDE!” *** After a few hours, all the animals were together. They swam together to find a place that the flood did not reach. After it seemed like forever, they found a place where they could get dry. Outside the rainforest, outside their home, outside everything they loved and knew. “Well . . .” said a frightened cub in a shaky voice, “I want to get out of here before a chimera comes.” Everyone laughed because those weren’t real.

Then, a saiga named Iris said, “One of us should go to the temple and ask the Great Lynx for help.”

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“But,” said an armadillo named Coccolithophore, “shouldn’t a lynx go because the Great Lynx gives powers only to her kin? And by all we know, one of the lynx might be her kin.”

That cast a pall through the crowd as they remembered Fireflight’s Aunt Atmosphere, who died in a meteor shower. Then, Fireflight had an idea. She got up and wrote to a friend of hers who knew a lot of things.

Dear Nebula, A flood just drove us out of our home, the rainforest. Can you help us?

Love from your rainforest friend, Fireflight Once Fireflight finished her letter she sent it away with the fastest messenger bird and went to sleep. *** When Fireflight woke up she found Nebula’s response.

Dear Fireflight, I hope you and your family, and friends survive the storm/flood. There is nothing I can do for you. Just help everyone get through the storm.

Love from, Nebula Well that did no use, thought Fireflight. She was hiding something, that was for sure. Well today is the day that they were to select who was going to the temple. Fireflight, in her neatest handwriting, wrote the name of the lynx she thought should go try and save their home: Sunrise She folded the leaf with her choice as nicely as she could and sighed, hoping that everyone else would pick Sunrise too . . . *** After everyone submitted their vote, the announcer called the name . . .

“FIREFLIGHT!” Fireflight couldn’t believe that out of the five lynx, it was she who was chosen. She had to set out today for the temple to ask for help from the Great Lynx. As she walked out of the camp, she briefly looked at the rest of the animals. Even though she was afraid, even though she hadn’t wanted to go, even though she was the youngest of all the lynx, she told herself none

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of that mattered. The only thing that mattered were the other animals, who were all counting on her. And she set out on the journey.

Chapter 4: The Journey’s Star So Fireflight had started her journey. When she came to the nearby sea, she said, “Great. I out of all the world, I have to cross this sea.” She had heard about animal-eating sharks, and the story scared her. But she remembered the other animals counting on her, so she started swimming. The current was strong, but Fireflight was stronger. She pushed the current behind. Then, she saw something move. Something dark, something sharp, cutting through the water. A shadow? No. A whale? No. It was . . . a shark!!! And there was something strange about its eyes that reminded her of somthing but what?

Fireflight swam as fast as her young legs could carry her. But the shark was faster. Then, a pod of dolphins came by and surrounded her, protecting her from the shark. The angry shark looked left and right, trying to find a way to the petrified lynx, but the dolphins kept her safe. Frustrated, the shark turned and swam away. Phew, Fireflight thought, that was too close. She tried to thank the dolphins, but all that came out were bubbles. The dolphins squeaked and chirped as if they understood, wishing her well on her journey. *** And she had crossed the sea. She laid in the sunshine and fell asleep. Then, when she woke up, she found a letter next to her.

Dear Fireflight, I miss you back home. The water hasn’t gone down yet. I hope you are well.

And thank you for choosing me although I didn’t want to go.

— Sunrise Fireflight looked at the letter astonished. Who knew she put Sunrise’s name in there? She knew that the only one she told and promised to keep secret was Fuji (another lynx). Maybe she told him, just maybe.

Chapter 5: More Letters!!!

Fireflight was still thinking about Sunrise’s letter. Then, she heard a loud sound coming. And she saw . . . ten birds coming with letters! When the first bird landed, she read the letter.

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Dear Fireflight, Things are not going too well at home. Mothers are frantic.

From: Juniperberry And she read on . . .

Dear Fireflight, I hope your journey is going well because it’s not going well here. You might already know that—everyone is worried for you. Animals aren’t in line because you are not here. I hope you’re close.

Love, Fuji And on . . .

Dear Fireflight, Where are you? I’m lost without you. Give me advice now! I don’t know what to do. Help me! I can’t keep Juniperberry in line. There’s nothing I can do.

Everyone’s frantic!!! I can’t go on, I just can’t. Just send me a letter with my questions answered!! Just help me.

Love from the rainforest border, Mother Wow, animals really aren’t in line, thought Fireflight. And all because of me.

So she kept reading . . .

Dear Fireflight, I hope this got to you because the good birds were all taken up. I am good if you want to know. I’m sure people told you the animals aren’t in line. But sorry if that annoyed you.

From, Tenfit Dear Fireflight, I’m not so sure you can read this, but if you can, do it. I’m writing this now because you might not be able to read that. Now you already know the news, so I just want you to know that was OK. Love, Grandmother

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Dear Fireflight, Here’s the news for today: 11/30/1959 Rainforest News A flood drove us out of our home, and we had to flee. We picked a lynx to go on the journey to the temple and give us advice. Fireflight got the most votes, and she is on the journey right now. We miss her laughter and hope she comes back with good advice. ­— Rainforest reporter Yeah we do miss you.

Love your news friend, Coco Dear Fireflight, For me everything’s going well. But the others are frantic.

Just some news.

— Kinkajou Dear Fireflight, I’m still learning cursive, so this is different for me. I’m fine of course, and I guess you are too. It is still completely different for me, and I hope you are fine.

Love, Batwing Well things are more different for them than me I guess, Fireflight thought.

Dear Fireflight, It’s me, Moonbow, your little sister. I asked Mother to write this. I hope you are good.

Love, Moonbow Dear Fireflight I hope you are well. I’m just checking on you. ­—Sevenleaves

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Thank goodness all those letters were over, thought Fireflight. I should write to the whole town. And she did. She wrote: Dear rainforest friends, I’m fine. Thank you so much for your trust in me; it’s what keeps me going. I heard you’re all frantic. Please tell my mother to trust in herself, and she will get things going. OK, that’s all for now, I’ve got to get to the temple. I miss you all and can’t wait to come home!

Love from my journey, Fireflight Now that was the perfect letter for her town, so she sent it off with a messenger bird. Then, she started her journey once again. Then, she saw threetoed footprints! Looking up, past the glorious plummage, she was met by mysterious, ancient eyes that were the color of the sky. She heard a gravelly voice say: “Dost thou seek the temple?”

Fireflight nodded, terrified.

“I shall help you.” Then, the giant bird grasped her gently in her enormous talons, lifted her giant wings, and they flew to the sky.

Chapter 6: The Temple “Whew, thank you so much! I wouldn’t survive without you! What is your name?” Fireflight asked.

“That is my secret. Now you shall hop inside like those down-underoos.”

“OK, I’ll hop in like those—what did you call them?” Then, Fireflight pranced in and saw . . . flaming red eyes! Then, Fireflight searched her brain for memories. Then it hit her. It was a basilisk, King of Beasts. But wasn’t doing what it was supposed to be doing. Then, it hit her again as she remembered a story from long ago: The Great Lynx and the Basilisk.

A long time ago . . .

The Great Lynx encountered a creature with flaming red eyes that had said, “You have been the hero for a long time. I think it is time for you to step down.” Then, his eyes glowed red. Then, the Basilisk said, “Why aren’t you dying! You’re supposed to die!”

“Oh,” said the Great Lynx. “I can withstand your stare, and my kin are able to too.”

And the basilisk was gone.

But something happened to Fireflight . . . she seized up and everything was black.

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Chapter 7: The Great Lynx After a few hours, Fireflight opened her eyes again. Then, she saw yellow eyes gazing down at her. She didn’t need to ask to know who she was . . . the Great Lynx. And the Great Lynx said in a raspy voice, “Hello Fireflight, you need to know what I’m to tell you. I’ll send you back to the temple after I tell you this story: “Once I had met this lynx who had pleaded for help from me like you. But instead, he was asking for me to help me with a meteor shower. But I have no power over nature, so I couldn’t help him even though I made nature.

He wasn’t my descendant, so he couldn’t get that power. But you, Fireflight, could have that power because you are my descendant, so you will have it.

After you defeat the basilisk, you are to touch the liverwort plant to get them.”

And she was back in an instant, facing the basilisk once more. And then she saw a torn-out tooth on the floor and knew what to do. Fireflight seized the fang, and before the basilisk knew what she was doing, Fireflight attacked the basilisk’s heart and it laid on the floor . . . dead. She touched the liverwort plant, and she saw a flash of light, and then she was home with her new powers. All her friends were now shouting, “Fireflight, Fireflight, Firefight!!!” And she really knew she was home.

The End

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Yoona Choi Age 8

Getting Hit by Blue Jays: The Kitty Corn Series!

Once upon a time there was a kittycorn who was nine years old. She would always go flying outside in the morning to get cold fresh air, but very strangely got hit by blue jays. The next morning, Kittycorn wondered and decided to not go flying. She made a trap for the blue jays to go in instead. She made a box and landed some of the blue jays favorite food called bread blues and baked for 123 DAYS! But the next day the blue jays were not TRAPPED! Kittycorn didn’t give up, so Kittycorn studied for NINETY YEARS! And finally knew what she had been missing: A TRAP PULL UP + WATERFALL, and Kittycorn LAUGHED LIKE A WITCH FOR TWELVE MONTHS! And finally snapped out of it. Kittycorn said, “This is the moment of truth. WILL THIS WORK?” That night, Kittycorn disguised herself in black clothes and tiptoed out the door.

At perfect timing, the blue jays were eating their favorite food: bread blues.

Kittycorn ran as fast as Kittycorn could, and she set up the trap to . . . THUD! She went to the trap box, and fifty blue jays were trapped. Kittycorn laughed like a wicked witch and said to the blue jays, “WHY DO YOU KEEP HITTING ME WHILE I GO FLYING IN THE MORNING?” “Oh, we are so so so sorry. Our baby chicks were just learning to fly every morning.”

Kittycorn froze for a while and said with Kittycorn’s best voice, “How about you teach your chicks in the evening, or go somewhere else, or even teach them another day?”

“That would be wonderful, but we will be heading south soon, so we will be spending the last few days here.”

“Oh,” said Kittycorn, “I will miss you blue jays and have a nice trip thank you.”

And that’s the story of getting hit by blue jays.

Thank you.

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T.W. Cheng Age 9

Super Cat Once upon a time, there was a cat named Splat. He was very naughty; he loved fish and would do anything for some. His friend would always try to stop him, but he would not listen. One day, he was licking his fur like usual, and he saw someone selling fish. His friend already knew what he was up to, but nothing would stop him from getting to the fish. When the seller saw that he stole one of his fish, he ran after him with his stick and said, “HEY! Get back here.” Splat ran for his life, but he was not paying much attention to where he was going and ran face first into a tree. But not just any tree, the magic tree, and BOOM­—he became Super Cat.

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Sophie Lai Age 10

The Neighborhood Cat Milo was just a typical stray cat that you would see sprinting around in a neighborhood. Milo was called the neighborhood cat because he lived in the neighborhood, but he wasn’t owned by anyone. Milo was one color, and one color only: black. He had bright yellow eyes with black fluffy fur.

He was a kind, and playful cat, and loved to be with humans! He would go to the park and see kids run around the playground. Sometimes he would even chase them around and tackle-hug them! You would look out your window some night in bed and just see sparkling yellow eyes staring at you from outside your home. The whole neighborhood came together just to make him a perfect cat house to live in. People would come by to refill his food and water everyday, and sometimes people would even brush his fur.

Kids would wake up early and take the long route to school everyday just to see him. Sometimes Milo would even walk with the kids to the edge of the neighborhood. Milo would get a lot of gifts everyday. It would fill up his house so fast that some people came and built him an area where people could put gifts. Milo was a loved cat, and he knew that he had everything he could have ever wished for: water, food, a home, and a neighborhood that loved him so much! But Milo just felt like he was missing something, but he didn’t know what. After days, weeks, and months passed by, Milo began to change. He became less socialized and stayed put in his home and would never come out. The neighborhood started to notice his weird behavior and came up with a plan. When Milo woke up the next day, he found himself in a bigger and better house that was big enough for two cats! But once Milo saw this bigger and better house, it made him feel even sadder than before. The people of the neighborhood thought the problem was fixed, but it wasn’t, and they started to notice that. They tried to play with him more and give him more attention, but nothing seemed to be working! They gave him more food and refilled his water, but Milo was just cooped up like an old lazy pig.

They took Milo to a vet to check if he had a problem, but the doctor just shook his head and said that he didn’t find any problem and that Milo is a healthy cat. The neighborhood became worried and didn’t know what to do!

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Some people thought that Milo was just getting older and that he was less active. But one little girl in the neighborhood named Lily came up with an idea. She was thinking long and hard on what kind and color would be the perfect fit. This little girl went around the whole neighborhood to ask people about their opinion. The next day, Milo found himself outside with the whole neighborhood staring at him. Milo was wondering what was going on, but then a cat jumped out of the crowd and claimed that her name was Pepper.

Pepper had short white fur with light blue eyes. Day after day, he would go to the park with Pepper and chase around the kids! Now Milo and Pepper would play together everyday, and Milo got happier everyday.

The End

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Sophie Ang Age 8

The Story of Cheesy . . .

Once, there was a bowl of mac and cheese that was extra cheesy! The cook who baked it made it special for the king. Then, a wizard came, and asked the king if he could taste some of the macaroni. The king agreed, and so, the wizard tried it.

It was the best mac and cheese he had ever tried! Then, all of a sudden, BOOM! The wizard’s wand exploded! And it cast a spell on the mac and cheese! The wizard helped the king clean up the mess. Next, the king asked the cook if he could make another big bowl of macaroni and cheese, but the cook said he can’t because he’s all out of cheese! So they went outside to buy some cheese, but all the stores were out! Meanwhile, back at the palace, the macaroni and cheese sat still on the table. Then, a voice called out, “Hi!” The royal cat turned around. There was no one there. Then, the voice called out again, “Yoo hoo! Is someone there?! I’m bored. Plus, I don’t want to get eaten!” It was coming from the dining table. The cat went to where the voice was coming from.

Next, the cat knew that the voice was coming from the macaroni and cheese. Could mac and cheese talk? The cat crept closer to the bowl. Now, the cat was sure it was coming from the mac and cheese! He was right. The mac and cheese was alive! What would the cat do?!

“Hi my name’s Cheesy! What’s yours? Hello?!” the mac and cheese asked.

Meanwhile, the king and his cook, and the wizard were walking down the streets to find the shop that had the type of cheese that the cook has, or had. They went into a shop, but came out empty-handed. “Hear he, hear he!” the king said after he and the wizard thought of a plan.

The plan was to get the villagers’ attention and ask them if they have any cheese. “I would like to make an announcement!” he said. “Back at our very castle, our lovely cook has something we desperately need! We ran out of cheese! The cheese, we need to make my macaroni and cheese!” he cried, “A VERY rare and DELICIOUS type of cheese!” But no one had the type of cheese he needed. Fortunately, a villager came to the rescue . . . or did he?

“Your Majesty,” he said, bowing low, “I have a rare type of cheese that

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might happen to be the one you need. I will be willing to share a bit with you.” The king took a small bite of the cheese. It was extremely cheesy, but was it the cheese he wanted? The villager’s eyes grew wide. Finally, the king made up his mind.

“This is not the type of cheese I want!” he declared. The villager left sadly, feeling glum.

Back at the castle . . . “Here kitty, kitty!” Cheesy yelled.

The cat thought that Cheesy was VERY loud! And he was right. The cat did not go anywhere near Cheesy. The cat thought Cheesy was annoying too. And he was right again! Actually, Cheesy was EXTREMELY annoying!!!

Then, Cheesy knew that the cat’s name was Leo. How did he know?

Easy. Because he saw Leo’s name on Leo’s food bowl. The cat growled at him. Instead of calming the cat down, Cheesy just kept on talking. Then, he came to a stop.

“Now what should we talk about?!” he asked. But instead, the cat leapt toward Cheesy, but Cheesy just said, “Finally, you want to play with me!” But Leo did not want to play with Cheesy. Instead, he wanted to chase Cheesy out of the castle and make sure he never came back! And so, he did! Cheesy didn’t know what to do first. Luckily, the magic spell made him able to hop around, backwards, forwards, to the right, and to the left! So, he hopped to the door. Would this door lead outside? It did! Cheesy hid behind the rock, and Leo sniffed and looked for him. He thought that he should scare away Cheesy to a faraway land. But the smart cat knew that Cheesy did not get too far yet. Then, the cat got the scent. Cheesy had to run!!! Cheesy hopped and a few minutes later, there was no sign of the cat, nor the castle. He was safe!

He thought he should leave the cat alone. Besides, he was bored. He wanted an adventure! And that’s what he got. Cheesy kept on hopping, enjoying the fresh air and the sounds of animals. Then, a few hours later, Cheesy found himself on top of a hill. It was dark and gloomy. What if it was starting to rain?! “Cross your fingers,” he said to himself. “Wait, I don’t have fingers!

Oh well, that’s OK!” he said to himself again. Then, he heard a growl behind him. Was he going to make a new friend, or was he going to meet a new enemy? He found out for himself. He turned around, nervous, but excited. Then, instead of seeing something small and cute, he saw a pair of big, green eyes.

They were staring right at him. Then, he knew he was face to face with a giant, not friendly-looking, dragon. “OK, think good thoughts and breathe,” he whispered, in a frightened voice, just to himself. But it didn’t work. The dragon just growled. It went on its hind legs and roared. Then, it started to fly away. Cheesy was half happy and half sad because he didn’t get to make

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a new friend. But, at that moment, the best thing that could ever happen to Cheesy just happened. He was going to make a new friend! A rabbit hopped by. Then, it stopped. “Hiya!” cried Cheesy after the rabbit. The rabbit stared up at him, scared. Who was this guy in this bowl thing? Cheesy introduced himself, and the rabbit just looked at Cheesy.

Then, the rabbit said, “M . . . my name is Oreo,” he said, “I tripped over this rock, and it kinda hurt, so I’m taking a break.”

“Well, I could give you company,” Cheesy said, hopefully.

“Thanks,” said Oreo. Then, they heard a roar.

They turned around, and came face to face with the dragon again.

“Oh, no!” cried Oreo, “That’s King Jester’s wife, aka Queen Hydra!!! She’s also part serpent and is VERY dangerous!” he said. They ran, and ran away.

When Cheesy turned back to look, Queen Hydra was still chasing them.

She was breathing fire, and roaring. But luckily, Oreo was one smart rabbit.

Could he be so smart that he could outsmart a dragon queen? Then, Oreo found a leaf and remembered a potion that was pretty simple. So, he got to work right away! First, he dipped the leaf into some mud. Second, he went near the river, said some weird words that Cheesy had no idea what it meant, and dipped the leaf covered in mud in the river. Third, he studied the leaf extra carefully. Cheesy had no idea what Oreo was doing! Finally, Oreo patted the leaf all over him and Cheesy, then hid behind a rock, and motioned Cheesy to come over.

“What did you do?” asked Cheesy, in a hushed tone.

“Oh, I just made that leaf smell really good, and then made us smell like that. It’s kind of like a repellent for dragons . . . good smells of course,” explained Oreo. Then, before they knew it, Queen Hydra came right by them, but when she sniffed, she flew away back to her own dragon realm.

“Come on, let’s go,” said Oreo. “I want you to meet my older sister. My mother got killed by Queen Hydra, and my father got killed by poachers, so it’s just me and my sister. Her name is Lily Belle.”

When they entered the rabbit hole, Cheesy was amazed. It was wonderful!

How did Oreo and Lily Belle live here all alone?! Then, a pretty, light brown rabbit hopped out and said, “Oreo, come on! I need your help collecting more food!”

“Sorry, Lily Belle. I was making a new friend,” said Oreo. When Oreo mentioned “making a new friend,” Lily Belle brightened.

“A new friend? Well, that’s nice!” she said in a soft voice. “Come in, come in!” she told Cheesy. “Now, tell me all that happened,” she told Oreo. When Oreo explained, Lily Belle was listening very carefully. Then, she asked

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Cheesy about his life before he met Oreo. After Cheesy explained, Lily Belle told Cheesy that he could live in the rabbit hole with them. Cheesy was so happy that he was about to lose all of his mac and cheese. Lily Belle was happy too, especially Oreo. He was always a bit lonely with his older sister going outside, studying, and not paying attention to him, but now, things have changed. His friend, who had no family like him, except for his sister, was going to live with him! And Cheesy was the most excited of all. He and Oreo could go out making more friends! After Cheesy started living with them, Lily Belle was starting to get annoyed by Cheesy, but she was still happy that Cheesy was here. She had a great life and needed more company.

Cheesy had become BEST friends with Oreo, and they were having a great time. And whenever Queen Hydra came, they knew what to do! And after all that, they lived happily ever after!

The End . . .

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Olivia Szczepanski Age 11

Dolphin Saviors Bell woke up to the cries of the gulls that were circling the boat house, hoping for some fish scraps. She gazed out at the seemingly endless sea in front of her and wished that she didn’t have to get out of bed this early. But, she reminded herself that it was only for today because yesterday evening, her mother had received a call about a tangled bottlenose dolphin out in the sea. So, she went off in their motor boat, the Unboatable (like Unbeatable) to go save the dolphin. That meant Bell had to get up early to go fishing so that she could make breakfast for her and her younger sister, Anne, when they woke up. Usually her mother did this, but today she was too tired.

Bell went to the deck of the Boatiful (like beautiful), their houseboat, and grabbed her fishing poles. She set them up and started the burner. Within minutes, two of her lines were taught. She grabbed one and flipped a beautiful sheephead onto the deck. She reached for the other one and found that there was a pufferfish on it. Disgusted with the meager catch, she threw the pufferfish back into the ocean, but not before she took a picture of it for Anne. Anne was fascinated by pufferfish.

She pulled the sheephead off her line and quickly skinned it. After baiting and putting the rods back in the water, she cooked the fish. Before long the delicious smell of cooked sheephead was floating around the harbor.

Just then, one of her lines snapped; she whirled around and gazed into the depths of the sea. All of a sudden, someone pushed her into the water, and as she fell, she caught a glimpse of a man’s scarred face. Her heart leaped because she recognized that man! That was none other than the notorious poacher, Robert Roiman, AKA her father.

She gaped in shock, which was a bad move because then water filled her mouth and lungs. She coughed and floundered. She knew how to swim, but not while she was choking. All of a sudden everything was black.

When she came to, she was floating on the back of some creature. For a millisecond she thought it was a whale, but then she realized that she was laying on the slippery back of a dolphin. As she stared up at the gulls circling above her, she wondered where she was. Bell sat up and looked around. She

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saw her house boat in the distance! She knew that she had to swim back, so after patting the dolphin on the back in thanks, she slipped into the water and started swimming. She swam, and swam, and swam. Just when she thought that she couldn’t swim anymore, four white dolphins swam around her. She gratefully climbed onto one of their backs and fell asleep. When she woke up, the dolphins around her were making a lot of noise. Suddenly she saw why; in front of them, there was a shark.

Her heart seemed to leap into her throat. She had read about sharks attacking humans, but never thought that it would happen to her. Then, she realized what the dolphins were doing. They were protecting her.

She saw that the Boatiful was not very far off. She knew that she had to take a chance and swim to it. Without thinking any longer, she dove into the water. Green and blue swirled past her; she swam her fastest. Then, she saw the shark coming up behind her, and she kicked her feet, but that did not deter it. Bell saw a colony of fish in front of her. She had to swim through them in order to get to the houseboat. Then, the shark sped past her, and it grabbed a huge mouthful of fish and lazily swam off. Bell surfaced and cried in relief. She was not going to be eaten by a shark, and the Boatiful was right in front of her. She climbed the ladder and sunk down in exhaustion. Then, she got up and got to work: catching and cooking more fish.

The End

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Kay Tian Age 10

The Six Petsketeers In the year 123456789 (the number order is a coincidence supposedly), everyone is rich, so nobody is rich except for Puggzy. Puggzy is so rich that he uses trillion dollar bills (invented in the year 1234, but once again the year number order is a coincidence) as chew toys. On the day our story begins, it just so happens to be the best day ever: May 5! The day that the amazing Kay was born (she was the alpha of all animals and can turn into any extinct or “fake” animal). What! YOU DON’T KNOW WHO THE AMAZING KAY IS? SHE

IS ONLY THE MOST AMAZING PERSON IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD AND WAY BEYOND! (Nevermind that, let’s get back to Puggzy). Puggzy was, as you

can see, very spoiled. Boberina, his owner, sadly died, which may not have been a natural death. Detectives are trying to find out who killed Boberina.

Most clues are pointed to, ahem, Puggzy. At that time, he was reported to be holding a ball (ahem bomb) in his mouth and dropping it by his owner’s feet. Then, a passerby heard a loud boom and saw a man with a puppy by his side. The passerby thought the dog was being sweet. (He wasn’t exactly the smartest person in the world). Anyways, that’s how Puggzy became the richest “anything” in the world. He thought his life was perfect. Little did he know his life was going to change, permanently.

Some of Puggzy’s “friends” (he paid them to be his friends because he was mean, old, and bossy) were over to celebrate the interstellar: Kay Day! They were (kinda) having fun in Puggzy’s mansion, exploring his different rooms and having separate parties in each. Their favorite room by far was the mansion in the mansion room. Puggzy’s favorite room was the “reasons to be grumpy room” and the “ways to grow old room.” His friends didn’t like those rooms very much though. Puggzy owes his “friends” ten years of their lives now. That will be hard to solve considering he can’t just pay back ten years with money. When they partied in all the rooms, they went to the giant swimming pool #9876543210 (coincidental again). It was #9876543210 from the attic. Each room has at least 10,000 swimming pools (just to prove how rich he is). Anyhow, they were diving into pool #9876543210 when suddenly they saw a little “toy kitchen.” The toy kitchen appeared to have the letters

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Use me. What they didn’t see were the words At your own risk in REALLY small letters. They very stupidly (they refering to Puggzy) used the kitchen. One of Puggzy’s friends really liked to eat honey, so they tried to make honey cakes with the toy kitchen (it was one of those kitchens for kids that actually works, just not as dangerous). Just when they tried to turn the stove on, they remembered they were underwater. They tried to tell Puggzy, but he couldn’t hear them because nobody can hear what you say underwater.

(Despite being rich, he refused to hire an underwater translator). He turned on the fire, and all of a sudden, they were dressed in weird outfits. (I now interrupt this moment to introduce Puggzy’s “friends.” Jenny: a hot pomeranian, Goldie AKA GG: a meat-loving golden retriever, Crystal: a shy ragdoll, and Oreo: a very funny black-and-white hamster). Puggzy was dressed in a very 2022 outfit, Jenny was dressed in a very 12345 outfit, GG was dressed in a very 13579 outfit, Crystal was dressed in a very 123456781 outfit, and Oreo was dressed in a 2035 outfit. They “all” (except for Puggzy) loved the outfits, so they kinda jostled Puggzy away from the toy kitchen. (They all could breathe underwater because of an artificial gill, in case you were wondering). They really hoped for new outfits. What they didn’t expect was a flash of light strong enough to make all of them blind. After the flash, they found themselves in a dark, wet space. Maybe a cave? They also saw a lot of sharp white rocks. Suddenly, the cave opened to show very odd castles and weird aluminum foil dudes (AKA knights) aiming swords at them. They were about to say, “We come in peace,” when they realized something. The aluminum foil dudes weren’t aiming at them; they were aiming at a dragon. Crystal (the smarter animal) realized they were inside the dragon. When she said this, everyone panicked, and someone accidentally knocked Crystal into a black hole, which they presumed was the dragon’s throat. They all froze in shock despite their panic. Everyone (even Puggzy) ran to the edge of the dragon’s throat. Even though they were afraid of getting melted by the dragon’s stomach acid, they all jumped into the throat. They ended up covered in princess dresses from the princesses he devoured. All of a sudden, they realized this wasn’t going to be an easy journey. One of the reasons why was because they were currently surrounded by deadly box jellyfishes. And they didn’t seem very friendly. They were slowly advancing, looking very malicious and cruel.

To Be Continued . . .

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Janie Shi Age 8

Tiffany’s Adventure Chapter 1: Where It All Started “Donk, yay! I won against my sister again!” I said loudly, making a small earthquake. Wait wait . . . This is not even the start of the story! Back it up!

Back it up! Well, it all started on December 5, 2001 in Alaska when this girl called Tiffany Steiger was born. She lived in a little house made out of the finest wood you could ever find. It was teeny tiny. It looked like it could only fit two people from the outside, but when you go inside, it looked like you were in a castle. Now that is called magic. That was why they kept a secret, which was their magic. Now Tiffany was a lucky little girl. She had the power of water, which was really scarce in Alaska. So what I mean by that is that if they do not have any more water, they could get some from Tiffany as well . . . that was about thirteen and a half years ago. Now Tiffany is fourteen and a half, and her father died from a disease called leukemia, and her mother had no energy to spend time with Tiffany. So what Tiffany does is make her power stronger and stronger.

Chapter 2: The Tsunami You all know this water monster caused by earthquakes that happened a few weeks ago. I was worn out from it. Gladly, it was a small one, because if it was two times larger, I would have died. I found out my powers were pretty weak, and I could have just left it instead of battling it. I figured out it was better to move than just staying here, but I knew we did not have any money.

I checked on my little sister Samantha while I waited to go outside before mother and father came back, but when I called her to come downstairs, she was worn out from her homework as if she did 1,000,000,000 jumping jacks. While on the other hand, my older sister Melody, who was at the back of an apartment, remembered we were born in Alaska. I forgot to tell you that my sister was invited to her friend’s house, so she had to go all the way to Japan. That’s why she looks like she is not in Alaska. While she was in a warm nice place, I had to protect my family. We had a small family, we only

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had Samantha, Melody, Mother, and Father. Mother and Father had come back from work just in time. Since we lived in Alaska, the only food we could afford was fish. And that WAS REALLY boring. So one night, on April 4, 2014, I used my water pallet to fly around the Catskill Mountains, which were the closest mountains to us. Once I got there, I saw a black cave, and I went outside to take a peek. It led me to a big pile of lava, but I wasn’t scared because my main power was water, and lava + water = stone and ash, so all I had to do to cross through the lava was just jump on it while I shot a blast of water across it. It was fun because I hadn’t done it for a while this month because there was rarely any lava in Alaska. Only one percent of lava could be found. When I passed and found an exit from the cage, it led me right into the Catskill Mountains. It was extraordinary. I was starting to wonder if I could live here because I had never moved away from Alaska. When I found a cave, I saw a black shadow from the cave. It was a little girl, holding a stick and wearing a red jacket and thick snow pants, which were gray and very dark. I said “Hello? Who are you?” She answered in a language that I couldn’t understand. I think it was Russian because I heard Russian before.

I used all of the things I learned in Russian, and I replied in Spanish instead.

Was I stupid? Why did I say that? The girl just looked confused as she ran away to collect wood for fire. I followed her and saw our house. I found out that I literally walked a circle around the Catskill Mountains. I was so mad at myself for doing such a stupid thing that I literally dropped my phone. I wondered what my sister was doing, so I checked my Instagram and found out she was coming back. She had just posted a video of her on the plane, so I guessed it wasn’t going to be a good day today . . . she is such a big bossy pants, always a big bossy pants. While I was walking through the mountains, I accidentally tripped over on an old dusty book. It had a cat on the cover with a birthmark of the dragon. I picked it up and I shoved it in my bag, and I thought it would be better to go to Olivia’s house, but just as I stepped back, I realized that I forgot to bring my power belt. It was the only thing that could give me powers in the weak seasons. “Gosh dang it,” I said awkwardly as I kept walking. Every step seemed like magic, every step, every step.

Chapter 3: Levitation Forest I saw myself in a mirror. Everything was the same in the mirror, but somehow it turned into a portal to a forest. When I put my hands on it, it glowed so brightly that I had to cover my whole face, so I wouldn’t see the brightness.

When I went through the portal, I was levitating, and I was in the forest. But

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the first thing I saw was my stupid old sister.

“Soooooooooo, you sent me here to say hi to ya, y’all with your stupid friends doing the flamingo dance, and do you know how to do a axel on ice?” I said suspiciously.

“Look Tiffany, it isn’t just me being jealous of all the good powers, and by the way what’s the square root of 120?” said Melody with a grin that I couldn’t stand. And I’d tell you that I made a bad choice. I punched her as hard as I could with my fist. Nobody knows why I’m always the one who is the strongest. I had to carry this stupid elephant all the way home. Mother gave me some soup made out of celery, carrots, lettuce, and unicorn tails, which were the main ingredients for curing a person. But my stupid sister just couldn’t stand the gross looking tails, so she lied to Mother by saying that it needed to cool down. Mother went upstairs to talk to me. While Mom wasn’t looking, Melody took all of the tails and threw them outside and drank the rest of the soup. When Melody was drinking the rest of the soup, Mother called me, and I knew she was going to punish me, but instead she got out a dusty box from the garage and inside was a spell book.

“You are independent from now on.”

“Wait . . . WHAT? Melody is older than me, and she still isn’t a grown up!”

“I want to show you how hard it is to live by yourself as a punishment.”

Chapter 4: Shadows in the Light I opened the spell book, and I was sent right into the World of the Lost. I panicked, but at least I had my power belt. WoOSH. There came a monster. I freezed it with my icy water power and BOOM, here came another one. I literally spent the whole time killing monsters in the Land of Lost, and I arrived at a house that said, “Welcome.” I knew I passed whatever monster thingy test, and now I’m a grown up? I walked into the house. It was a mansion compared to my old house, and I was in a whole new world. It was filled with flowers and green trees. Nothing like Alaska, nothing like Alaska. From now on, I stayed outside looking at the children playing down the street, everyday, everyday, I never went inside ever again. It’s a whole different world when you are outside versus when you are inside. I’d never ever go back inside again. My powers kept growing while I got more trustworthy and stronger.

I knew it had helped. I never went inside again.

The End

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Glimpses of Magic

Ella Li Age 8

A Koala Corn’s Life Hi! My name is Colacorn. My life is full of surprises. Now you think that— –”Honey, should you first tell them what you are?” Mom interrupted.

“OK, Mom.” Anyways, like I said, I am a koala corn. Now, if you think that a life like a magical animal is relaxing–it’s not. The more magical, the more work. Right now I am— –”Do you want macaroni and cheese or pizza?” Mom interrupted.

“Macaroni and cheese please.” Anyway, I am doing my homework. I live on Crystal Peaks where magic is real. I could live anywhere, but the pixies are out there. They will try to steal our magic. I love holidays. I love candies too. Crystal Peaks is full of crystals; everything is made of crystals, and even the rainbow is the sun. I just love Crystal Peaks. The only thing I don’t like about Crystal Peaks is Ruby. She is so mean, and she gets treated like royalty.

She even treats me badly. Every day when I go to school, I have to carry her backpack all by myself, which weighs a million pounds. People think that she is so pretty. I am sorry I didn’t tell you this earlier, but I am part of the royal family. The best part is when the Sun Day comes. The Sun Day is when the rainbow (AKA the sun) gives baby koala corns magic. The Sun Day is on March 6. It’s the best day ever. I have— –”Honey, did you turn in your math homework?” Mom interrupted.

“YES, MOM! NOW PLEASE STOP INTERRUPTING.” “OK,” Mom says. It’s 8:30 right now, so in ten minutes, I’m going to school.

I usually go to school at 8:40. This time, instead of carrying a million-pound backpack, I’m going to the office. They never saw me carrying her backpack while my friend was fanning her. She is always forcing me to carry her backpack. Oh, I forgot to tell you about my friend. Her name is Emerald. She and I have been friends since we were born. I’m going to the office, so I can tell on Ruby. I just can’t wait till she is told on. This is going to be the best day ever. My mom knows about Ruby. She tried to change schools, but it didn’t work out well. My mom will do anything to help me. On the rainbow, there is a goddess called Ellack (Ella -k). Her name for short is Ella. She has the moon on her crown. She is a cristama. She is the cristama of the sky. We pray to her every day. Oh, I am running out of time, so I guess I have to go.

Bye! And HAVE A GREAT DAY!

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Mondays and Magic

Brooke Chesney Age 9

A Wondrous Adventure Bammm crash! It was a dark and stormy night, and the only thing you could see was the light of Darry the Dat’s glow in the dark underwear. Dats, if you may be wondering, don’t eat anything; they survive on only water. They have blue fur and slimy green eyes and a small yellow nose.

He wore the underwear every night because he lived in the stomach of a whalecorn, and a whalecorn’s stomach is dark. A whalecorn is one hundred yards long and 10,000 yards tall! But this one looked too small. You might be thinking: how did he get there in the first place? Well, when he was young, he and his mother were walking along on a dock. It was his birthday, so his mom bought him glow in the dark underwear. Darry loved them. But then he got swallowed by a whalecorn. Darry shook himself to sleep, and he closed his eyes and dreamt of what it would be like out of the whalecorn . . . He dreamt of mountains made out of ice cream, and he imagined him taking a spoon full of it! He imagined lollipop stew, his favorite type of stew sizzling in a hot pot, and his mom and dad eating it next to him.

Just then, he woke up to “Ahhhhh help!” What was that? Thought Darry.

The wind was pounding on his face.

“H . . . hello? “ said Darry.

“My name is Penny, and I was walking along the coastline until woshh I got swallowed by . . .” said Penny.

“A whalecorn,” said Darry.

“So what are you doing down here anyway?” Penny said, looking around.

“Well,” Darry started to think, “I don’t know how I got here to be honest!”

“Well, we’re getting out of here, and I know how.”

“How?” “Well, first we have to wait till the whalecorn goes up for air. Number two, we have to aim for the blowhole, and ta da we’re out of here!”

“Oh um . . . I can’t swim,” said Darry.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m a natural. Just umm hold onto this piece of wood.” Penny then slowly slipped the piece of wood into his wet hands.

Then, she dragged him over to the blowhole and pushed him forward. “Come on, the whalecorn is coming up for air soon!”

“I’m ready!” Darry yelled. And off they went. As Darry clutched onto the

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wood, they blasted out of there. Then, they fell right back into the water. Splash!

“DARRY! DARRY!” yelled Penny.

“Penny, over here!” Just then, a giant candy tsunami started to rage toward them.

“Ahh ohh nooo!” they yelled as the Jolly Ranchers and jelly beans tumbled over them.

Cough cough . . . sand was pouring out of their mouths onto the hard rocky land. Darry got up slowly and steadily because the ground was so slippery and hard.

Once he was up, he tapped his tiny feet on the ground and raised his chin up proudly and said “We’re not dead!”

Just then . . . “Hello!” yelled a meerkat hanging from a vine. “Welcome to Meer Island, the land of the meerkats.”

“Ehhhh hi?”said Darry shyly.

The meerkat hopped off the vine and stood up proudly. “My name is Simon.”

“How long have you lived here?” Penny said.

“Fifty years,” Simon said. “Now come on, we have nothing to lose, come on!” Simon then jumped on a vine tugging Penny and Darry on with him.

“Come on, we have to go.” So Penny thought, ok! And pulled Darry on too.

They were swaying through the trees for like what seemed forever.

They landed at an oddly familiar dock that had faint purple paint reading, “Happy Birthday!”

“What!?” said Darry, “Could thi—” Before he could finish, Simon interrupted and said, “Umm well, my house is right over here come on!” Darry and Penny looked at Simon mysteriously then went on walking. Once they got there, Simon told them to lay down in the freshly made beds. Almost like he knew they were coming . . . ? Penny looked at Simon and then fell asleep. Clash! Boom! Boom! Darry shot up like lightning, and looked around; Simon and Penny were still asleep. Just as Darry started to fall asleep, he saw some sort of blue paper behind a dresser, so he slowly but kind of fastly tiptoed over to the dresser. He picked up the blue paper, and it had a robot whalecorn and a note that said, “Reminder: go to dock on Darry’s birthday and use the robo whalecorn two thousand to go to swallow him!” Darry could not believe Simon was the one who swallowed him with the whalecorn!!

Darry remembered something and zoomed outside. What was he doing?

He ran up a hill to a small cottage and calmly but firmly knocked on the door, and his mother was standing at the door! Darry hugged his mom and smiled. He was home.

THE END!

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Mondays and Magic

Anya Hansen Age 8

Cosmo and Rebecca: The Broken Glass (Cosmo is a black cat, and Rebecca is a person) Cosmo and Rebecca were best friends. Rebecca was leaving the house. Cosmo tried to leave, but it didn’t work, and then Cosmo looked out the window. All of the sudden, he tripped and broke her favorite glass. Cosmo had a plan.

He was going to escape and buy another one, but he only had so much time.

He tried to break the window. He wasn’t escaping, so he climbed up the chimney. It worked. “But how do you get down?” he said softly. So then, he tried to get down. He slid down, but that didn’t work, so he jumped. Yes, he jumped down from the house.

“I’m flying!” he screamed, and then he plopped on a person’s head.

“What is happening! Is it raining cats?” the person yelled. Cosmo jumped off the person’s head and ran. Then, he went to the store to buy a new glass, but they were sold out, so he went home, and he put a blanket on the broken glass. A couple minutes later, Rebecca came home.

Rebecca said, “Can I see my glass?”

Cosmo said, “No, it is taking a walk or something.”

Rebecca laughed and said, “OK.” Rebecca tried to lift the blanket, but Cosmo stopped her. “Why can’t I see the glass?” Rebecca said. Rebecca lifted up the blanket and saw the broken ashes of the glass. Rebecca looked happy and said, “Yes!” Cosmo said, “Why did you say yes?”

Rebecca said, “Because I HATE that glass.”

Cosmo said, “OK,” and he thought to himself, “Wow, what a waste of time, but at least she didn’t care about that glass—WAIT I MADE THAT GLASS FOR HER!”

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Glimpses of Magic

Amyra Singla Age 8

I Think We Have a Suspect Chapter 1: I Think We Have a Suspect Once upon a time, Milly was gripping a tree. She loved hanging on them, so she decided to climb them. They were at Brooke Park. “Come down!” yelled Arian.

“Let her do it,” Sella said.

“She’s very picky anyway,” Arian snickered. Milly ignored her.

“Hey, did you hear about the strange new person in school joining us?” asked Sella as Milly reached the top branch.

“I know about him, but I didn’t really know why he is mysterious.” Arian tickled her legs.

“Are you afraid it’s a ghost?” asked Sella hauntedly and teasingly. Arian didn’t reply. “Anyways, people say it’s a mysterious one who doesn’t want to share its name. Well anyways, we better spy on him. Good news is he won’t be a bully like last time.”

“You mean Rick?” Milly guessed. Rick was a bully, not just to them, but to some other students in their old school. They changed their school, not just because of Rick, but also because of that bushy tail whose name was Miami, and she had a cat named Picka. Arian was allergic to cats, so she, Milly, and Sella had to move schools because they were friends since they were born.

“We should come up with a name for the guy,” said Sella.

“Don’t treat him like a pet,” Arian said.

“I’m not, I’m treating him like a mystery person.”

Milly hopped down from the tree and said to Arian and Sella, “Well, I’m going to go into the school to investigate.”

“Brave!” Sella teased.

“I’m coming,” said Arian. Sella had solved mysteries ever since she was little, but she hadn’t solved any since she went on vacation. But she had to agree.

“Fine,” she said.

They headed up the hill to their school and looked in every nook and cranny, but each time they looked, they saw a shadow pass by them in-

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stead. They put on night vision goggles with a camera, so they could spot the suspect and take a picture. They split up in different directions—east, west, and south. Going north inside the school was very dangerous, and if anyone went that direction, they would have to call the police.

Mrs. Crook chose Arian, Milly, and Sella, but they couldn’t reveal their identity because Mrs. Crook said so, and in fact, he was the principal. “OK, we should get walkie-talkies, so we can communicate,” said Arian.

“Wait . . . don’t you hear . . . that?” said Milly.

“And don’t you smell that?” said Arian. Chills went down her spine. They looked at the wall, and a blur passed by them. Milly caught a photo of the thief. Arian, Milly, and Sella rushed outside to Brooke Park, and they looked at the photo.

“Wow!” said Sella. “I think we should cancel the break we took, so we can investigate.” Milly narrowed her eyes.

“I mean we should take a vote because we could look at the photo when we are at home and investigate more when we are at school,” said Milly.

Arian lowered her hand for no school, and Milly and Sella raised theirs.

“OK, I guess we are going to go to school. And besides it’s better to do all the investigating we can since we don’t have after school,” said Sella. “I’ve been after school, and they do it right here at Brooke Park. And I know the perfect place to go . . .”

Chapter 2: Perfect but Quiet

“HEY COME TO THIS PARK HALLOWEEN ESPECIALLY,” a sign said right above the hanging wood carved sign.

Arian hated Halloween, especially when a fake monster scared her to death. “So, why did you bring us here when it’s not so eco-friendly for Arian?” Milly said.

“Well, here it is!!” yelled Sella.

“I definitely think Brooke Park is better,” whispered Milly to Arian.

Sella pointed to a tree that looked like Brooke Park’s tree. “OK, well, nice visit, but I’m leaving,” said Arian.

“What a scaredy cat,” said Sella.

“Yeah right, she’s been my friend longer than you, and besides being mean is not a must.” Milly slowly walked away.

Her feet were definitely squishing in the mud. “Come back!” yelled Sella.

Milly ignored her.

When the after-school program was done, Milly found Arian sitting at the Brooke Park tree.

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“Why is Sella so rude?” Arian said.

“I don’t know. But you know, we can find out what’s going on in her body,” said Milly.

“How?” asked Arian.

“Follow me. You’ll see.” They went into an old house on the hillside, and soon there was an answer. “Hey Milly, who’s y’all friend here?”

“Can you translate the farm language to English?” said Arian.

“Sorry can’t. Anyway, my name is Vanessa and as ya know, Milly.”

“We are wondering if you could see the inside of my friend’s body?”

“Yes,” Milly’s friend said. They hopped into the house and looked inside the lab.

“Wow,” said Arian.

“Welcome to the lab,” said Vanessa.

“I am going to yell out loud or something, so we need help seeing inside of Sella’s body.”

“OK, I’ll do good old research. Bye.” “Wow, that was short,” commented Milly.

They went to Brooke Park, surprised to see Sella with Quav.

Chapter 3: A Mad Friend “What are you doing?” asked Arian.

“Hanging out and playing tic-tac-toe.” Arian grabbed Sella by the arm and dragged her to the fence. Tic-tac-toe is a secret thing, and you can’t tell anyone.

“Only one Sella,” said Sella sarcastically.

“Fine three. What? Who? Ummmmmmmmm my friends from first grade . . . I mean sixth grade. Sara Quinn, you, and Taire. Why?” “What? Those were like my enemies.”

“Well, they are my friends.”

“Where are they? They moved here,” replied Sella.

Milly said for Sella to apologize to Arian and Arian to apologize to Sella.

“Friends?” asked Sella. “Friends,” said Arian.

“Breaking up. No way José! Can I still have a separate friend?” said Sella.

“Sure,” Milly piped in. As they left the park they ran into Sara, but they pretended they didn’t see her.

“We should investigate more,” said Milly.

“Sella can join us when she wants.” Arian smiled. They messaged Sella if it was OK to go to her house to get the keys. She replied yes. They jogged like a bunny and hopped like a cheetah. Oops, it was the opposite way.

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Chapter 4: Suspect Found They grabbed the keys and hopped to the school. They hid behind the barrels and also stood on the less noisy parts, hoping not to make a loud noise to scare the thief. Arian pictured herself, Milly, and Sella being heroes— and—”Come on!” Milly startled Arian and shook her head, getting out of her daydream.

“Boo boo boo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo,” said a sound coming from the speaker.

“In the office!” yelled Milly.

They raced there only to find a note saying, “You can’t catch me now.”

“Get it! You can’t catch me now, not now,” said Milly. “Look, there’s code 789. Wait!”

Chapter 5: Finally They rushed to the classroom, and they looked at the joke book, 7 Ate 9.

There was one person who loved eating and jokes. Ria! They went to her house, and they were surprised to see her in a black thief suit, walking away.

“Looking for me?” said a voice behind them. It was Sella. She used some of her distractions while Arian called the police. The police were at racing speed. Quav walked tiredly toward Sella.

“What are you doing here?” asked Sella.

“Finding you!” The police were finally there.

Quav stared in amazement but walked away like Snow White. “No!” Ria shouted.

“Yes!” said the police.

Chapter 6: Apologize “Guys, I’m sorry,” exclaimed Sella, “I should have been friends with you, not Quav and Quinn.”

Milly and Arian looked at each other and smiled.

To be continued . . .

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Glimpses of Magic

Abrielle Allen Age 9

What Are Needs and Wants?

Needs are things that keep you alive. Without needs, you might not be able to be alive all your life.

Wants are things you want, like toys, which you don’t need because they are not needs, but you can get toys when you have all your needs!

OK, here’s an example: “Mom, I want toys!” Lucy said. Mom said no to Lucy because they needed to buy food and a house now that they have money. Oh and they were poor. Lucy was a brat! Her mom really wants to take care of Lucy. You can call the mom May. May was teaching Lucy what needs and wants are. And one week later, May told Lucy that her birthday was coming up, so May and Lucy went shopping.

May thought Lucy was going to ask for toys, but Lucy didn’t!

And the next day, it was Lucy’s birthday. May invited all of Lucy’s friends and family, and they had fun. The next day, Lucy wanted a toy, but then she remembered what she learned. She learned what needs and wants are. And then, she remembered that she still had presents to open, so she opened her presents. Lucy was never a brat again because she learned that needs are more important than wants.

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Mai-Ly Connelly Age 8

Rivers & Waves A cat named Skye Would not tell why She hated rivers and waves But sunshine and light The opposite of night An element in nature she craves But a cloudy day Makes the sun go away And she feels like the world is naive So on a hot day Where all coldness has gone away In utter, sheer heat, she bathes And she thinks it is cool So she sits in the pool With a pomegranate-shaped thing named “Dave.”

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A More Surprising World

A MORE SURPRISING WORLD

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Glimpses of Magic

Zoe Johnson Age 9

Family Time When we went on vacation, we went on a plane. We went to Florida where I had been once before when I was five years old. After an hour, we arrived at the hotel and got set up, and we unpacked. We went to the pool and the beach. During the first time at the beach, I was so scared to walk in the sand and the water because I was afraid there would be crabs. I was wearing sandals on my feet. I saw weird seaweed in the sand, and it was very dark purple and green. I visited with my dad and his friend. When we were finished playing on the beach, we sat in the living room and watched movies.

My auntie came to pick me up to stay at her place for a couple of days.

I went shopping with my auntie Brittany at Target and Walmart, where we bought some really cool things. This was the best part of the trip! We bought L.O.L. Dolls and a water bottle that came with nail polish in it. I was happy when we were shopping!

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A More Surprising World

Zainab Abd Age 10

Rosie and the Magic Forest . . .

Chapter 1: The Hunter . . .

One day, Rosie went outside to admire the beautiful flowers, pixie dust, the fairies, and magical animals. Then, she realized it’s time to harvest her strawberries! Then, her friend Daisy ran up to her with a poster in her hand.

She yelled, “ROSIE LOOK AT THE POSTER!! IT’S A HUNTING SEASON!!!”

She yelled so loud that EVERYONE heard, including the hunter . . . Rosie could hear the hunter coming, so she tried to run in her house, but once she opened the door, she got hit on her ear and her leg! Then, she fell to the ground . . .

Chapter 2: What Happened?

On one sunny day, Rosie woke up with the sun shining in her face. She looked confused. Then, she saw Daisy picking apples from trees. Daisy looked at Rosie in shock and rushed over. “What happened?” Rosie asked.

“YOU HAVE BEEN UNCONSCIOUS FOR THREE YEARS!!!” yelled Daisy.

“Wait a second . . . WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FOREST!!!” Rosie yelled.

All the plants were dead, and there was smoke everywhere . . .

Chapter 3: No More Magic . . .

“Oh, when you were sleeping the hunter took over. Now there are not as many animals to help grow the plants, and once the plants died, so did the Magic Flower,” said Daisy.

“WELL, WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!!” said Rosie.

“I’m sorry we can’t, we don’t have magic,” said Daisy.

“Well, like I said, we have to do something. We can’t just let this happen!” said Rosie.

“OK, I guess we’re fighting!” said Daisy.

Chapter 4: Time to Fight!

So then, Rosie and Daisy wandered quietly in the forest to look for more

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animals to help fight the hunter. Every time they asked an animal, they said yes because they wanted to get revenge.

“Yes, we have a team! So uh, Rosie, what are we going to do now?”said Daisy.

“We’re going to train.” They trained for hours, for days, for weeks! Then, one day, while pointing at a panda behind her, a fox said, “Um hi, can we join your team?”

“Sure! We can never have too much help!” said Rosie.

“Thanks, my name is Foxy, and this is my friend Bu—” “AND I’M BUFF PANDA!!!” One day, when they were training, something happened . . . all of a sudden, they heard a snap! Someone had stepped on a branch. Then, in the flesh, it was the hunter, standing right in front of them . . .

Chapter 5: Rosie and the Hunter . . .

“Well, well, well, I thought I killed you, bunny,” said the hunter. “Well, I guess I have MORE animals to kill!”

So, then everyone fought powerlessly! Fighting, biting, punching, kicking. Animals were hurt, some even KILLED! Then, Rosie tripped on a rock, and her paw touched the Magic Flower. Then, it glowed very very brightly!

Then, all the animals got their powers back!

“WHAT? NOOOOOO!!!” yelled the hunter. “You know what? I ruined this forest once, AND I CAN DO IT AGAIN!” “I don’t think so,” said Rosie with her eyes glowing very very very brightly.

Then, Rosie used her power and blasted the hunter far, far away! And they never had to deal with a hunter ever again. :)

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A More Surprising World

Kamea Harris Age 8

Going to School Book 1: Going To School and Math Chapter 1: The First Day of School “Hope, today is your first day of school,” said Mom. Hope was slouched in her seat while eating breakfast. After Hope finished her breakfast, she tried to go back to bed. She tiptoed super slow and quiet. She was just about to get in bed, but Mom caught her. When they were going downstairs, Hope was going as slow as she could, but then her mom said, “Hurry up girl or else.”

Hope ran downstairs as fast as she could because she did not want to know what “or else” was. It was summer, so she ran in her room and got on her tank top so quickly that she almost broke it. Then, she got on her socks and shorts, got in the car, rode to school, and went to before-care. Then, she kissed her mom goodbye, got in school, and, of course, got on her backpack.

Her group was in the gym, so she went to the gym. When they were done in the gym, they made a snowflake out of paper bags in the lunchroom. After that, they went outside and played. Then, the bell rang.

Chapter 2: The Classroom Hope was in the classroom. The teacher’s name was Mr. Jack. They all did ice breakers to get to know each other. Then, it was Hope’s turn with the ice breaker, and her lip started trembling. She stared at all the kids. She asked, “Can I go to the bathroom?”

“Yes,” the teacher said. Hope wiped her face with water. She was brave inside. She was trembling in fright when she got back to the classroom.

Hope said, “My name is Hope, and I am ten years old.”

Everyone said, “Hi, Hope.” Hope felt good to say her name.

Chapter 3: Math “Now it is time for math,” said Mr. Jack.

“Yay,” said one kid.

“Yes,” said another.

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“Why is math so fun?” asked Hope.

“Because every time we do math well, we get a good food item, like donuts or ice cream or cookies.”

“Hooray, hooray!”

“Let’s do math the right way. OK, today, we are doing a test to see what you know, and you can look at someone else’s paper, but then you will get it wrong, and we have security cameras everywhere, every desk, all over the ceiling, and right next to you,” said Mr. Jack.

“OK, done. This is easy,” said a student five minutes later.

“OK, time to eat donuts. Yay! Let’s eat, cheers!”

To be continued . . .

Book 2: Science and Social Studies Chapter 1 Science Math class is over. Hope is walking to science class. Hope starts falling over people because she is the shortest in the school. She gets to science class, and they start a To-Get-to-Know-You Kahoot, so everyone gets their computers out right away.

“OK,” said Hope.

“Let’s do this,” said one student.

“No talking,” said Mr. Shoe. Everyone zipped it—they didn’t want to laugh because his last name is Shoe. When Kahoot was done, Hope got first place.

She was the smartest in the class. Mr. Shoe said, “Hope, come back after school because all the first placers will do a Kahoot to see who’s the smartest in the school. Then, the winner will be the school president.”

“OMG,” said Hope. “OK, I’ll be there.”

Six hours later . . .

“OK, the winner of the Kahoot is . . . Hope! You can help me with teaching my class, and you can help teach the class as school president, and every lunch you get pizza and Rice Krispie treats, and all the lunch supervisors will do anything you want!”

OMG!! Hope can’t wait for tomorrow.

One day later . . .

“OMG,” said Hope, “It’s Tuesday! Let’s do this.” Hope ran down the stairs and ate breakfast. She went to school, and she ordered Pop-Tarts from the lunch lady. A girl named Harmony was in her before-and-after-care group.

Hope and Harmony had been best friends since kindergarten, and they always told secrets. “Lunch supervisor, let’s see if this works, give me pizza.”

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“Who are you talking to!?!?” the lunch supervisor scolded. “How dare you!?!?”

“The teacher told me I should try it out because he said I was class president,” said Hope. “Lunch supervisor, what’s your name?”

“Frankie Fart because I always fart, but call me Frankie for short because no one knows my real name. They think it is just Frankie, but it’s not.

Whatever happens in the lunchroom stays in the lunchroom, or I’m coming to your classroom!” said Frankie.

“Got it,” said Hope. “But I am a little scared.” Hope was really good at social studies. “Maybe I can win class president after all,” said Hope.

Chapter 2: Social Studies Hope is allergic to some of the things in social studies.

“Hope,” said a bully, “give me all of your lunch money RIGHT NOW!” “NO!” said Hope.”

“YOU WILL PAY!” said the bully and his squad.

“Well, it’s time for social studies.” “ We’ll be coming too,” said the bully squad.

“Why?” said Hope.

“Because we are in the same social studies class,” said the bully squad.

“OH NO,” said Hope.

“We are here,” said the bully squad.

“Hello, my name is Mr. Guy, and we are doing a test, but first look at the tools,” said Mr. Guy. “Achoo, bless me,” said Hope, “Burghhhhh.”

“Hope, are you OK?” said Mr. Guy. “I think so,” said Hope. “Burgggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

May I please go to the nurse?”

Yes,” said Mr. Guy. “Actually I think I’m OK.” “OK,” said Mr. Guy, “We are going to do a test class. Here are your papers.”

“Thanks,” said the class.

“OK, you have ninety minutes. Your time starts now,” said Mr. Guy. “Ooh, Hope is showing her work. Let’s copy her,” said the bully captain.

“Hey boys, no talking,” said Mr. Guy. “OK, it won’t happen again,” said the boys.

Five minutes later . . .

“Hey, you boys are copying off of Hope’s paper,” said Mr. Guy. “Go to the office.”

To be continued . . .

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Joan Nuñez Age 10

What Could Go Wrong?

Dante Redgrave lives in California Heights, and he’s half-French, half-American. He gets his French side from his dad, Sparda (that’s a French name).

He’s a war hero. Click! Click! As Dante wakes up, his mother Eva is watching him wake up.

“Rise and shine, Sleepybones,” she says cheerfully to him. Dante wakes up and looks at himself in the bathroom mirror. He has white hair (it’s a French hybrid thing). His father had the same hair color. Then, he puts on his clothes—yellowish pants, a red hoodie, a jean jacket, and then he puts on his black Converse. He meets his friend AK, which stands for Akuma Kiriasso, a famous Japanese warrior in 1479. Soooooooooooo, on the bus Dante meets Laura for the first time, and Dante is crushing HARD on Laura.

She asks, “Is this seat taken?” Dante says no and lets her sit next to him on the bus. Then, the bus stopped at California Heights Junior High.

“Ugh, this place is like a prison but with kids,” says a complaining and discouraged AK. They see Laura go to her friends, Trish and Tron. “Hey, there’s a back-to-school dance on Friday, maybe you can invite her to the dance!” AK tells Dante.

“Alright, I just need her email, and I’m good.”

“I meant in person. If you ask in an email, she’ll think it’s a joke and spam you, so you HAVE to ASK her in person.”

“OK,” Dante says as they enter homeroom.

“Dude, you have the same homeroom with Laura . . . coincidence?” AK whispers to Dante as they sit in the middle row together. “Look, she’s sitting in front of you!” whispers AK. Dante looks at Morrigan, the school’s popularity queen, and she’s dating Wade Wilson AKA the Deadpool.

“Really AK? You think some scary nickname is going to scare me? Oooh look at me, I’m the ‘Deadpool.’” Then, he accidentally bumps into Wade Wilson, the “DEADPOOL,” the star quarterback, and the “King Jock” of the school.

“You got something to say to me, fresh meat?” says an angry Wade Wilson.

Dante takes a big gulp, “Uhhhhhhh . . . no.”

“If I catch you talkin trash about me again, you’re DEAD,” he says silently

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crossing his neck with his finger, and then he grabs his books and goes to biology with his best friend Strider. Dante checks his schedule and goes to English, and Laura is there too, but AK has a different schedule so that meant Dante was on his own from here on out. In social studies, AK and Dante meet again, so they can discuss who they’ll invite to the dance “Maybe I’ll take Hysen-Ko to the dance,” says a moody AK. “Hey dude, Stephen just asked Mia to the dance, and Steve asked Jill to the dance too, not many options left, dude.”

“There has to be another way” “Sometimes I have to face the music. The worst she can say is ‘no’ right?

Fine, I’ll TRY to ask her, but if she says no I’m pinning it on you, dude.”

“I’ll take that bet,” says a confident AK. When Dante goes to his locker, he sees Laura across the hallway.

Then, he musters up the little courage he has and says to himself, “Let’s get this over with, AND if she says no, I can finally get it over with.” Then, as he gets close to Laura, he takes a big gulp and then asks Laura if she wants to go to the dance with him.

She says, “Sure, I’m down,” and when she heads to science, she winks at him and walks into the classroom. Then, Dante goes to math with Mr. Wesly.

After math, lunch comes, and then after lunch, comes free period. Laura was there alone because Jill and Mia were in Algebra, and Laura was at her locker that was next to Dante’s. He goes to ask her what’s wrong, and she says that she is just alone because Jill and Mia have chemistry (and NOT the romantic kind). Then, Dante asks if she wants to hang out with Dante after school at Dave’s Diner. She says “Sure, guess it couldn’t hurt.”

Later, at Dave’s Diner: “There you are, Dante. I almost bailed since you took so long.”

“Sorry, I had to help my mom decide where to put one of my dad’s old paintings he bought in France.”

“That sounds cool.”

“Yeah, it’s not as glamorous as you’d think it would be.”

Then, the waiter asks, “Can I get you lovebirds anything?”

“What! We’re not lovebirds.”

“OK,” says the waiter, and then he asks for our order. Dante and Laura will have two chocolate milkshakes and chicken nuggets and fries and the monsterzilla quesadilla and some devil tacos. When the waiter gets back, he brings exactly what they ordered. Then, the waiter goes for his one hour break. When the waiter is gone . . . “Maybe we should,” then Laura stops Dante, “kiss.”

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Then, that’s exactly what they do. Meanwhile, in the kitchen: “You owe me five bucks, Glen.”

“Awwww fine. See? I told you they were lovebirds.” Dante and Laura left holding hands, but then when Dante walks Laura home, she has to tell him something.

“Dante, I have to tell you something.”

“What?” says Dante.

“I’m going to Canada.”

“WHAT,” says Dante.

“It’ll only be until next month. I’m going to trace my Canadian roots,” says Laura.

“But, we just started dating,” replies Dante.

“Please, you can live without me for a month,” replies Laura, “Then, when I get back, we can keep dating.”

“OK,” says a discouraged Dante. As Laura walks to her house, she winks at him.

Will Dante be able to live without Laura for a month?

To be continued . . .

After a week, Dante desperately gets into fights with the football star quarterback Wade Wilson. He takes out all his anger at him then, which just made Wade make Dante’s life miserable, but Dante has barely tapped into his burning inferno that is inside of him . . . it turned him into something . . . now, he gets so tired when he fights Wade. He takes an after-school nap that lasts until the next day to use his power again.

But then, that’s when Morrigan started to notice Dante and started flirting with him. After a while, Morrigan broke up with Wade for Dante, but Dante knew that when Laura came back she would be livid at him for dating Morrigan behind her back, but it was worth it. So then, in the last week before Laura came back, Dante broke up with Morrigan, so she dated Strider, Wade’s friend, (publicly) to make Wade jealous, and it worked, and they are now dating like nothing happened.

Once Laura finally came back, they hung out at a bench at the California Heights park. Then, they called each other to say they love each other. After that, both of them went to bed. The next day, Dante and Laura were walking in the hallway, holding hands. After the bell rang, they had to go to separate homerooms. Before they went to homeroom, Laura winked at him just like she winked at him when he asked her to prom.

A few months have passed, and the prom is only two days away. People

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are getting desperate. Luckily, Dante already has a date, and the theme is the Handsome Devil Dance. His brother, Vergil, found out and started teasing him, but then got tired and started playing Final Fantasy. When he got to the dance, he didn’t see Laura anywhere, but then when he walked outside the door to the gym, he saw Laura crying on a bench. Dante asked what happened and Laura said that her mom died in a car crash when she was driving back home from work. Dante, Vergil, and his mom, Eva, went to the funeral, and at the end of the ceremony, Dante ran into Laura who was sadly staring at her mother’s grave. Then, Dante says, “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Laura screams. “How do you know how I feel? Your dad died for his country, but my mother didn’t want to die!!”

Then, Laura hugs Dante, crying, “I’m sorry.”

Dante says, “It’s OK,” and they gave each other a comforting smile.

A few weeks have passed, and now Vergil is pranking Dante now more than ever. Then, Dante went to tell his mom, who is reading a French novel on the couch. “Yes, Honey?” She asked.

“Vergil pranked me!” says Dante.

“Vergil, no GTA for the rest of the week, and apologize to your brother or you’re grounded!”

“OK. Uhhhh, Mom, I’m going to the park with Laura.” *Vergil makes kissy face sounds at Dante* “Vergil, stop, you’ve already got yourself in enough trouble for one day.” Then, at the park, Dante sees AK. They do their secret handshake and hug.

“Hey, man, I haven’t seen you since Laura’s mom’s funeral.”

“Sorry, dude. I had to be there for Laura because she’s still in the grieving phase of the process.”

“OK, that’s cool, bro.”

“Soooo, how’s Hysen-Ko?” “Ohh . . . after the dance, we started dating. In fact, she’s really nice when you get to know her personally.”

To be continued . . .

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Jayden Boykins Age 10

The Sneaky Black Imposter The black imposter needs to eliminate all the crewmates. The problem is that he needs to be sneaky about it. The problem gets worse because he kills a crew member. The imposter killed red, and then the blue crewmate reported the body, so they had an emergency meeting. They had to figure it out. They tried to figure it out. Blue thought it was pink, but it wasn’t, so pink got voted out into space. In the next round, the black impostor eliminated green, but this time, brown saw the black imposter eliminate him and all the crewmates believed brown, so the black imposter got voted out.

Message from the black imposter: If some of you don’t know about Among Us, it is a cool game that you get to eliminate crewmates. Try not to get caught because if you do, you will get voted out. The crewmates might see you, and you’ll get voted out because in Among Us, you have a kill cooldown, so be sneaky about it so that you can win.

They ride in a flying blue ship to get from place to place every game, and the mission is to eliminate the crewmates. Sometimes, there is more than just one imposter; it can be two or three imposters!!!!! And the crewmates are scared, and they have to work together in order to defeat the imposter.

They have to get all their tasks done in order to win, or the imposter might win by eliminating all the crewmates.

That’s the end of my story, bye!!!!

Stay tuned for Part Two

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Harmony Johnson Age 8

Of Make-up, Paintings, and Friendship In a castle a little bit far away, there is a kingdom: the Kamea Kingdom. It is a fancy house, and everyone in the town lives there. There are some people that are royalty and some that are just normal. They usually hear the sound of rushing water because there is a fountain inside the house. Our main two characters are Ella and Kamea. Ella and Kamea are both divas; they are really dramatic.

They both like makeup a lot. Ella likes eye makeup and lip makeup. Ella’s special princess makeup is super glittery and can give whoever wears it special water powers. The person wearing the special makeup gets to choose how the fountain looks.

The girls are playing with makeup in Ella’s room. Ella tells Kamea all about the special magical powers that the makeup has. Kamea’s face gets bright red, and her nose wrinkles.

“That’s not fair that you have magical makeup. I want it!” Kamea shouts.

She tries to take the makeup out of Ella’s hands. The girls fight for the makeup, both wanting it so badly. Then, they hear a crunch, and makeup is everywhere. It fell down in a cloud of glittery dust.

“You broke it! I can’t believe you broke it,” Ella screams and starts to cry.

She can’t believe her best friend broke something that’s so important to her.

Ella stomps to her room to calm down. It takes two minutes for Ella to calm down. To calm down, she practices breathing by tracing her fingers.

Kamea walks to her friend’s room. She knocks on the door. She says, “I am very sorry. I didn’t mean to do it.” Ella apologizes for yelling. When they are both done talking, they hug. They go to paint with their paint. After painting for two minutes, Kamea says to Ella that she likes her painting.

Then Ella says, “Thank you, I like your painting too.” They then go to bed.

The End!

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Eric Lara Santos Age 9

Alex, Marty, a Talking Fish, and a Teleport Chapter 1 Alex lives in Africa, and he is very lazy and lovely.

“Why don’t I have any friends—why doesn’t everyone like me?” said Alex.

“Well, because yesterday your face was ugly right?” said Marty.

“Oh yeah, because my face is weak so that’s why it changes faces,” said Alex.

“I see. How was your face weird?” said Marty.

“Oh well, I don’t know. I do know that nobody likes me,” said Alex.

Chapter 2: The Teleportation “OK well, we have to wait, how did your face get better?” said Marty.

“Well I was sad, and I walked all the way to the river, and then there was a cave by a mountain, and I went there and something tried to fix my face,” said Alex.

“OK, what did it look like?” said Marty.

“It looked weird,” said Alex.

Then, they saw a teleport, and they went inside and said, “Umm, what is this place? Is this a magic forest?” said Marty.

“Maybe, I see a fish,” said Alex.

“Let’s check it out,” said Marty.

Chapter 3: The Talking Fish “Hello!” said the fish.

“Ahhhhhhh!” said both Alex and Marty.

“How are you talking?” said Alex.

“Um, you know this is a magic forest right?” said Fish.

“Ohh yeah, I remember. Well, does anyone live here?” said Marty.

“Yes, but there is one creature that is creepy, and he tries to kill us,” said Fish.

“Oh no! Where does he live?” said Marty.

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“Wait, who are you guys?” said Fish.

“I’m a turtle,” said Alex.

“And I’m a turtle too,” said Marty.

“OK, so do you want to look around the forest?” said Fish. “And I am new to this forest.”

“OK!” said both Alex and Marty.

“So, what can we do now?” said Alex.

“Let’s go explore the forest,” said Fish.

“But you can’t walk right?” said Marty. “. . . look, watch this,” said Fish.

“OK,” said both Alex and Marty. The fish got out of the water.

“OH MY GOD,” said Alex.

“You have legs!!” said Marty. ​​Chapter 4: Fighting with the Monster “Oh yeah, I forgot that I’m new,” said Marty.

“Then . . . why were you staying near me?” said Alex.

“Well, let’s continue the route, OK?” said Fish.

“Well, do you think we’re going to see the monster and defeat it?” said Alex.

“Oh well, you guys are turtles and I’m a fish right?” said Fish.

“Well, do you remember that we have to name the weird character?” said Marty.

“Yes! I forgot about that,” said Fish.

“OK, what is the name?” said Alex.

“It’s . . . Ameena,” said Fish.

“OK, so it’s a girl right?”

“Yeah.”

“But she still has to talk, so we can understand her,” said Alex.

“H . . . ello,” said Ameena.

“Are you new, Ameena?” said Alex.

“Yes,” said Ameena.

“OK, follow us. Don’t worry, we will save you, OK?” said Marty.

“OK,” said Ameena.

“Alright, here we are guys. The weirdest place is . . . the cave,” said Fish.

“Umm, this is weird,” said Marty.

“Wait. Guys, do you hear something coming in the cave?” said Marty.

“It sounds like a . . . MONSTER! RUN!!!!! HIDE!” said Alex.

“Where can we hide?” said Fish.

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“Look, weapons. We should use these to defeat the monster,” said Marty.

“How? This monster is so strong, and we only have these diamond swords,” said Fish.

“Well, guys don’t be scared. We can do this, OK?” said Alex.

“Wait, did we forget the weird kid/adult?” said Fish.

“Oh . . . well, oh wait. I remember where she is,” said Alex. “ . . . Where?” Marty and the fish said.

“She is in the forest,” Alex said.

“REALLY? ARE YOU SERIOUSLY KIDDING ME!?” said Marty and Fish.

“Well, let’s go defeat the monster. Trust me, OK?” said Alex.

“OK,” said Marty and Fish.

“Alright, guys let’s do this. I’m going first,” said Marty.

“Hmm,” said the monster.

“Oh no,” said Marty.

“Ahhhhhhhhhh!” said Marty, so Fish and Alex have to defeat the monster, but how will they defeat the monster?

Chapter 5: Final Fight with the Monster “Oh no, Marty, are you OK?” said Alex.

“No, my shell cracked,” Marty said.

“How did your shell crack, Marty?” said Alex.

“How did my shell crack? I think the monster hand got me and threw me toward the mountain. Then, I heard a shell crack, and that’s how my shell cracked,” said Marty.

“Stay here, Marty. Let me help the fish to defeat the monster,” said Alex.

“Oh my God. Look, Alex. He is injured. You know what that means Alex, right?” said Fish.

“Yeah, but we don’t have any weapons now. They broke,” said Alex.

“How did the weapons break?” said Fish.

“Um, the weapons cracked when we fought the monster,” said Alex.

“Hey! What about me?” said Marty.

“Just . . . stay there and wait until we are almost done fighting with the monster.”

Chapter 6: Fish “OK, Fish,” said Marty.

“Fish, FISH, where are you?” said Alex.

“Look, blood prints,” said Marty.

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“Scary, wait, if there was blood, that means FISH IS DEAD!!!!” said Alex.

“AHHHHH!” said Alex and Marty.

“Wait, it smells like ketchup. Hold on, let me taste it.” Marty licks it.

“Yeah, it is ketchup. Wait, so that means Fish is not dead,” said Marty.

“Who put ketchup on the trail?” said Alex.

“HELP! I’M TRAPPED WITH MURDERERS,” said Fish in the distance.

“Oh no, it’s Fish. We need to go save him,” said Alex.

“Let’s . . . go! Marty, why would you do that?” said Alex.

“Did you hear what Fish said? He said ‘I’m trapped with murderers’,” said Marty.

“Yeah, but we are small. We are . . . nevermind. I forgot,” said Alex.

Marty sighs.

“Let’s go save FISH! ALEX, ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION TO ME?” said Marty.

“Yeah, why do you have to be mad all the time?” said Alex.

“I don’t know,” said Marty.

“Well, can we go save Fish now?” said Alex.

“OK, but we don’t have any weapons,” said Marty.

“Oh yeah, our weapons broke when we damaged the monster,” said Alex.

“Yeah, so what? Are we going to the edge of the island? Wait, do you want to go to the edge of the island to make weapons, or go save fish?” said Marty.

“OK, I’ll choose,” Alex sighed, “OK, we are going to save Fish.”

“OK, but we don’t have any weapons, so how will we save Fish from those murderers?” said Marty. “Well, we can have a distraction,” said Alex.

“Yeah, that is a good idea, but who will be the distraction?” said Marty.

“Hmmmmmm, I got it. Ameena?” said Alex.

“Are you KIDDING ME? SHE WILL GET KILLED BY THOSE MURDERERS!” said Marty.

“OK, fine we’ll get Ameena,” said Marty.

“Yes!” said Alex.

“Um, where is Ameena? I thought she was next to the teleporter,” said Marty.

Chapter 7: Saving Fish from Murderers Meanwhile, Ameena had escaped the island, but how did she escape the island? “Oh man, now how will we get her? Did she escape or did she go inside the teleporter?” said Marty.

“I think she ESCAPED,” said Alex.

“How did she even escape the island?” said Marty.

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“I think she made a boat with wood,” said Alex.

“Wait, if she used wood, then that means that her boat is sinking,” said Marty.

“But do you want to escape the island or help Fish?” said Alex.

“Help Fish,” said Marty.

“Good choice for saving Fish, but what happened to Ameena?” said Alex.

“But what happened to Ameena?” said Marty.

Meanwhile, splish splash. “HELP! I’M DROWNING,” coughed Ameena.

Splish splash splish splash. “HELP,” said Ameena.

“Did you hear that?” said Alex.

“What is it?” said Marty.

“Did Ameena say ‘help’?” said Alex.

“Oh yeah, I can hear it. it sounds really far away,” said Marty.

“OK, let’s go save Fish, but we have to skip this part OK?” said Marty.

After the fight, they save Fish. So yeah, Marty is right because I don’t really like making fighting sounds.

“Thank you so much guys for saving me,” said Fish.

“No problem,” said Marty and Alex.

“So should we go home, Alex?” said Marty.

“Yeah,” said Alex.

“Hey Fish, would you like to save Ameena?” said Alex.

“Yeah, sure. I will,” said Fish.

“OK, bye Fish. See you later,” said Marty and Alex.

“OK, bye,” said Fish.

Chapter 8: Escaping the Island “OK, Marty and Fish, how can we escape the island without rocks?” said Alex .

“Well, we can use some tree branches,” said Fish.

“Yeah, I agree with that because all of the wood doesn’t sink underwater except bamboo,” said Marty.

“OK, so the hardest thing to do is break the tree,” said Alex.

“We can use Ameena, she’s a human,” said Fish.

“OK, but where is she?” said Marty.

“HELP!” said Ameena.

“OH NO! AMEENA IS SINKING” said Fish.

“Wait, if she is sinking, then that means she was using WOOD!” said Alex.

“How did you know she was using wood?” said Marty.

“Well, if you look at the forest, you can see that some tree has broken off,

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so that wood isn’t strong enough,” said Alex, looking at the water. “Well, I guess we have to,” said Alex.

“Wait! If you said swim in the water, then WE’LL DIE! AHHHHHHH,” said Fish, teeth shaking.

“Well, I guess we have to swim in the water,” said Alex.

“What about the teleporter?” said Marty.

“Ummmmm, don’t be mad, but it was stolen,” said Alex.

“WHAT!” said Marty and Fish.

“Well, we have to escape the island, which will take twenty-four hours and fifty-nine minutes,” said Fish.

“Well, in the next book, we will arrive in Africa,” said Alex.

“Yeah, well, I hope you guys like the book,” said Marty.

“Bye!” said Alex, Marty, and Fish.

Chapter 9: The Unknown Island “You guys, look what I found up ahead,” said Fish.

“It’s our home!” said Marty.

“Finally, we’re home,” said Alex.

“Wait, that’s not our home. That’s a—” said Alex.

“It’s an island,” said Fish.

“No!! Are you kidding me? Well, I guess we have to stay or rest for the night,” said Alex.

“What should we do? Just keep swimming or just rest on that island?” said Fish.

“REST,” said Alex and Marty.

“OK, so we will rest on the island, and I hope there’s not any secrets,” said Fish.

“Yeah, secrets are kind of scary,” said Marty.

“But we have to stay there, and don’t go to any secret places OK?” said Fish.

“OK,” said Alex and Marty.

I will not trust either of them, and I will find some secrets, thought Alex.

“Alex, are you OK?” said Marty.

“Y e a h,” said Alex.

“OK? It seems that you won’t trust us,” said Marty.

“What? I never lie to you guys. I would never do that in my whole life,” said Alex.

“OK? Just asking you because you’re acting weird right now,” said Marty.

“Look, we have arrived on the island.”

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Emily Truong Age 9

The Toys That Came Alive Once upon a time, there was a girl named Maya. She dreamed about her toys being alive. One day, all of her toys in her house became alive. She played all day, and she didn’t notice the toys that came alive. Her parents decided to move to a different place, like Japan. She was sad about it . . . that her friends would stay there, and she would move. Her toys had to figure out how to cheer her up. The toys revealed that they’re alive! She was shocked about it. She was scared and then ran out to tell her mom. The toys asked her to be quiet because it was a secret. Then, she understood why, but after they tried to cheer her up, she still kept crying. Her parents tried to cheer her up too. On the day that she was moving out, she said goodbye to her friends and family. She moved out to a different place. Her toys tried to cheer her up again, but she got even sadder. Her parents and Maya looked around the apartment, and she looked kind of mad about it. Her parents told her, “You should go to your room.” She picked a room that is very tiny and placed her toys beside her bed. At night time, she ate dinner, took a bath, brushed her teeth, and then went to sleep. The toys began to hug her, and she was crying tears about moving out.

The next day, her parents signed her up for a different school. She saw so many people. Some of the people made fun of her and her dress. She was sad about everything, moving out, and people making fun of her. After class, she went home crying to her parents. She talked to her toys about everything that she had to go through. Then, after that, she slept. Maya’s toy cheered her up. Maya felt good. After that, she had an idea. She could make a wish on her birthday for five months. The next day, she woke up and was shocked that her parents had to move out again. Maya said, “Why?!”

Her mom said, “We had to because your dad got a new job in California.”

“So what?” Maya said as she was mad.

“Well . . . I’ll let you go to your aunt’s home for maybe . . . ten or nine weeks in New York. OK?” After the flight, she saw her aunt. Maya was very happy to see her aunt Kate.

“Hi, Maya,” said Aunt Kate when she saw her.

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“Hi, Auntie,” said Maya.

Maya’s mom said, “Bye, honey. See you in ten weeks, love you.”

“Bye, Mom!” Maya said as she was hugging her aunt. They went home and had a nice dinner at her aunt’s house. Later, in ten weeks, it was about to be over. Maya would be very sad if she was not going to see her aunt again.

She forgot her stuffed animal in Texas.

To be continued . . .

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Amelia Exume Age 10

Into the Enchanted Forest On a dark and stormy day, Clara, Skyler, and Sunny were braiding each other’s hair. As their mother braided Sunny’s golden yellow blonde hair, she noticed how different the girls looked as they got older. Sunny looked at her. “How did your hair look when you were my age, Mom?” she asked as her Mom continued to braid Skyler’s platinum blonde hair.

She answered, “It looked exactly like Clara’s hair,” as Skyler started to braid Clara’s dirty blonde hair.

Meanwhile, all nine of their enchanted work mice were running away into the enchanted forest. Grandma Willow, on her way back from her walk, checked the stables, and when she saw the missing mice, she exclaimed, “They can’t be gone. They’re the only enchanted mice in the whole forest!”

As soon as she got to the great willow tree, she informed the girls and their mother that the mice were gone. She and the girls’ mother thought about who could retrieve the nine mice. They had to be at least one hundred years old and possibly as old as 113 years from the stories that were told to their grandmother. Just then, the girls realized that they were between one hundred and 113 years old themselves!

No one in that village kept track of time because of the enchanted mice; everyone seemed to live forever. With this new realization, they knew they had a special connection to the mice. So with excited voices, the girls said in unison, “We’ll do it!”

But their mother and grandmother questioned them, “Are you sure?”

“We can find the best fairy explorers in the entire enchanted forest!” exclaimed the sisters. And so they went, right after they slept in their soft beds made out of cotton. In the middle of the night, Clara was so excited that she could not sleep, so she woke up Sunny and Skyler, and . . . they started jumping on their beds. This woke up their grandma, who made them go back to bed. She told them that if they were not well rested, they wouldn’t be able to track the mice.

The next morning, they woke up, and their grandma and mother were standing at the doorway. When they got up, they ate a huge breakfast, but

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they had to pack right after. They packed tents, sleeping bags, pillows, food for weeks, clothes, and lightning bugs to use for night lights. After they finished packing, they stretched their wings. Sunny’s wings shined a sparkling gold color. Skyler’s looked like a clear blue sky, and Clara’s, a light pink like the strawberries they grew in their garden. They prepped their powers for the journey. Clara practiced using her powers to grow food. Skyler practiced controlling the weather, and Sunny practiced making supernatural light. After Clara’s last hug with her grandma and mother, the girls started their journey.

When they got to the gate that led them into the enchanted forest, they could see the pink leaves of the magical trees. The flowers were so big that they could use them for beds! But they saw no signs of the mice. Soon, they worked up the courage to go into the forest. When they stepped inside the gate, they got sucked into a wormhole that took them deep into the forest.

It was the most magical place they’d ever seen. It was even better than what Grandma said it would be.

The sun was starting to set, and they knew they had to work fast as the forest was a very different place at night, so they searched for clues left by the mice. Within a few minutes, the sun went down, so the girls got out the lightning bugs and lit them up. They found a soft and flat place to set up camp because those flowers were nowhere in sight. First, they made a fire and put up tents, and then ate blueberries that Clara grew with her magic.

They were lucky; it was as if the mice had left that wormhole to take them to a safe part of the forest.

They settled down and fell asleep.

In the morning, they ate the leftover blueberries and packed up. As soon as they finished, they went in search of the nine mice. The girls wandered deeper into the enchanted forest, and Sunny’s light soon reflected on what appeared to be the tail of a mouse! They ran after it as fast as they could. When they finally caught up with the mouse, they saw the red collar around its neck.

It was Sparky, the first mouse! Sunny was the oldest sister. Technically, she was only five seconds older than Skyler since they were twins. She named Sparky and two of the other mice. They were excited and so happy that they started chanting, “We found a mouse. We found a mouse. Yay diddle dee!”

Then, they continued farther into the enchanted forest until Skyler saw some more mouse tracks. They followed them up the hill until they saw a very hairy mouse head with an orange collar around its neck. They ran to it and checked the coller, and sure enough, it was Sunset, the second mouse.

Ironically, the sun was starting to set as well, so the girls decided to continue searching for the rest of the mice in the morning. They were not sure how to

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keep the mice safe, so they tied them up and set up camp fast so that they could make dinner before dark.

The next morning, they ate breakfast and packed up and went even deeper into the enchanted forest. They were sure at this point that they had ventured deeper than anyone had before. They wandered around a bit but didn’t find any mice. That was until Sparky started sniffing around the ground, so the girls followed Sparky’s lead until they found a mouse with a yellow collar.

When Clara saw the yellow collar, she knew it was Happy. The girls ran right over to give Happy hugs as did Sparky and Sunset. The girls and mice continued into the enchanted forest until the mice got hungry, so they stopped for a snack. They decided on tree nuts. They continued looking for the remaining six mice. Then, they saw a tuft of mouse fur, so they went in that direction, and within a few minutes, they found a mouse with a green collar! Sunny squealed, “Lucky!” Lucky came running to her. All the mice were tired now as if they were losing their energy not being close to each other. The girls were told by their grandmother that they had only a short time before to find the mice, but she didn’t tell them why. The girls realized that they were getting tired also, so they fed the mice and tied them up and settled in on the huge flowers that they had seen before. The mice told them they would be safe there.

By morning, everything was damp, so Skyler cleared the sky, and Sunny made the sun shine even brighter. After that, they set off once again. They walked for what felt like forever. Suddenly, Skyler saw a mouse with a blue collar, and they knew it was Stormy! Skyler named Stormy after she learned of her ability to change the weather. The girls called Stormy, and he came trotting to them.

Afterward, the girls celebrated because they had more than half of the mice. They continued into the enchanted forest where they were filled up with courage and were ready for what was yet to come.

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Ali Kadhim Age 11

The Flat Tire One day, I had to go to school (like any other student). I ate cereal for breakfast, and then I got ready for school. We walked down some stairs, and I saw a little glass table, then we walked down the second set of stairs, and then my mom and I got in the car. The weather was sunny, and it was warm. My mom started the car, and the car was not moving for some reason. My mom and I were confused. At that time, my mom and I got out of the car, and my mom saw that the tire was missing some air. Then, I saw a bit of brown and that the top and bottom of the tire were flat, so my mom called her friend to pick her up. Then, I was very scared. We had to wait for like ten minutes so that her friend could get to my mom’s house. After that, my mom and I got into the car, and then I got to school, and my mom got to her work (I think). Everything was OK. I was late because of all that. Then, when I was getting picked up, my mom was driving a different car. She was using one of my family member’s cars. The car was green and had some numbers on it. If you forgot your key, you could put in the code, and it would start and open the car.

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Aiden Schoeff Age 10

We Always Find Silly and Fun Things to Do Chapter 1: A Day at the Lakehouse One hot summer day, my cousin, Jacob, and I wanted to go swimming in the lake. We ran into the house to put on our swimsuits and got ready to go swimming. I was so excited because I was at Jacob’s lake house, and I hadn’t been there in a long time. We were going to spend the day playing outside in the sunshine and having a blast. We first grabbed our towels and goggles, and we put them on the boat. My mom made me put on sunscreen first, and then my mom said I could swim. Jacob and I went on the boat, and our parents took us to the cove where we went swimming. The cove is a big piece of the lake where people park their boat and jump into the deep lake to swim. The cove has a very sandy bottom, but I have never touched it because the lake is so deep.

It took about ten minutes to drive the boat there. The lake is big, so we couldn’t see the cove from their lake house. When we got to the cove, we put on our life vests, and we jumped off the boat. When we were in the water, we went swimming and splashed around. We always liked to be silly and just have fun diving into the water and laughing. Sometimes we looked for secret treasures under the water with our goggles on. We also played on the pizza box. It is a big square that floats on the water, and it is black and made of foam. Jacob and I like to stand on it and try to balance. We always laugh at each other because the pizza box is so slippery, and when we fall off, we hold hands. Our parents always take pictures of us because we act silly.

After we played, Jacob and I went on the boat to go get a snack because we felt so hungry. We had cheese, crackers, chips, and fruit. It was a special day so we had pop to drink. We took our snack onto the shore and sat in the sand to eat. Then, after we were done with our snack, we got up, and we played on the sand. We built sandcastles with our sand buckets. They were all different shapes, so our castle looked pretty cool. The sand was so hot on our feet that we had to keep running back to the water and jump in to cool

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them off. We also liked to dig holes in the sand and try to fill them up with water. When we were done playing in the sand and water, we put the pizza box and the other floaties on the boat, and we got on the boat. We wrapped ourselves up in our towels to dry off and stay warm and got ready to head back to the house. Our parents drove the boat on the water back to the lake house. Once we were back, Jacob and I went back into the lake house, and we got changed. We played dinosaurs for a little bit before it was time to go home. We both like dinosaurs, and we have a lot of them to play with them.

My favorite dinosaur is the Brachiosaurus, and Jacob loves the T-Rex. We had dinosaur battles, and we laughed together because the dinosaurs were trying to eat each other. We also put on dinosaur masks and dino gloves and ran around the house scaring our families in the house.

After spending the day there and having a blast, it was time to pack up and say our goodbyes. It was a long time there, and I was tired, but I had a lot of fun with Jacob. We hugged each other, and I got in the car to ride home with my family. When we got back home at my house, it was nighttime, and it was dark outside, so I got ready for bed, and I went to sleep. Boy, did I have a great day.

Chapter 2: Jacob’s Ninth Birthday Party Every year in July, I go back to my cousin’s lake house to celebrate his birthday. When I got there, I got out of the car, and then I hugged Jacob. After we went into the house, we played dinosaurs. After a little bit of playing, we went on to the boat for a ride. Jacob has a pontoon boat that is big that both of our families can go for a ride together. My aunt Katie drove the boat to the beach, so we could go play in the sand and go swimming. We made sandcastles on the beach with each other. Next, we dove into the water and started splashing around. We had so much fun, and we got tired of swimming, so we jumped back on the boat.

We went back to the lake house. When we got back, we ate dinner, and we had chocolate cake and ice cream. Then, Jacob opened his presents. He was so excited about what everybody got him. He loves dinosaurs, so most of his presents had some type of dinosaur with it. He got a toy dinosaur, dinosaur books, and dinosaur Legos. I was very excited because he loved my present, and he was jumping up and down with a big smile on his face. When his party was over, it was time for all of us to head home. After the fun day at my cousin’s lake house, I left to go home. We had an hour drive back home, so I sat in the back seat and looked out the window. Once I was home, I got

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ready for bed because it was night time, and it was pitch dark outside. I put on my pjs, brushed my teeth, got my pillow, and got in my bed. Jeez, it was a long but super fun day. I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

Everytime I go to my cousin’s lake house, I always have a blast! We always find silly and fun things to do. It will be fun having more adventures this summer. I can’t wait to see what we will do next.

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Nayeli Karunaekara Age 10

A Dilemma in Space The Darkest Night Snow fell from the sky. The tiny flakes looked like stars in the pitch-black night sky. Perry looked up. The sky was a black mass, lacking the stars and the moon it usually displayed. Unease settled over him, but Perry shrugged it away. Perry glanced at his watch, which displayed the date (02-9-4037), the time (22:24), and the moon cycle for the night. There’s supposed to be a new moon tonight, Perry thought. Perry tried to believe himself, but some strange feeling stopped him. He trudged through the snow; his mind still on the abnormal sky.

As he neared his house, his footsteps became quicker in pace, and he broke out into a run once his house was in sight. Hopefully, when he got home, his mind would be cleared. Perry examined the street lamps, the only light that illuminated the houses around him, as he raced past them. They were old and dim, and they flickered as if they were talking to each other about why a sixteen-year old teenage boy was walking around in the cold at this time of night. When Perry reached his house, he knocked softly on the door, not wanting to wake up his little brother, Minro, in case he was asleep (which he most likely was, for he loved to sleep, and it was late at night). There was the faint swish of a curtain, and a split second later, the door opened. It was Papa. “Perry!” he shouted with joy. Papa cupped his hand over his mouth.

“Minro is sleeping,” he whispered.

“What took you so long?” Papa asked.

“Nothing, I just lost my way,” Perry responded.

“OK . . .” Papa murmured as if he didn’t believe Perry.

Wanting to get out of the conversation, Perry let out a fake yawn. “I’m very tired,” he lied. “I’d better go to bed.” He strode over to his room and opened the door as slowly as possible, not wanting to wake his younger brother. He silently shut the door behind him. The door creaked, but it was barely more than a whisper of a sound. Perry collapsed on the bed. He was so . . . tired?

Drained? There wasn’t a word to describe it. Perry inspected the inky sky through the window as he laid in bed and slowly drifted off to sleep.

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The Morning Filled With Darkness

BRRRING! BRRRING! Perry’s alarm rang. He lifted his head toward the win-

dow, expecting to see the sunlight that normally greeted him in the morning.

Shielding his eyes, Perry braced himself for the piercing sunlight. Instead, he found the sky to be as dark as last night’s. It’s probably one of Minro’s little pranks. He smiled. He changed and went to Minro’s room. Minro was still in bed. Of course, Minro loves to sleep, Perry thought. But wouldn’t Papa have woken him up by now? Perry thought. I’ll check on Papa, Perry decided and then closed the door.

Perry walked quickly to Papa’s room, and he opened the door a bit too quickly so that the door creaked very loudly. Yes, their house wasn’t the best, but it was enough to live in. Papa was still in bed, and his snores were louder than Perry’s alarm. Papa usually woke up very early and was always strict about waking up at a proper time. Perry looked around the room. It was dark and the clear window curtains showed no sign of light. Papa also had no alarm clock . . . maybe he wakes up to sunlight! Perry thought excitedly, too excited to care about the dark sky. He rushed down the hallway not caring about how loud his footfalls were. He got a flashlight and raced back to Papa’s room. Perry clicked on the flashlight and shone it on Papa’s face. Papa bolted straight up and would have his head on the flashlight if Perry hadn’t jerked back in surprise.

“Have you woken Minro? Have you cleaned up your room? Have you . . .”

The questions tumbled out of Papa’s mouth.

When Papa finally finished, his breath came out in big huffs and puffs, his face was red, and his usual neat brown hair was all frizzy. After a bit of huffing and puffing, Papa asked for the time. “It’s 8:46am,” Perry replied.

“WWWHHHAAATTT!!!!!” Papa screamed. “It’s so late! I’m supposed to wake up at 5:30!” Papa jerked out of bed and rushed to the bathroom and record-breakingly came out in about forty seconds.

“I’ll just wake Minro up,” Perry said awkwardly and tip-toed out of Papa’s room.

When Perry arrived in Minro’s room, he found Minro tossing and turning in his sleep. His stuffed animals were all over the floor. Perry silently walked over the creaky wooden floorboards to Minro’s bed and made little shhh shhh noises to calm him down. After a few minutes, Minro opened his eyes and groaned and then turned over and flopped onto the bed face-down. Then, he yawned and started to snore again.

“Arrgh!” Perry whispered, and then he shook Minro with all his might.

“Let me sleep,” Minro whined. Minro pulled his blanket over his head. If

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Minro isn’t going to wake up . . . I’ll have to do it the sneaky way, Perry thought evilly. Perry was in luck. Minro had gotten a pancake-scented pancake stuffy for his birthday, and Minro loved pancakes. Perry got Minro’s pancake stuffy from Minro’s closet and brought it up to Minro’s nose. Minro’s nose twitched.

It sniffed. And Minro shot out of bed heading to the bathroom. “Pancakes!

Pancakes!” Minro shouted on the way. Perry quietly tip-toed away out of Minro’s room to avoid painfully damaging his ears because of Minro’s extremely loud yelling.

Perry’s head hurt because of Minro’s highly unnecessary yelling. “I’ll take a walk,” Perry decided and headed out of the house. When he went outside, Perry could barely see a thing because the sky was so dark. What is going on? Perry wondered worriedly. He looked up at the sky and saw flashing red and yellow lights. The lights were dim, so if you wanted to see them, you would have to squint your eyes very hard.

Hello Totally Friendly Aliens The flashing lights seemed to come closer, and in a flash, Perry found himself tied up in ropes and caged in a metal cell. Outside of the cell were some cool-looking panels. There were windows so big that you could probably see every star in sight.

A few minutes later, while Perry was examining the room, a soft ding sounded, and a door, very similar to the ones on elevators, opened. Out came an odd muscular white creature with big, angry-looking, black compound eyes. The creature held a sharp-looking trident in his hand, and Perry did not want to encounter that. “Oba saha obē vargayā apē pŗthiviyaţa kara æti dē gæna oba dannē kumakda!?

“Huh?” Perry replied nervously. The creature eyed Perry suspiciously.

Then, the creature pulled out a small metal gadget and brought it up to Perry’s face.

“What is this?” Perry asked while backing away from the gadget. The creature pressed tiny buttons with its frog-like hands.

“Han̆dunāgat bhāŞāva: iŋgrīsi,” the gadget said in a robotic voice.

“Oba saha obē vargayā apē pŗthiviyaţa kara æti dē gæna oba dannē kumakda?” the creature said into the gadget. Then, the creature placed the gadget in Perry’s hands. Perry’s hands looked very small compared to the creature’s enormous hands.

Perry stared at the gadget and was startled when a robotic voice asked, “What do you know about what you and your species have done to our planet?”

Perry replied, “Nothing!” Perry stammered. “Uh, a definitely friendly

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alien, can you err . . . um . . . release me?” Perry’s voice shook. The totally not friendly-looking alien took the gadget out of Perry’s hands. For the brief moment that their hands touched Perry could feel a slimy texture, similar to the slime of a snail. Perry’s stomach lurched. The alien’s slime made him lose his appetite. He thought he would have fainted if it weren’t for the robotic voice translating what Perry had said.

The Black Whatsit The alien nodded and opened Perry’s door with a golden key embedded in sapphires, opals, and diamonds. Perry stared longingly at the key. It looked so precious, so beautiful. Perry shook his head. He needed to get out of here.

He started to run. He didn’t know where he was running. He just looked for an exit. Finally! Perry’s mind raced. A door! He opened the door and . . .

The alien who had got him out of his cage stood there red and angry. The alien’s whole body was covered in a flaming red . . . Perry tried to run away, but it was too late. Perry was yanked inside of the room the alien was in.

The alien’s nostrils flared. The creature grabbed Perry’s wrist very tightly; so tightly that Perry thought his hand would go numb. With his other hand, the alien grabbed the gadget and spoke into it, “Apaţa obaţa ridavīmaţa avaśya næta.” The alien put the gadget in Perry’s arms.

“We need your help, we don’t want to hurt you,” the gadget translated.

“Oh, I didn’t know, but could you maybe release my hand, if you don’t mind?” spoke Perry. “How can I help?” Perry asked nervously. Perry handed the gadget over to the alien, and the gadget translated what he had said into the alien’s language. The alien whispered into the gadget and then gave it to Perry.

The gadget translated to him, “Your species have been sending space junk to our planet, Antinos. Space junk has crashed into our planet, and your species has to help us, or else the Gyunus will stay and eventually, after about three days, everyone on the planet dies,” the alien said, pointing to the black covering around Earth.

Perry’s eyes widened in alarm. He thought of Minro and Papa, his kind neighbor Ms. Firkins, and everyone else he knew. “OK,” he said into the gadget. “I will lead you to the RSI (Rocket and Space Institution); they’ll see to the problem,” Perry said, trying to sound confident.

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Going to Earth “Api sannaddhava paemiţiya yutuda?”

“Should we come armed?” the gadget translated in its spine-chilling robotic voice. Perry thought for a bit. Yes and no. If these aliens brought weapons, they would be seen as a threat, though unarmed, they would be weak and unsafe. Suddenly, a thought struck Perry: They should bring weapons, but the RSI should not be able to see them! Perry spoke his idea into the gadget very quickly. The alien looked at him as if he was crazy.

“Mama sevala sahita neme.”

“I’m not slimy,” the gadget translated. Personally, Perry thought the alien was slimy, but he didn’t mention that.

“I didn’t say that,” replied Perry.

“Mama eka kiw we naha,” the gadget translated back to the alien. The alien squinted.

“Etakoţa oyā monavada manussayō kivvē?”

“Then what did you say, human?” the gadget translated in its expressionless voice.

“You need to bring weapons, but the RSI can’t see them. Also, the name’s Perry, alien,” Perry said.

The alien smirked at the end of the translation. “Hari, namat ran hamudāvē sar rantuş saha ridī senpatiyā . . . api rāmlulupanlā, ættaţa,” the alien replied.

The gadget translated: “OK, also the name is Sir Ranthush of the Golden Army and Commander of Silver . . . and we are Ramlulupans, not just aliens, for a fact.” The alien smirked. Ranthush had a pretty good sense of humor, Perry thought, smiling back. Now to the RSI. Perry was a mix of emotions, scared, excited, happy, and who knows what.

The RSI Ranthush, the other Ramlulupans, and Perry gathered the weapons: pens that could transform into swords, invisible swords, and shields and a bunch of random gadgets that Perry couldn’t name. Perry stood in awe. There were so many weapons. Maybe too many, Perry thought, feeling queasy. Perry shook the thought away suddenly feeling a tinge of anger at his fellow humans. To them, it seemed as if they cared about their well being more than others. This realization suddenly hit Perry, like getting poked in the stomach with a blunt stick. Perry wondered if his fellow humans knew what they were doing to the Ramlulupans.

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A selection of Ramlulupans and Perry went on an odd-looking rocket. It looked somewhat like a car with wings and a pointy front. They were destined to land in the RSI parking lot, but instead they crash-landed a centimeter from the entrance and stopped, at least for a second, and skidded, and the rocket-car crashed right through the door. Perry’s cheeks flushed. He ducked down hoping no one would see him. The door next to his seat opened and Ranthush beckoned Perry out of his seat. Perry shrunk back and shook his head, “No,” signaling to Ranthush that he did not want to go. Ranthush narrowed his bug-like eyes at Perry. Perry felt a chill down his spine. “Fine,” Perry whined. He slowly scooched to the door and got out.

Aashvi, Umaiza, and Hritvi The inside of the RSI building was breathtaking. The ceiling looked exactly like the stars at night, and there was a huge desk for the seven RSI council members. “Hello,” the head counselor said in a cold voice. The head counselor dismissed the other counselors except for two other counselors. “Āyubōvan,” the head counselor said. “Ranthush,” she added. And then the RSI head counselor and the other two counselors turned into Ramlulupans, except these Ramlulupans were splotched with many different colors, unlike the usual pale white Ramlulupans.

“Aashvi, Umaiza, Hrtivi? Eka oyada?” Ranthush asked and narrowed his eyes.

“Ou,” the head counselor replied. Who are these Ramlulupans? Perry wondered. Ranthush whispered something to the Ramlulupan next to him and then Ranthush quickly walked over to Perry. Ranthush led Perry to the rocket car thing and hustled him inside without saying anything. Ranthush brought out the translating gadget.

“Oyā dannawada ara Ramlulupan tundenā. Hon̆dayi, ovun pæraţi purāvŗttayakin pæmiņi aya saha ovungē napura mama anumāna karami. Ebævin ovunţa balatala æta, saha mm, Ramlulupanvarun atpat kara gænīmaţa utsāha karayi, ebævin ov, ov,” Ranthush spoke into the gadget.

“You know those three Ramlulupans there? Well, um, they’re from an old legend, and they’re evil I guess. They have powers, and um, they are trying to take over the Ramlulupans, so um, yeah,” the gadget translated to Perry.

Ranthush sounded scared. And he NEVER sounded scared. “Ovungē nam aashvi, umaiza saha hrtivi,” Ranthush said.

“Their names are Aashvi, Umaiza, and Hrtivi,” the gadget translated to Perry.

“Inna,” Ranthush said.

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“Stay here,” the gadget translated once more. Perry nodded. He definitely did NOT want to be in a random fight with random Ramlulupans.

Fixing Everything (I Guess) Finally, after what seemed like hours of waiting in a rocket car. A Ramulupan came to Perry and beckoned him out. Perry and the other Ramlulupans went inside the RSI. It was a mess. The desk was broken. Aashvi, Umaiza, and Hrtivi were nowhere to be found. Perry definitely did not want to know what happened to them either. The four other council members stood near a broken desk with shocked expressions.

They started to clean up the mess, and when they were done, it was almost spotless. ALMOST. The Ramlulupans and the other four counselors discussed what they would do about the situation. Perry, of course, had to wait. Outside. With absolutely NOTHING to do. He thought about his family. When the door opened, Perry jumped to his feet. Perry felt so . . . tiny in front of everyone. Everyone seemed calm. “Need a ride home?” asked one of the counselors. Perry nodded, too shy to speak.

During the ride, the counselor told Perry about how Aashvi, Umaiza, and Hrtivi had created an orbit leak. “We are going to design a rocket to seal the leak,” the counselor said, “The Ramlulupans were to remove the mysterious black covering with a promise to seal the leak.”

Finally, Perry arrived at his house. He knocked on the door. There was the faint swish of a curtain, and in a second, the door opened. Papa stood at the doorstep and embraced Perry tightly. Suddenly, Minro appeared too, his cheeks red. “Where are my pancakes?” Minro whined. Perry chuckled.

“No pancakes for you until you start getting up at a proper time,” Perry said, imitating Papa’s voice.

The End

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Oscar Cartman Age 9

PACKS!!

CONTENT WARNING: READER, PROCEED WITH CAUTION The following story is scary and suspenseful. It is not recommended for readers under ten or sensitive readers of any age.

There once was a husky named Max, and Max was a sled dog. He had an owner named Conrad and an enemy named Conteeno. He competed in competitions all over the world. But in the race of the century, he had never gotten to the finish line . . . Max was dead . . . he died because Conteeno made a weak spot in the ice and made Max’s sled fall. His owner died along with him. Another thing that he knew was that Conteeno had gotten off free with no punishment; he also knew everybody on the sled had died too, so Max naturally wanted revenge! But first, he needed everybody on the sled to help him, so he started his journey through the underworld to find Fluffy, James, Frisco, Sam, Oggy, Rhubarb, Rosie, and Arrow. He set off on his journey. He found Oggy almost immediately, followed by Jams and Frisco, and soon after Fluffy, and finally Sam, Rhubarb, Rosie, and last but not least was Arrow.

They all agreed that they needed revenge on Conteeno. Just as they were planning, someone said, “I think you will need a leader.”

They all spun around ready for a fight and sure enough, there was Conrad looking as good as ever (except the fact that he had a cut on his face.) But he was OK because he was already dead. Every dog plus Conrad decided that the best way to get revenge was to trick Conteeno but not hurt him because then he would be near them. WHICH THEY DID NOT WANT!! So they started their plan.

Their first act of trickery was to make his sled go off course, so he would lose. But when they tried, they accidentally saw that he had his extra prosthetic hand in his bag (which they had no idea that he had). Just as they were planning the next act of trickery, an idea slipped into Max’s head; the idea being to make Conteeno immortal. Then, they could do every act of trickery they could think of, and he would never accidentally die so forth without ever being near them in the underworld! When he told the others about the idea, it soon became a plan.

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But then Sam said, “How will we make Conteeno immortal?”

Arrow then said, “We could try to get Hades’s crown, the helm of darkness.”

But then Frisco said, “How will we get to the helm of darkness?”

“I don’t know,” said Arrow.

But then Conrad said, “I know. We first sneak into Hades’s Lair. Then, we take the helm.”

So they started their plan and snuck into Hades’s Lair, but then they ran into a problem: they had to steal the helm off of Hades’s head, and that was not going to work. Then, Arrow and Sam said, “How about we light fire to the dungeons?”

So Conrad got out a pack of matches and said, “I’ll light the dungeons, and you get the helm.”

The dogs agreed to the plan. As soon as Conrad lit the dungeons, Hades yelled and ran to put out the fire. As he rushed past, Fluffy took the helm off of Hades’s head without him even noticing, so the dogs now had the helm, and now all they had to do is save Conrad from the crazy, immortal god of Death. They came up with a plan that just might work. Their plan was to light yet another match and light his throne on fire, but just as they were hidden again, Hades burst up the stairs. Conrad ran to the dogs. When he reached them, he said, “We should get out of here!” They ran out of Hades’s lair unharmed. They had successfully stolen the helm, so they made Conteeno immortal and tricked him eternally.

The End!

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Margherite Overlander Age 11

Truly the Best Summer Ever Chapter 1 SLAM. The car door shuts behind me as I jump out of the car and stumble onto the soft green grass. I look up and see a decent sized light blue house.

It has white shutters, a shiny new black door, and a white fence bordering the whole thing. It looks as if a big plane just dropped it off from a factory shiny and new, like a brand new coat of nail polish. My fingers run against the word “Sold” on the sign nailed in the front yard as I go to take a closer look. The air is nice here; it smells of sweet flowers and nice fertile, green grass, like that good September smell.

“JANA, get over here. Let’s start getting boxes out,” my dad says in his “let’s hurry up” voice.

“Trust me, Dad, I want to look inside as much as you do,” I say back in my voice. And so, we start unloading the first of the boxes.

“This one’s for the front room, Jennie Bean,” my mom says as she hands me the box.

“I know how to read, Mom,” I say as I look down at the box label. “And stop calling me Jennie Bean.”

The day goes on, box after box after box after box until the first moving truck is all unloaded. As I bring boxes up the stairs, I get a couple glances of my new room, but I want to get the whole experience. I take a deep breath in as I turn the doorknob and look inside.

“OMG MY ROOM IS GORGEOUS,” I shout across the house. It is painted a very light blue with white hexagon shelves on one corner and on the other is a big bed with decorative shelves over it. At the foot of my bed is a dresser and mirror, and then across from that, there’s a desk. And to top it all off, between my bed and the hexagon shelves, is a huge window with a window seat. I have never been in such a cute room. So on I go curving around boxes and packing paper, unpacking my stuff. These go on my shelves, the alarm clock goes on the storage above my bed. One thing at a time until I have most stuff unpacked. “Let’s stop here,” I say to myself. I look around my new room, and I’m happy with my progress. It looks great, except for some moving boxes in the corner.

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Chapter 2 “DINNER, LET’S GO,” my dad shouts in his army voice, “MARCH PEOPLE, LET’S GO,” he shouts again. Even when he is not in training or on the battlefield, he thinks of us as his own private army. For as long as I can remember, he has always been part of the army, even when he is not deployed. I guess he chose the career because grandpa is the colonel. Whatever makes him happy, as long as he stays alive. “DINNER, JANA. DO NOT MAKE ME WAIT,” he shouts again from downstairs.

“COMING, SIR,” I shout back as I run down the stairs as fast as I can. The warm and delightful smell of soup hits my face as I dash into the kitchen.

“What do you think, Jennie Bean?” my mom says as she stirs the pot.

“Wow, it looks great,” I say in amazement, “How did you get it set up so fast?”

“Just a little bit of mom power,” she says back with a smirk.

“I guess I was so wrapped up with my room that I totally forgot the rest of the house,” I say embarrassed.

“Come taste it,” Mom says excitedly.

“OK,” I say back. I get a spoon and taste the soup. “It’s good but needs more salt,” I say in an official tone.

“OK, masterchef,” my mom says to me in a British accent, mocking me.

“Thank you for the lovely introduction, ma’am. Yes, I am the masterchef,” I say in my most ladylike tone. Two can play at that game, I thought to myself as I walked to the table. But it is true, I am the main chef in this house.

When it comes to the kitchen, I have quite a gift.

Chapter 3 Splash. “AHHH,” I scream as something cold and wet comes splashing down on me. Without a second thought, I jump out of bed and sprint into my brother’s room, which I may add, smells weirdly of ketchup. A lightning fast figure tries to sneak past me and dash out the door, but it’s too late. I grab his arm and pull him back. “You want to explain this?” I ask the boy.

“Not really,” he says in a sly tone.

“You are going to wake up everybody in the world,” I protest.

“Not if they catch me. I am going to go get breakfast,” he says quickly, then darts down the stairs.

“DANNY JARVIS WRIGHT, you get back here now,” I yell down the stairs.

Not a great first morning; well, at least not for some people. Maybe it will get better. I will get back at Danny, but in the meantime I will keep asking myself why I have to have a brother, especially this crazy one.

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I slowly walk downstairs careful of any possible traps, none so far.

“Come on, Jana, breakfast,” my mom says.

“No thanks, Mom. I am going to check out the cafe I saw a couple blocks away,” I say.

“OK, just don’t go too far,” she says as I start to head out the door.

“You got it mom,” I say in my “I am responsible enough to do this” voice.

Do I want to check out the cafe? Yes. Do I want to get away from my crazy family even more? Yes. Today, it is slightly breezy but warm enough to wear a thin sweater. After a couple minutes of walking, I see a big green building with a sign saying, “Two Cups Sweater.” Sensible name, I think to myself as I walk inside. The inside has nice white walls, some comfy sofas, and corner tables. Your regular cafe, but I am lucky to have one two blocks away, so I order a smoothie, sit down at a table, and wait.

Chapter 4 “Hi,” I hear a voice behind me say, I flip my head around in alarm.

“Ow, sorry, just me,” says a girl who I guess was standing behind me. She is blonde with blue brown eyes and is wearing a pink top and jeans.

“Hi, my name is Lilyan, but my friend calls me Lilly,” she says in an energetic tone. “Or maybe they should call me Lil,” she says in an even more energetic voice. She starts talking again, but I cut her off.

“Hi, I am Jana,” I say, offering her my hand.

“I’m Lilly,” she says back.

“Yup, you already told me,” I say, slightly annoyed. Just then, a lady in a green apron comes up to the table and gives me my smoothie. I slip back into my seat and start drinking sips of it.

Lilly starts to talk again, “Hey, I was just going to ask you where you lived, I’ve never seen you before.”

“Oh, I just moved here,” I answer. I guess she really wants something to do because the next thing I know I am getting a tour of the whole town. Lilly half drags me out the door until I regain balance again. We walk side-by-side past apartments, stores, and other buildings. We walk past a huge building that has to be a school. It says, Community Middle, on it.

“And that’s the school you will be at when summer ends,” Lilly says excitedly. Then, we walk past a poster that grabs my attention. It is decorated with summer fun activities and has the words, “Bake Till You Drop On It.” “What’s that?” I ask Lilly.

“Oh, that’s just the summer baking competition,” she says doubtfully.

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“Amanda Green wins it every year.” Now she sounds sad, so I try to bring a bright side to it.

“Hey, what if we enter?” I suggest. “I am pretty good in the kitchen.”

“Maybe, what are you good at making?” she says a little more hopefully.

“Everything,” I reply. “Come over later today, and I will show you how good I am. My address is 8710 Farwell Drive.”

“I will be there,” she says in a confident voice.

Chapter 5 Ding Dong. The doorbell sounds throughout the house.

“Come in, Lilly,” I yell from the kitchen. Though there are moving boxes everywhere, I was able to find the ingredients I needed to bake my special muffins. Now, my muffins are cooling on the stove.

“Hi,” Lilly says, greeting me. “Whatever you made smells delicious,” she says, looking around.

“Thanks,” I say, “They’re muffins.”

“Yummy, muffins,” my brother, Danny, says running into the kitchen.

“Can I have one? Can I have one? Can I have one?” he keeps repeating.

“You can both have one,” I say to Lilly and Danny. They each grab a muffin from the cooling tray and dig in. As they inhale the muffins, I hear them say, “This is delicious,” and “Yummy,” between mouthfuls. They finish the whole tray.

“With muffins like that, we could win,” Lilly says, overjoyed.

“Just wait until you taste her triple sweet cream cheese carrot cake, or the TS triple C for short,” Danny says, looking mesmerized.

“If it’s better than the muffins, then we should totally make it for the competition,” says Lilly. “If you still want to enter, that is.”

“Of course I want to enter,” I say overjoyed.

Chapter 6 Lilly has been over for the last four hours helping me perfect my carrot cake recipe. We changed one-third of a cup to half a cup and three tablespoons to two as well as some other changes. Right now, Lilly and I are staring at the cake while it bakes. Only thirty more seconds until it is done.

DING, my timer goes off.

“It’s done,” Lilly says, half anxious, half excited. I carefully move the hot pan to the stove and let it cool. My frosting is out and ready to go. As we wait for the cake to cool, we talk about the competition. It’s next week at Joey Park.

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My mom signed me and Lilly up with the online form this morning. Amber Green and Lucy Conwell have won for the last three years. But too bad for them because Lilly and I decided we are going to beat them. Now, the cake is cool enough to take out of the pan, so I do just that. As it sits on the cooling rack, I begin frosting the cake, and then I sprinkle carrot shreds onto it.

“Done,” I say, confident that my cake will be delicious. Lilly and I both grab a piece and dig in. I was stunned. “This is the best cake I’ve ever made,” I say with enough joy to power a whole town. After Lilly leaves, I put the recipe in my lock box. I can’t wait for the competition.

Chapter 7 The next morning, I go to Lilly’s house. We have to go meet the other competitors. We walk down the street to get to Joey Park. We have to bring the recipe to show the people who get all the ingredients for the show. When we get there, a group of about twenty people are there. If there are groups of two, that means we are going against ten other teams. I show the helpers the list. As they look over it, the girl who must be Amanda comes up to me.

She peeks over my shoulder and looks at the recipe before I can stop her.

Her face looks astonished as she reads it.

“That would make the perfect carrot cake,’’ she says to me. Without hesitation she asks, “Want to team up?”

“Thanks, but no thanks,” I say as I hand the recipe to the helper, turn around, and walk away.

Lilly and I headed back to her house to hang out, and I told her all about what just happened. But about three hours after we arrived back at Lilly’s, we got a call.

Chapter 8 “Hello, is this Lilly?” a voice on the other end says.

“Yes, this is Lilly,” Lilly says into her phone.

“I’m so sorry to tell you this, but as we were retrieving the ingredients for your cake, your recipe was lost.” Lilly and I both gasp.

“Lost?” Lilly says to herself, not believing what the lady said.

“Yes, everything was in Mrs. Green’s bag, and then your list disappeared.

I am very sorry, girls.”

And with that, she hangs up. Lilly and I are still in disbelief.

“Mrs. Green, is that Amanda’s mom?” Lilly says, “Do you think Amanda took it, so she wouldn’t lose?”

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“Maybe,” I say, angry that she probably did. We still had a recipe as I took a picture of it earlier. Lilly calls the lady back and reads off the list to her, but the bad thing is that Amanda now has the same recipe.

“I guess we’ll just have to see what she does with it,” I say, defeated.

Chapter 9 Lilly and I can’t stop thinking about what Amanda will do with the recipe.

Try to pass it off as her own? Sell it for money? The possibilities are limitless.

But we need to start focusing on the competition tomorrow. Lilly and I have been in my room for the past few hours, doing nothing, and saying nothing.

Just thinking. We are brought out of our daydreams by my mom.

“Jana, Lilly, come down for lunch.”

“OK,” I yell down the stairs. Lunch is turkey sandwiches and pears. We go and sit at the counter and start eating. But she seems to notice something.

“You guys OK?”she says in her almost worried tone.

“Never better,” I say not too convincingly.

“I think you are worried about the competition. You guys will do just fine.”

“Thanks,” I say. Lilly and I are a little less worried knowing that Amanda can’t do too much damage with the recipe. We just have to be ready.

Chapter 10 All the hard work has led up to this day. Winning this competition has been my dream since three days ago. Though, it feels like it has been a lifetime.

Lilly and I rub our hands together as we walk to the park. It’s not cold; it’s actually warm outside. It’s just the nerves. The park has fold-out tables set up in a big circle. Each table has a name on it along with the ingredients that the team asked for. Lilly and I find the table with our names and sit down, waiting for the opening speech.

“Hello, my name is Claire Everstone. Welcome to this year’s baking challenge. As most of you know, I founded this challenge many summers ago. I wish you all the best. You may start at the buzzer,” says a woman talking through a speaker. BUZZZZZZZZZZZZ, a loud sound bursts out of the speaker. Everybody is grabbing ingredients, including Lilly, so I do the same. We get out the flour, milk, and salt, and start mixing. Next is the eggs and baking soda. And it goes on, me grabbing one thing, Lilly grabbing another until the batter was done. We put the cake in one of the ovens next to the judging stand. Then, we walk back to the table and wait. It’s about twenty-five minutes later, and the cake is ready to come out. I slowly remove

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the cake pan. OMG, it is the most perfect cake I have ever made. Lilly and I carefully layer the frosting on the cake and then top it off with little carrots I made out of sugar. The cake is PERFECT. It sits on the presenting dish as Lilly and I sit nervously.

Chapter 11 The judges are starting to come around. I can see them at the first table. I turn around to look at Amanda’s cake. It is pink in the shape of a heart. Then, just when the judges leave, she starts walking over.

“I really thought I could trip you up if I took the recipe. I guess you had a picture,” she says smugly. “But I don’t need your recipe to win. My cake is better than ever.”

“Well, better than ever is not going to be good enough because this year we are going to win,” Lilly says, almost angry.

“Just leave us alone,” I say. Amanda walks away, and just in time, because the judges are walking toward our table. They stand in front of the cake and stare at it. Then, the judge on the right grabs a knife and cuts it. The judges eat the cake as Lilly and I sit in anticipation. Just as quickly as they came, they stand up and move to the next table. Both Lilly and I can’t say a word.

We just sit there and watch the judges. After ten long, long, long minutes later, they head back to their table and start talking to each other. Then, after five of the longest minutes of my life, they stand up and walk toward the center of the tables. Then, a loud voice comes over the loudspeaker.

“I want to thank each and everyone of you for entering this year’s baking contest. But there is a clear winner among us, so if you would please join me in congratulating JANA AND LILLY.” Everybody falls silent.

“WE WON,” I shout. Just then, Lilly and I erupt like active volcanoes, jumping and screaming. This is truly the best summer ever.

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Alex Pototschnik Age 10

“I’m Inky. Want to Make a Deal?”

CONTENT WARNING: READER, PROCEED WITH CAUTION The following story is scary and suspenseful. It is not recommended for readers under ten or sensitive readers of any age.

“I dare you to go in there,” said Jack. We were standing in front of the old wooden cabin that was in front of the woods. No grass grew on the tiny front yard, and the house itself seemed to be being consumed by the twisted trees.

“Oh, come on!” I said, “You know that’s where the forest witch lives!” We both shuddered at the idea.

“I heard she eats little kids for breakfast—and adults for lunch!”Jack said.

He snickered.

“I didn’t think it was funny.”

“So are you going in there, or are you too chicken?” he said.

“I guess I’ll do it,” I responded. “Besides, I’m not scared of anything!” I lied.

I opened the rusty gate and stepped into the front yard. The sound of the creaking gate echoed through the empty neighborhood. I stepped up to the house. The wooden stairs creaked and cracked under my weight.

The dusty air of the front entrance blew into my face. I stepped onto the dust-covered red carpet on the floor. No furniture was inside the room. Just me. Wind blew against the small, old house and shook the windows all around me. The door slammed shut behind me. “Must’ve been the wind,” I muttered. I stepped over to the collapsed staircase leading upstairs. I started digging through the broken wood. I didn’t know what I was looking for.

Once I had moved all the fallen debris away, I started to think maybe being at this house wasn’t such a bad thing after all. There, at the center of the space I had cleared out, was a yellowed piece of paper. Written on the back in red ink were the words, “DRAWING PAPER.” I stuffed the piece of paper in my pocket and rode my bike over to my house.

When I got home, about five minutes later, I went straight up to my room and started drawing.

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I was so focused on my drawing, I didn’t realize it had become dark outside. I ended up falling asleep in my chair, excited to finish my drawing the next day.

When I woke up the next morning, I grabbed my pencil and began to finish the stickman I was drawing. I was going to give it a weapon and make it fight other stickmen, but as soon as I was done with the final part of it, I noticed something wrong. The stickman’s hand was reaching out, as if to shake my hand. Written in the top left corner of the page were the words, “I’m Inky. Want to make a deal?”

I stepped back. How did the stickman move? Was it alive? I stopped at the back of my room, as five black fingers grabbed the edge of the paper, pulling something out into the real world. As the stickman slowly rose out of the paper, I noticed something odd. The smile on its round head wasn’t like how I drew it. This smile was twisted and evil. Something was wrong.

Something was very wrong. The stickman reached its arm out closer to me.

I didn’t know why, but I stepped closer. “I’m Inky,” it said. “Do you want to make a deal or not?”

A shiver ran down my back. “What kind of deal?” I asked.

“A good one,” Inky said, “You give me fresh meat every day, and in turn, I won’t enter your world. So is it a deal?”

I thought for a moment, What did Inky mean he wouldn’t come into our world?

“The clock is ticking!” Inky snarled.

I reached out my hand to Inky’s. “It’s a deal,” I said.

The next day, I hid Inky in my backpack to take to my big, concrete box of a school. Honestly, the thing looked more like a prison than a place of education. But I had an idea. I was going to give Inky all the bullies at school. I figured that should satisfy him. I stepped into the building and took out the piece of paper. It was wet as if Inky was drooling. I placed Inky in my locker and went to class. I was going to let Inky out after school. Nobody would see the giant, evil stickman if they all went home.

Once my class was over, I went to check on Inky. When I got to my short, rusting locker, I was slightly confused. A whole crowd of people were standing in front of it. My heart began to race. What had Inky done? I pushed past the people and gasped. The open door to my locker was covered in scratch marks, and leading up to it was a trail of torn up clothes. But that didn’t seem to be what people were staring at. I looked up and saw what got everyone’s attention. It wasn’t the scratch marks or the trail of ripped clothes. No. What they were staring at was the writing on my locker. The dripping ink writing that said: “I’m still hungry.”

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I ran out of the building. Nobody saw. They were too busy staring at what Inky had done. I had to find Inky. Who knows what Inky could do now that he escaped? I had to stop him before he ate more kids. But I knew I didn’t want to. I remembered the deal. It scared me to think about what he meant by “come into our world.”

I ran as fast as I could over to Jack’s house. With Inky loose, no one was safe. When I got to the door, I pressed my ear against the tall, black oakwood door. Screams. I could hear Jack screaming. I opened the door and ran inside, not knowing what was about to happen.

I ran into the basement to find . . . nothing. Nothing except for a blank piece of paper lying on the gray, carpeted floor. Jack’s dog seemed terrified of it, keeping at least a five foot distance between it and the paper. But that wasn’t what scared me. Because sitting on a chair that looked like it was made for kindergarteners was Inky. With Jack next to him. “Have you heard of my new friend Inky?” Jack said. “He’s hilarious!”

Inky’s smile grew wide as he mouthed the word, “Food,” to me. Inky opened his mouth wider to reveal thousands of tiny, razor teeth as he turned toward Jack. Inky was baiting Jack, getting Jack to trust him, so he could eat him. I knew his tricks. I had to stop him before he had a chance to strike.

I had to. If I didn’t, then . . . I didn’t wait to find out. I grabbed Jack by the arm, ignoring his pleas to stay with his “best friend.” We had to get out. I was running so fast that I didn’t see Inky’s soulless, black eyes staring right through me. Inky was mad. This wasn’t good. This wasn’t good at all.

It was only when we ran out of the house that Jack snapped out of it. “I don’t ever want to go back down there,” he said, “Something’s down there. I don’t remember what, but something’s down there. And it wants to get me.”

We started to run faster as we heard a terrifying howl.

Echoing through the neighborhood was a voice, a loud angry voice screaming, “I can heeeaar you!!! You sound delicious!!” Just then, we realized what happened. It had gotten Jack’s dog. It ate it. Swallowed it whole. And now he was coming for us. So we ran. Faster than we ever had before. And we didn’t look back. “Waaant to play hiide aaand seek? I’ll seek!” the scratchy voice echoed across the neighborhood.

We got to my house and stopped. We needed a plan. As we walked into the house to make a plan, we heard something. An inhuman scratching on the road. And it was coming closer. And closer. And closer. Until it was right next to our house. We slammed the door shut and locked it. I knew that wouldn’t keep Inky out for long, so we had to do this fast. Slowly, we crept upstairs, trying not to alert Inky of our presence inside the house. When we

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made it up to my room, there was already a light scratching sound as if a wolf were trying to get in.

My room wasn’t very big. But it was big enough for my desk, which was about the only piece of furniture in my room other than my bed. In the corner, there was a stack of video games and all over the floor were drawings.

Everywhere. Not a single inch of my room wasn’t covered in drawings or art supplies. I know it’s impossible to have an infinity of anything, but if I had to guess I’d say the amount of drawings there would get pretty close.

The light scratching turned into knocking, which turned into banging.

Before, I would’ve thought that the FBI was trying to get in. But this was now. I had to concentrate.

I don’t usually get good ideas. I’m not the smartest person on Earth, so I don’t always have the best ideas, especially when a living stickman is pounding on my door like rain on a roof. Good thing Jack was there. We stepped into the middle of the cramped room, which wasn’t hard to do considering the room was probably a tighter fit than the space underneath my bed, and the free space that was left was covered with stacks and stacks of drawings, leaving a space no bigger than a postage stamp. The old wooden floor groaned in protest as we walked to the endangered species of free space in my room.

As soon as we sat down, Jack had an idea.

“If paper burns, and Inky is like living paper, how about we burn him?”

Good thing I’m friends with Jack. He’s a person who frequently gets good ideas. There was just one problem. We didn’t have anything to burn Inky with. There were no lighters or matches in my house. At least—not that I knew of. The heavy banging on my door, despite the fact that it was probably the loudest thing on Earth right now, kept getting louder and louder. I was honestly still surprised the door was still on its hinges. We had to find something fast. Inky was about to get in. He may be like living paper, but he is strong. I did not want to encounter him in my tiny, cramped room. He would have us cornered.

We searched for about an hour for anything flammable. Inky gave up on trying to get in by now, but just to be sure, every ten minutes we would make sure the door was locked. Eventually, we found something. It was in a secret cabinet in my basement that I didn’t even know existed. You learn something new every day, I guess. We went outside to find Inky, but he was gone. What would we do now? Inky had escaped once again. But had he, though? Or was he just trying to sneak up on us, so he could eat us without a struggle. I didn’t want to find out, so we went back inside to find Inky some other time.

We went back into my room. Once again, the floorboards creaked under-

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neath us. We sat down on the floor and said nothing. Inky was still out there.

We needed to do something. Just as I thought this, something splashed onto my forehead. Ink. I looked up and saw a stickman hanging from the ceiling, scratches running from the ceiling, all the way to the floor.

Inky jumped down, and opened his mouth, which ran all the way from the bottom of his face to his 2-D waist. Thousands of hands, wearing old-fashioned clothes, reached out of Inky’s mouth. It seemed Inky was growing more and more teeth by the second. “Found you,” Inky said right before all the people in his mouth started screaming. Thousands of people, who looked like they were from the 1600s, stared back at me, their mouths frozen open in a look of terror. “Did you really think you could avoid the curse?! I always get my targets!”

My heart was racing a million miles per second. “What curse?” I asked.

“The curse of the forest witch. Long ago, I was cursed by the witch. She was very powerful, and was even able to turn people, even beings of pure terror, into inanimmate objects. So that’s what she did. She turned me into a piece of paper. Over time, I grew used to the silence. For years, I slept in peace. Until you gave me this pathetic, mortal form. I was once a powerful force, feared across the land. But you woke me up. You brought a being of pure suffering into this mortal world and now you will pay with your life,” Inky opened his mouth wider, revealing hundreds more terrified people, desperately trying to get out, “just like so many people before you have.”

Inky closed his mouth, but the deafening screaming coming from within still continued. I knew we wouldn’t be able to escape Inky this time. “You took the deal. You let me into your reality. You broke your promise. You lied.

You upset an ancient monster, and now it’s time to pay the price.” Inky continued, “You should know that about eldritch beings. We always get what we want, one way or another. This is what happens to liars.” Inky ripped open his face revealing even more huge, knife-like teeth, and eight red, tiny beady little eyes, “How would you like to be the newest addition to my collection?”

Halloween, 1754 The boy breathed heavily as he ran through the thick fog. He wasn’t supposed to be out this late, and now he could see why. The forest stretched on for miles. He was lost. The low growling got louder and closer until it was right behind him. He didn’t dare turn around. If the thing knew how terrified he was, it would be able to take his soul in a matter of seconds. He didn’t know if it was sent by the witch, or if it was something else, but he wasn’t going to find out. The warm breath against his neck continued as he franti-

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cally ran through the thick trees. It was following him. That wasn’t good. It meant it knew. It could smell his fear. He turned around for a brief second and saw a pale humanoid creature. It stood about fifteen feet tall and had several arms. There was a pair of four spider-like legs where the creature’s legs should’ve been. The boy couldn’t quite make out its face in the dense fog, but it appeared to be smiling. This wasn’t good. It definitely knew. The rhythmic clicking of its legs echoed through the seemingly endless woods.

That’s when he recognized it. It was the Collector. People all across his town, even other towns feared it. This was why there was a strict bedtime, and why no one built their house near the woods. No one could mention its true name, which the boy didn’t even know. This was bad. This was really bad.

He stared up at the huge, unmoving entity, frozen in fright. He could barely even blink. His eyes kept going straight up to the things head, which he could see clearly now. It had eight eyes, each one of them red and tiny.

Even in the darkness, they were as clear as they would be if it was day.

And the teeth. Hundreds of sharp, tiny teeth. Even the witch feared it for a reason. The Collector reached down its bony hand and grabbed the boy. It opened its face wide to reveal its “collection”—thousands of people dead and alive, from the past to the present, except . . . there was a spot missing.

One of them was gone.

“You’ll be an excellent addition to my collection,” it said before placing the boy, ever so carefully, into the empty slot in its mouth. One last time, the boy looked out into the fog-covered forest, and soon all he saw was darkness as the Collector’s mouth closed in front of him.

Present Day Hundreds of clawed hands reached out of Inky’s mouth and grabbed me. I tried to squirm free, but I couldn’t. The hands were too strong. The hands were strong despite being incredibly bony and thin. They didn’t want to let go. They wanted me to stay with them forever in Inky’s twisted collection of human souls. Slowly, I was pulled closer and closer to Inky’s gaping mouth.

The sharp claws scratched at my skin and grabbed everywhere as they pulled my wriggling body toward the razor blade-like teeth.

I was inches away now. I felt Inky’s hot breath against my skin, and I closed my eyes. He was going to get me. I was going to join the rest of the people in Inky’s mouth, screaming and trying desperately to get out of his collection for the rest of eternity. This would be my life now. I screamed. If Inky didn’t eat me, I would be trapped. Forever.

Suddenly, I heard a scream of pain and dropped to the ground. I opened

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my eyes. A stream of ink burst out of Inky’s many arms. Jack stood there holding an ink-covered weapon. “Quickly, run! While he’s distracted!” Jack shouted. We burst through my bedroom door and ran down the hallway. “You can’t hide!! I can smell you!” Inky screeched furiously. The blood-curdling screech echoed down the hallway. We ran down the stairs and out the door.

I heard fast footsteps all throughout the house, coming toward the door.

Inky crashed through the door and came outside. We slowly backed up as the monster came closer to us. It looked like Inky had grown even more arms than he had originally. Instead of legs, his long, lanky arms somehow held him up, and let him crawl across the floor like a spider. Jack’s hand was trembling as he raised his hand to point the knife at Inky. Inky grabbed it and held it up to us. “I’m going to make you pay, foolish boy!” he shrieked.

We backed away slowly. More hands popped out of Inky’s mouth, all of which held weapons. We had nothing. We backed up slowly, looking for any means to defend ourselves from the eldritch stickman demon walking toward us. We were close to falling off the porch when I tripped over something and fell into the bushes. It was a water gun. I knew it probably wouldn’t do anything against an eldritch being like Inky, but it was worth a shot. Besides, what other choice did I have? If I ran, Inky would find me again, and if I chose to fight without it, I would get eaten. This was the only weapon I had. I climbed out of the bush and aimed the water gun at Inky’s face and shot a stream of water directly into his eye.

I watched as a stream of Ink melted off his hand drawn face. Inky shrieked in pain as all of his hundreds of arms reached up to grab his melting eye.

Inky backed up. “Curse this pathetic mortal body!” he screamed. I shot more water at Inky. Another shriek of pain. Eventually, I cornered Inky in my room.

Inky backed up, his melting body dripping with water. He opened his mouth in a desperate attempt to make me stop. His teeth grew long and needle-like, and he lunged at me, his jaw unhinged like a snake’s.

I quickly jumped out of the way as Inky crashed to the floor. I was scared.

My water gun was empty. I was defenseless again. Inky started to get to his feet, but when he tried to step forward, his foot was stuck inside one of the pieces of paper! “No!” Inky screeched, louder than he had before. He tried to grab at my legs, trying to pull me into the paper as well, but it was no use.

Soon all that was left of Inky was a small piece of paper with a drawing of an angry looking stickman on it. I had won. I had beaten Inky.

One Month Later . . .

I was sitting at my desk, wasting my summer vacation by drawing. It was getting late. As I turned off my light and got in bed, I heard a slight scratching

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sound coming from within my closet. I decided to ignore it, but it continued, getting louder and louder until the sound overwhelmed me. Carefully, I stepped over the mountains of drawings on my floor, the floorboards creaking beneath me. When I opened my closet door, I saw nothing. Nothing but the locked box I kept Inky trapped inside. I stuck my head further into the dark closet to get a closer look and thought I saw a shadowy shape in the corner.

I turned on the light to see what was there and screamed. On the floor was a puddle of ink, and an angry stickman limping toward me. It showed off its knife shaped teeth and grinned as the three most chilling words on Earth came out of its wide, horrifying mouth. “Reeemember the Deeeal?”

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Griffin Pototschnik Age 10

War of the Tots On a totally normal day, Ugly Potato Stinklefink was farming some potatoes.

He always did this on the third week of every month. He would water them every week and give them plenty of sunlight. Then, he would sit in his house and wash his tentacles. This was what he was doing on the day his life changed forever. The doorbell rang. This was very unusual since he lived in the middle of nowhere, and he was very ugly. He went to open the door and found a package. He opened it and inside was some growth spray for . . .

POTATOES! Ugly Potato Stinklefink instantly ran straight for his twenty mile garden and sprayed his 17,876,122 potatoes with the spray. He waited the whole day to see if anything would happen. Eventually, he fell asleep outside.

He woke up to a huge roar. There was a giant monster made up of a lot of potatoes standing right over him. He quickly ran back into his house and got some weed killer. He sprayed it on the monster, and it started shrieking in pain. Stinklefink ran away toward a village forty miles west of there. Along the way, he found a lot of TNT (don’t ask me why), so he exploded holes in case the monster came back. Eventually, he could see the village and was so happy. As he came closer though, he could see that there was no activity going around outside. There was no one outside. He was confused about this because everytime he walked here to buy his potato seeds, everyone would be out in the streets. He walked into one of the houses, and it was completely empty except for a note. It read: “To anyone who has come to find us (or buy potato seeds), we have left for an island called Massacre Island. They have a lot of Jolly Ranchers there, and Sour Patch Kids who go to the schools. We just thought it was a much better place to live than this place.” Ugly P was so sad. He came to this village every day to buy 5,998 potato seeds, but now they were all gone. He could hear the potato monster coming closer and closer.

He could hear its giant footsteps stomping on the trees coming closer and closer. Then, he heard an explosion. It must have been one of the TNT sticks . . . but why would it have gone off so late? Ugly P looked over his shoulder.

All of a sudden, his face and neck felt heavy almost like he was balancing a five hundred pound weight on his nose. It was hard to breathe, and every

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time he tried, his lungs would fill up with some chemicals. He heard a snap and everything went black.

SOME TIME LATER The year was now %YRSI*TR. Ugly P woke up and opened his eyes as much as he could (which wasn’t very much) and could hear some doctors talking. “He has been in a coma for five years!” one of them said.

“I heard his face got crushed by a giant potato,” another said. Ugly P raised his head a bit. He could see a mirror in front of him. He looked at his face. HE WAS GORGEOUS. He had a huge chin that looked super manly and had flowing brown hair. He looked almost as beautiful as Squidward (if you know, you know). A doctor came rushing in.

“You have been in a coma for five years . . . World War 9999999999999999999999999999 just started, and this is the only hospital left on earth,” she said.

“Wow,” said Ugly P. “I missed that much in five years?”

“Nonono, since you have been living in the middle of nowhere, you had no idea what was happening because nobody informed you about it. WW 9999999999999999999999999998 ended just before you went into a coma.”

Ugly P was obviously shocked. He got up and looked out the window. He could see trees burning and craters everywhere and a bunch of . . . tater tots?

There were a bunch of tots holding weapons. “Oh and by the way,” said the doctor, “You were drafted into the war, and you have to go to military base 5061 tomorrow.”

“Wait what?” said Ugly P. He was terrified. He didn’t know how to fight!

“Why don’t you sleep?” said the doctor, “You’re going to have to fight tomorrow.”

TOMORROW Ugly P woke up early to go to the military base. He drove to it in an army Jeep and slept a bit more on the drive. When he got there, a man with a mustache the size of a ninja turtle was standing over him. “Welcome to the war,” he said. Ugly P shivered. He was getting some creepy vibes from that dude. Ugly P got out of the Jeep. Mustache Man led him to the battlefield. “Go out there and get some tots!” said Mustache Man. “I don’t have a weapon or anything though,” said Ugly P. “You’ll figure it out.” Mustache Man said while pushing Ugly P onto the battlefield.

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Ugly P ran to the other side’s base. It was so weird seeing a bunch of tater tots running around with weapons. Ugly P was watching some of the tater tots when someone hit him in the leg.

His leg started bleeding. He was scared. His leg didn’t hurt, but in any second, his brain would send the signal to his leg that he was in a lot of pain. Ugly P waited for that to happen, but it never did. His leg never hurt.

He felt fine. He felt the part that was bleeding. He could feel a plastic thing in his pocket. He took it out and saw that it was a ketchup packet with a bullet-sized hole in it. His Lucky Ketchup Packet!!!!!!!!! Then, he got a great idea. He could put ketchup on his enemies (the tater tots), and he could eat them! Ugly P got up. He started running to all the tots and putting ketchup on them. Then, he started eating all of them. “NANIII?!!” said the head captain, leader tater tot thingamabob (the leader of the taters). Ugly P looked behind him and could see the biggest tater tot ever. It looked delicious. Ugly P’s mouth started to water. Ugly P walked up to the leader of the taters and started putting ketchup all over him. “WHOOO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE PUTTING KETCHUP ALL OVER ME?” Ugly P ignored this and continued putting ketchup on him. “ENOUGH,” said the leader of the taters. He pushed Ugly P off of him and whipped out a staff with a tater tot on it. He pointed it at Ugly P and said, “summon the ancient Tater Tot.”” Suddenly, a giant tater tot monster with sharp teeth came out of the ground. “IWILLDESTROYUGLYP,” it said. Ugly P was terrified but also wanted to eat it. Everyone started attacking the monster, but the bullets just bounced off it. Ugly P ran for his life, but the monster grabbed him. The monster put Ugly P right above his mouth and dropped him.

Ugly P fell for a while. When he finally hit the ground, his leg hurt so bad.

He must’ve broken them! But it felt like a bunch of sharp pieces were poking out of his leg. He felt around where it hurt the most and could feel his phone. He reached in his pocket and found his phone, but the screen was completely broken. His phone must have broken, and that’s why his leg hurt.

But he didn’t care about that anymore. He was trying to look for a way out of there. But he was amazed at where he was. He was in a giant tunnel made entirely of tater tots! To Ugly P, this was a dream come true. He quickly checked his pockets to see if he had any more ketchup packets and sure enough, he had twelve ketchup packets. According to Ugly P’s calculations, that would be exactly enough to eat his way through, so he put some ketchup on the wall of the tunnel and started eating. Hours later, he came outside.

He was high up in the sky and was peeking out of the potato monster! It didn’t seem to notice him, so he jumped onto the foot of it. The monster

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didn’t seem to notice that either, so he started eating the foot. Eventually, he ate off the toes of the monster, and it fell. The monster exploded into a bunch of little tots.

Ugly P had won the war.

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J’rick Osborne Age 13

Mr. Funwob Mr. Funwob lives where? In a far galaxy on the planet named Slytolot.

Mr. Funwob lives with who? He lives in a dorm with other Animalesepulon.

What does Mr. Funwob look like? An Animalesepulon looks like a half man/half animal. He has the strength of wolves and is six to seven feet tall.

On a sunny day, Mr. Funwob was on a walk just saying hi to his neighbors. He got news that his friend got captured by a bad guy. He tried to get in with his car to get into the bad guy’s base, but he couldn’t find a way to get in the bad guy base. Then, his other friend got captured by the bad guy.

Then, Mr. Funwob found a way in the vent and snuck past the guards, and then he defeated the bad guy with his fighting skills. After that, he saved his friend. They got ice-cream after. Then, on planet Earth, Mr. Funwob was having a nice day.

Part 2 There was a twist after Mr. Funwob and his two friends put the villain in jail.

The villain escaped jail and was planning to capture Mr. Funwob and his friends, but the three heard this. Then, the villain had to fight all three but was overpowered, and then he was sent to a prison that he couldn’t escape.

One day, Mr. Funwob and his friends went on a flight to a vacation in Hawaii.

They were playing beach ball until a giant crab king appeared, and crabs attacked the three heroes. But they luckily took the small crabs easily and had a big fight with the big crab. The three easily defended themselves from the crab king and then went to get shaved ice.

Then, after traveling back from Hawaii on their private jet, a super villain called Twister came and tried to squeeze the three heroes, but they freed themselves and had an epic battle. What was going on in the air and in the private jet was that the jet was on autopilot, but a storm formed, and it made the plane crash along with Twister, Mr. Funwob, Shark Man, and Fox Man. Eventually, they defeated the super villain and got rescued from the island and had a fish dinner and took the super villain to jail in the end.

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In space, some aliens plan to blow up the earth, but luckily Mr. Funwob heard what they said. He asked his friend to join him to save Earth from blowing up, so the three went without space suits. They had powers to fly and breathe in space. They had to leave the galaxy and find where Mr. Funwob heard their plan, so it took two hours to find the aliens. Out of nowhere, the three are abducted into the alien spaceship. Then, the two aliens and the three had a battle, but Mr. Funwob and his friends win, and they tie up the aliens.

One day, Mr. Funwob and his friends Shark Man and Fox Man were just eating noodles at a noodle place when a giant rat started attacking them. A fight started, but the three only used chopsticks and won the battle and then threw the giant rat in jail. Afterwards, they finally finished their noodles and went for some Japanese ice cream.

One day, the president of the world said that all fuel will be replaced with rocket fuel, but then chaos occurred across the world, and everyone was panicking. If all fuel was replaced with rocket fuel, everything would go fast, and if someone lit a stove, it would burn down, but the three stopped the president and changed the fuel back into regular fuel.

Mr. Funwob and friends landed on Mars, but then an army of Martians started to attack the three. They easily defeated them, but a giant asteroid crashed on the surface of Mars. The toxic gas came out of the asteroid. The three heroes had to escape Mars, so they went back to their planet.

In England, the three friends were having some morning tea, but an evil British guy attacked them, but they said, “Can you give us a moment to finish our morning tea?” After tea, they said, “Now we can fight.” In the fight, Shark Man gave the evil British guy some sleeping tea, and the villain fell asleep. Afterwards, they bought some biscuits and left the tea shop.

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Clyde Musehl Age 11

Zombies CONTENT WARNING: READER, PROCEED WITH CAUTION The following story is scary and suspenseful. It is not recommended for readers under ten or sensitive readers of any age.

Once upon a time, Jerry was sitting on a chair in his house when he heard a knock on the door, so he went to see who it was. When he opened the door, there was a zombie. Jerry slammed the door shut and then went to look for a chainsaw.

Jerry found a chainsaw and opened the door. Then, he attacked the zombie! “I don’t like zombies,” said Jerry. Then, Jerry heard a knock on the door, so he went to see who it was. When he opened the door, there were a hundred zombies!

One of the zombies ate his chainsaw! And then, Ryan came out of Jerry’s house and said, “Y’all zombies are stupid,” and all the zombies died. But then Ryan said, “jsdgcnuasgcfkasfjagfnaevfnjadfvgnaifga,” and disappeared.

Jerry wanted to know where the zombies came from, so he called his dragon. The dragon’s name was Pillow. When Pillow heard Jerry call, he came very fast. Jerry said, “Hi, Pillow. Let’s find out where the zombies came from!”

Jerry jumped on Pillow, and Pillow flew away! He flew to Zombie Rock where they met the Zombie Wizard. He said that he didn’t know anything about zombies, and people just call him the Zombie Wizard because he lives at Zombie Rock. SO, Jerry and Pillow left, but just after they left, the Zombie Wizard turned into a buff zombie. “Mwahahaha!” he cackled.

Jerry and Pillow went back home, “Who else knows about zombies?” Just then, an explosion happened outside, so he went to see what it was. When he looked out, he saw a zombocopter flying away. Jerry phoned his friend Tarry and told him to bring his helicopter.

Jerry and​​Tarry chased the zombocopter all the way to Zombie Rock.

“Zombie rock? I thought the Zombie Wizard didn’t know about zombies,” said Jerry.

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“Maybe he was lying,” said Tarry. At Zombie Rock, they met a big buff zombie.

“Who is that?!” said Tarry.

“Mwahahaha, I am the Zombie Wizard, and I know EVERYTHING about zombies.”

“Oh gee, I’m so scared,” Jerry said sarcastically.

“AAAAA I’M SCARED TOO!” said Tarry.

“Hey, uh, Tarry?”

“Yeah?”

“I was being sarcastic.”

“Oh.” The Zombie Wizard ran at them screaming. Jerry and Tarry jumped on to his head! “Hey, where did they go?” said the Zombie Wizard. Jerry and Tarry started to stomp around on the Zombie Wizard’s head. “Ow ow ow!” said the Zombie Wizard, and then he fell on his face!

“Hooraaaaaay!” said Jerry and Tarry. Then, they dragged the Zombie Wizard into a cave and blocked the entrance of the cave with a big boulder.

“I think that was the last time we will see a zombie!” said Jerry.

The End! ***

Rise of the Cheese Once upon a time, a guy went to his fridge to get some cheese, but when he went to get it, it wasn’t there! Then, the guy heard someone say, “YAAAAA,” and then he was dead!

People started to wonder where the guy went after a few weeks, so one day they went into his house and found a bunch of cheese jumping around on a skeleton.

“Oh, so that’s where he went. AAAAAAAA,” and they all ran out.

They told the cops, but the cops said, “Y’all are stupid. Everyone knows that cheese can’t murder.”

The cops finally thought that it was real after they got seventeen reports of murderous cheese. The cops phoned the president of the USA and told him to ban cheese, but that just made the cheeses mad! The cheeses stole a

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car and glued one hundred spikes to the front and started purposely ramming into things!

After a few years, the world was a horrible place, more horrible than Mercury. People were punished if they did not treat the cheese with respect.

One day, a guy tried to eat some of the cheese people, but the cheese guy climbed out of his mouth.

After many more years (4,082), a guy heard some cheese saying that their weakness was cottage cheese, but cottage cheese is so gross that the guy didn’t bother to tell anyone. A few days after that, a guy spilled some cottage cheese on a cheese person, and the cheese person melted away. “Ooh,” said the guy. A day after that, the guy told everyone that cottage cheese melts the cheese people. Nobody cared though because cottage cheese is too gross to do anything with, not even stop the cheese people.

But one day, a guy said, “I don’t care how gross cottage cheese is, I’m going to stop the cheese people.” So he did, and all the cheese people melted away! But then, the cottage cheese grew into a monster! None of the people were surprised by this because it was so gross.

“RAR!” said the monster.

“AAAAAA!” said the people.

“Ra ra ra, me scaaaaary,” said the monster.

“AAAAAA!” said the people.

“Why are we just standing around screaming? We should be running,” said one of the people, so they all ran. But the cottage cheese followed them!

The monster ate a guy, and another, and another! Then, a guy threw a pizza at the monster, and it melted away.

“Yay,” said a guy.

“OH YEAH,” said a guy.

The End!

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Jessica Chen Age 8

Fancy the L.O.L. Doll This is my birthday present. It is the L.O.L. doll. It can color change when you put cold water on it. Her name is Fancy. She has pink hair. She has pink boots. She can also spit water. Fancy is a girl. She also has a pink dress. She got her own phone when she was six years old.

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Caroline Hutchinson Age 11

The Tale of Three Sisters and their Great Powers Introduction This is a tale of three sisters all with great powers. Those powers were drawn from three objects: one of opal, one of golden cloth, and one of silver. These objects were deeply wanted by the people of the lands. This came to the destruction of this land called Sisuwania.

Chapter 1: Amya Amya rushed through the rough branches of the pine trees that blocked her shed. She looked around, shocked, by the mess she had made. She was glad of the quietness of this area but not glad of the trouble at school. All she had wanted was fun, and school was, well, the opposite. She thought about it for a minute, stood up, and listened, and then suddenly ducked down.

Chapter 2: Niomi Niomi just finished putting on her tiara when the butler called her name.

“Niomi Lavender Crisis, the Second, are you done?” he called.

She screeched and fell over. Her tiara rolled off her head and shattered on the floor. “Are you OK, Niomi Lavender Crisis?” he whispered, not trying to frighten her again.

“Yes, I’m quite fine. By the way, would you stop calling me by my whole name? Niomi is just fine,” she said, partially annoyed.

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Hiromichi McDonald Age 7

REVENGE Chapter 1 When the dragon was born, the mom and dad were thinking of a name for the dragon. While they were thinking, an oil monster killed the mom and disappeared into thin air and left a clue. That clue was a map.

Chapter 2 That map led to the oil monster’s castle.

Then, the dad thought of a name. The name was Flame. A month later, it was Flame’s birthday. The dad gave him a fire crystal. The fire crystal has fire power. Meanwhile, at the oil monster’s castle, the oil monster was planning to steal the fire crystal to make more of him.

Chapter 3 The dragon was learning to fly with his dad in a tree. When he looked down, he saw Hamburger Man. Hamburger Man was hungry. He asked Flame to cook hamburgers. Flame cooked hamburgers with his fiery breath. When Hamburger Man was about to leave, he gave Flame a piece of fire crystal.

Chapter 4 When Flame was twenty-one, he planned to go to the oil monster’s castle.

First, Flame has to go to the land of one-thousand shadows. Then, he has to find the oil monster’s castle. When he was close to the land, it was raining shadows.

Chapter 5 When he was close to the land, it was raining shadows.

“Someone is coming.”

Then, Flame noticed that he was surrounded by oil monsters with weapons in their hands. The boss had one too. Flame was about to attack, he felt

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something in his hands. He looked and saw that he was connected to chains to a cell as dark as a bottomless well. Flame did not know how to get out of the cell until he noticed a lever. He pulled the lever down with his tail.

Then, his arms were free, but he was still in a cell. Flame was so angry that he melted the metal bars. Flame finally got to the oil monster’s door. The door was locked, but Flame could go through the door because the door is made of wood. Flame burned the door until it was a pile of ashes. Flame killed the oil monster with a fire slash.

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Ian Chung Age 13

What Could Go Wrong?

Bob was walking near Toast Avenue, New York, where he recently moved in, to honor his favorite food. Bob loved toast and ate it every single day, even when he had too much blood sugar. However, one day, Bob was walking near an alleyway when a stranger walked up to him and gave him a piece of green toast. He did not care as it was toast. After all, what could possibly happen?

When Bob traveled back to his house, the toast started to shake and glow.

“Must be the wind,” Bob stated. As he was walking to his golden toaster, the green toast started to flash and change color. “Must be the light,” Bob said again. When he took the toast and put it into the shining toaster, the toaster started vibrating and shaking uncontrollably. Bob ran out of excuses, so he just decided that he was tired. But when he powered the toaster, the lights in his kitchen flashed on and off. So he just waited. After five minutes, he heard the familiar ding sound of the toaster and grabbed a plate. He took a large bite and heard voices. He felt his eyelids blinking, and his stomach churning. He saw the secrets of the universe and felt his soul moving to a new plane of existence. Then, he fell unconscious. The voices in his head got louder, whispering truths and philosophies.

Bob woke up with a start. His hands were shaking, he was sweating, and he was seeing his life flash before his own eyes. He saw himself first trying toast, buying an entire shopping cart of pre-cooked bread, and winning the first place medal in the New York toast-eating contest. Then, he came back to his senses. “That was very strange.” It was the first time Bob slightly disliked his favorite source of carbohydrates. After what seemed like five hours to Bob, he sat up, stretched, and decided to go outside. But what really made Bob wake up was that everybody was staring at his wonderful new hairdo of white bread. He had replaced his hair with toast. Bob thought of the words he said earlier. What could possibly happen?

[End]

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Sean Chung Age 10

Into the Darkling Woods Introduction I, Severus Ulysses Secralius, was a happy snake. I hoped my life would be joyful, but my hopes were very limited. Soon, my life would change, but not quite.

Chapter 1: Captured “Be careful of the hawk, Severus.”

“I know, Mom, you told me a million times!” I replied. I headed off looking for somewhere to bask. My mom told me to come back in about thirty minutes, but us snakes don’t have watches like humans do, so I’ll travel back when I want to. But a few minutes later, I saw a bird soaring over me.

“That’s strange, birds don’t usually fly near the Orchard,” I muttered to myself, “except for hawks.” Then it hit me! The bird was a hawk! Flying toward my nest . . .

My mom told me hawks hunt snakes. I slithered toward my nest with all my speed. When I came back, it was far too late. My mom was struggling to avoid being captured, but the hawk took hold of my mom with their razor-sharp talons and flew away. I was devastated. What would I do?

Chapter 2: The Map The hawk headed northwest. I had to get the map that my mom found in a forest in Corian’s Land, which was infested with wolves. I went inside my nest and scavenged for the map. I searched under my bed, in cabinets, on bookshelves, but I found it in a sports magazine.

When I opened the map, I realized the hawk was taking my mom to Darkling Woods! I was worried, yet relieved, because the Darkling Woods houses a prison my mom told me about. In the Darkling Woods, random snakes are captured and kept in the prison. My grandfather was the only one to fully escape the prison and says that nobody other than him lived to tell the tale.

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He said that they make the snakes hunt food for the hawks. I was determined to save my mom, and maybe others if I had the time. First, I’d have to travel through Hen’s Teeth, cross the Burnt River to Umber’s Tears, and then finally cross the Great Salt River.

Chapter 3: The Unfortunate Climb I packed up the map and headed out to Hen’s Teeth. The hike across the mountain range was treacherous. Filled with landslides, avalanches, and worst of all, the mountain lions. I was about to reach the peak of the mountain when I saw two hawks.

“I told you it was dumb idea,” said one hawk.

“It’s not my fault you joined in,” the other hawk replied.

“Actually, you told me if it works, you would give me twenty bags of worms!”

“If it works . . . wait, what’s that?!”

“Where!?”

I’ve been spotted! I slithered across the mountain, trying to find a place to hide.

“Get it!” yelled one hawk as they swooped down and grabbed me by the neck.

“Maybe we’ll turn in this little worm, and they’ll let us in again.”

“You finally thought of something that would work.”

They prepared to bring me to the Darkling Forest, which gave me a brief moment of celebration, until I remembered my Grandfather’s words: “No one escapes the Darkling Forest alive.”

Chapter 4: Prisoner They brought me all the way to the prison and brought me to a steel door.

The door was huge, about twice the height of the hawks that brought me here, and it was guarded by two hawks. “Halt!” said one of the guards. They were both wearing helmets of what frighteningly looked like a snake’s skull.

“State your name and occupation.”

“Hey, Jimmy . . .”

“What?”

“Aren’t they the ones who tried to steal the royal fortune?”

“I think so. I’ve got a plan, I’ll do the talking.” The hawk who captured me cleared his throat, “I’m Joey, and I work for uhh, collecting wood?”

“Why are you here to speak to the king?”

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“We found a snake on Hen’s Teeth” he said as he held up the bag I was stuck in.

“You may pass,” the guard said while opening the door. When the two hawks and I (trapped in a bag) walked in, the guards whispered to each other.

“Why have you come to speak to me?” the king questioned my assailants.

“We have a snake for you!”

“We’ll take that,” said a guard as he snatched the bag from his hand.

“Now!” The door shuts with a big slam! The guard threw me aside. Guards surrounded the hawks with spears not afraid to jab. I took a chance and slithered into a crack in the wall.

“Throw them in the dungeons! And thanks for the present,” said the king. “That’ll teach you not to touch my treasure,” he said in a harsh voice.

“Get me the snake.”

“Your majesty, it’s gone.”

“It’s what!”

“It’s gone.”

“I heard you the first time,” he said angrily.

Chapter 5: Escape I found a path in the wall. Across the path, about half a dozen guards were sitting at a table. I slithered underneath the table. One hawk was talking to the hawk on his left. “Did you see the newcomer?”

“You mean those two hawks?”

“No, the old snake! She’s been begging and begging. It’s just so annoying; she keeps on blabbering about her son being left at home all alone. I feel so bad for her,” he said in a sarcastic voice.

“That must be my mom!” I almost shouted. I’d have to find a way to get to my mom. Then, I saw a small door open. A hawk with a chef hat came out with a food cart for the guards. I slithered to the room, and it was the kitchen. I looked around, and I saw another door, so I opened it. I gasped. I did not expect this many snakes in such a small room. It was a room where prisoners eat and rest. I had to find my mother. I looked around for a few minutes, and then I spotted my mother sitting in the corner, weeping.

“Mom!” Then, she saw me.

“Oh my, how did you get here?” I hugged her and told her the whole story, and now we had to find the way home. The way back home is a story for another time.

The End.

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Sanai Wooley Age 8

Delaures and the Secret “Mom, can I play soccer outside?” Delaures said.

Mom said, “Only if you stay where I can see you.”

Jamie came out to play too.

“Let’s play tag, OK?,” Jamie said.

As they got older, Jamie was good at tag. Everyday after school, Jamie ran fifty laps. It was different for Delaures. She asked her mom if she could take soccer practice after school. She was so excited because her mom said yes.

Delaures screamed at the top of her lungs.

The next day was Saturday, so that meant that Delaures and Jamie could practice all day and all night, and what I said is what they did. (OK, not all night but half). It was Sunday, so that meant that they had to study for the test tomorrow. It was Monday, and the test was right after lunch. The girls sat and talked to their friends and each other. After lunch, the teacher handed out the test paper, and they began taking their test. Delaures was a little nervous; she was sweating. Jamie took the test like it was nothing. Jamie loved math. Delaures, on the other hand . . .

Chapter 2: THE SECRET Jamie and Delaures woke up in the middle of the night. Jamie and Delaures are peeking out of their door.

Mom said, “We have to tell them.”

Dad said, “How do we tell them?”

Delaures and Jamie said, “What!” They dashed into their beds. Mom and Dad came into their room.

Mom said, “Did you hear that?”

“NO!” Dad screams.

“Shhh!” Mom said as their sleeping Jamie came down from her bed. They talked all night, thinking about all that, but thinking made them sleepy.

To be continued . . .

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A More Surprising World

Adam Cho Age 9

Squishy vs. His Bullies There once was a fish named Squishy. He liked to make friends, but he had bullies. They were a sea snake, a crab, and an eel. Their names were Tod, Tony, and Bob. Bob the snake liked to chase other fish. Tod the crab liked to attack fish, and Tony the eel liked to call fish names. But the fish they liked to bully most was Squishy. They bullied him by calling him names at the school playground. After a few years, Squishy grew older and braver. But his bullies got fiercer over the years, so he went to his mother for courage.

His mother gives Squishy courage.

“Think about your heart and how big it is,” she said. “It does not matter about the size of your body, it depends on your heart.”

Then, Squishy went for a swim. When his bullies saw him, they quickly hid. Then, when Squishy wasn’t looking, they jumped out and called Squishy names. But instead of crying, Squishy ignored his bullies, so they started to chase Squishy. Squishy swam and swam as fast as he could. Then, Squishy tried to tire them out by swimming around the coral reef. But it did not work.

While Squishy was getting tired, he found a clay pot, so he went into the clay pot, but the clay pot was almost full. So, he went as deep as he could into the clay pot. Then, his bullies crowded around the clay pot, so Squishy couldn’t get out to escape. Then, eight arms and a pair of eyes appeared in the clay pot. The bullies swam away with all their might. Squishy wanted to swim away, but he was frozen in fear. Just then, the clay pot was lifted by a hook from a helicopter. The pilots cried happily, “Yay, we caught a giant octopus!”

Then, the helicopter began to sway, and the pilots had trouble moving the helicopter. “Put the clay pot with the other stuff,” said the instructor.

But because of the strong wind, the helicopter swayed. When the pilot fell, Squishy jumped into his shirt.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” cried the pilot. He put his hand into his shirt and said, “I got you, fishy.” Then, the clay pot hit the wall and the octopus grabbed the pilot. Then, the helicopter flipped over and went into the ocean. The pilots were drowning! Squishy and the octopus were

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not drowning. They landed on the seafloor. They looked at each other, and Squishy asked, “Can we be friends?”

The octopus nodded his head.

“Yay,” Squishy said.

Then, the bullies came, but instead of calling Squishy names, they saw the octopus, blinked, and swam away.

“Swim away,” Squishy said. Squishy sat on one of the octopus’s tentacles.

“Let’s go,” Squishy said, and the octopus chased Squishy’s bullies.

“This is fun,” Squishy said.

THE END

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Magnus Ramone Age 14

Tale of the Desert Crossing The Desert was vast and ancient and filled with gods of Fire, Sand, and Air. The expanse of desert was so wide that you could travel for years without end, and many did. Life existed in the Desert, but it was sparse and thin, and there certainly was not enough food for sentient life to evolve. One day a hole was opened, and the gods of Water came through to rival the gods of the Desert.

They created humanity and the oases for them to live. To every Water god an oasis; to every oasis a Water god. Every thousand years, though, a human must cross the desert to the original water temple to claim another thousand years of water. This is one of many tales of The Desert Crossing.

The weather was torrid. Sand dunes in the far distance shimmered as if underwater. It was even hotter than usual in the desert.

Sadin called out, “Spirit, slow down! I am far too hot to keep on like this.”

“You’re quite lucky that we travel at night then,” responded Spirit.

A voice came from the back of the group.

“We aren’t all immortal like you!” Gecko said. “Just because you drank nothing but wind for one hundred years doesn’t mean we won’t succumb to heat stroke.”

Spirit thought about this for a minute and stopped on top of a sand dune, staring out into the distance.

“Do you see that house in the distance?” he queried. “A spirit must live there, or else we are near a town, and my magical eyes cannot see an oasis for miles.”

“Gecko should scout ahead while you stay with me then, Spirit.”

Gecko grumbled loudly about always being picked to investigate. However, he transformed into his true form (that of a spotted gecko) and headed off to the house to spy. As he was approaching, he saw a sign on the door that read, “Spider Sage of the Glittering Kingdom.” He thought Ah, then it is a sage who lives here, who must have mastered the art of living without water.

Thinking it was safe, he returned to normal and knocked on the door. A spindly, old man opened the door.

“Ah, a traveling monk,” he said, “I’m sure that you feel tired.” Gecko did feel tired.

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“I think I will sit down for a short while.” Gecko was really quite sleepy.

“I must be getting back to Sadin soon though.” He yawned and sat down into a hammock.

“I think . . . I’ll just . . .” he yawned again, “ . . . close my eyes a little while.”

Far away, Spirit was getting restless. He started to pace back and forth across the sand. Sadin continued to drone on and on.

“So, that’s why if I could eat only one food, it would be potatoes. They are nutritious and can be prepared in lots of ways and—” Spirit cut in.

“How long are we going to wait for that idiot? I bet that the homeowner offered him some food, and he is down there gorging himself with not a thought for you!”

“Calm down, I’m quite sure he is merely trying to negotiate a night’s stay.”

“I’m going to go check it out.” Spirit lifted off the ground and flew to the house. However, as he flew, a sandstorm picked and forced him into the ground. Sadin buckled down and covered his face with his desert cloth, hoping to wait the storm out. Spirit began to fear for Sadin and even Gecko; this sandstorm had come too fast, too suddenly. This was a demon storm.

Soon, the storm cleared up, and Spirit flew up to the clouds and looked around. The house was gone, and so was Sadin. This was bad. Very bad.

“If I remember correctly, there is a city just ahead. Now that Sadin isn’t slowing me down, I can make it there.” He flew off at top speed arriving at Golden River Oasis within the minute. He set down and stood by the river, scooping up a handful of sand. He bowed to the river and threw the sand in.

“Hey, Golden River Spirit, get out here!” As they say this, they remove their traveling form and put on their true form. Away with the skin, hair, and bones, in with the form of purest water. Out of the human-like shape, in with one more like an ape. Rising out of the river came what appeared to a human made of glowing liquid.

“Who dares summon me so rudely!” The figure looked down and saw Spirit. “Oh Sands, I’m so—” The blow came like lightning. The Spirit of the Golden River was flung a distance into the desert. He got to his knees but did not get up. Instead, he started bowing profusely and spoke.

“My deepest apologies. I did not know it was you. Please spare me. I did not know you were freed,” Spirit approached and squatted down and pulled the Golden River Spirit to his feet.

“I may choose to spare you if you will give me the information I need, Golden,” he spat, “now, are there any demons in the area that you know of?”

“Y-Yes, there is the Golden Weaver outside of the town. He’s been giving us a bit of trouble.” Spirit was furious.

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“I ought to report you to the King for negligence. However, I don’t have the time for this, so I’m just going to ask you this: Where is the Golden Weaver?”

“A few miles north of here. He lives in the Under Earth Oasis. You can find it under a lone tree in the desert.” Upon hearing this, Spirit left. Behind him, Golden brushed himself off and shakily walked back to his river.

Deep in the desert, a lone tree stands. As Spirit saw it from a distance, he decided to transform into a fruit fly to go reconnoiter. Flying around the tree, he saw a small hole at its base and flew down into the depths. There was a long dark tunnel until suddenly he burst out into a cavern. The ground was covered in cool moss, and a fine mist floated through the air. Some strange crystals hung from the ceilings providing light. Dotted around were a few small pools and some trees from which hung luscious fruits. Tied to these were his friends back-to-back. Under a different tree, the old man sat being fanned by two servant demons. Spirit, enraged at seeing his friends tied up, shapeshifted back into his original form and jumped toward the demon. The demon bellowed a challenge, “Who are you? Who enters my home?”

“You kidnapped my friends!” shouted back Spirit, who then leapt to attack the demon. Suddenly, a net struck Spirit and entangled him. One of the servant demons jumped to his feet and began to drag Spirit away. The demon leader behind him shouted after him, “Now that we have captured the third disciple, we can feast tonight!”

At this, the old man cackled.

Spirit was stumped. No matter how small he shapeshifted, he was stuck to the net.

One of the demons called from outside, “The pot we have is too small to hold them.”

Now, this was marvelous for two reasons. One, it meant that they would have to wait a little longer to eat them and two, it gave Spirit an idea. He shapeshifted into a camel, and the net stretched around him, but didn’t break. He tried a bigger animal, a hippo this time, and the rope grew taut.

Bigger again, he became an elephant, and the ropes snapped. Changing to his true form, he flew out of the room and punched one of the minions. He slashed Gecko’s ropes and turned to the old man. The old man laughed and changed himself. Growing four extra limbs, he began striking at Spirit who dodged right and left when suddenly, he saw out of the corner of his eye the other minion running at him. Gecko came from behind and engaged the lesser demon. Spirit got in close, formed the water of his hand into a blade and stabbed upward through the demon.

Gecko subdued the other demon and they watched the old man. He began

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to shrivel, and he turned into a large brown spider, which fell to the floor.

Sadin spoke from behind, “Are you going to remember to help me?”

“Oh right,” Spirit said and untied Sadin. “I know of a city nearby where we can beg for some food and shelter.”

“Sounds good,” said Gecko, “I’m quite hungry.” The three monks climbed out into the sunset and walked toward the lights on the horizon.

What happened next? Well, to find out, you will have to continue reading the tale of The Desert Crossing.

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JUST ADD A SPECK OF MAGIC

Glimpses of Magic

Adam Lou Age 8

Lulu’s Big Adventure Introduction Lulu is a kangaroo, and he is five years old (in kangaroo years). Lulu has a friend, Turtle. Turtle is twenty six years old (in turtle years). Some hobbies Lulu has are: 1. Camping 2. Ice fishing 3. Going on adventures 4. Having a rock collection 5. Making new friends 6. Eating pizza 7. Biking long distances 8. Reading books 9. Playing kangaroo video games Lulu’s favorite colors are gold and silver.

Lulu’s favorite food is sushi.

Lulu’s favorite hobby is playing video games (especially kangaroo-themed video games).

Lulu’s favorite contest is Math Kangaroo.

Chapter 1: A Normal Day 1/30/2013, 10:05AM One cold, winter day, Lulu the kangaroo was walking outside in his small town. Everything was normal. Or almost normal. “It’s so cold out here,” Lulu said. So, he went home for a cup of hot chocolate. That was better.

Suddenly, his hot chocolate cup fell on the floor! So, he swept the glass away with a broom.

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Chapter 2: An Earthquake!

1/30/2013, 10:56AM Actually, that was a sign of an earthquake! But of course, Lulu didn’t know that. Then, more things dropped on the floor!

“How weird!” Lulu said. “I wasn’t throwing things on the floor,” Lulu thought. Then, he heard rumbling. Then, the rumbling became louder!

“Oh no! It’s an earthquake,” Lulu thought. By then, the ceiling fell down.

Cracks formed on the floor. He ran straight out the door and grabbed his backpack. “It’s an earthquake!” he yelled. More cracks formed. Suddenly, a crack formed, and he fell in! Luckily, he managed to hold on to a little pole sitting on the ground above him and used all his might to pull himself out. That pole was actually part of a streetlight! Then, he saw more danger.

Streetlights were falling because of the earthquake! Lulu had to jump over the streetlights and avoid them from falling on him!

Chapter 3: Stuck!

1/30/2013, 4:38 PM Suddenly, Lulu tripped and fell in a ditch. He landed in a ditch with a thud.

Surprisingly, he wasn’t hurt. He was stuck though. He tried to wiggle out of the ditch, but he couldn’t. However, that wasn’t the biggest problem. The biggest problem was that a tree was about to fall on him! Lulu thought this was the end and that the tree would squash him. He waited for the tree to hit him. There were a few seconds of silence. Then, SMACK! The tree fell down.

Lucky for Lulu, he wasn’t hurt. The tree had collapsed in the ditch. Now, he just needed a way out. He looked for something useful in his backpack.

No luck. The only items there were his tent, a bag of marshmallows, three gallons of freezing water, and another coat. And of course, his first-aid kit.

Suddenly, he felt something pointy. It stabbed Lulu. “Ouch!” Lulu said.

His hand was bleeding a bit, so he put on a bandage. “What is it?” Lulu wondered. He looked down. It was a cone-shaped rock! Perfect for digging.

He dug a hole. At first, the work was hard. The soil was frozen like the ice.

But then, the soil got looser. He worked quickly. The rock worked as well as a shovel. It could drill through the soil. When he finally got out, the breeze made Lulu very cold. He quickly put on his coat. Lulu was much warmer now. But now, Lulu was lost!

Finally, the earthquake was over. “Oh no! I’m lost,” he thought. Just then, he found a path. It was a dirt path leading into the woods. After walking for about twenty minutes, he knew where he was. He saw a sign that said, “Library.” He wanted to borrow a book to read. But to his surprise, the library

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was nothing but a pile of rubbish. The sign he saw was part of the rubbish.

“The library must have collapsed because of the earthquake,” Lulu thought.

The sun was starting to set. Lulu took out his backpack and took out his tent.

The tent was only for an emergency.

Chapter 4: Camping For The Night 1/30/2013, 9:46 PM It was bedtime. Lulu took out his tent and put it down on some grass. He was exhausted. He took off his boots and plopped down inside his tent. He was starting to get hungry. He hadn’t had his dinner yet. He took out the marshmallows, went outside, and started a campfire. At first, the fire crackled and went out. Lulu had to quickly go find some more wood for his fire.

He came back with a bunch of sticks. Quickly, Lulu started the fire again.

He slipped a marshmallow on the stick and started to cook it. While the marshmallow was cooking, he drank some of his water. He drank quickly, so the water wouldn’t freeze. After his marshmallow was cooked, he ate it.

He soon realized that it was starting to get dark. Soon, Lulu fell fast asleep.

Chapter 5: A New Friend 1/31/2013, 9:00 aM The next morning, Lulu planned to go to Chicago, but which way should Lulu go? Lulu had no idea. He wandered around, and suddenly, he saw a drawing! But when he got closer, it was even better than a drawing! It was a map! Using the map, he located where he was. Just as he started to walk, he heard a voice behind him. “Hello, my name is Turtle,” the voice said. Lulu was stunned. He turned around. “Let’s be friends,” Turtle said. “We can use this map to go to Chicago,” Turtle said, looking at Lulu’s map.

“OK, let’s go,” Lulu said.

Five days later, they arrived at a different place. It was nothing like his town. His town was very small, but this place was a big city! There was a huge sign that said, “Welcome to Chicago.” Lulu rented a house, and he finally could rest. The next day, Lulu and Turtle decided to explore.

Chapter 6: A Flash Flood 2/6/2013, 10:00 AM Lulu and Turtle walked along the streets happily, enjoying the sight of the huge buildings. Turtle also had a backpack as Lulu had seen. It was bright and sunny, and they were enjoying the sunlight shining on them. But sud-

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denly, pitch black clouds rolled in. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Lulu heard the thunder. Suddenly, a lightning bolt struck. It was very bright. A huge rainstorm was on its way. They took out their umbrellas and kept walking. Just about twenty minutes later, a flash flood was starting! Lulu squinted in the distance and saw the ocean waves crashing along the coast. The waves were way larger than they usually were. They crumbled the sand castles, picked up umbrellas, and swept away people. Before he knew it, Lulu put Turtle into his pouch and was hopping for his life (since he is a kangaroo, not a person).

The waves were rising higher and higher. The wave destroyed everything in its path. Suddenly, a wave washed away Lulu and smashed him into a tree. A huge branch fell off. Lulu tried to grab the branch to get a grip, but the branch floated away. Lulu tried to jump to the branch, but when he tried to jump up, it just made the waves wash him away. Turtle was too terrified to speak. Though Turtle was in Lulu’s pouch, he was still scared. Now, there was almost no chance for Lulu to escape. SPLASH! Another branch fell. This was Lulu’s chance. He stretched his hand and tried to grab it, but . . . no luck.

He just floated and floated.

Finally, he grabbed a streetlight. He pulled himself with all his strength.

The water was starting to fall. It was returning to the ocean. “Good,” Lulu thought, “If the water is returning to the ocean, there will be less water.”

Then . . . before Lulu finished his thoughts, he felt himself being swept away!

The water was pulling Lulu in the ocean! Luckily, the water wasn’t stronger than Lulu, and he was safe. Turtle slowly crawled out of Lulu’s pouch. Then, the two friends went home.

Chapter 7: Visiting The Park 2/14/2013, 11:59 aM A few days later, Lulu saw a park not far away from his house. He’d never seen a park so big before! He went in. He saw beaches, water slides, playgrounds, hiking trails, and much more! Too bad the water slides were closed, but he still wanted to visit all those places!

First, Lulu went on a hiking trail. Then, he saw a picnic spot, so he had a picnic. He had a cheeseburger and a big, red apple. Suddenly, Lulu saw a squirrel. It poked out of its home but quickly went back in since it was so cold. After Lulu finished his lunch, he wanted to do something interesting and fun. Then, he saw a crystal clear lake. The sun was gleaming on the lake. He also saw fish inside. In fact, it was an ice fishing spot, so Lulu took out his fishing pole. After about thirty minutes, Lulu decided to stop fishing

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because he had a giant fish already. He cooked the fish and ate it. It was very delicious. Soon, he left the park and headed for his apartment.

Chapter 8: Home, At Last!

2/14/2013, 7:30 PM After Lulu returned home, he decided to take a rest. That night, he heard footsteps. He decided to check it out. When he went out, he noticed that there was mail in the mailbox! He saw there was a card! And it said, “For Lulu.” Then, he noticed it was a Valentine’s Day card for him. When he opened the card, he saw there was a little heart-shaped candy. It was from his friend, Turtle!

Lulu was happy that he had survived this disaster, and he was happy to have a new friend, Turtle. Lulu also had a plan: He would buy an earthquake-proof house, so he wouldn’t get in this trouble again.

The End

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Korrin McKissic Age 9

Closest to the Sun DISCLAIMER: FANFIC FOR WINGS OF FIRE. TUI OWNS WINGS OF FIRE. DON’T COPY WRITE ME. PLEASE, I BEG OF THEE. PROLOGUE (Spoiler warning!)

A brown and teal, odd-looking mud wing woke up from what felt like forever.

Her mother called out, “WAKE UP.” Zahara shook herself awake and went downstairs to see her mom.

“What’s so important that you wake me up this early?” groaned Zahara.

“We have been one of the few, random dragons picked out to join the queens of the kingdoms for their meeting,” she roared.

“Why are they doing this?” groaned Zahara. Her mom shrugged.

“We should ask the queens when we get there. Just . . . don’t offend them or the princesses.” Zahara perked up.

“The princesses will be there?” Her mother nodded.

“But we will hunt first and then make our way there at dawn. Hopefully, we will be there by midnight or earlier than that. If not, we will be late. It’s a night party.” Soon enough, they took off.

Zahara caught a rabbit, and her mom caught an elk. They ate, and then they made their way over.

“What do you think it will be like? Do you think a lynx will be there with Queen Snowfall?” Zahara chirped excitedly.

“I don’t know. You seem more excited than I thought you’d be,” Zahara nodded. Once they made it, the ice palace was a mass of glittering and shining light. “What a beautiful palace,” her mom said as they landed. They saw Queen Snowfall pacing around nervously. They talked with the other dragons who were chosen. One was a rain wing, who was very pale for a rain wing with a pale, fern underbelly and white scales. The other one was an ice-sand wing hybrid named Skadi, who turned out to be the adopted daughter of Qibli, who knew a dragon with a Norse accent.

Zahara thought, “Yes, I’ll make a custom winglet about how that happened.” After they ate, Queen Snowfall called out for everyone who was invited from possibility: a weirdo mud wing, an edgy rain wing, and a men-

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tally broken sand-ice hybrid. She lined us up. Much to my excitement, we saw Lady Lynx walk out with a sassy-looking dragonet behind her.

“This is our daughter, Princess Snow Owl,” Lynx announced. Every ONE of the ice wings clapped. She even got thrown a squirrel (which she ate without thanks for sharing it with her mothers). Lynx led us to a private bedroom afterwards. “You are here to fulfill the prophecy,”she said as she opened the door. Inside, Moon was standing there. Skadi froze, “Moon, share your prophecy with us,” Lynx demanded.

“OK, [insert prophecy because the one I made was cringe, and use your imagination],” Moon sighed.

We all froze for a moment, and then Queen Snowfall spoke, “I think I have the last part, but I can’t tell you without Jeraboa’s permission.”

Zahara groaned in confusion. “WHY NOOOOT? I didn’t sign up for this,” Zahara roared.

“Why don’t you ask her,” Snowfall said . . . *** “Note to self: add sassy ice wing with self-entitlement,” thought Zahara.

They were heading off to the beach off the coast of the ice wing kingdom. As they lifted off, Zahara could see her mom’s brown and peach scales glimmer against the light globes. They were flying to Jeraboa.

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Isabel Yip Age 12

New School, Private School I’ve never fainted, ever. But, of course, I had to get so nervous that I fainted.

And to make things worse, it was on the first day of school at a new school.

Now, I’m very socially confident, and I don’t care what people think of me, but when I was walking down the hallway, I just got so jittery and felt lightheaded. But to start my story I’d rather not start with that, it might give you the wrong impression about me.

I was so excited to start at a new school. My family just moved from Chicago to Indiana last week. Luckily, it was before school started because starting a week late at a new school is kind of weird. All the social groups have been set down, and no one’s really open to letting in a new member.

My family moved because my mom got a new job as head doctor at an amazing hospital here. I started school the very next day. It was a private school. Since this was the “wealthier” part of town there were only private schools.

My new school looked very, um, what’s the right word? Ah hah, intimidating. I don’t know how a school intimidates someone. It shouldn’t even be possible. I stood there at the iron gates that led to the courtyard in front of the very tall gray stone building that was my new school.

Since there were literally no public schools in this new town, I was going to a private school for the first time in my life. I’ve never ever gone to a private school. In all the movies I’ve watched, private schoolers have been snobby and stuck up. But I don’t like judging, and I believe in treating people the way you want to be treated.

So, I was just going to be friendly to everyone. That was my plan. Be nice to absolutely everyone. It’s not like it’s hard. I swallow, take a deep breath, and walk forward confidently.

As I enter the courtyard, I get stared at by the other students that were hanging out on the playground before class started. All of them were grouped together in bunches. It seemed as though they didn’t get a lot of new people here.

Everyone seemed to know each other, and they glared at me as I walked

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past them. I gave them small smiles, but by the end of the courtyard, I stuck with an emotionless face.

I finally reached the steps up to the looming, dark, oak doors leading into the school. Wow, even the doors are intimidating. I was kind of afraid to touch them. What if private schools had electric handles to toughen up the kids?

That’s ridiculous, Salana, I told myself and pushed through the doors. My breath was taken away. I had to admit, private schools know how to decorate.

Despite the school’s intimidating exterior, the inside was so lavish and fancy. It looked like they spent most of the school funding on the inside of the building and not the outside. I slowly walked into the main hall. Dark, polished wood lined the floor. Glass chandeliers hung from the ceiling. The lockers were three times the size of my last school’s lockers. The lockers even looked fancy as they were made out of polished oak wood. Gold plaques on each locker stated the student’s name, last name, and grade. I could sense a wood theme going on.

As I walked down the hall, kids that were chatting near lockers and sitting on benches stared at me. I felt jittery. I’m never jittery when people stare at me, but something was different with these private school kids. Why? Who knows.

I took another deep breath; it didn’t make my nerves go away, and instead it made my head feel light.

I kept walking. I had no idea where the main office was. For some reason, I was too scared to ask the kids where it was. Maybe I could ask a teacher. I scanned the hallways for a teacher that might help me. I found no teachers. I looked around on the walls for signs or maybe a map of the school. But again I found nothing. What was with this place? Did they want kids to get lost?

I barely noticed my breathing getting faster. My heart beat fast and loud in my ears. I had no idea why I was so nervous. I checked my watch. It was 8:10am, and school started at 8:25am. The time check did not help my jitters.

I stopped in the middle of the hallway. I felt very nauseous and light headed.

The hallway was swaying, and I was pretty sure that it wasn’t supposed to be.

I heard some kids saying, “Is she alright?” and “Should we call an adult?”

I collapsed to the ground, and the world turned black.

I woke with a start. My eyes seemed very heavy as I opened them. My mouth was very dry, and the room was suffocatingly hot, or maybe I was just hot. I sat up quickly and looked around. I was lying on a cot in the middle of a small room. The room had white walls with a simple small clock that was right across from me on the wall.

The floor was a white marble. I tried to think back to how I got here, but I

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didn’t remember anything. A door to my right opened. The shuffling of feet jolted me from my deep thoughts. A woman, about thirty, with black hair that’s pulled into a tight bun walked in. She wore a white coat and held an iPad. I stared at her for a moment before asking, “What happened?”

She smiled kindly at me. “You collapsed in the hallway. You’re in the main office now,” she said.

That’s one way to get to the office. Collapse in the middle of the hallway. I climbed off the cot and looked over at the clock again. It read 8:30am. Great.

I’m late to class. That means I’d been out for twenty minutes.

If I had fainted, I would have been out for maybe a minute but a whole twenty minutes? I passed out, which is worse than fainting. I looked back at the woman, she was checking the iPad. “Do you know why I passed out?”

She looked up at me, “We don’t know yet, but we’d like to keep you here until your temperature goes down,” she said.

My heart sank. I was probably going to miss my first class at a new school.

“Do you want some water?” the woman asked.

I nodded. She left the room and returned shortly with a glass of water for me. I drank the whole glass, not even realizing how thirsty I was. I felt my cheek and found it burning hot. I pressed the cold glass to my cheek.

What happened? It’s not like I have any allergies except red food dye and strawberries.

About half an hour later, the nurse came back into the room. “The head nurse says you can go now. Just come back to the office if you feel nauseous or dizzy.”

I nodded. She led me out of the room and into the main office. The main office looked like a luxury hotel lobby with its shining marble floors and a fancy desk where a secretary sits. The nurse walked over to the desk where the secretary is sitting. The two of them talked in hushed tones for a bit, and then the secretary gave the nurse a pink slip of paper.

The nurse turned back to me and handed me the slip of paper. I took it and read it. I could just make out the words on the paper. It was an excuse slip. It meant they excused me from class. I tucked it in my back pocket.

The nurse signaled for me to follow her. She led me through some glass sliding doors and out into a hallway.

When we walked out of the office, there was a boy leaning against the wall across from us. He seemed to be staring off into space right above my head.

“Cameron,” the nurse snapped to get his attention. He looked down at us.

“Take her to class please,” the nurse said.

The nurse promptly went back into the office. Cameron has brown hair

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and hazel eyes, and he is about half a head taller than me. He looks like a troublemaker, but I quickly shoved that thought away since I did not want to judge these people. Cameron walked up to me and held out his hand in a mocking way. He smiled, but it was a dry smile. “I’m Cameron.”

I smiled back and shook his hand. “I’m Salana.”

Before Cameron could speak again, a speaker blared through the hallways.

“Salana Justice, Cameron Diaz is your guide until you get used to the school.”

I don’t know why, but it annoyed me that they announced it to the whole school instead of just telling me in private. Or even better, before school started. “So I’m your guide since I have the same schedule as you,” Cameron said.

“OK.” When we got to class, the teacher had me introduce myself. I faced the class. Most of them look bored or tapped annoyingly on their desks.

“Um, hi, I’m Salana. I just moved here from Chicago,” I said.

“That’s great, um, you can pick a seat now,” the teacher said, her eyes not leaving her clipboard.

I didn’t really see the point of picking my seat since there’s only one seat left, but the teacher didn’t seem to notice that. She intently stared at her clipboard.

Pointing out a teacher’s mistake is definitely a do-not-do-on-your-firstday-of-school-or-ever thing, so I said, “Um, I’ll sit there.” I pointed to the only seat left, which was in the middle of the room right next to Cameron.

“Great, you can sit down now,” the teacher said.

I looked over at her, and she was not even looking at me. I walked through the rows and dropped down into my seat.

The rest of the morning was uneventful. It was probably one of the very few mornings I was thinking negatively and not finding a bright side. By lunch time, I already had three hours of homework. What is up with the mass homework? It was the first day of school for crying out loud.

Three classes of introducing myself, and the teachers telling me to pick a seat when there was only one left. Turns out that students are assigned their seats in class a month before school starts.

I stopped by my locker to grab my lunch. My locker was so hard to find. I was late to class two times because of that. I’d never been late. Well, first time for everything, right? I was really hoping to avoid being tardy on my first day.

I found Cameron leaning next to my locker. Again, he looked like he’s staring into space. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and turn around before he could see me, but I forced myself to keep walking.

I had only known Cameron for three hours, but he had proved in those

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three hours that he was the most annoying person on the planet. Think happy thoughts, I told myself as I drew nearer. Cameron didn’t notice me until I was standing right next to him, turning my lock on my locker. “Oh, hi,” he said in a kind of sarcastic way.

I opened my locker without looking at him. “What are you doing here?”

I asked, no longer able to keep the annoyance out of my voice.

“Being your guide means I have ‘Buddy duties’,” he said, making air quotes.

“You mean like eating lunch with me,” I asked, grabbing my lunch box.

“Exactly.”

I closed my locker and looked at him with a glare. “You don’t have to eat lunch with me. I’m sure you have some annoying friends to sit with, so goodbye and I’ll see you after lunch,” I said and walked away.

Cameron caught up with me. “Why are you acting so cold all of a sudden?”

“And why do you have to eat lunch with me?”

“Well, you see this is sort of my punishment for vandalizing the gym,” said Cameron.

“You did what?”

“Yeah, I just drew the school’s mascot in spray paint at one in the morning. Not to mention, I did technically break into the school after it closed.”

I stopped and stared at him. “So . . . if you don’t eat lunch with me, you’ll get expelled?” I asked hopefully.

“No, I’ll get suspended and trust me, even if I did lie and say that I ate lunch with you when I didn’t, the principal has spies everywhere,” he said, eyeing the door of a classroom.

“So you have to be my guide as punishment for vandalizing the gym?”

I asked.

“Yes.” “And how is that a punishment?” I asked.

“I sort of, maybe, expressed how much I hated being a guide, and the principal decided it was a fitting punishment,” he said quickly.

“Why did you tell her that? It’s your own fault for giving her the idea.”

“I get really chatty when I’m nervous, so it sort of just slipped out,” he said.

I realized we just got way off topic. I started walking again. “I’m not going to eat lunch with you,” I said.

“Like I want to eat lunch with you either,” said Cameron.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I demanded.

“I’m just saying, you seem very annoying,” Cameron said.

“Really? Because I got the same impression from you,” I snapped.

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“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Before we could start screaming at each other, a voice cut through.

“Cameron? Salana?”

We both turned to the voice behind us. The principal was walking up to us. She was wearing a black suit with black heels, her black hair pulled up in a tight bun, and her eyes were like steel. She put on a smile with her perfect, blindingly white teeth showing. “Are you two heading to lunch together?”

Cameron opened his mouth to say something, but before he could say something stupid and embarrass me, I elbowed him in the ribs. “Ow.” “Yes, we are,” I said, plastering a fake smile on my face.

“Very good, and Salana, if you need anything, you can always stop by my office,” she said.

“Thank you, I will,” I said.

She smiled and walked past us. As soon as she was out of earshot, Cameron asked, “Why did you elbow me?”

“I had a feeling you were going to say something stupid,” I said.

We didn’t really have a choice but to eat lunch together, so we headed to the cafeteria in silence. I noticed that every student in the hallway that we passed either fist bumps Cameron, high fives him, or says hi. Everyone seemed to know him.

We stopped at an open door that says “Cafeteria” above it. We walked through it. The cafeteria was huge. It had a high ceiling, and circular tables were placed around the room.

On one side was a kitchen, and I could smell the scent of fries coming from it. I could see exactly two tables open—one in the middle of the room and one in the corner in the back. Cameron started walking toward the one in the center of the room. “No way,” I said and pulled him to the one in the back.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m not sitting in the middle of the room,” I said.

“Why not?”

“It . . . it’s none of your business.”

“OK, Sal.” “Don’t call me Sal,” I snapped.

We sat in awkward silence for the next few minutes. “So I heard you collapsed in the middle of the hallway earlier,” Cameron said.

I looked up at him. “How do you know that?” I asked.

“News travels really fast,” he said.

I sighed. “Do you know why you fainted?” he asked.

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“I passed out; I didn’t faint. If I fainted, I would have been out for a couple of seconds, but I was out for twenty minutes, so I passed out,” I said.

“OK, Ms. Know-it-all, I don’t need the history of fainting.”

Cameron and I didn’t talk for the rest of the lunch period.

At the end of the day, I lost Cameron in the crowds of kids and speed walked out of school grounds. I only slowed down when I reached the street where my house is.

I slowed to a slow walk as I walked down the street. I exhaled. I felt like I’d been holding my breath all day. When I got to my house and opened the door, I saw my eight year old brother, Issac, jumping up and down on the couch.

Normally, I would be happy to see him, but I just felt more tired and moody.

Was this what being a moody teenager is like? If it is, I was not loving it.

Well, my birthday was three months ago, so it was bound to happen some time. He spotted me and ran over to me. “Salana, Salana, Salana, SALANA,” Issac screamed and tackled me with a hug.

“Hi, Issac,” I said.

“Do you want to play with me?” he asked.

“Sorry Issac, I have five hours of homework,” I said.

“Bummer, I don’t have any homework,” he said.

“Of course you don’t, you’re in second grade. Homework practically doesn’t exist there,” I said, ruffling his hair.

“Will you play with me later?” he asked.

“I’ll play with you when I’m done with my homework,” I said, patting him on the head.

Issac has curly brown hair like me, except my hair is super straight. And his bright black eyes are the image of mine. He’s up to my shoulder in height.

Issac ran back to the couch and went back to jumping around on it. I sighed and walked up the stairs. I walked into my room, which was still being unpacked. There were bunches of boxes that were labeled with my stuff. I fell face first onto my bed and groaned at the weight in my backpack.

I sat up and pulled open the shades to my window in front of my desk. I jumped back in surprise at what I saw. Cameron was sitting at a desk in the window across from me.

When I got over my shock, a kind of disturbance and irritation set in. I walked forward and pulled my window straight up. I stuck my head out the window. Cameron didn’t even look up. I waved my hand around to get his attention.

Cameron looked up and confusion crossed his face. He stood up and leaned over his desk to pull up his window. Once he got his window open,

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I screamed “You’re my neighbor?!”

“Don’t blame this on me. I didn’t know we were neighbors,” he snapped.

All I could do was stare at him hard before I pulled myself back inside and slammed my window shut.

That night, I stayed awake staring at the ceiling. All of the events of the day swirled around in my head. I barely managed to finish all my homework in time to play with Issac for a round of Uno. It took me (as I predicted) four hours to do my homework. If homework was like this every day, I didn’t know if I could keep up.

I still couldn’t believe that Cameron was my neighbor. Ugh, that guy was so annoying.

I had a strange feeling that something was wrong. The feeling had started when I finished my game of Uno with Issac.

I heard the creak of a floorboard in the hallway. I frowned and sat up. I looked over at my clock and saw it read 2:45am. I pulled back my blanket and stood up.

As I walked to my door, I caught sight of myself in my mirror. I was wearing a dark blue t-shirt that said “Don’t disturb me, I’m asleep” and matching blue leggings. My brown hair was all messy. I straightened it up a little and opened my door a crack. I looked out into the dark hallway just as the door across from my room opened. I watched as Issac walked out of his room and down the hall. I walked out into the hallway and after him.

I wanted to stop him as he walked down the stairs. He walked in a straight manner; he was not slouching but had a straight back. He was placing his foot one after the other as he walked. He silently walked down the stairs.

He didn’t turn on any lights and didn’t even have a flashlight with him. I crept after him.

Issac is terrified of the dark so why wouldn’t he have turned on any lights?

The strange feeling that something is wrong grew stronger as I followed him down the stairs and into the foyer.

For some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to stop him; I sensed a powerful and dangerous force. Issac walked toward the front door and unlocked and opened it without a sound. The door swung open and I saw the faint patter of rain.

Issac walked into the rain without a coat or anything. I quickly grabbed my yellow raincoat and slipped on my matching rain boots. When I ran out of the house, I couldn’t see Issac anywhere. I pulled my hood over my head as the rain hit me hard. I ran down the front stairs of the porch and splashed hard on a puddle at the end of the stairs.

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The muddy water splashed up and hit my pants. The rain poured down harder. I whipped around looking around the yard for Issac. I wiped the rain out of my eyes as I splashed around the front yard. He couldn’t have gone far in the minute I was putting on my rain gear. “Issac,” I screamed.

I looked through the darkness. “Issac!”

I ran around the front yard. Where was he? I didn’t hear the door to the neighbor’s house open. I splashed around the front yard. The yard lit up with lightning. A loud crack of lightning echoed. It was deafening. I jumped so hard I lost balance and fell down into a puddle. I blinked the spots out of my eyes.

Thunder boomed across the yard. It went dark again. The yard lit up again, and Issac stood over me. I yelped and scrambled back. Issac’s eyes were an electric blue, and he stood rigidly. “I-Isaac?” I stammered.

Issac spoke, but it sounded like a vibration and really low. I stared at him.

“Young flame, your power is new to you, yes?” Issac said.

“What are you talking about?”

Issac rolled his eyes. “I’m taking your brother now. His body will be able to sustain me for a while, so I can serve my master rightfully,” he said, checking his nails.

I stared with my mouth wide open at him. He laughed and turned to walk away. I sat in shock. Was I dreaming? Issac’s silhouette was disappearing fast in the dark. Was I hallucinating? The rain got harder. No, no matter what was happening, if it was dreaming or hallucinating, I was saving my little brother.

I scrambled up and ran after Issac. I slipped and slid on the muddy ground as I ran after him. He seemed to disappear in and out of the rain. I could hardly keep track of him in the rain. I didn’t pay attention to where Issac was going. I ran faster after him.

Just when I thought I was getting really close, Issac disappeared completely. I stopped running and caught my breath looking around. To my right, I saw the shadow of something. I stumbled toward it.

As I got closer, it got bigger. I squinted through the rain at it. It was a gazebo. It was pouring then. I ran toward it. I sprinted up the steps. Once I was in, I pulled my hood off.

“Thank you,” I heard.

I turned around and saw Issac. I took a step back. The ground of the gazebo lit up in an orange light. Issac smiled. Slowly, the tiles of the gazebo started fading. As soon as there was a hole big enough, Issac jumped through.

“ISSAC,” I screamed and ran forward.

I looked down the hole into the darkness. Suddenly, the tiles under my

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feet disappeared. I was weightless for a second. I didn’t even have time to scream, but I was able to catch the edge of a tile. I dangled by one hand over the dark abyss. I screamed.

My hand was slipping from the rain. My hand was about to fall off. My hand slipped. I screamed louder. Suddenly, someone caught my hand. I opened my eyes again. I looked up. Cameron leaned over the abyss holding my hand. I squinted at him. “What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I’m your neighbor, and I’m a light sleeper. Do you seriously think that I wouldn’t hear you screaming?” Cameron asked.

“I have to go get my brother,” I said, looking back down into the dark pit.

“Salana, are you seriously going to jump into a weird abyss?” Cameron asked.

“For my brother? Any time,” I said.

“Why don’t we just call 911?”

“NO,” I shouted louder than I meant to. “Don’t do that, there is a strong dark power in my brother right now and calling 911 won’t do anything good.

Now, let me go, so I can go get my brother.”

“I’m not just going to drop you into a weird dark pit and walk off,” Cameron said.

“Why not? You barely know me, and you don’t seem to like me at all. I think you’d be happy to drop me into a dark pit and walk off,” I said.

“You know what, I should. You elbowed me in the ribs,” Cameron snapped.

“Fine, I’m going to get my brother anyway.”

Cameron didn’t know what to say to that. Before he could think too long about it, I dug my nails into his arm. He yelped and let my hand go. I couldn’t help but scream as I fell through the cold air. “SALANA,” Cameron screamed.

The gray hole at the top was getting smaller very fast. I could see Cameron’s terrified face as I fell lower. Suddenly, warm air surrounded me, and everything turned black.

Warm air hit my face. My eyes fluttered open. Bright light hit my eyes. I squinted as my eyes adjusted to the brightness. Air whistled around me as I took in my surroundings. It took a moment for me to realize I was falling through open air.

Panic set in fast. I could see clouds fly past me and the bright blue sky above me. I whipped around. I flipped over and saw dark blue waters hurtling toward my face. I screamed. I didn’t even have time to brace myself as I hit the water hard.

A huge splash echoed as I was engulfed in water. The water was so cold.

My air gets knocked out of me as bubbles swirled around me in the dark

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waters. I couldn’t see anything but my flailing limbs. I kicked hard, and my face broke above the waves.

Luckily for me, the water was calm. I flailed around in the water. Wait, I know how to swim, why am I freaking out? I thought to myself. I regained my swimming confidence and started treading water. I looked around. About five hundred feet away, I could see an island. Two big mountains were in the back of the island, and a beach spread out across the whole front of the island. Behind me and to my left and right was all sea. The sun looked like it was rising, casting morning light onto the waters and island. Where was I? I was pretty sure that there were no oceans and islands in Indiana.

I could feel my muscles getting tight. I knew I couldn’t keep treading water for long. I looked around for a rock or something. I spotted a rock about fifty feet away. I started swimming toward it. It was very flat and jagged. It was not very big but could fit about two people.

I reached it and pulled myself up onto it. Though the air was warm, I was cold as I stood up on the rock. I caught sight of what I was wearing. I was still wearing my yellow rain jacket along with my dark blue pajamas. One of my boots was missing. I was drenching wet from my little face plant into the sea.

I took off my jacket and squeezed out the water off the side of the rock.

The sun was rising fast and it was getting very humid. I squeezed out my hair as well. Farther away, I saw my yellow boot pop to the surface of the water. I knelt down and waited until it floated past me before I grabbed it. I dumped out the water and put it back on.

Once my jacket was dry, I wiped my face and tried to dry my shirt and pants. After I was done and mostly dry, I tied my jacket around my waist.

The sun was high in the sky then and beating down with horrible heat. It was hard to tell how long I’d been here. I remembered falling down the gazebo’s floor, but it had been nighttime. And how did I end up here? Issac had also jumped through, or whatever possessed him had. But I didn’t see him anywhere.

Someone screaming jolted me from my wondering. I looked around trying to locate the screaming. Right where I had landed in the sea, another figure landed with a huge splash. Who was that? I squinted, trying to see them clearly. Their head popped up from the water as they regained their consciousness. Oh, hey it’s Cameron . . . wait . . . Cameron?

I was relieved that another person was here, and even better a person I knew, even if it was Cameron. I waved my hand around in the air to get his attention. He spotted me and swam over to my rock. “Thank God you’re here,” I said.

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He looked at me confused. “That’s a line I thought I would never hear you say,” he said.

“Whatever but you jumped down the hole too?” I asked.

He nodded. I didn’t bother to ask why because we needed to figure out why we’re here. “Where are we?” Cameron asked.

“I don’t know, but Issac jumped down the hole too, so he’s got to be here too,” I said, looking around.

“Who’s Issac?”

“My little brother.”

“Oh.” We both sat in silence for a second. “Hey, can you help me up?” Cameron asked.

“Yeah.”

I helped Cameron onto the rock. I pulled him up and when I looked up again, we were nose to nose. We both flushed red, and I let go of his hand as we both looked away. The awkwardness was interrupted as a force landed on the rock with us, throwing us both into the ocean again.

I kicked to the surface of the water again, coughing. I blinked the water out of my eyes and focused on the rock again. A short woman was standing on the rock looking around. She had rose gold skin that glinted in the sunlight. Her light purple hair was cut in a choppy pixie style. She was wearing matcha baggy cargo pants and a simple white T-shirt that was hanging off of one of her shoulders. I spat out salty water from my mouth and swam over to the rock. “Um, hello?” I asked as I reached the rock.

Her pearly white eyes found me. “Oh, hi,” she squeaked.

“Um, yeah, hi, so who are you?” I asked.

“I’m Ida, and I’m here to assist you on your trial,” she said happily.

I was about to ask what trial she’s talking about when suddenly I remembered Cameron. I turned back to the ocean to find him but saw still waters.

I knew for a fact that he had been thrown into the water too. But couldn’t he swim? He was thrown into the water, which meant since I couldn’t see him, he had gone under.

Panicked, I forgot about Ida and dove down into the water. Through the dark currents, I spotted a dark shadow. I kicked toward it. As I get closer, I can see clearly it’s Cameron. I wrapped my arms around him and kicked toward the surface.

When I broke to the surface, Ida was snapping selfies with a sparkly pink phone. “Ida,” I shouted.

She looked over at me and yelped, “Oh my.”

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I was having a hard time keeping both of us afloat. Cameron was like a limp rag doll next to me. Ida cupped her hands around her mouth like a megaphone. She let out a loud bird call. I could feel irritation rising. How was that supposed to help us?

Suddenly, something gripped the back of my shirt and lifted me out of the water. Something grabbed Cameron too and lifted him out with me. I looked to Ida and saw her grab onto the talons of a falcon as it flew toward the island. I looked up and saw a falcon carrying me. There was one carrying Cameron too.

I got a good look at the island from the air. There were bigger than normal palm trees and light blue water. A warm breeze swirled around us as we flew to the main island. I wondered where we were. Will we ever get home? Was Cameron OK? Who knows what the future will bring but I was sticking with Ida because she seemed to know what she was doing.

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Gabriel Etheridge Age 11

Waves of Emotion Feelings come through the day. Waves rock, tides shift. I feel angry, sad, confused . . . The sea is always calm before a storm. The sea feels warm to touch.

There is a light breeze, and all is well. The wind starts getting increasingly stronger. The storm is here. First, come the waves of sadness. They feel dark and empty. You want to succumb; I crumple and drop down. It feels like you are trapped in the never-ending wave, no visible light, or way in or out. It pulls you down, but yet you get back up . . .

Then, come the waves of anger, the water rises and gets hotter. Harsh and angry thoughts start to bubble and rise to the surface. All you can think about is tearing down someone else to take out your anger. Your head throbs with pain and rage. The waves become slightly cooler but still sizzle, and frustration washes over you. The pain throbbing in your head increases. You are suddenly annoyed with everyone and everything in your surrounding.

You try to scream, but you find you can’t. You can’t seem to do anything but ball up your fists and live out the pain that feels neverending . . .

Until the sea gets colder. It grows so cold that you are numb. The sea whips from one side to the other. Anxiety and worried thoughts fill your head. You wonder what if . . . what if they never come back, what if they’re lost, what if that’s the last time I see them. You crumble, succumbing to the waves once again. Tears stream down your face as you slowly begin to slowly grow colder and colder.

A warm breeze calls out from the storm. It feels soft against the face, and it seems familiar and calming. It’s like a friend. It slowly eases you out of the cold and numb state. Your tear-stricken face sees the sun peeking out from behind the clouds. It seems far, but you paddle all you can. You slowly emerge from the storm to the quiet, warm sea. The sea is calm before a storm, and there is always a way out after.

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Kyurin Kim Age 9

The Lucky Nut There was a planet where only dogs lived.

They could stand on their feet and speak English. They did everything that humans could do on Earth.

There lived Sammy whose fur was all white, including her face.

She had a lovely red bow on her head beside her left ear.

She always wore a tutu.

One day, she got a fortune cookie, and she cracked it in half. There was a nut instead of the paper!

“What?” she said. “What is my fortune? I don’t want to eat a nut! I will just put it in my room.”

One day, she went rollerblading, and she brought the nut to eat when she got hungry.

She started to rollerblade.

Thirty minutes later, Sammy almost bumped into a tree. But instead of crashing, she went backward to a safer place!

At that moment, she found out that she had a great secret: she had a lucky nut.

After that day, she always brought the lucky nut whenever she went. She had it when she went to school, to the park, or to the playground.

Before she went to sleep, she always put the nut on the little drawer that was right next to Sammy’s bed.

But one day, when she woke up, the lucky nut was gone!

She looked everywhere in her bedroom. She looked in her closet, in her drawer, and even inside her clothing, but she had no luck.

When she went to school, there was so much bad luck!

Her shoe laces got tangled, and she spilled paint on her T-shirt.

To solve her problem, she needed help from others.

She had to tell her secret to her friends!

“Hey! Today, I need help from you guys. Also, I have to tell you my secret!” said Sammy.

Sammy told her secret and what had happened to her lucky nut.

So, her friends and Sammy made a plan together.

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When school was over, they went over to Sammy’s house, and they stayed together through the night.

At night, they put a new nut that they got from Sammy’s kitchen in the drawer.

They tried not to fall asleep.

But they were too sleepy to stay awake.

Three hours later, everyone fell asleep, except her best friend, Maya.

Two more hours passed and suddenly, Maya yelled, “Follow that squirrel!”

Sammy saw one squirrel running to the window.

Sammy and the other friends all woke up and started to run after the squirrel.

They went out through the window.

The air felt like a refrigerator, and lots of fall leaves fell on the ground, and the wind whooshed some of the leaves.

The squirrel stopped and started to dig beside the tree.

They realized that it was fall, and squirrels had to collect nuts for winter!

They started to dig like the squirrel around the plum tree.

They couldn’t find the lucky nut, but they didn’t give up. They kept digging all around the tree.

The sun started to rise. Then, Sammy felt something in the dirt. She found the lucky nut!

She knew that was her lucky nut because there was the initial “S” that Sammy wrote before.

The lucky nut got muddy, so they went home and washed it.

Now, Sammy stored it inside the drawer and remembered to close the window and lock it.

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Chaemi Kim Age 11

Rindy the Witch 1 My name is Rindy, and I am eleven years old. I live with my dad without my mom. I’ve never met her. Just last week, I went to a public school in Florida with a couple of friends. And then, the letter came one day, a letter about a witch school. At first, I thought it was just a joke, but as the time went, I began to think if it was real.

“Dad, do you know anything about this letter?” I asked my dad, holding the strange letter.

My dad, who was really busy with his computer work, just shook his head without even looking at it.

“It is really important! You need to see,” I said urgently.

He looked up, examined the letter, and said, “Don’t know.”

But I suddenly got a feeling that he wasn’t telling me something and keeping it a secret.

“Come on dad, you know something about it!” I said.

I kept begging him and at last, he gave up and agreed to tell me.

“OK. Here is a secret about your mother. Once, she was a great witch who helped others and used her power for good. Some people loved her and some didn’t, so the people who didn’t want her banned her from this world. But she is still somewhere where witches live.”

I was so confused. Witches? I thought they were only in fairy tales.

“You are teasing me, right?” I asked.

“No. It is really true,” my dad answered.

This wasn’t the answer I wanted to hear. I wished I had never asked such a thing to my dad.

I asked, “So . . . what are we going to do? Just ignore it like we don’t know a thing, or should I go to the witch school?”

“Well, it is up to you,” my dad said.

“Try or not, try or not . . .” I kept thinking.

Then, I heard a whisper inside me. “Just try it. It could be your last chance.

Also, you might see your mom.”

After the whisper was done talking, it made my mind move. I always wanted to meet my mom.

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“OK, I am going to try.”

Even though I had a week before it, I started packing. In school, I just told my friends that I was going to move away to my mom’s house. I will miss them . . . my friends, teachers, and absolutely my dad. The week had passed, and a woman who said she was from a witch town came. I said goodbye to everybody and followed the woman.

“Hello! My name is Lifindo, and you can call me Li,” Li said to me.

“My name is Rindy. Nice to meet you!” I introduced myself to her.

She led me to an old building where nobody was allowed to enter.

“Are you sure you know where you are going? Because this is a forbidden building. It collapsed in an earthquake,” I told her in case she didn’t know.

“Well, I came here so many times, and this is the only entrance to the witch world in Florida. You didn’t expect a fancy entrance! Did you?” Li replied, sounding like she couldn’t believe me at all.

I just didn’t say anything. There was nothing wrong with me! We went into an elevator, and Li pushed the top floor button. Unbelievably, it worked perfectly and went up really fast. In a second, we were there. Above the clouds was well hidden, so nobody could notice.

“Wow!!!” was all I could say.

“Come on and follow me. You don’t want to sleep outside because there are a lot of magical creatures that come out at night. Some could be dangerous,” Li said.

When we got to my new “witch” school, I was amazed by how small it was. It was surrounded by a beautiful magic lake and forest. It was kind of weird that there were lakes in the sky.

“Now, I can’t go in there, so you will have to find your way by yourself, OK?” Li asked.

“OK!” I replied confidently since it was small.

The walls were made of glittery bricks. I started looking for my room. I thought it would only take about ten minutes. But one hour had passed, and I was still in the big and gigantic hallway. I think it was magic that made the school look small. Inside was gigantic . . . Then, I saw the symbol of my room. (G-1-A; G stands for girls, 1 stands for first graders, and A stands for my room’s name). I walked up the stairs and found a living room lit by magical floating lights. There were five small halls, and I chose the third room. I was the first one to arrive in the room with six beds that were sky blue and were placed in a circle with a circular carpet, a desk, and a few chairs in the center. It was all beautiful and perfect. I chose the bed nearest to the door for no reason, but just because I felt like it. As I unpacked, another girl came.

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She had yellow hair, freckles, and a big smile on her face.

“Hi! I am Clafen, and my mom is a witch. Nice to meet you. What is your name? And is your mom a witch?” Clafen asked.

“Nice to meet you too, and my name is Rindy. And yes. My mom is a witch,” I replied shyly.

I am not that much of talkative person. But I think she is.

“Oooooooooh. Nice! Also, we need to be down in the greeting room in an hour. The others will be here soon. By the way, do you want to sit with me for dinner? I don’t know anybody but you,” Clafen said.

I was happy to hear that because I didn’t have to be alone and I was relieved that I wasn’t the only person who didn’t know anybody here. Twenty minutes later, four more girls came into the room. Two seemed to know each other and kept talking, and the other two just stared at the wall. The two who were talking were twins named Kelen and Helen. They have lived in the witch world for ages and said they knew everything. The other two were still confused if this were real or dream since their mommies were not witches. They were both really shy. One was Athly, and the other was Kanto.

Ding! Ding! Ding! It was time for the greeting. All six of us ran to the greeting room. There was a room full of seated students and teachers. It looked something like a church.

“Greetings, everyone from last year and newcomers! We wish it will be a wonderful year for all. For the beginning of school, I will tell you about this year,” a woman on a big stage said. “I am Ms. Andrea, your school principal.

This year, we will do a broomstick flying challenge. You may or may not know about it, but still please listen carefully. First, you don’t have to participate, but if you are interested, please write your name on this paper,” she told us while holding a long paper.

“When the game starts, you are going to be against peers your own age.

And when you win, you will be against the whole school. If you win all two, you will get a golden broomstick-shaped trophy. Also, you will be welcome to join the broomstick Olympic team. Thank you for your patience.” The speech ended.

The golden trophy . . . I am definitely going to try. Another teacher stood up from her seat and made her way to the front of the stage.

“Nice to meet you. I am your new rule maker of the school, Ms. Morticia.

The rules have changed a bit,” Ms. Morticia said.

She said the list of the rules. I felt like it took more than an hour.

“If you don’t follow the rules, you will be sent to my office,” Ms. Morticia said and sat back down on her chair.

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After that, the principal dismissed us all. Clafen and I walked to our room together.

“What a rule,” Clafen asked.

The school brought food to the room except on a special day. Clafen, the others, and I were playing a board game in our room. Kanto brought it here just in case it was really boring. POP! Food appeared in our room.

“Wow. That was amazing. I didn’t know they could do that,” Athly said, sounding really amazed. “I was really hungry, and I thought the school forgot to give us food.”

When the food came, we all realized we were starving. We ran to the food and started eating like pigs who hadn’t eaten for a long time. In just a few minutes, the dishes were shiny and clean as if they were washed a hundred times.

“That was fast,” Helen said.

“Agreed!” everyone said.

It was before nine o’clock, but suddenly, we felt sleepy. Without any words, everybody went to sleep.

I had been sleeping for about four hours when Clafen woke me up in the middle of the night and asked me, “Do you want to look around the school?

I have a map!” she said, holding a large map of our school.

“How did you even get it?” I asked, trying not to say it so loud.

“Well . . . When I came here and was trying to find the room, I saw a paper in the ground and was about to trash it. But when I saw it closely, it was a map, so I thought it would help me and brought it with me,” she whispered extremely quietly.

“Let’s go since you have the map!” I said excitedly.

I was so curious about the school. I wanted to know every little detail of the school. It would help me find classes when school starts. We sneaked out of the room, not making a single sound. I didn’t even breathe so as not to be caught. Tap! Tap! Tap! “Someone is coming!” Clafen whispered.

We hid behind a big statue. Tap! Tap! Tap! The sound was gone now.

Who could it be in the middle of the night? I was so curious that I wanted to follow the sound of the feet.

Then, I heard Clafen calling me. “Rindy, we have to move now.”

Oh! We were in the middle of the hall, not my room. We stayed close to the wall for safety and went into as many rooms as we could. It was the most gigantic school I have ever known. We had such a great time that we didn’t notice the security robot. The security robot was shaped like ants. They were

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small so that they could check the small spaces too. When one of the robots saw us, it went straight to Ms. Morticia. A vision came into me. I could see the robot and Ms. Morticia. The robot told all about it to her in a robot language. After listening, Morticia said, “What are those first graders thinking?

Roaming around the school at night? They are going to need some lessons.”

POP! I snapped back to reality.

“Ummm, Clafen? I think we need to . . .” Before I could finish, Morticia appeared out of nowhere. “Hello, girls.” she said, sounding like she didn’t really mean it.

We started running. As fast as we could. But it was no use. She used her magic to catch us. WE WERE TRAPPED. Morticia dragged us to her office.

“What do you think you are doing in the middle of the night, girls!? Don’t you know the rules? It was not even ten hours ago!”

We couldn’t say a word because we were scared to make it worse.

“Now, go back to your room and NEVER ever think of doing this again.”

We did as we were told, not even looking at her and keeping our head down.

“Wow. She made me feel like I never want to do that again,” we whispered as we went back to our room.

I was really tired but was not able to sleep right away. So many things happened today.

When I opened my eyes, it was morning. “I think I fell asleep.”

I checked my schedule for today. We had to go shopping for school. We had two hours left, so I decided to wake the others. I went around the room waking Clafen, Kelen, Helen, Athly, and Kanto.

“Is it time to wake up? It is just eight o’clock,” Helen said, half awake, half still asleep.

“Well, we have a busy day waiting for us,” I said.

There was only one bathroom in the room, so we took turns washing. POP! It was their breakfast. There were two big pancakes with one scoop of vanilla ice-cream and maple syrup. Mmmmm. It sure looked good. In a second, all our food was gone. (Not even a crumb left!) We changed our pajamas into our school uniform we got from school yesterday in the dressing room. (We have our own dressing room). When we were all ready to go, a woman in a black dress and black high heels with neat hair came into our room.

“Good morning, kids. I am the G-1-A homeroom teacher, Ms. Lorelei. I am here to take you to the stores. Please meet me in the main room.”

When we got to the main room, there were thirty more kids in the room.

We started introducing ourselves. (G-1-A room students name list: Willa, Isla, Kylie, Annalise, Alisa, Calista, Isabelle, Jullice, Everlyn, Raleigh, Naomi,

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Lucy, Skylar, Melissa, Rachel, Willa, Kournikova, Gayla, Kenora, Lauren, Dylan, Sierra, Emma, Ella, Anna, Grace, Olivia, Maya, Peobe, Cleo). I liked Lauren. She had smooth black hair, a pair of cute earrings on, and mostly, she was very kind. She told everyone that her parents were just normal beings and was excited that she was here with us. She used room two right next to mine.

“Now that we know each other, let’s all line up at the door to go outside,” Ms. Lorelei said.

As we lined up, I walked to Lauren. “Hi Lauren! Nice to meet you. I am Rindy from room three,” I said as brightly as I could.

“Oh, hi! Rindy, I was just wondering if I could go with you and your friends to the store. I still don’t have any friends to go with. Also, you have to be careful of these girls Dylan, Cleo, Jullice, Kylie, and Melissa. They are not nice. I know it because I tried to be friends with them,” Lauren said.

“I would like to have you in my group. Follow me,” I said excitedly.

When I told Clafen about the whole story, she greeted Lauren kindly.

“It is so nice to have you in our group, Lauren!” Clafen said.

We lined up, and Ms. Lorelei led us to the stores. It was just behind the school, so it didn’t take long to get there. The stores were lined up perfectly in rows, and they were colorful and crowded. We had to be careful not to get lost. We went into the bookstore called “To The Adventure.” It was made out of stones with drawings of books on the wall. Books were everywhere in the store.

“OK, we are supposed to buy The Puffy Cauldron, Amazing Beginners Magic, The Way To Fly, Simple Book One, and three books you want to read,” Clafen said.

We asked an old man on the counter about the books we were finding.

“Well, let me see. Hmm. When you go to your right, there is a school section, and you will find ‘for beginners’,” he said with a cough in the end.

We thanked him for helping and went straight to searching. The books were enormous, fat, and old. But it didn’t cost too much.

“Wow, it is really heavy,” Lauren said, trying to drag it. “I can’t even drag it!”

Then, Ms. Lorelei came out of nowhere and said, “What’s wrong girls?

Too heavy for you? Let me help you with that.”

Then, swoosh! All the books were up in the air floating gracefully. Snap!

She snapped her finger, and all the books disappeared at once. I couldn’t believe what I just saw. I couldn’t wait to tell my friend. Oh, wait. I am in a witch ‘s world, and everyone knows how to do it. It isn’t anything special . . .

“Are we going to learn how to do that? It is awesome!” Lauren and Clafen said at the same time.

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“Of course. Making things float is one of the easiest things to do. But making things disappear . . . You will have to be patient,” Ms. Lorelei said calmly, but she was happy to hear that we were excited about it.

After that, she went out of the store to help the other kids. We left the store after Ms. Lorelei. We went to a sweet store called “A House Full Of Sweets” since we were hungry. The store was full of every kind of sweets. Like our school, the store was bigger inside than how it looked outside.

“Mmm. I love sweets!” Lauren said, dropping every kind of candy in her shopping bag.

Unlike her, I chose carefully because I had a certain amount of money to spend. There were candies changing color every second, candies that were moving, and some that were talking. Clafen’s bag was half full, mine was one-third of the way full, and Lauren had two full bags. And Lauren purchased them all. Since then, I knew that her family was very rich.

It was a pretty normal week. We just stayed inside our room, playing board games and talking. The next day would be my first school day. I am so nervous. What if my least favorite teacher taught me my favorite subject?

What if all the classes are boring? Clafen kept telling me to calm down, but it didn’t really help.

“Finally, it is my first day of witch school,” I told myself the next morning. I was the second one to wake up in my room. Athly was up, staring out the window.

“Oh. Hi, Rindy! How are you?” she said, sounding really tired.

“I am good. Just kind of nervous about today. I hope I get good grades,” I said cheerfully.

When we were done changing and eating breakfast, Clafen, Kanto, Kelen, and Helen woke up.

“What time is it?” Kelen asked.

“6:30. Good time to wake up,” Helen said, checking her bubble watch.

All of us got ready in ten minutes and checked our schedule. It was all the same since we were only first graders.

“OK, we go to our main room at 7:20 to start our day. After that, we go to magic class, flying class, potion class, and astronomy,” Kanto said.

“OK. Then, let’s start heading to the main room,” I said.

We all got up and packed all the books we needed into the book bag (if you were wondering why we didn’t buy an astronomy book, it was because our school provides it to us, but it had to stay in the classroom unless we had homework). When we got to the main room, it was empty except for the crackling fire. We found some comfortable seats and sat down, waiting for

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the others. Lauren and her roommates Willa, Lucy, Isla, Naomi, Alisa came.

Lauren, Clafen, Willa (Lauren’s new friend), and I sat together on a long sofa. A few minutes later, all the other students poured inside. Ms. Lorelei came last. We shared our feelings about our first day of school. When some students talked about being nervous, Dylan, Cleo, Jullice, Kylie, and Melissa whispered something to each other. I knew they were not talking about kind stuff with their expressions.

When Ms. Lorelei noticed them whispering, she asked kindly to them, “Do you have any comments to share, girls? We will be happy to hear about it. I can wait.”

As if they were embarrassed, their faces turned red, and they said nothing.

Just then, the bell rang to inform us that there were five minutes left until the next class began. All of us stood up, and Ms. Lorelei dismissed us. Lauren and Willa said they would catch up, so I went to magic class with Clafen.

We found our way to the classroom by seeing the new map we got from a store, which was pretty helpful since all of the room was labeled, and a red dot appeared where the owner was. And thanks to Lauren, she paid more money and made them so only the owner could see them.

We went into the classroom just in time. The class started, and the starting bell rang. Only half of the class was there. We found a seat next to each other. It wasn’t a solid desk. In fact, it was a liquid desk. When I touched it, it felt like water but solid. My hand couldn’t go through it.

“Morning class. Welcome to your magic class. I am your teacher, Ms. Aquata. So, let’s start the class. Open to page 273,” Ms. Aquata said. The class was fine. We didn’t have to use magic today, but she showed us some awesome magic.

Ding. We had to hurry. The bell meant five minutes before the next class.

We were flying. The class was in the big school field. Lots and lots of broomsticks were leaning against the wall. My hands itched to touch it, but I forced myself to stop. I sat on a broomstick-shaped bench and pretended it was a real broomstick with Willa. She seemed to want to fly like me. We shared some conversation but were forced to stop when the teacher Ms. Ivanans came and blew the whistle three times. All the G-1-A and G-1-B students made a big circle around her.

“Good to see you in class. I am Ms. Ivanans. I am here to teach you how to ride a broomstick. If you don’t succeed in this subject this year, you won’t be able to attend it next year or the following year.”

She told us how to safely take off and land, and how to speed up or down.

She showed us some tricks like making her broomstick somersault. She said we were going to really ride it from tomorrow. I was super excited.

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We had lunch next. We went back to our room and ate our lunch, which was a sandwich, chocolate milk, grapes, and pudding. We also went out to the school yard and rolled on the grass. It felt good to play with my friends like when I did in Florida. I couldn’t stop thinking about Florida.

“Rindy, are you listening to me?” I suddenly heard Willa. “It is almost time to go to potion class. Let’s get ready. Lauren and Clafen are already on their way.”

I slowly got up, confused if this was real or not. I was walking to the classroom with Willa. Both of our heads were down to look at the map. There was a stone in Willa’s way, and she accidentally tripped over it!

“Owwww!” Willa shouted.

Lauren came out of nowhere and ran toward Willa. “Are you OK?” she asked. Willa just moaned. “We’d better take her to Ms. Finer, the school nurse.”

Some other students helped us to lift up Willa, and we took her to the nurse office.

“Oh my. What happened, girls? Let me take a look at her,” Ms. Finer took Willa and laid her in bed. “What is her name, grade, and homeroom teacher?”

“Her name is Willa. She is in first grade, and our teacher’s name is Ms. Lorelei. We are friends of h . . .” I couldn’t hear what she was saying since the bell just started to ring.

Without saying goodbye, both of us started to run for the potion class.

We weren’t going to mess up our first day of school. We were three minutes late, and the teacher, Ms. M Jen, was calling names.

“Have your seat please. And your name is . . .” Ms. M Jen said in a kind tone with a big smile on her face.

“I am Rindy, and she is my friend Lauren. We are late because our friend Willa got hurt. We took her to the nurse’s room.” I said, taking an empty seat next to Clafen.

“It is OK since it is the first day of school. I allow students to accidentally be late three times a year. But you will have to go to the principal’s office after that,” Ms. M Jen said.

In class, Ms. M Jen showed us how to make water change color. She added strange ingredients and sang a strange song which went like this.

“Water water, clear water, mix and mix with colors, change and change, pop, pop, pop, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple, rainbow~!”

As soon as the song finished, the water began to change color from red to purple in order. All the students’ eyes, including mine, opened wide.

“Now, it is time for you to try,” Ms, M Jen said.

She gave us the ingredients. I read the instructions and chopped my in-

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gredients and tossed them into the boiling water. I turned around to look at Clafen working. She was almost done singing the magic song. I began to sing it too. I said pink, silver, gold, and blue instead of all the rainbow colors. And it worked really well!

“Good job! Rindy. I like the colors,” Ms. M Jen said.

“Oh. Thank you. I really like these colors,” I answered politely.

After the potion class ended, I walked to my room with Clafen. She said, “Your potion was awesome. I wish I could be as good as you are . . .”

“I liked your potion a lot, Clafen. You made it faster than me!” I answered.

As soon as we got to our room, we started our homework. There wasn’t a lot since it was the first day of school. Lauren was really good at it, so I got some help from her.

Then, Lauren said, “Do you want to go to the nurse’s office to check on Willa? I don’t want to go alone. Also, Willa will feel better with more company.”

I almost forgot about Willa!

“What kind of friend am I?” I nodded and went off to see Willa with Lauren.

At the nurse’s office, Willa was drinking a potion that looked like water.

She had a frown on her face because of the bitterness of the potion medicine.

Still, she managed to smile when she saw us coming.

“I was worried I wouldn’t have any company!” Willa shouted.

“Why would we forget about you? We are your best friends!” Lauren said with an assuring smile on her face.

We talked and talked and talked together until Ms. Finer said she could go back to normal tomorrow. It was time for us to go back to our room.

Another week and another month went by. I learned how to use magic, make potions that were hard to make, and fly on a broomstick. I spent a pretty good amount of time hanging out with my best friends. Today, we finally got our grades for the first semester. Here it was.

Magic: B Potion: A+ Flying: A+ Math: B Languages: C Astronomy: B Creature: A Special: A I thought I got pretty good grades! But compared to Lauren . . . She had

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all A+’s. Except flying. She was horrible at that subject. We were going to have a flying contest! I applied for it. I was excited and nervous at the same time, but I was ready for it. Everyone should use the same kind of broomstick for fairness.

I went to the battle field. At first it seemed to be straight, but some parts I had to turn, go up, or go down. There were some traps too!

“Attention!” A voice that belonged to Ms. Ivanans came out from the big speaker. “Everyone in the line!”

I hurried to the line. While I was running to the line, I saw Willa, Clafen, and Lauren seated on a watching chair. Ms. Ivanans said the rules of the game before the game started. “OK. On the count of three! One, two, three, go!”

Zoom! All of us started flying. Some couldn’t even start, or they got stuck, or bumped into the rail. They were out. Thirty out of fifty were left in the game. But ten of the students were really slow, so they already fell behind.

The rest of the twenty students competed with each other now. Whoosh! The wind brushed my hair while I zoomed past several students. Bump! Crack!

It was ten out of fifty now. But we were still only half way to the finish line.

The other nine were skilled athletes. They twirled and turned gracefully in the corner. I was in fourth place. Kylie was in first place. I really needed to win. I breathed deeply and made a strong connection with my broomstick.

“I. Can. Do. This!” I said to myself.

I zoomed past the third place and the second place. It was only Kylie who I had to pass. Then, traps came from everywhere. It must be the trap area. I had to go left to right, right to left. Up from down, down from up. I needed to concentrate more. When I was trying to concentrate, Kylie turned her head around to me, smirked, and gained more speed. Whack! Several stones were flying toward me, and one of them hit my broomstick! My broomstick and I went flying toward the stone wall.

“Change direction. Change direction,” I told myself.

When I almost crashed into the rock, I finally changed my direction.

More concentrated, I flew faster and got away from traps. A few moments later, I was right behind Kylie. Kylie seemed really surprised to see me right behind her. But within a second, her face changed to a sly smile. Splash!

Some sticky and green liquid came out from Kylie’s finger. I had to dodge and change directions to escape from the liquid. This game was going out of hand! When I didn’t get in Kylie’s trap, she seemed to stop. When the green liquid stopped, a giant spider web was in front of me. I couldn’t stop because my speed was so high. I. Was. Stuck. Then, I came to realize that I could do the magic too. I used my magic to cut through the sticky spider

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web and started flying again. Kylie was just a few feet away from the finish line. She was so excited, dreaming about winning. But she didn’t notice I was right behind her. It was my last chance to win.

“OK, one, two, three.” After the countdown, I zoomed toward the finish line as fast as I could with my eyes closed, scared to see what would happen next.

When I opened my eyes, I saw everyone cheering. The next thing I saw was Ms. Andrea came toward me with a trophy shaped like a broomstick. I couldn’t believe this. My friends came running toward me, with tears filling their eyes.

“Congratulations, Rindy. You have won the broomstick flying challenge.

I will give you this trophy in honor of you,” Ms. Andrea said.

Then, she turned to Kylie, offering her a second-place medal.

“Congratulations to you too, Kylie. You have won second place. I will give you this medal in honor of you.”

Kylie looked at me like I had done a terrible thing to her. She took the medal, but she didn’t seem proud of herself. Her friends came to her to help her cheer up, but it wasn’t working well. Kylie screamed at them and just ran toward her room.

After cleaning the big mess Kylie made with the liquid, I went back to my room. When I got to my room, the other five friends were in the middle of talking about their family. They stood up and congratulated me for winning one more time and asked about my parents. They told me that my parents must be really proud of me to hear this news. I had to talk about my mom.

“My mom? Well, actually I don’t really know my mom. I lived with my dad. He said she went to the witch world.”

“Oh, I am sorry,” Athly said. After that, they didn’t talk about their family.

We just went to bed. It was a long day.

In bed, I thought about my mom. I want to see her. She must be right here in the witch world. Can I go on a journey to find her? I already learned some magic. I can make it by myself. It wouldn’t be too hard to escape from school.

The journey will begin tomorrow.

The End . . . (Wait for the next book . . . )

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Ruthie Zhang Age 10

The Apocalypse: Part 1 Prologue Huff huff. “Are we there yet?” I asked.

“Not yet. But almost,” Diana called back. Huff.

“Well, we better be there soon ‘cuz I can’t go much further,” Brian huffed.

Huff. Huff. Huff. Soon they crashed through the trees and stumbled to a stop.

Huff. Huff. “Have we lost it?” Brian managed to wheeze.

“I think so,” Diana replied.

“Phew. That was close,” Joe muttered. “Did we have to go that way? I mean, I’m pretty sure there’s another way around.”

“If we took a different route, it would still be chasing us.” Diana said.

Hi. My name is Aurora. I’m sixteen, and my parents are rich. The day the apocalypse started, I was really confused when some random person burst into my room, saying that she was just trying to help me. That person is now my friend though. Her name is Diana, and she comes from a family that LOVES boxing. I also have a younger brother named Brian. He’s fourteen years old and likes to play video games. Joe used to live on a farm and knows how to tame, ride, and talk to every animal. Just then, me, Diana, Brian, and Joe, were running from this weird possessed creature. I didn’t know anything about the apocalypse until that day. In fact, I was pretty sure I’d seen that monster coming after us in a dream, just before the apocalypse. Then, I thought it was some kind of coincidence. Just now, I learned the truth; it wasn’t. This is the story of the apocalypse.

Chapter 1 Two years earlier Woah. This place looks epic. It’s so big, even bigger than my house! And I’m rich! So compared to my house, it’s HUGE. Oh wow! Would ya look at that! They have mini-houses here? Cool. I wonder if I’m gonna have my own mini-house.

“Sooooo cool!” Brian said. “I mean, I know this place has to house many people but still. Wow.”

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“You’ll be able to live in one of the mini-houses on your own, but you could share a mini-house with someone else if you want,” informed Joe. “When we tried to share mini-houses, it didn’t work out so well for some people. You should’ve seen some of the fights! They were chaotic! A punch dealt to one person, a kick to another! They even threw things! Someone almost got a glass shard to the brain! Some still want to share the mini-houses but others?

Well, no. In a few cases, people wanted revenge, so they said they wanted to share rooms. Then, they started fighting again, and we would never let them share rooms again since they might try to hurt each other. But if you’re worried they’ll hurt you, don’t worry. We have twenty-four hour surveillance, so if they try to hurt you, we’ll know. We have lots of security guards here, so don’t worry. If you were just play-fighting, you can tell us what happened.

Although I suggest you don’t lie. We’ll find out eventually,” warned Joe. “Well, I’m fine sharing rooms. How ‘bout you Brian?” I asked.

“I’m fine sharing rooms too,” he said.

“OK then. Back to business,” Diana replied. “First, we’ll show you your rooms. Oh, and by the way, if you can cook anything well, you can become a cook. Or, if you still want to be a cook, as long as you can cook a thing or two well, you’d be greatly appreciated. We need all the cooks we can get since we have so many people here. You can also be a med, a janitor, and many other things as long as you can do it well. If you want, me, Joe, and some others will teach you things to help you become a med and all the other jobs. We’ll also teach you other things too.”

They soon arrived at a flimsy-looking door with no security at all that they could see. I wondered how this room is even safe. The door looked so weak.

And there was barely any security. This place didn’t look like it had a lot of security. So far, I hadn’t even seen one security camera at all!

“Brian, this’ll be your room,” Diana said, interrupting her thoughts. “And by the way, we’ve set up everything for you. All you have to do is scan this card and then do whatever the computer says.”

“Where do I scan it? I don’t see a card scanner. Besides, I think I could kick this door down in one try. And my foot wouldn’t even hurt one bit when I do it. And what computer? It doesn’t look like this place even has security at all!”

“Alright,” Diana said. “If you think you can kick this door down and not hurt your foot, do it,” she said, with a hint of mischief in her voice.

“Uhhhh, Brian? I suggest you don’t do that,” I said, a little worried by the mischievous tone of Diana’s voice.

“Ha. This door? It won’t stand a chance,” Brian replied.

“Uh oh,” I thought.

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Pow!!!

“Yow wee!!” Brian yelled. “That hurt!”

“Haha!” Diana laughed.

“That’s not funny. Besides, why didn’t you tell me that it would hurt?”

Brian said, grouchily.

“Well, if I knew you would be able to kick the door down, why would I let you?” Diana retorted. “‘Cuz, um, you wanted me too?” Brian replied.

“Why would I ever want you to kick down a door? Doors are hard to find nowadays, you know what I’m saying?” Diana snapped back.

“Well, at least you should have warned me directly!”

“Well, only dumb people wouldn’t know what I mean!”

“Woah. Calm down guys,” Joe called over the commotion. “It’s not a big problem.”

“Whose side are you on?” Brian said aggressively. “‘Cuz it really hurt when I kicked that door!”

“Well, guess what?” Joe snapped back. “Maybe you should have been smarter!”

Suddenly, before Joe could react, Brian’s hand balled into a fist, already flying toward him.

“Don’t do that!” I yelled, but it was too late. As soon as Brian punched him, security guards surrounded him, and one of them shot him. Luckily, it was just a dart to make him fall asleep, and soon he fell to the floor, snoring loudly. Diana immediately tried to get to Joe, but the guards wouldn’t let her.

“I need to see if he’s OK!” she yelled.

“He’s probably fine, so you don’t need to worry about him. Besides, the med team is trying to work, so be quiet,” the guard snapped.

“Probably?” She yelled. “I need to see if he’s actually OK!” “Well, he is, so go away.”

“But you just said he was probably OK. How can you be sure?”

“Just stay outta this, or I’m going to have to lock you in your room for the next hour.”

“Hmph,” Diana muttered under her breath. “Stupid guards.”

“I heard that!” the guard said. “Now you really are gonna be locked in your room for the next hour.”

“That’s not fair,” she yelled. “I just wanted to see if he was OK, and you stupid guards kept keeping me away saying that the meds are busy! If he really is fine, then the meds wouldn’t be very busy,” she pointed out.

“Well, I guess that’s true,” the guard mumbled.

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“Ha! See! Now it’s not right to keep me in my room since I just proved that you were wrong!”

“But you called us stupid, so ha! You are gonna stay in your room for the next hour.”

“I only called you stupid ‘cuz you are stupid.”

“Look, kid,” the guard said, “You’re staying in your room for the next hour, whether you like it or not.”

“Hmph,” Diana muttered under her breath.

“Look, I’m sorry about Brian. Although, I assume you’ve learned your lesson. Brian has a short temper, and will easily get mad,” I said.

“Then, you should’ve warned me and Joe earlier! If you told us that, this wouldn’t have happened!” Diana retorted. With that, she stomped away.

“Diana—” I called, but she was already gone.

Suddenly, she turned around and tossed something into my hand.

“By the way, that’s your card. It has your room number. And a lot of other info. Although, you can only understand that if you’re smart. Though you’re probably dumb like your brother,” she jeered.

“Well I’m smart, not dumb,” I yelled.

“Then, find your way to your room by yourself,” she challenged me. With that, she left.

Chapter 2 After finding my room, unpacking, and then meeting my roommate, I followed my roommate down to the cafeteria for dinner. My roommate introduced herself, saying her name was Zoe, and also introduced me to Joy, Kate, June, and April. After finishing dinner, my new friends and I participated in a few activities around the building. I hadn’t seen Brian, Diana, or Joe since yesterday, and I was wondering where they were.

Before I went to bed, I decided I’d go look for them. Finally, I found Diana doing some boxing. Joe was hanging out with some other people, and Brian was in his room playing video games. At least that’s what his roommate said.

After I was done checking on them, I did some homework then did the stuff you usually do before going to bed. *** The next morning, when I woke up, everyone was whispering about something. When I arrived at the cafeteria, my friends told me what everyone was whispering about. Rumor was that there was a substance that could cure anything. But there was also some other substance that could counteract

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it, and if it was used with the curing substance, none of it would have any effect. But if the substance that could counteract the curing substance was used by itself, it could give the victim any disease the person who used it wanted. The curing substance was called Substance 4040, and the disease substance was called Substance 4041. Many people were already wondering if they were gonna be chosen for the mission, if there was a mission.

“I’m guessing that if there was a mission, they’d choose one of the professional survivors. You know, the ones that have trained at this base for quite a long time,” June said. “They probably won’t trust people that don’t have much experience. I’m not surprised though. I just wish that I had been at this base longer, so I could’ve gone on a few missions already.”

“Hmmmmm . . .” I murmured.

“What ya thinkin’ ’bout, Aurora?” April asked.

“What? Oh, not much. Although, I was thinking that maybe we could sneak out and go find the substances ourselves.”

“Really? That can’t be possible. This place has high security. You could never get past it,” Kate replied.

“Actually, that’s not true,” Joy piped in. “I have a secret tunnel in my room that I found a few years ago. That tunnel actually connects to a maze of tunnels, and I’m still not done exploring. The authorities say they know everything about this base, but they don’t. ‘Cuz they know nothing about secret tunnels.”

“But how will I know which path to take?” I asked.

“I’ll guide you through the tunnels,” Joy said.

“But I thought you didn’t finish exploring all the tunnels?”

“Don’t worry. After going through these tunnels for quite a few years, I know a lot of ways out of the school.”

“Alright then, when do we leave?”

“After you finish packing for the trip. You could also bring a few friends if you like. Zoe and I can’t go. We’ve got an exam tomorrow.”

“And don’t even think about including me and April,” Kate said.

“What about you June? Are you gonna help me find the substances?”

I asked.

“Huh? What?” June stammered, confused.

“Were you even listening?”

“Oh, sorry. I was thinking about something else. What was the question?”

“Are you going to sneak out to find the substances with me?” I repeated.

“I can’t. I just got a notification saying that I’ll need to go to Greece soon.”

“Greece? But that’s so far away! Besides, why do you need to go there anyway?” Zoe asked.

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“We’re low on TP. Some random nineteen to twenty-three year old people thought it was funny to unravel all the TP that they were able to find! And most of the TP got dirty. Imagine, people older than us, and even some professionals unraveling all the TP so that no one can use it! I mean how crazy is that! The professionals are now students again, and they have extra work to do. The rest aren’t allowed to eat for two days except for a banana a day.

And they have to stay in their rooms for two months! They aren’t allowed to go anywhere else. Anyway, the base in Greece contacted us saying that their base was overflowing with TP, and we would actually be doing a favor for them!” June explained. “And I’ll help the others collect the TP.” “Oh, alright then. Good luck on your mission,” I called as she started to get up from the table.

“Thanks!” June called back.

“Well then, I guess you’re on your own,” Joy said.

“Actually, no. I know a few people who would love to go with me,” I said slyly.

“Why do you have such a mischievous smile on your face?” Joy asked suspiciously.

“One of the friends I’m bringing is someone you don’t really like.”

“Who?” “Oh, you’ll see. Hehe.”

“Errr . . . OK.” As everyone got up from the table, an announcement was made.

“Students, this is the base founder. Everyone, go to your rooms now. A possessed creature has invaded the base. I repeat, a possessed creature has invaded the base.”

As soon as everyone heard the announcement, the whole base was in chaos. Some screamed and shouted while others hid under tables and chairs.

Some people even hid in the trash cans! Guards and staff tried to calm everyone down and tell them to go to their rooms, but the majority of people were not calmed down the least.

Suddenly a BOOM echoed throughout the room. All the chaos stopped at once. Everyone turned to look at the monster and most of them yelled, “Ewwwwww!” I wondered why people had yelled that, so me and my friends fought our way to the front of the crowd. There I saw the ugliest, slimiest, stinkiest creature ever. Now, I understood why people had yelled, “Ew.” It was huge. Super duper huge. It was made out of brown stuff and had yellow liquid all over its body. It smelled like pee and poo. That’s when I realized it was made out of pee and poo.

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“This is your chance to escape,” Joy whispered in my ear. “C’mon.”

“But shouldn’t we help get rid of the monster?” I asked.

“But if you go find the substances now, you can cure the creatures, send them home, and all will be back to normal!”

“But . . .”

“No buts. Do you wanna go find the substances or not?”

“Fine.”

“Alright then, pack your stuff. Get your other friends and let’s go.”

“OK then.”

I rushed to my room to pack my stuff. I wondered how I would find my friends in all the chaos when I spotted Joe. “Hey Joe!” I called Joe glowered at me. “What do you want?”

“Come with me. We’re going to go find Substance 4040 and Substance 4041.”

“Why should I come?”

“Do you want the apocalypse to stop or not?”

He sighed. “Fine, I’ll come.”

“Great!” I said. “By the way, do you know where Diana is?”

“I think she’s in the boxing room.”

“Cool! I’ll go check. Go pack your stuff. It’ll be quite a while before we’re back here.”

“Alright. See ya. Also, where are we meeting up?”

“In Joy’s room.”

“OK, bye.”

I forced my way through all the chaos and finally saw the boxing room. I looked around and saw Diana. Her eyes were darting from side to side, and she was in a boxing position like she was ready to punch anything that was in her way. I called her, and she glared at me.

“What do you want?” she snapped.

I explained the plan to her and told her to pack her bags if she was coming. Then, I told her to meet up at Joy’s room.

“Oh, and one more thing. Have you seen Brian?” I asked.

“He was heading in the direction of the arcade. Typical.”

“Alright, thanks!” I called.

I soon found Brian and explained the plan again.

“Duh, I’m coming!” he said. “Sneaking outta the base on an unauthorized mission? Best thing ever!”

“See ya then!” I called.

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*** I saw Brian and Joe with uncertain expressions as Joy and Diana argued.

“Why are you guys arguing?” I asked as I walked up to them.

“She doesn’t trust me to lead her through the tunnels! She thinks I’m gonna get us lost!”

“How am I supposed to trust you when I barely know you?”

“Ask Aurora! She trusts me. You trust me, right Aurora?”

“Yeah. Of course I do.”

“See?” Joy said triumphantly.

“Hmph. Fine,” Diana muttered.

“C’mon guys there’s no time for arguing. Take us through the tunnels, Joy.” “Alright.”

Chapter 3 Soon, my friends and I were outside. It was really dark outside. We said bye to Joy then walked to the wall and used a grappling hook to get over. There was a slight breeze blowing and rustling the leaves. We walked a while until we were too tired to go on any further. We found a place to sleep for the night.

Finally, after a while everyone fell asleep. I closed my eyes and hoped that this wasn’t going to be so bad. *** Suddenly, a loud crunch sounded throughout the forest. We quickly scrambled out of our sleeping bags and saw a big shadow looming over us. That’s when I saw it. And that’s when I knew one of us was doomed.

To be continued . . .

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Ashley Reyes-Herrera Age 11

A Not-So-Normal Normal Life This is Willow. She’s a normal girl with brown hair, she likes sage green, and she lives in Skyview. Normal life, right? Not really, you see, her mom is a singer, and well, she has not told her fans that she has a daughter. But tomorrow is an exciting day for Willow because . . . she is going to high school tomorrow! The next day, she woke up and put on her favorite cherry blossom dress and backpack that has her name on it. She eats breakfast and walks out the door walking to school.

A few minutes later, she gets to school, opens her locker, and puts her backpack in, and then she closes the locker and walks to her class. After a few minutes, a girl comes into the room, dressed in a lot of neon colors, like blue, green, pink and yellow. She sits next to Willow and says, “Hi, my name is Luna!”

Willow says, “Hi” back and says her name too. Then, they start talking.

After class, they bump into a girl, they apologize, and they start walking away. The girl says, “Wait!” She asked if she could become their friend. They said yes and told her their names. She says her name is Yuri, and they head to their classes. During lunch, they talk about the people at their school, like who you should not mess with, like the “mean girls” and others. They head to their classes once lunch is over. Luckily, Yuri is in Willow’s gym class. While they are changing, the mean girls BUST through the door and make an entry pose like some movie stars. Willow accidentally says, “Was that necessary?”

The mean girls’ faces turn red and walk up to Yuri and Willow and say, “This is your first warning only because you’re new.”

While everyone stays quiet, Yuri pulls Willow aside and says, “Let me tell you about them. No one messes around with them. You see the girl in the middle, Sofia, with brown hair and who wears a lot of pink. Her parents have the biggest jewelry store and get lots of money, and her father is the principal of this school. The girl with blond hair, Brittany. Do you see her phone? Her parents founded that phone brand. And last but not least, Shayna, her parents are this place’s biggest lawyers.” The bell rings, and

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they head to their last class.

When she comes home from school, she finds her mother stressed out and panicked. “Mom, what’s going on?” she asks.

Her mom asks if Willow remembers Laura. Willow says, “Yes, why?”

“Well, she is always trying to compete with me and thinks we are enemies.

During my yoga class, she stole my phone, found my contacts, and called my boss saying I want to quit. Now, I don’t have a job!”

“It’s OK,” Willow says.”You can do something else, something you like.”

So, her mom decided, “You know what, I think that’s a great idea. I will become a fashion designer.” *** Months go by, and here, I will catch you up on what is happening. Willow’s mom became a fashion designer and is the number one of the top fashion designers. Willow shows her friends to her mom, and they are really big fans of Willow’s mom. The mean girls find out about Willow’s mom and are jealous and that’s it. Willows returns back to school when she walks into the door, the mean girls apologize, and they become friends. In the afternoon Yuri, Willow, Luna, and the other three go off walking into the sunset living life to the fullest.

THE END!

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Osman Zou Age 12

Henry and Beyblade 1 Henry sleeps in the bathtub. Henry likes popsicles. Henry likes the book series Harry Potter. Is Henry in Hogwarts and going to a magic school? Thinking about Harry Potter is the best way to play. Henry also likes Star Wars, but he doesn’t like girls’ stuff. Henry’s best friends are Aiess and Qieuo.

One day, Henry plays Beyblade with his friend. Henry’s Beyblade is called Air, and it can fly, use wind to shoot, and it also can shoot by itself. It will begin: “Three, two, one. GO SHOOT!” Air flies to Vaeloke and shoots him with the wind, and then he shoots him by himself! Air bursts the Vaeloke! It bursts, so Air gets two points!

Second TIME! “Three, two, one. GO SHOOT!”

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Riya Mehta Age 9

Coral’s Magical Quest!

Meet the characters!!

Coral

Age: 10 Grade: fourth Loves: to be outside and unicorns Traits: Silly, Kind, Caring, Helpful, Adventurous

Astra

Coral’s guide and friend in the magic forest Horn Color: Rainbow Coat: White Power: To make evil and mean people nice Introduction I saw a golden tree. I ran up to it, and when I touched it, I was flying all of a sudden. I landed in a meadow, and it was not a normal meadow. There were golden trees and silver, diamond, sapphire, ruby, and emerald flowers.

It was breathtaking. I looked at the meadow for thirty minutes. I realized I was not in my backyard but somewhere else. That was a part of my quest.

Read this book to find out more.

Chapter 1: Outside Fun Hi, my name is Coral, and I am ten years old. Of course, all adventures always have to begin feeling normal, and then you see or hear something and get all curious. That is exactly how my adventure began. I was practicing for a gymnastics competition, and I did a back handspring then three cartwheels and landed in a perfect backbend. I had done it pretty much perfectly, and then I heard a magical voice. It said come to the magic forest. I thought that was so weird, and I must have imagined it. Again, I heard, “COME TO THE MAGIC FOREST! IT IS AN EMERGENCY!” This time, it must have been

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serious, but it made no sense. I saw a golden tree, and I ran up to it. When I touched it, I was flying all of the sudden and I landed in a meadow. It was not a normal meadow; there were golden trees and silver, diamond, sapphire, ruby, and emerald flowers. It was breathtaking. I looked at the meadow for thirty minutes and realized I was not in my backyard but somewhere else.

I thought of the voice it had said come to the magic forest. Was this the magic forest? But magic forests are not real. They are fake. I thought about going for a little walk. First, I got up, then I went to a golden tree, and I was flying again. This time I found myself in front of a unicorn. Why was there a unicorn in front of me?

Then, the unicorn said, “OK, time to go see the queen.”

Chapter 2: The Queen We went to see the queen. As we went, the unicorn told me about herself.

Her name was Astra, and she was a kind unicorn. She could make mean evil people and unicorns nice and friendly but not witches. Finally, we arrived and Astra bowed to a stunning unicorn and said, “This is Queen Lily, and she would like to talk to you. I am really happy you were able to come safely.

We magical creatures are in grave danger. The unicorn gem has been stolen and without it, the unicorns will die. Let me tell you the about gem, it is a sapphire.”

I said, “That sounds awful.”

Then, she asked me something crazy. “Will you find them? But do not worry, you will not be alone. Astra will go with you, and she is an awesome unicorn. Please say yes!”

I thought and then answered. “Yes. I will do anything to save the unicorns.”

She said, “The voice calling you was me. I knew I could ask you. I must get you ready for your journey because it is a long and dangerous journey.

You will leave two days from now. You will prepare, and do not worry about home because three hundred days can go by in our world, and only one millisecond goes by in your hometown.”

“Really?” I said.

“YES, I PROMISE. Let’s start getting ready.”

I said, “What do I need to do?”

“Leave the packing to me, and you enjoy the party and get to know Astra because she will be coming with you. Get to know the forest, and also, all the unicorns would like to give you a gift before you leave.”

I said, “OK.” “Yes, now go and enjoy yourself and let me pack for you.”

“Are you sure you do not need my help?” I asked.

“I am sure,” she said.

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Chapter Three: Unicorn Fun Now, it was time to party, and I was super excited. I felt like I was going to burst. The unicorns were having a party in honor of me. They were celebrating me. I was going to be their hero. I was sooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited. I got dressed in fancy clothes. I felt like a princess. I loved what I was wearing, a blue satin dress with a gold ribbon and a silver necklace and sapphire earrings. Now that I was ready, I started to walk. When I was walking, I was curious about many things with the party, and the quest, and the tools I would need, and how the unicorns were affected, and what the gem looked like, and how hard the quest would be, and what the party would be like. After a walk that felt like it took 300 million hours, I arrived at the Unicorn Town. I was so happy that I had a map now back to the party.

When I arrived, I was greeted by the unicorn queen.

She said, “Are you excited?”

“Yes,” I said. “What are we going to do at the party?”

“You will see,” she said, smiling mysteriously. Now I was soooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited. I felt like I was going to burst then. The party started. There were all kinds of foods, but they were all brightly colored. If it was a dull color, the unicorns would not eat it. That is why unicorns are so bright I thought. There was dancing. “The unicorn’s hooves cannot touch the ground, or we will have to watch the dance,” said the queen. “It is an old unicorn custom that we still listen to but it is a little silly. Thank you for respecting it then.” They all did something that made me feel soooooooooooooooooooooooooo happy: they had made me something.

The young unicorns put together a song about me. It went like this, “Oh, the hero has arrived, let’s hope we survive. Of course we will because our hero Coral is here. Thank you sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooo much for being brave and saying yes to the quest”.

Chapter 4: Let the Quest Begin Now, the quest was just about to start, and it was a nerve-racking thing. I was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo nervous and scared. I think the queen could tell because before I left she told me, “Everything will be OK, you have Astra. She is the bravest and smartest unicorn in all of unicorn history.” We finally left. All I knew was it was in a ssssuuuupppeeeeeerrrrrr dangerous place, Flamer’s Castle. Flamer is a witch by the way. She is the leader of witches. She is the most dangerous

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witch that ever lived, along with her crew AKA the other witches. Let’s get back on track. The gem was in her castle. Her castle was the scariest place on the planet. It is located in Evil Valley where all creatures there are evil now. Enough about Flamer and her castle. Now back to the journey. Astra and I started walking after a few hours. I got really tired and Astra could tell.

She said, “Hop on.”

I said, “finally” after walking for six hours.

We made it to Evil Valley, and when we made it there, we could tell we were there because of a sign that said, “ENTER IF YOU DARE SIGNED FLAMER AND HER CREW AKA THE OTHER WITCHES.” I was soooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooo scared and so was Astra. We opened the gate and looked around. We saw dark gloomy spooky sad places. The land of nightmares was located in Evil Valley—we looked for a map. Finally, after at least one hour of searching, we found one. I took off my backpack with all my stuff and took out a pair of glasses and looked around. By the way, the glasses were called witch eyes. The history of witch eyes is that these are a pair of glasses that belong to the unicorns. They help unicorns and other creatures see what only witches can see, like Flamer’s Castle.

I said suddenly to Astra, “I see her castle. Follow me.” We entered and saw the scariest thing ever. It was Flamer herself. THE MOST EVIL WITCH. We tried to sneak past her, but we did not make it. I turned to Astra, “Can you make us look like witches?”

Chapter 5: Flamer and Her Crew “Yes,” said Astra. Then, we both looked like the witches guarding Flamer.

“Like bodyguards your wickedness, Flamer. We are new witches. My name is Crackle, and this is my friend Astwing.”

“OK,” she said, “You will be my servants. I saw a pesky human girl and unicorn. Find them, or I will make you frogs. And after that, make me a smoothie for bat wings, then wash my bedsheets with mold and fill my bath with mushroom mold and bat spit. Clean the windows with spit and do not break the spider webs and never take the key of my bat body nightstand.”

Then, I whispered something to Astra, “Maybe the key opens the room where the sapphire is hidden. When she is asleep, let’s try it.”

Chapter 6: Hip Hip hooray, Oh No “OK,” said Astra, “but we cannot be visible to Flamer.”

“You have to make us invisible, can you?” I asked.

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“Yes,” she said, “but it takes a lot of magic, and it may not work, but it is worth a shot.”

So that night, when Flamer went to sleep, we snuck into her room and took the key.

“Now,” I whispered, “we have to find the place.”

“Hang on, I think I see it. It is on the bookshelf. See that hole that says sapphire?” said Astra.

“Yes,” I said, so we took the key and opened it. Then we saw the sapphire, but then the witch started to wake up.

And Astra said, “My magic cannot make us invisible any longer.”

Flamer saw us and said, “Oh, I see you are not witches, but you are here to save the unicorns. Well, you can have your sapphire as long as you answer these questions correctly.”

Chapter 7: The Quiz “Now, these questions are going to be hard. Are you sure about this?”

“Yes,” I said. I was thinking, Wow she loved the sapphire sooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much!

“OK,” she said . . .

Now, we are going to take a break from the story, so I can tell you a little about the quiz (this is from after we accomplished the mission). Flamer the witch gives this quiz to any person or animal she sees trying to take something back from her. It is a really hard quiz. The only one who has passed this was a fairy who was one of the smartest creatures in the world of magical things. Now, back to the story.

Question number one: what are witches scared of? Is it: A) Humans B) Owls or C) Both humans and owls.

I looked at Astra, and she said, “C is the right answer.”

Then, I said, “C.” “Correct,” Flamer said. We could tell she was nervous by the second question.

Why do witches always have a bat with them? Is it: A) Because they are friends B) Because they are servants C) Because they are the sources of magic.

“What do you think,” said Flamer?

Astra and I looked at each other. “Maybe C,” I said to Astra.

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“Yes,” she whispered.

Then, I said, “We think it is C!” “Correct,” Flamer said. Now we could tell she was soooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooo nervous.

The last question: what is a witch’s greatest enemy?

A) The unicorn queen B) The fairy queen C) The mermaid “I know,” said Astra. “A, the unicorn queen.”

Then, Flamer asked, “What is your answer?”

“A,” said Astra.

“Correct,” said Flamer, “OK, the sapphire is yours.”

So, we got the sapphire back and started our journey home. I rode Astra for six hours, and we finally made it home.

Chapter 8: Celebrate Good Times Now, the queen was waiting for us.

She asked, “Did you get it back?”

“Yes,” we said.

“Here it is,” I said, holding it up.

The queen smiled and said, “How can I thank you?”

I said, “By letting me come back if you need help or to visit.”

“Now, let’s celebrate with a party!” she said.

“Yes,” Astra and I said, and so we started walking. Then, as we got close, we heard music, and we celebrated all through the night.

Chapter 9: The Return The next day, my adventure came to an end. I was very sad to leave all my new friends. But I had to leave, so I got ready to return home. “What do I have to do to get home?” I asked.

The queen said, “I have to use my magic. And again thank you sooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much.”

And so, I stood where she said to. Then, I saw the golden tree in front of me. I touched it, then I started to fly and suddenly, I was back in my yard. I saw something sticking out of my pocket. It was a bottle with some unicorn dust.

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Discussion Guide What was your favorite thing about Coral?

What was your favorite chapter?

What was your favorite thing about Astra?

What would be your unicorn super power?

Would you recommend the book?

On a scale of one to ten how was the book?

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Anna Stearns Age 10

Raya and the Missing Raspberries Chapter 1 Tweet tweet. “Coming, Blissey.” Hi, I am Raya, and I am a fairy without wings.

I didn’t lose them, I was just born without them. For a fairy, this is very bad because wings are how a fairy gets around, so on top of having no wings, getting around is harder for me. This really bums me out. But I still have ways of getting around, even without wings. Now, you probably wonder who Blissey is, and why she was tweeting at me. Don’t worry. I am about to get to that. First of all, Blissey is my friend bluebird, my best friend bluebird to be exact. You see, when Blissey was a young bluebird, she crashed into a tree.

I found her and took care of her until she got better. Since then, we have been the best of friends. I give her the food, water, shelter, and grooming she needs to stay alive. But back to the story. I am sleeping, and Blissey is trying to wake me up, so I wake up and open the shutters of my acorn house and say hello. Then, I close the shutters and get dressed. Most fairies wear classic leaves and petal dresses, but I wear a crop top with skinny jeans. After that, I go to the window and say, “Ready?” Then, I jumped out the window.

Chapter 2 It might seem really strange and dangerous to jump out a window. And it is! Unless you have been doing it for a few years like me. So I jumped out the window and landed on Blissey’s back. Then, she flies me down to the ground, and I start to take off running. I see a river up ahead, but I still keep running. I take this path every day, so I know that it’s very deep water. But I also know how to get by it without stopping. When I am a few centimeters away from the river, I jump into the air and swing from a blade of grass across the river. When I hit the ground, I just keep running. Finally, after a while, I got to my destination. My destination is the big kitchen that was built in the middle of the great raspberry bush. The great raspberry bush is the fairies’ main source of food! There are a lot of baking fairies, so you always see activity. But when I step inside, I see a bunch of fairies freaking out! I go up to one and ask, “What is going on?”

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“We had all just been starting our day, and then all of a sudden, Savanna shouted to us that the raspberries were missing. We all thought she was joking, but we had to get raspberries to bake with, so we went over to get the raspberries. But they were all gone!”

Chapter 3 “The raspberries are gone! You must be kidding! I have to see for myself.

Could you please point me in the direction of the raspberry storage?” The fairy points me in the direction of the raspberry storage, so I go that way, and when I get there, I peek inside and see that the fairy is not joking! The raspberries are gone! I decided to investigate. I look around the room but don’t see anything. I am about to give up, but then I see a tuft of caramel-colored fur with a tad of white on it! I take the fur then decide to sit down and figure out what animal it belongs to. The reason I am sitting down is because I have a field guide on every animal I have ever seen in the forest. I always try to take a bit of a feather or some fur to put in my field guide. I also add diagrams if possible. I have a whole three pages on bluebirds because of Blissey. Finally, I found a page with an animal that looks similar to this fur sample! A squirrel! That’s what the creature must be! But wait, in the diagram and fur sample, I notice that it does not have a white bit of fur! Meaning, it can’t be a squirrel! So, I guess I have to keep looking. I flip to the next page, and look! It’s a chipmunk! The diagram shows that a chipmunk has a stripe down its back, and the fur sample shows caramel fur with a bit of white just like this sample I just got! OK, but now I have to stop the chipmunk from doing it again. Wait, I think I have an idea!

Chapter 4

OK, so here’s the plan. Tonight, I am going to hide in one of the cupboards

in this room and peek out. I will watch, and when I see the chipmunk, I am going to jump out and lock the door. Then, I will see if I can bribe it away with some raspberries. Then, I will talk to the baking fairies, and if they agree, get a smaller door, so the chipmunk can’t get in again. I decided to tell the baking fairies about my plan now, so the door can be made, and we can just shrink the space where the door goes and put in the door tomorrow. So, I am now rock climbing down from the raspberries storage. I am rock climbing because you are supposed to fly up there but I can’t. Now, I am on the floor and walking up to the baking fairies. I tell them my idea and who did it, and they agree to my plan of action. This will be over by tonight.

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Chapter 5 It’s night now, and I am hiding in a cupboard, waiting for the chipmunk. I brought a watch, and it says it’s ten minutes to midnight. I am really tired and just want to go to bed. I am noticing myself drift off but decide not to do anything about it. I am about to fall asleep but what’s that?!? There’s scratching at the door. I am instantly awake. I know the chipmunk is about to come in. I move into a crouching position and wait. Then, all of a sudden, it appears! It is almost as big as this room! I am so shocked that I almost forget what to do! But then I saw that the chipmunk looks disappointed and remembered that there are no raspberries left in this room, so the chipmunk probably won’t stay long. All of a sudden, I jump out from inside the cupboard and run to close the door. I am almost too late to close the door because the chipmunk starts to try to leave! But I get the door closed just in time.

Chapter 6 When I get the door closed, I turn to look at the chipmunk. At first I am scared, what if that thing attacks me when I try to get it out the door? But then I remember that hidden inside the clock is a bit of raspberry. If I open the secret space in the clock, the chipmunk should follow me out! So, I unlock the door and put my hand on it. With the other hand, I put my finger on the hidden latch that opens the secret space in the clock. Then, I open the door and the secret space in the clock at the same time. The chipmunk immediately snaps to attention and lunges at me, but I am too fast. I run out of the room and race to the ledge that you would fly off of. I turn around and start to rock climb down until there is now rock beneath me. Then, I jump down and land on my feet. I run out the front door and the chipmunk follows. I run into the forest and climb high into a tree. The chipmunk is gaining on me, so I throw the seed as far as I can. The chipmunk sees me do this and runs down the tree. Then, it runs in the direction of the raspberry pieces. I relax when it runs away. Now, we no longer have to worry about our food being stolen. The mystery is solved, and the case is closed.

Aftermath Over the next few days, all was well, and everything had settled down.

The new door had been installed the day after I led the squirrel away. It was smaller and stronger, so now the chipmunk could not break in again.

Many people thanked me for leading away the chipmunk, but I said it was

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no big deal. I am now just curling up in my cottage, reading a good book by the fireplace. That was quite a mystery that happened! And there are probably more around the corner. After all, I am different, and different people are special!

The End

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Anais Choi Age 7

The Magic of Rainbow Rice Cake Minsoon came back from school and found that there was a full plate of rainbow rice cakes! It is not the same color as the rainbow, but it is called rainbow rice cake because there are many colors of rice cake.

“Look at that!” said Minsoon with a smile. It reminds Minsoon of good memories in Korea.

Minsoon visited Korea last year with his family. When he arrived at the airport in Korea, his grandmother was there to see Minsoon’s family, and she had a small bag in her hand.

As soon as Minsoon’s grandma saw Minsoon, she said to Minsoon, “Minsoon, you must be hungry. Please have this rice cake. You must like it.

Its name is rainbow rice cake as you can see the color on it.”

When Minsoon saw and ate the cake, he said “Wow, what a beautiful rice cake! It looks like a magic cake! And it is so chewy and sweet. I love it.”

With his memorable experience with the rice cake, he wondered if he could take just one. However, his mom wasn’t there, but he wanted to eat one!

So, he ate just one bite of the first color of the layer of the rice cake. It was a red one like the first color of the rainbow. And suddenly, he fell asleep and dreamed about love. Love is full of heart and cares for others with a warm heart, and the most important thing is how much you love others and are being loved. The dream takes him to the world of love. When he was there, he saw a family, and the people next to each other had a heart shape on their head. Whenever they showed their love to each other, the heart was added on their head one by one, and their smile looked bigger and bigger. Minsoon felt warmer and melted down with love. When he woke up, he really wanted to show his love to his family as he saw. He wanted to show his family about love, so he wrote love poetry to his mom.

[Do not Change] I love you because you give me love.

I love you because you give me kisses

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So I don’t change because I love you.

I look everywhere but the only thing I see is you.

You make my heart flow.

I love the rainbow and I love you.

You look like my favorite stuff.

Your happy face looks like a shining light telling me how to get home.

Your heart is my life.

I love you.

Wherever you go I’m going to follow you.

After a very surprising dream, Minsoon could not stop to eat the magic rainbow rice cake. He really wanted to know what he could explore with different colors of the rice cake. Now, he ate the orange colored rice cake, then he fell asleep again, but this dream wasn’t the same; it was about the world of patience. He was at a strange school, and one child was pushing in line to take a turn for a swing at a playground. Other children felt so frustrated. At that moment, a teacher was passing by him and tried to stop him from pushing other kids and talked about what patience is to him. The sun sets and the moon rises up. Some people love a bright sky, so they are waiting until the sun rises tomorrow. Night time is very long, and they feel like it’s forever, but they are waiting patiently. They waved to the moon and said, “Could you please let the sun come out soon? Because we really want to see the bright sky.”

However, the moon said to them, “Please wait until the sun rises, and you may sleep. You will see the very beautiful and bright sun as you wished.”

The people are waiting and waiting very patiently.

Finally, the sun came out happily because the people waited for the sun.

The sun said, “You did not give up on me, so you deserved it.”

And the people said to the sun, “You are more than welcome.” Also, the people were very thankful to the moon because the moon did not yell or cry but stayed in his mood and just waited until the sun came out . . .

The teacher said, “Are you now thankful for patience?”

And the student nodded and said, “Yes, I am.” He continued, saying, “I also think the moon showed his patience with his kindness.” His teacher loved his understanding.

Minsoon wanted to stay at the school and wanted to play with the kids, but

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suddenly woke up from the dream and realized that the rice cake was magical! And he even found out that it changed him in a good way. He thought he would tell the dream to the class and his teacher at his school tomorrow.

Minsoon wanted to explore a more surprising world. Now, he ate the yellow colored rice cake, and he fell asleep again. He dreamed about happiness this time and what a surprise, the dream dragged him to his grandparents’ house in Korea! He visited his grandparents’ house in the summer two years ago. He remembered he was happy when he visited the place. He did many different and fun things with his grandparents and his family while he stayed at his grandparents’ house. He loved to eat his grandmother’s delicious foods, and it made him warm and thankful to his grandmother. He especially enjoyed his grandmother’s special Korean food, which was very spicy and traditional. After coming back to his home in America, Minsoon asked his mom to make the grandmother’s special food. Whenever he has the food, it reminds him of happy memories with his grandparents in Korea.

His grandfather also bought many gifts for Minsoon. One day, his grandfather took Minsoon to a toy store and he said with his very big smile, “Minsoon, whenever I passed by this toy store, I thought about you and really wanted to buy something for you because you mean a lot to me. I am very happy now because you and I are together in the store. Please have the toys you really want.”

Minsoon wanted to have the toy store but chose only one toy. Whenever he played with his toy from his grandpa, he often thought about his grandpa and his grandpa’s warm words because it really means a lot to Minsoon. So when Minsoon misses his grandpa, he plays with his toys and it makes him feel happy and warm.

Minsoon also traveled to some places with his family in Korea. Whenever they traveled, Minsoon’s grandparents held Minsoon’s hands tightly and walked around. Minsoon thought his grandparents’ hands were very warm and soft. He almost remembered it all! And it was actually so fun! Minsoon could not forget how big his parents’ smiles were and how bright his parents’ eyes were when they were with Minsoon’s grandparents. It also made Minsoon’s smile big and his eyes bright! On the day Minsoon’s family left Korea, his grandparents came to the airport to say goodbye. Minsoon was very sad when he saw his grandparents and sobbed. His grandma whispered in Minsoon’s ear, saying, “Ohh! It was a beautiful dream with you, and I would not forget every moment with you. Now I feel sad, but I know we’ll be together always in our mind. Whenever you miss me, look at the sky, then I will look at the sky thinking about you, too.”

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At that moment, Minsoon suddenly woke up, and he thought, It was a really happy dream, and he just looked up at the sky thinking about his grandma. He wanted to explore more and more and wondered what world was waiting for him. So, he tried to taste the green colored part of the rice cake and right away he fell asleep. This time he dreamed about curiosity and creativity.

Minsoon saw one grown-up whose name is Mr. Odd, and Mr. Odd said to Minsoon, “Welcome to the odd playground. To get out of the odd playground, you must solve two problems, and you need to think creatively with your curiosity. OK, should we begin? Here is the first problem. Please choose six letters from the following sequence and make one word.”

[SBIANXLEATHERNESS] Minsoon thought and asked Mr. Odd, “It’s so hard. Can you give me a clue?”

The adult said, “Think about fruits.”

Minsoon thought hard. “Fruits that require six letters are . . . I don’t think there’s a lot. Well . . .”

And Mr. Odd said, “You like this fruit, don’t you? I know you eat this everyday in the morning. Also, monkeys like this fruit, too.”

The word finally came to Minsoon’s mind. “Oh, OK. I think I know. It’s BANANA!” Mr. Odd said to Minsoon, “That’s right. You did a great job! That’s the answer. So, shall we move on to the next problem? The next problem is about this box. There is an item in the box here. What do you think of this item?

You may think about what you need the most now.”

Minsoon thought about it very hard. “What I need the most now? Well . . .

I should get out of here. This is the most important because my family is waiting for me, so I really need a key that shows me to open the door of this odd playground.”

Mr. Odd smiled and said, “Sounds great. Here is the key you want. Try to open the door, and you should be good to go.” He added, “You’re such a creative and fun kid. Curiosity and creativity are very important. If you think carefully and think deeply, your creativity will also improve so that you can know clearly what you want later.”

Minsoon listened to him carefully, and suddenly, Mr. Odd disappeared.

Also, Minsoon could finally open the door with the key of wisdom and finally come out from the odd playground.

When Minsoon woke up, he thought the dream was somewhat odd and strange but also very fun. He wanted to go back to the odd playground to

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meet Mr. Odd and wanted to explore the place more.

Minsoon tried to write down notes about what he had seen and he saw in his dream before his mom came and hid his notes under his bed. Suddenly, he heard something from him. It was his mom. Mom said to him, “Minsoon, how was your school today? Did you eat the rainbow rice cake on the table?

I went to a Korean market today and found one there. I remembered you really loved to eat that rice cake when we went to Korea, so I wanted to give it to you as a special snack today.”

Minsoon replied, “Mom, I was surprised it was here, and it was so delicious and special. I loved it. Believe it or not, I had really special and fun dreams while I was eating it.”

“What dream? Minsoon, that is just rice cake. Hahaha!” Mom could not understand what Minsoon said to her. And then, Minsoon asked Mom to buy one more rice cake from the K-market. However, Mom said, “That was the only one there, so there are no more at the market. Sorry about that. When we visit Korea next time, you can have it as much as you can.”

Now, Minsoon thinks someday he will go to Korea and wants to have another magical dream with the rainbow rice cake.

THE END

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Zenio Vesia Age 10

Two Friends, One Change Samson and Jeff have been friends since kindergarten. They met in Mr. Harrison’s class while they were both staring at Timmy McNare stuffing crayons up his nose! They looked at each other, burst out laughing, and from that point on, they were inseparable. All through elementary and middle school, they played together on the playground, ate together at lunch, worked on projects together, and walked to each other’s houses after school to hang out.

This started to change when Samson and Jeff started high school together.

Jeff started to ignore the teachers and not do his work. He also did not walk or hang out with Samson after school. Not just because he did not want to but also because he had detention almost every day. The worst thing was he started to eat lunch and hang out with Timmy McNare and Doug Slopper III. These were the bullies of the school. Timmy & Doug were known for their signature wedgie, “THE YANKER DOODLE.” Yes, it sounds funny but one, it’s painful, two, it’s highly embarrassing, and three, it’s mean.

Samson was surprised and confused because Jeff was doing it too and looked like he was enjoying hanging out with them. Samson asked himself, “Why was Jeff hanging out with the meanies? Why isn’t he hanging out with me? What changed?”

The next day during PE class, Samson got on the same team as Jeff for volleyball. Sam tried to talk to Jeff. “Jeff, do you want to hang out after school?”

Jeff ignored him, so Samson tried again. Yet again, Jeff ignored him.

Samson started to get annoyed and suddenly yelled, “Why are you ignoring me? Why are you not being my friend?”

Then, Mrs. Charleston, the PE teacher, turned around and said, “Both of you come to my office after school.”

At lunch, Jeff walked over to Samson with Timmy McNare and Doug Slopper III. Samson was a bit worried. “Why are those two and Jeff walking over to me? I can tell they don’t want to sit with me. They don’t even have their lunch.”

“Thanks a lot for getting me in trouble, you loser.” Samson was paralyzed.

He couldn’t believe what Jeff just said to him.

Just then, Timmy McNare said, “Let’s give him THE YANKER DOODLE.”

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Jeff answered, “Good idea.”

Jeff was just about to “yank” Samson when Peter and Parker walked over. Peter and Parker were the most “popular” kids in the school. Everyone thought they were the coolest because they had the most epic parties, they were athletic (part of every sports team), creative (part of every art, music and drama club), and really big-brained (they were part of debate club and always got an A+). Once, they even saved a baby squirrel trapped in a hole!!!

“Stop it! What are you trying to pull?” asked Peter.

“Funny you ask. We are trying to ‘pull’ his pants!” Doug Slopper III responded laughing.

“You need to stop bullying everyone. It’s cruel and painful,” Parker said.

“Especially you Jeff. You used to be nice. Now you’re doing this to your best friend? You need to think about what you’re doing.” Everyone around them started closing in on Doug, Timmy and Jeff.

They too agreed and started saying things like, “You need to stop. Why are you being bullies? We’re tired of it.”

At this point Doug, Timmy, and Jeff were worried that the teachers would get suspicious at all this commotion and come over. They tried to run through the crowd, but the crowd wouldn’t budge. “If we see you bully anyone again, we will tell Principal Samantha.”

Sweat dripped down the boys’ faces and they said, “OK. OK. We’ll stop.”

Finally, the crowd let them go, and the three ran away.

Samson was amazed that not only the most popular kids came over and stood up for him, but everyone else did too. “Thanks for doing that,” said Samson.

“No problem,” Peter and Parker said in sync.

Everyone else said, “No problem. Anytime.” Samson couldn’t believe what had happened. So many kids chose the upstander route instead of being bystanders.

The next day at lunch, Samson sat down for lunch alone. Just like he had every day after Jeff had abandoned him. Just then, Peter and Parker came over and asked if they could sit with him. Samson felt astonished and said, “Yes!” It wasn’t just the two of them. A group of Peter and Parker’s friends came over and sat with him too. Samson was never alone again and had good friends that he knew would always be there. As for Doug Slopper III, Timmy McNare and Jeff, they never tried the Yanker Doodle on anyone again.

THE END

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Wynter Miller Age 9

Chess Adventures Once, in the future, chess sets were robotic. But, the set 1,520,983 was alive, not robotic. Read on to discover the unofficial documents I have uncovered over the years by interviewing witnesses* of this strange story. But, be warned, you may not like the ending.

Calink-calank! Pound! Pound! Pound! Saw! Saw! Saw! Our strange tale begins in a factory. A special factory. Santa’s factory! Rupert, a very unintelligent, thirty-two-year-old Dwarf-Gnome Hybrid is working very hard on polishing set 1,520,982. He finished and tossed it in a bin labeled “finished,” which it was. He grabbed the next set, and then his hat that was covered in special dust from mercury fell off his head and onto the unpolished set. But he took no notice and picked up his hat. At that moment, all the dust fell slowly on the set, causing Rupert to cough very hard. His parents told him about the dusts’ special abilities. He had not heard a word. He was very unintelligent and poured all of the dust on his hat. Rupert checked his antique pocket watch that his great grandpa had given him. It was 11:58. “Time for lunch,” he hollered.

One of his many cousins and colleagues, Eliza, responded, “No, time for bed, you Dimwit!” So, Rupert angrily finished polishing the set and headed to bed.

When he pushed the door to the large wood cabin open, he was immediately covered in snowballs. Then, the room burst out laughing. Or more accurately everyone IN the room burst out laughing. And then, Rupert’s friends and family all yelled, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” Rupert chuckled, “I totally forgot!” Rupert’s parents, Rupert’s little brother, Eliza, and Erica were there. He was going to have a good birthday.

His little brother, Fred, shouted, “LET’S EAT!” Reader, several things happened at once. Fred shouted so loud, the windows broke, a volcano erupted, the candles flew out of the cake through the broken window, the lodge collapsed, several icebergs shattered as well, penguins went temporarily deaf, and Santa’s cat died. “Umm, I’d better prepare the Oopsy Conscription,” said Rupert’s father.

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“Not again!” whined Fred. “I’ll be sent off to that awful boarding school.”

“I’M GOING TO USE IT!” said Rupert’s father. Swish! Santa’s cat came back to life, the window repaired itself, the thirty-three candles flew back on the cake and relit, iceberg chunks fused together, and the penguins heard again.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” screeched little Fred, and then magic teleported him to an obedience school.

Inside set 1,520,983, one of the pawns stood up. “Am I alright?” he thought.

“Yes, we all are,” said someone. He thought this mysterious person could read his mind. “No, I cannot read your mind. That would be awesome though.” Then, the pawn realized he had said everything aloud and chuckled.

“Well, can somebody ‘splain why we is breathin’?”

“I sawed dirt fall on us, and then we were all talkin’,” said the king.

“SPEAK OLD BRIT’SH PLEASE!” said the queen out of nowhere. “YOUR BLARNEY IS GIVING ME A HEADACHE!” “Yes, ma’am,” everyone chorused.

“Sorry to interrupt, but where is the other team?” asked the rook.

“We are right here,” said the black king.

“Good, we were starting to get bored!” said the white king. (Chess is a board game.) Everyone laughed.

Outside the box, Sarah thought she was hearing voices. Then, they stopped and were replaced by the sounds of puffins, arctic foxes, mice, reindeer, and sleeping polar bears. Of course, no one was allowed in the factory at night, but she wasn’t even allowed out of the sleeping quarters at night. “That Rupert Caldabera is lucky; he got that whole dang lodge, just for using that awful gingerbread shampoo,” she thought.

She walked stealthily through the quiet factory toward Rupert’s desk.

“He sure is messy,” she thought after an open can of polish decided to pour all of its contents on her boots. She was really angry. It was Christmas! No one bought her presents! She was treated like scum! And worst of all, NO ONE CARED! Then, she was hit with a wall of tiredness and walked off to bed. Her bed was made of hay. She was told it was made of feathers. It was not exactly a lie. It had been made of feathers, but they had fallen out over time. They patched it up with hay. Occasionally, she would find rogue feathers in the morning.

Rupert climbed his way up the ladder on his loft to get to bed. He loved his loft. It was soft, high up, and comforting in times of stress. Then, he climbed down and put the puffin egg in the incubator. He wondered if he had locked the door, so he jumped off the ladder, locked the door, turned on

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the incubator, raced up the ladder, covered himself in quilts, and promptly fell asleep. The next morning, he was on the floor of the lodge with a broken leg. His leg being broken would not allow him to move. And he felt a peculiar pecking sensation. The puffin walked into his line of sight. He yelled, “SUNDAY! Wait! Yes, I will name you Sunday.” So he healed his leg, and was off to work. Sunday fell over and hit the ground. He was tired. He deserved it.

Five hours later, Sunday woke up. He decided to eat some krill. Then, he pecked a hole in the door and followed Rupert’s scent trail. It was faint, but Sunday followed it to the factory. He walked in and followed Rupert’s scent trail. It was getting stronger now. Sunday sniffed again and got distracted by the scent of magic coming from set 1,520,983. He walked over and sniffed it warily. And then he sneezed. It smelled weird to Sunday, so he investigated.

He stomped on it, kicked it, punted it, pecked it, punched it (to the best of his ability), karate chopped it, chewed it, sat on it (again, to the best of his ability), and he threw a hammer on it. Then, the tired puffin did something that would amaze biologists around the world. He found a wood plank, shoved a rock under it, threw the set on the opposite end, and jumped on it. In essence, he had built a catapult. A very good one, too. The set hit a spinning saw, got sliced, and fell to the ground with a loud THUNK! It lay in shambles.

Inside the set, the king asked “Everyone OK?” Everyone said yes but the rook. There he lay, sliced in half.

“Oh, the pain,” he managed to moan. Then, he died.

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Noémie Wurster-Dillard Age 11

The Mystery of the Elven World Prologue “Hi, I’m Willow. I’m an elf, and I live in Hollow Grove, the east part, of course.

I’m eleven. I can’t go out until I’m twelve and pass The Test*. I can’t wait to get out because the five-year-olds drive me crazy. In the meantime, I’m in school learning how to write, read, archery, hunt, weave, plant, and the history of Hollow Grove. In all, school is boring and annoying. When I go back to the cabin, which is a Willow tree, I’m there with five other girls: Baobab, Lotic, Chary, Pine, and Maple. We are best friends and all so different.”

Chapter 1 “Willow, where are you?” Baobab yelled across the school playground. We were playing hide-and-seek. I was the hider. I was always the second one to be found. “Aha!” Baobab exclaimed. “I found you! Come on, let’s go before Miss Halgus (Hal-a-gou)’s class starts archery.”

“OK, OK,” I said.

“Come, let’s go get a green tea shake,” Chary said as she caught up with us.

“Six green tea shakes, please,” I asked Miss Humpulgord. Miss H.G. is our lunch lady.

Miss H.G. asked, “Where are Lotic, Pine, and Maple?”

“Funny you ask, Miss H.G., we got enough points to get a new cabin.”

“Well, isn’t that nice! Here you go, girls. Enjoy!”

We walked toward the cabin site. Our stuff was already being brought into our new tree, a strong blue Willow.

“Nice place!” Pine said.

“Yup,” Baobab replied.

We all walked into our new home. We all smiled and started calling dibs on our new rooms.

I chose the spire: it had a beautiful view and a balcony. It was perfect.

I was so happy to finally have my own room.

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Chapter 2 The next morning, I went downstairs to find Pine and Maple making nutmeg cinnamon pancakes.

They were so good.

Afterwards, we headed out to go to the east ceremony. The twelve-yearolds had all passed the test.

Next year, I will take the test and go to the northern quadrant. I hope that we can sign-up for the outdoors wilderness survival camp that lasts one month! But first, we must pass the standard requirements. So, we all headed toward the sign-up stand.

“Good morning girls! Are you here to sign up?” asked Head Counselor Live.

“Yes!” we all laughed.

“OK,” she responded. We all signed-up on the sign-up sheet.

After the bell rang, it was the Elven Pointing Bell. On our way, we bumped into the principal.

“Willow Leaf, the elders have been looking for you,” the principal said in a hurry.

“OK, let’s go.”

We met with the elders: “Willow Leaf, we would like to give you and your friends The Honor of becoming Blades.” *The Elven Official East to North Test All twelve-year-olds must pass this test with at least a ninety-five percent: ­— At archery, you must hit an Ace bush to make it fall.

— And recite the Elven anthem.

— Recite the three most prosperous moments in Elven history.

— You must weave a weather tight, flamboyant-style basket with Muchahabra leaves that is sturdy enough to carry twelve Prucata fruits from a Pluscana tree.

THE END

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Evan Macks Age 17

Sports Chapter 1: Baseball Bob is a teenager who is infatuated with the Tigers. Bob delights in talking about baseball because he enjoys watching his favorite team called the Detroit Tigers. His parents buy him season passes to the games. Bob’s family will sometimes take relatives or friends that they know to the Tigers games.

He attends all the games, even if his friends and family are unable to go. He delights in getting a Little Caesars pizza and a pop at the Tigers game. He is in the Kid’s Club, and he can go to the field because he is their biggest fan, and the team likes him for it. He gets so many good prizes like candy, gift cards and more. His parents are so happy that he can go on the field every game at home and away. The Tigers give them free plane tickets and free hotel stays because the Tigers pay for them to travel to their playing site.

Bob just flew into Chicago for the Tigers vs. Chicago White Sox. He wanted to stop by the museum a couple hours before they played the White Sox. This was the first out of the four-game series. He went to the art museum because he really likes to see the variety of paintings created by different artists. After visiting the museum, he was on his way to the first game of the series. Once he arrived at the game, he was so excited to order a Chicago hot dog. They are his favorite. The game was a blowout and the Tigers won! After the game, he went to the hotel called the Holiday Inn, where he would sleep for three nights in Chicago. He planned on attending the museum each day because he wanted to see the art again.

In the second game of the series, Bob sang the United States National Anthem. The Tigers were clapping after Bob’s performance of the anthem because they really liked his tone and dynamics, and he had perfect pitch.

After Bob’s fantastic performance, the coach and the players invited Bob to the dugout to watch the game. The game was very intense because they were tied after the ninth inning. They went into extra innings and the Tigers pounded with sixteen runs in the first half of the tenth inning. They struck out three batters in the bottom half of the inning, therefore winning the game. Bob jumped for joy because they won the game while he watched from the Tigers dugout.

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In the third game of the series, Bob’s parents got him a cotton candy to show how proud they were of Bob’s singing yesterday. It was fabulous. Bob thought the Tigers were going to win because of the last two games. At the start of the eighth inning the Tigers were behind. Then, in the ninth inning when the Tigers were batting, they got seven more runs. Bob was amazed.

They won the game. Bob was so surprised that the Tigers came back in the eighth inning to tie it up and won it in the ninth inning.

In the last game, Bob received autographs from some of the players before the game. After he received the autographs, he walked to his seat. He made himself comfortable in his chair to look at the starting lineup. The start of the game was intense. The Tigers pounded the White Sox in each inning, shutting them out. The score was twenty to zero. They were going to the playoffs because they won the final game. If they didn’t win, then the Kansas Royals would have won the division. Bob and the team celebrate on the field. They were shouting, “We are going to the playoffs!”

The playoff round before the World Series, the Tigers won the four games consecutively. The teams that they won against were the Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, Oakland A, and Kansas City Royals. He was so happy that they were going to the World Series. They were going to be playing the San Diego Padres. They had won the first two games in Detroit. Bob traveled to San Diego for the next two games. Once he arrived, he visited the Hansen Museum of Arts because he loves art. After visiting the museum, Bob attended the two games in San Diego, which the Tigers won. At the end of the last game in San Diego, Bob went to the field to take a picture with the Tigers and their trophy. After the picture, they gave him a big present because he helped them to go to the World Series. He opened it and saw a big baseball that everyone on the team signed. Bob was happy because he got this surprise gift.

Chapter 2: Football Sally is an adult who is infatuated with U of M football. She buys season tickets to every home game. Every time she goes to the games, she gets pizza. Her husband always goes with her. They have a good time at the home games. Sometimes they bring their friends with them. The game that she, her husband, and her friends are going to right now is the College Football Playoff Finals.

The game is played in Arizona. The game is Michigan vs. Alabama. She has four friends with her and her husband going to the game. The game started strong because Michigan scored twenty points in the first quarter.

They play Scrabble at the break before the start of the second quarter. The

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second quarter starts when Alabama fumbles, so Michigan jumps on the fumble. At the end of the half, Michigan gets another twenty points. At halftime, they walk around together in the stadium and get some pizza. They go back to their seats and finish eating. The third quarter goes by so fast because there are no penalties or touchdowns. They play Scrabble again, and Sally wins the game that they started at the end of the first quarter. The last quarter is exciting because Michigan gets thirty more points. Michigan pounds Alabama by seventy to zero. Sally, her husband, and her friends are so glad that Michigan won the College Football Playoffs. They go out to eat after, celebrating their win.

On their trip home, they show pictures of the game with Sally’s friends.

They talk about the great moments in the College Football Finals. They go to a friend of Sally’s house. It is a big house. Her friend chose her house, so they could bring more of Sally’s friends to celebrate their win against Alabama. They play games, eat pizza, and dance at the party. After the party, Sally is happy that she has friends over to celebrate Michigan’s win. Sally had so much fun at the College Football Finals. Sally is going to be ready for Michigan’s next football season. She hopes that they will go back to the College Football Finals.

Chapter 3: Swimming Evan Macks is a teenager. He is sixteen years old right now. He is infatuated with the swim team. He appreciated all of the assistance from his swim coaches. The past year, he learned how to swim the breaststroke. His parents were happy that he could swim another stroke. Before he knew how to breaststroke, he just did freestyle (front crawl). In his first breaststroke race, he got disqualified due to using the wrong technique, but the second time when he competed, he didn’t get disqualified. It was the first and only time he got disqualified.

The last season before COVID-19, he got first place in all of the meets that he participated in. He earned some points for the team. He still lost at the Brighton meet because their team was so good. Brighton never loses because they have a very big swim team. Brighton and the Pinckney teams say, “Great job because he is the last person to finish always.”

The last season in the dual meet was his breastroke meet. He warmed up by doing breaststroke and front crawl. He was doing breaststroke and front crawl in the meet. When he was doing his breaststroke, his coaches were cheering him on. He won that meet against Whitmore Lake.

The Mack Manta Rays club team and the Pioneer Swim team have sim-

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ilarities and differences. One difference between these two swim teams is that with the Mack Swim Team, you can start in the water, but the Pioneer Swim Team doesn’t let people start in the water. Another difference between the two swim teams is that Mack Swim Team can do without flip turns, but the Pioneer Swim Team has to do flip turns. One similarity between the two swims is that they practice the same strokes. Also, both teams start in the deep end.

At the end of each swim season, the team has a big banquet to celebrate the season.

Chapter 4: Basketball Moritz (Moe) Wagner has been in the NBA for two years. Moritz (Moe) Wagner was a very good player and he led the team to the finals during his final year at Michigan. His younger brother is at U of M in his sophomore year.

Moe Wagner and Franz Wagner both have the position, power forward, in common. He missed the first five games in his freshman year because he had a fractured wrist injury. The last year of 2019-2020, Franz Wagner missed a three pointer and would have won the game against Illinois. He worked hard to be a good player after his injury.

Franz Wagner missed his first year in the playoffs because of COVID. The College Basketball Organization canceled the season because of COVID, so he could not play. The season was canceled because there were a lot of cases going up at that time. He found out that the game was canceled because of COVID just a few hours before it was supposed to start. A lot of other conferences canceled their games as well. This year’s season is starting late in December because the colleges had to discuss the schedule and make a plan to stay safe with COVID. Moe Wagner has a big family. His family is from Germany. His parents adopted a boy who is Moe’s and Franz’s brother. The family probably speaks German since they lived in Germany. His parents have jobs in real estate.

Now, the family lives in New York. The family likes watching the three boys play basketball. The family probably misses the boys since they are not living at home now. The boys are playing for different basketball teams in the United States.

I like them because I am a Michigan fan. They are good at three pointers and free throws. They are in the starting lineup, and they usually play for the whole game because they are our best players. I like watching them because they are five-star recruits, which means that they are the top players in the country.

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Chapter 5: Field Hockey My previous babysitter’s name is Maya Gompper. I knew her because I knew her mom from elementary school when she was a substitute teacher. Maya’s family lives in my neighborhood. Maya has a strong work ethic, which shows through in her field hockey performance. She is charming and compassionate, which she demonstrated through her willingness to help with homework or Kumon, which is a center where you can get help with reading and math.

Maya played board games and played basketball with me.

Maya is a very skillful player because she helps her team to win games.

Maya has been a very fantastic contributor to the team. She has won three straight state championships and was on the varsity team for four years of her high school career. This achievement was possible because Maya was the lead player. She played for seven years in grade school. She is going to U of M to continue her field hockey career.

U of M needs a new good midfielder player because some have graduated. Maya only played six games in her freshman year because there were some other midfielders left. Maya got an academic achievement award in her sophomore year. She scored her first goal that year. In her junior year, Maya played both center and midfield. She scored her second career goal in that same year. She had won only one Big Ten tournament. Her senior year season was postponed until spring of 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The team was probably not happy with this news that their season was postponed.

I like her because she is very nice, and because she cared for me. She helped me a lot. Maya was my best babysitter ever. I have been to her games a couple of times and watched the games on TV. She is a very fantastic player to watch.

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Hanako McDonald Age 12

The Three Shark Ladies There were three ladies going to the beach. The two girls dressed in yellow are sisters, Lia and Lena. The girl dressed in red is their friend Lyla. “What a nice day to go to the beach,” said Lyla.

“I wonder why there is no one here,” said Lia. “Maybe we are earlier than everyone,” said Lena.

“Oh well, let’s start water skiing!” said Lyla.

They walked toward the bank of the ocean. There was a sign. “Caution.

Shark disease may be in the ocean,” entitled the sign.

“What even is that?! A joke?” laughed Lyla.

“I wonder what this means,” said Lena.

“I don’t know, but let’s hurry up and start water skiing!” yelled Lyla. They all raced to the ocean and got onto their surfboards.

A boat man started the engine of the boat. They gripped onto the handle connected to the boat. The boat started running. “Woo hoo!” yelled the girls.

They were screaming and laughing.

Soon, they heard screaming from the shore. They looked around to see who was screaming. There were twenty-six people at the beach. They were panicking and running away from the girls. The boat man was panicking.

He was screaming and driving back to the shore.

“Why is the boat man screaming his head off too?!” said Lia. When the boat man got to the shore, he said, “Y-your f-ff faces?!”

“Our faces?” said Lena. “ What’s wrong with our faces?” she said. People ran away when the girls came walking down the shore.

“Let’s go home now,” said Lena, “Things are getting weird here.” They walked to the bus station. When they got onto the bus, everybody stopped talking. Some people started laughing at the girls. Other people were whispering to each other very silently. Some people screamed when they got onto the bus. Others did not even go on the bus. Some people thought it was funny and started to take photos of the girls.

“What is wrong with these people?!” said Lia very desperately. When they got off the bus, they walked home. People who were walking on the street

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were gasping and whispering. They looked very scared. Some kids were laughing and pointing at them.

“I think the people are looking at us weird . . .” said Lyla. “Let’s go home fast,” she said, “They keep looking at our heads.” They hurried to their house.

They looked in the mirror. They all gasped. “What happened to us?!” said Lia. “Who put these weird sharkhead costumes on us,” said Lena, giggling a little. They tried taking them off but they wouldn’t come off.

“What do we do!? They won’t come off!”

How can YOU help them???

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Kendell Jefferson Age 8

How to Build the BEST House in Minecraft Do you want to build the BEST house in Minecraft? Follow these instructions, and your friends will be amazed!

1. Chop down a tree with your hands (left click) 2. Make a crafting table with four wooden planks in menu (E) 3. Make an ax, sword, and pickaxe with the crafting table by using leftover materials from the tree (right click with the mouse to place crafting table) 4. Dig a hole and mine stone for cobblestone 5. Jump and right click with the mouse to get out of the hole 6. Find a tree and chop it down with the ax (ax can also be used to shear wool from sheep, and be sure to save the wool) 7. Make house out of tree 8. Place crafting table and make bed 9. Place with right click 10. You can sleep in bed at night with right click on mouse 11. There are recipes in the crafting table if you want to make other weapons that will be useful in the future, such as bows If you follow this guide, your house will be awesome. If you follow this guide, you will have the right resources for your house.

Enjoy your new house!

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Akshita Tripathi Age 8

Non-Living Things in the Living World Day 1 Mobile: Hey! Charger, I was waiting for you. Can you please charge me?

Charger: No, I don’t want to charge you.

Mobile: Well, I don’t need you. I can do this by myself.

Charger: OK, so count your life.

After some time, Mobile had only one percent battery left.

Mobile: Help me! Help me!

Charger: So, is it going good?

Mobile: No, no.

Mobile: You were correct, and I was wrong.

Charger: OK, if you are saying this, I will help you.

Then, when Mobile was charged, they went together to meet TV. Then, they told TV everything that happened and laughed together.

Day 2 When they were laughing, they heard that something was coming up!

Mobile: What’s that?

Charger: I don’t know.

TV: Huh? Sofa: Shut up! The Pink Slime is coming.

Sofa: But . . . I don’t want this slime on me!

Charger: I know, but she is beautiful, and she is scented.

Sofa: Yeah.

Mobile: Something pretty is there. Ohh, the Pink Slime is coming here.

I want to propose to her!

Pink Slime: I am very beautiful.

Sofa: Oh no!

Blue Slime: Huh? What’s that pretty smell?

Pink Slime: Oh! It’s Flower. Now nobody will like me.

Sofa: Ha ha ha!

Pink Slime: No way!

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Blue Slime: ?

Pink Slime: Ugh!!

Sofa: Ha! Day 3 Then, Sofa and Flower have a conversation about love. And Pink Slime is jealous!!!

Sofa: Will you love me?

Flower: Yes! Sure!

Pink Slime: What’s so special about her???

Sofa: Who cares about Pink Slime?

Charger: Looks like someone’s in love!

Mobile: Ooo . . . kissy kissy.

Now, Pink Slime is even more jealous of Flower. That’s why she is making a cruel plan for her!

Pink Slime: I am going to knock her out!

Now, Sofa hears that and is worried.

Sofa: Oh no!

Now, Pink Slime is going to give a bad smell to Flower by spilling some bad, bad smell on her, using the help of pen ink.

Pink Slime: Ughhh!

Flower: La, la, la, la, la, la.

So, Sofa told everybody about Pink Slime.

Nobody even believed Sofa that Pink Slime would have done that.

Blue Slime: What!

Mobile: Oh my goodness!

Charger: I don’t believe it!

TV: Ahhh!

But Pink Slime was hearing it all while hiding behind the stairwell.

She knew she had to take Sofa down!

Then everybody was like . . .

Mobile: You are just so unfair!

Sofa: Calm down, guys!

Sofa (thinking): Good, nobody knows that I pooed.

Blue Slime: You just don’t want to get dirty!

Charger: You are just jealous!

Computer: Look on the bright side.

TV (thinking): He pooed.

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Mobile: Something is fishy about Sofa.

Pink Slime: My evil plan is working.

Continued . . .

Pink Slime’s Secret Laboratory Pink Slime: Muhahaha!

Slime pushed one of the books in and got into a secret laboratory where she could see everyone’s weakness and power!

But even though what Sofa had gone through was horrible, Sofa did not give up.

It turns out that Mobile was poisoned by Pink Slime!

(Mobile has one percent battery!)

Pink Slime: Ha ha ha!

Sofa’s heart is broken. He is very angry and furious at Pink Slime! He hates when he is betrayed, so he simply decided to spy on Pink Slime and to get payback on her and to gather all of his friends to support him.

Sofa: Arrrgh!

Somehow, Sofa was able to record a video of Pink Slime and Mobile in Pink Slime’s lab. He showed the video to Charger, Blue Slime, Computer, and Flower so that they can save Flower!

On the screen: Plan for Justice: Computer, act like Mobile, so you can know about Pink Slime!

Sofa: We fight for our Mobile!

Blue Slime: Yeah!

Computer: Awesome!

Charger: Oh yeah!

Flower: Oh my darling!

Now, everyone that was in the group gathered all around Sofa and made the plan.

Sofa: Blue Slime, you pretend to be Pink Slime and be with Mobile! Charger and Flower, you distract Pink Slime from getting in the lab. Computer, you will spy with me.

Time to attack!

Sofa: Shh. Pink Slime: Get out of my sight!

Flower: Oh? Where are you going?

Blue Slime is pretending to be Pink Slime.

But then, Pink Slime and Mobile found out all the fuss that was going on!

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Mobile: STOP spying on us.

Sofa: Well then, you STOP betraying us!

Pink Slime: Whatever!

Charger: Ugh. Slime called her evil army and trapped Sofa and Sofa’s friends and took them to a very secret underground cave . . . THAT NEVER ENDS! But finally, they got to a room that looked familiar . . . IT WAS SOFA’S HOUSE! Sofa did not know what happened to his home.

But when all the guards locked them in their cages . . .

Sofa knew that there was an escape button IN the cage.

So, Sofa told everybody his plan. First they escape . . . . . . And they defeated Pink Slime! With kindness and angriness.

Charger: Woo hoo!

THE END *Sofa and Pink Slime got married . . .

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Airiel Hayter Age 10

Cereal Pool Adventures Hello, I’m a Cinnamon Toast Crunch guy named Jake. I stand up and have a smile on my face and I’m happy. I have tiny green legs and tiny green hair on my head. I look like a cinnamon toast out of the box. I’m always smiling because I’m not cramped up in the box or because I’m not going to get eaten because I’m plastic and special. My dream vacation is to go jump in a big puddle of milk and go play with my friends and not get eaten!

I was sleeping and I woke up in a really good mood the next day. So I called my friends and asked them if they all wanted to hang out at the super milk pool. The super milk pool at a hotel is where there’s lots and lots of pools filled with milk. It smells like fresh milk and they change their milk every day. There’s a kiddie pool and a slide that goes into a really big pool.

There’s also an adult pool and it’s really large. There’s an older people pool that’s 5ft. Then there’s a hot tub full of milk! There’s two parts to the hotel–one where you can sleep and one that’s full of all the different kinds of milk on each floor.

My friend said “yeah.” His name is Jake too. My other friends are Annie and Annabelle (they’re siblings) and Jackson. They are cinnamon toast crunch too. They met in the box and their parents didn’t want them to get eaten so they found a way to get out. They ran away to Cinnamon Land, which is also made out of different kinds of cereals.

We’re all going to go to the super milk pool together at 3:40pm and we’re going to be there until 11 o’clock at night and there’s going to be free food.

We eat anything humans can eat. We’re all going to have a sleepover at Annie and Annabelle’s house.

At the pool there are big slides and buckets that dump milk on you. I ran around with my friends looking at things to do. There was a huge slide–ginormous, seven feet tall! Jackson and I wanted to go to the pool slide, and Annie and Annabelle wanted to go to the milk hot tub.

“Well, how about you guys go on the big slide, and we’ll go in the hot tub,” said Annie.

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At the sleepover we watched a scary movie with popcorn. The movie is called Terrorizer. Annabelle and Jackson like scary movies, but Annie and I don’t. We watched a funny movie before bed that’s called Laugh Out Loud.

Everybody had a good time.

The End

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Aasiya Syed Age 9

The Mission Once upon a time, there were two girls whose names were Ellia and Scarlett.

They worked for a secret organization named AMS. Their boss’s name was Aasiya. They were sent on a secret mission to capture the queen’s future heirs: Ayesha, Oliva, and Bryn. Ayesha was the oldest, Bryn was the second oldest, and, of course, Olivia was the youngest. Ellia and Scarlett each had special powers that were given to them by their boss (Aasiya). Their powers helped them defeat their enemies. Ellia had the power to turn invisible anytime she wanted to. Scarlett could shape shift. Aasiya, their boss could have any power that she wished of. Although, she could only use one power each day, so in the morning, she would have to choose which power she wanted to use for that day.

On the day Aasiya assigned them their mission, they did not want to do the mission at all. Aasiya insisted, so they decided to leave the next day. The next day, they woke up and got dressed, but they realized that they could not wear their usual clothes because they would be noticed too easily. They told Aasiya about this, Aasiya glared at them and they looked at each other cluelessly. They finally asked Aasiya why she was looking at them like that and she said, “Because you are not using your brains, that’s why.”

“I don’t get it,” they both said at the same time.

Aasiya sighed and said, “Why do you think I gave you your powers, geniuses?”

They both said, “Ooohhh.” Before they left, Aasiya gave them a bunch of spy gear in case they could not use their powers. They packed some food and water, and then they left.

When they reached the castle, Scarlett had to turn into a butterfly, and Ellia had to turn invisible. They went into the castle, and they were mesmerized. It was huge! There were so many guards that it was hard to go through the castle, so Scarlett turned into a guard and then went into the princesses’ room with Ellia. Ellia almost bumped into one of the guards, so Scarlett had to casually act like she was fixing her shoes, but she was actually grabbing Ellia. They went into the princesses’ room. They grabbed Ayesha, Bryn, and Olivia’s phones, went to their messages, and copied down their number on

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a piece of paper. They then opened the princesses’ closets and took out two ball gowns. Scarlett took a purple one, and Ellia took a gold dress. Scarlett quickly hid behind one of the beds and changed into her dress, Ellia turned invisible and changed into her dress. They snuck outside of the room and crept their way down the stairs. When they reached the downstairs, they realized that it was a masquerade ball.

Ellia told Scarlett to come with her to the bathroom and take her dress off in one of the stalls and turn into a mask. After Scarlett turned into a mask, Ellia grabbed Scarlett. Scarlett let out a big yelp. It sounded kind of like this: “OOOUUUCCCHHH!!” Ellia told Scarlett to quiet down.

Scarlett said, “It’s not my fault you grabbed me by the face!”

“Gee sorry, but still quiet down!” said Ellia. Ellia went outside of the bathroom with Scarlett on her face because she was a mask. They went back to the princesses’ room to put back the purple dress. When they reached the princesses’ room, they realized that all of Ayesha, Olivia, and Bryn’s stuff was gone! They rushed outside of the room, ran down the stairs, and saw the princesses’ car leaving!

Scarlett quickly turned into a car and told Ellia to hurry up and get in the car. Ellia jumped in the car. Scarlett said, “Hurry up and start driving, or we will lose them!” Ellia threw herself into the back and told Scarlett to drive herself. Scarlett yelled, “HOLD ON TIGHT!” They zoomed off so that they could catch up to the princesses’ car. About an hour later, the princesses’ car came to a stop. Scarlett told Ellia to get out of the car so that she could turn into a human again. Ellia turned invisible and walked with Scarlett to the house. They approached the front door and Scarlett told the guards that she was a friend of Ayesha’s. The guards pushed her away from the door and said that she could only go inside if she was with Ayesha. Scarlett decided to hide and then turn into a bodyguard and approach the door again.

Ellia was told by Scarlett to distract the guards by dropping their books and touching them. While Ellia was distracting them, Scarlett snuck inside and motioned for Ellia to follow her through the gate. Scarlett turned back into her normal self, and Ellia became visible. They knocked on the door. Olivia opened the door, and Ellia and Scarlett told them that they were lost and asked Olivia for help.

Olivia said, “Get lost!” Just then, Ayesha and Bryn walked to the door and welcomed them in. Ayesha showed them the rooms that they could stay in for the night. They went into their rooms and decided to sleep for only like three to four hours. When they woke up, they crept down the hallway and up the stairs to the princesses’ rooms. They peeked in the crevices of the doors

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to see if they were sleeping or not. All three of them were sleeping. They quickly grabbed them and then ran down the stairs outside of the house.

Scarlett turned into a race car, and Ellia carefully placed the girls in the car and then sat in herself. A couple hours later, they reached HQ (which if you didn’t know already, stands for headquarters). They took the girls to Aasiya.

They asked her why she needed the girls. Aasiya said, “That’s something that you will find out later.”

The End

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About 826michigan 826michigan inspires school-aged students to write with skill and confidence in collaboration with adult volunteers in their communities.

Our writing and tutoring programs uphold a culture of creativity and imagination and support students in establishing strong habits of mind.

Through publication and community engagement, we provide students with an authentic and enthusiastic audience for their writing.

Our programs provide an energizing creative outlet for students and meaningful volunteer opportunities for community members. We believe that with one-on-one attention from caring adults, students improve their academic performance, develop a sense of belonging, and discover the unique value of their voices.

We also believe that the more fun a student has, and the more directly we speak to a student’s interests, the more we can help students find the fun in learning. That’s why our programs are more than just extra homework. All of our programs are challenging and enjoyable, and ultimately strengthen each student’s power to express ideas effectively, creatively, confidently, and in their individual voice.

ONLINE LEARNING LAB In the spring of 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we quickly transitioned all of our programs online. Our priority is to ensure the safety of our community, while continuing to offer engaging, high-quality opportunities to students. Each of our main programs—Schoolwork Support, Workshops, Field Trips, and In-school Projects—has been reimagined for the virtual space as part of our new Online Learning Lab. For the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years, 826michigan programs remained online. Beginning in Spring 2022, we started moving slowly into engaging with in-person programming, and continue to offer all of our core programming virtually.

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SCHOOLWORK SUPPORT The program formerly-known as tutoring has been given an updated name, but the same great foundations remain. We organize trained volunteer tutors to work with students one-on-one with their homework after school.

Schoolwork Support is available for all subjects, for students ages 8-18.

Students are paired with two tutors to work on assignments for school and writing projects of their choosing.

AFTER-SCHOOL WRITING LAB In 2021, we added this program to meet the interest of our many after-school students who wanted to go deeper into the writing process. Through breakout rooms, students are supported by volunteers as they brainstorm, write, revise, share, and publish their writing. Each week we focus on a different habit of writers (such as writers make plans . . . and change them).

WORKSHOPS We offer a number of free workshops taught by professional artists, writers, and our talented volunteers. From comic books to screenplays, bookmaking to radio, our wide variety of workshops are perfect for writers of all ages and interests. One of the most popular workshops we offer is our weekly Wee-bots program for elementary-aged writers.

IN-SCHOOL PROJECTS Our trained volunteers go into local public schools every day to support teachers with their classroom writing assignments. Based on the teacher’s curriculum, assignments range from writing tales to crafting college essays to exploring poetry. In addition, we hold regular Writers Clubs, in which small groups of students are able to work on a writing project over the course of a semester, culminating in a publication. We also partner with schools to hold Family Writing Labs: laughter-filled events in which families come together and participate in an evening of engaging writing activities and community connection.

FIELD TRIPS Always full of surprises and theatrics (and usually a visit from our crotchety editor, Dr. Blotch), our Field Trip program is an experiential writing extravaganza. We welcome teachers to bring their classes in for field trips during the school day. Students join a group of volunteers, interns, and

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staff to help solve a problem through writing—whether that is Dr. Blotch’s insomnia, our looming story deadline, a mystery in need of solving, or one of the many others we encounter. Our field trips always end in a finished publication of original writing that students take home. Often the field trip writing is connected to a second leg of the students’ journey, whether a trip to a museum, library, or local record label, thanks to our many incredible community partners.

OUR STORES Our Robot Supply Co. stores are one-stop shops for robots, robot owners, and enthusiasts alike. They are designed to inspire creativity and bring awareness of our programs to the community. Come visit the Ann Arbor Robot Supply Co. at 115 East Liberty Street in downtown Ann Arbor and, hopefully again soon at the Detroit Robot Supply Co. at 1351 Winder Street in Eastern Market in Detroit. In addition, our online store is always open; visit the Robot Supply Co. at onwardrobots.com. All proceeds from our stores directly fund our free student programming. Onward robots!

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the stand

826 National was inspired to take a stand on issues of inclusion and diversity in light of the many events that spotlighted social and racial injustices throughout the country. We as educators, volunteers, and caring adults need to be aware of the wide range of issues our students face on a day-to-day basis. We need to support these young people as they navigate through and try to make sense of the world and their own identities.

We need the support and the feedback from our community to ensure 826 is living up to these standards.

Through our inclusion statement, our internal diversity and inclusion group, cultural competency resources provided to staff and volunteers, and partnerships with other organizations, we are always working towards being a more inclusive and supportive organization.

We at 826 have the privilege of working with the next generation of scholars, teachers, doctors, artists, lawyers, and writers. It's our job to make sure they are able to take their own stands.

As an organization committed to encouraging youth in their creative expression, personal growth, and academic success, 826 National and its chapters recognize the importance of diversity at all levels and in all aspects of our work. In order to build and maintain the safe, supportive 826 environment in which great leaps in learning happen, we commit ourselves to inclusion: we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, nationality, marital status, English fluency, parental status, military service, or disability.

The 826 National network is committed to encouraging youth to express themselves and to use the written word to effectively do so. We encourage our students to write, take chances, make decisions, and finish what they start.

And 826 strives to do this in an environment free from discrimination and exclusion.

by Gerald Richards, CEO

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WRITING IS

We create a safe place to be ourselves and try new things

A way to figure things out by ourselves

We support the ways that writers work (like thinking, sketching, talking) We study the writing we want to do so we can try it

A way to help us connect to our world

We learn how to change our writing for genre, audience, and purpose We work with a group of writers who help and support each other

A way to help us learn who we are and who we will become

A way for us to use our power to make changes and build a better world

www.826michigan.org

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Acknowledgments We are so proud of the publication that you are holding in your hands (or scrolling through on your screen!), and we couldn’t have done it without the efforts of so many amazing educators, community partners, families and guardians, volunteers, and interns. Thanks to your support, we have dreamed up interesting hybrid animal characters and living objects that the world has never before seen; created hilarious, suspenseful, surprising, and wondrous plotlines; and expressed ourselves while learning about how to bring our ideas to life through the writing process. You make our lives more magical each and every day, and we hope that that is reflected in the pages to follow.

2021-22 After-school Program Interns: Jan Macasa Cayla Bryon Michelle Ascrizzi Shelby Sieler After-school Volunteers: Abby Liang Abby McAleer Abby Widlak Abigail Johnson Aiyana Vancena Alec Smith Alejandra Gallegos-Ordaz Aleksei Alward Alexandra Poissant Alexis Kirkland Allison Wei Alyssa Lauer Alyssa Thomas Amogh Angadi Anastasiya Ilkiv Andrew vanBaal Anna DiMelis Antonio Byrd

Anya Tarasovets Arianna Afonso Ashley Holcomb Baylee Heidrich Becky Hall Ben Lee Benjamin Zilka Billie Ochberg Brendan Willis Brenna Williams Callie Cleveland Candice Pillow Catherine (CJ) Young Christin Conley Daberechi Onyemaizu Danielle Cubitt Danny Creech Dayna Lim 224

Drew Ruchim Elizabeth Bokser Elizabeth Casey Elizabeth Widlak Em Liker Emeleia Duvall Emily Nyquist Erin Page Ethan Keighley Gabriel Luo Geoffrey Sperl Glorianne Crosheck Grace Chamberlain Grace DeMartini Grant Molloy Grayson Murphy Hannah Brownstein Hannah Cooper Hannah Feng Hannah LaFleur Hannah Tomaskovic Hava Liebowitz Henry Dai Hunter Sharp Isaac Berman Isaac Mooney Jamaal Shaikh Janet Goldwasser Jeannie Szomstein Jenna Kobeissi Jenna Xenos Jenny Gurung Jonathan Steinke Jonathan Yap Jordan Chung Jordan Hackmann Jordan Katz Jordan Vinh Julia Haas

Julia Kanter Julia Kofman Justine Cleveland Kate Vandebunt Lexie Meltzer Lindsay Berke Lisa Cunningham Maeli Rogers Mai Tran Makenna Washnock MaKenzee Van Buren Mary Hoskins Mazin Kanafani Meichen Zhu Mel McKeehan Melissa Wang Mia Lewis Micaiah Webb Michelle Ascrizzi Mickey Cervelli Miles Young Mythri Gandrothu Namrata Peri Nat Merriman Noah Fisher Pete Westhead Puncharat (Jaa) Chaichanawanich Rachel Anderson Rachel Kroll Rachel Persinger Rebekah Kindy Reed Stocki Reshma Desai Risha Olds Romir Patel Rui Wu Samantha Reiss Savannah Wan 225

Scout Weeks Shereen Shahid Shi Xin Ooi Sierra Coleman Siobhan Stemme Sneha Yedulla Sriya Neelam Surbhi Neole Sydney Sharp Sydney Wallace Taha Ileiwat Taylor Chapman Tia Brown Treye Meadows Tyler Pemberton Valia Jirjees Vanessa Soriano Vanessa Zorzan Victoria Rivers Victoria Seabaugh Victoria Szokolay Yehya Aldubaily Yuqi Li Zainab Mustafa Zara Chaudhry Community and School Partners: Ann Arbor Public Schools: Michael Johnson Robin Birdsong Nancy Shore Donna Hawthorne Ypsilanti District Library: Joy Cichewicz Mary Garboden Nicole Russell Jodi Krahnke 226

SEE YOU NEXT TIME!

Glimpses of Magic is the end result of a new program that 826michigan launched in the fall of 2021: the After-school Writing Lab. Many of our after-school students wanted to go deeper into the writing process, and so we worked together to create this magical space. Over the course of the year, through breakout rooms, students were supported by volunteers as they brainstormed, wrote, revised, and shared their writing. Students wrote about fantastic fictional worlds, their own real lives, and so much more. This book contains the final writing that students created out of all their sustained hard work, engagement, and the special writing community they built. We hope you enjoy diving into the magic!

826michigan inspires school-aged students to write with skill and confidence in collaboration with adult volunteers in their communities.

Learn more at 826michigan.org