It All Happened So Fast—Stories and Comics by the Summer 2020 Writing Club Students

It All Happened So Fast Stories and Comics by the

Summer 2020 Writing Club Students

826 National’s Commitment to Inclusion 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 of learning occur, we commit to inclusion: We will not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, nationality, marital status, English fluency, parental status, immigration status, military service, or disability.

826michigan Staff Dr. Naimah Wade, Executive Director Catherine Calabro Cavin, Education Director Frances Martin, Operations Director Courtney Wise Randolph, Communications & Development Manager Megan Gilson, Program Manager Ariel Kaplowitz-Hahn, Volunteer Engagement Associate Josi Ezinga, Development Associate

Copyright © 2020 by 826michigan and Blotch Books.

All rights reserved by 826michigan, the many whims of Drs. T & G Blotch 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.

Design by Robyn Charles, illustrations by Haley Dillon and Nathaniel Charles.

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

Also published by 826Michigan Young Authors Book Project Because No One Else Could Do It In Our Defense—The Defense Project In the Clouds Over Ypsilanti A Moment to Remember Rare Air / Aire raro A Lantern of Fireflies 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 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 1 826michigan OMNIBUS 2 826michigan OMNIBUS 3 826michigan OMNIBUS 4 826michigan OMNIBUS 5 826michigan OMNIBUS 6

826michigan OMNIBUS 7 826michigan OMNIBUS 8 826michigan OMNIBUS 9 826michigan OMNIBUS X 826michigan OMNIBUS 11

Contents Introduction.................................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv Acknowledgments ............................ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv WeE-Bots

Jase Nowitzke .............................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Ice Cream

Lyla Nowitzke .............................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Cement Mixers

Mira Wicklund ............................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The Story of How We Got Ice Cream That is Yummy!

Rihito Tsuruzono .......................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Yellowstone

Tai Azzaro ................................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Spacedog

Ian Ochomogo ............................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 The Snake That Wanted To Swim

Henrik Diebold ............................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Cyclopso’s Golden Castle in the Sky

Comics

Alex Pototschnik .......................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 The Void

Hanako McDonald ....................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 The Two Astronauts and the Mystery Poop

Josiah Atkinson............................ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 A Strange Adventure

Writers Club

Charlie Love . ................................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 The Adventures of BREMZs

Hanako McDonald ............................ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 The Good World and The Bad World

Victor Pimentel Walker..................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 The Popping Chemical Catastrophe

John Paulo Pimentel Walker .............. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 The Race to the Slickyness

Cassidy Bell ..................................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Born to Cheer

Alex Pototschnik ............................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 No Proper Grammar

Aditya Nair .. .................................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 The Virus

Aruna Bradley & Abby Krzysik ........... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Underneath Your Feet

About 826michigan .............................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

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Introduction

This summer has been a challenge for many of us. The uncertainty brought about by the pandemic has understandably made us feel afraid and worried about how different parts of our lives would be affected by it. Writers Club was not exempt from this uncertainty. We knew that much of what made Writers Club so amazing in the past—fun activities, face-to-face interactions, community building—would look different this year. All of my fears were gone after I started to work with this summer’s group of young writers. Despite the concern that this year’s Writers Club might not be as robust and exciting as past years, students arrived with a complete willingness to learn, grow, and most importantly have fun. They were unfazed by the limitations of a virtual program and eagerly embraced the unexpected advantages like collaborative virtual whiteboard drawings and initiating emoji-creating competitions in the Zoom chat. They brought with them a confident lightheartedness that not only put me at ease, but also created an environment where their creativity could thrive, teaching us as much about resilience and bravery as we taught them about writing.

Over seven weeks, students in our three programs—Writers Club, Writers Club for Wee-bots, and Comic Creators Club—worked diligently to craft all sorts of amazing pieces. From adventures across multiple dimensions, to space mysteries, to lyrical prose about rival tricksters, these young writers demonstrated time and time again their creativity and storytelling skills, which was especially encouraging this season. We’re in a time where there are no blueprints for dealing with the problems we’re facing. In these situations, we turn to the storytellers among us to expand our sense of what’s possible and guide us into the future.

Students in Writers Club played that role by engaging their imaginations and envisioning different worlds through drawing, writing, and small group discussions. Students then narrowed down their ideas and planned out their stories. After getting their ideas on paper, students discussed their stories with each other and with volunteers, offering feedback and helping each other improve their pieces. All this hard work culminated in the set of amazing stories and comics published in this book.

Of course, none of this would have been possible without the help of our talented volunteers. Their diverse backgrounds and skill sets ensured that Writers Club ran smoothly. Drawing on 826michigan principles and ideals, our volunteers were instrumental in creating a space where

iv students felt comfortable expressing themselves. By fostering meaningful relationships with students, our volunteers were the difference between the program being merely a weekly meeting and being a real writing community. From asking about students’ days to engaging in deep philosophical discussions, volunteers’ passion and energy gave students the permission to have fun as they wrote, resulting in pieces that were themselves passionate and full of energy.

The impulse to find normalcy in the midst of this incredibly abnormal moment is understandable. Familiarity is comforting and the prospect of an unfamiliar situation can easily cause lots of stress. However, when faced with the strangeness of learning in a virtual setting, this group of young writers responded not with fear but with curiosity. They chose to make the best of the situation and continued to enrich their lives through writing, in spite of the challenging circumstances. They looked uncertainty in the eye and had the courage to ask what it could offer.

That, I think, is the essence of creativity.

—Sej jad Alkhalby

826michigan Summer Intern

Acknowledgments

Sejjad Alkhalby, Summer Intern Copyeditor

Charlotte Moore, Noel Sciarini Our Volunteers

Charlotte Moore Connie Powers Rachel Cawkwell Em Liker Esther Park Designers

Robyn Charles, Layout and Design Haley Dillon, Illustrator Nathaniel Charles, Illustrator

Jeff Tenza Allison Young Noah Fisher Emily Simroth

W e-B t e s o writers Club

Stories and Comics by the Summ

Jase Nowitzke Age 7 Anchor Elementary

Ice Cream Ted wants to get ice cream from the Dairy Queen. He starts up his motorcycle. He gets a flat tire. He fills the tire up, but he accidentally fills it with helium and goes to space. He calls the police. The police can’t get him down. Then they remember they had a catapult, and they catapult an elephant into outer space to weigh Ted down and bring him back.

Then, he goes into a storm but finds shelter. He finds shelter in Chelsea in a hotel. He stays the night there. He goes the next morning to get his ice cream but gets stuck in the mud from the storm. He gets a shovel, but then he realizes it’s fast-drying cement, so he gets a jackhammer and turns it on and gets his motorcycle out. He drives his motorcycle and gets ice cream. He gets a big bin full of banana ice cream.

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Lyla Nowitzke

Age 5 Beacon Elementary

Cement Mixers One time there was a family with a dad named Mike, a mom named Alice, and the kids Julie and Kevin who were sixteen years old. They went into the cement at a construction site thinking it was chocolate caramel. It made a big muddy sound: THUMP. The cement felt sticky. Kevin didn’t go in the cement. He rolled over a big, big, big excavator with a crane and it got stuck. Then the police dropped down from parachutes and didn’t know it was cement and got stuck in the cement. The ambulance had to pull the family and police out, and they had cement on their shoes.

They thought it was chocolate caramel and ate it. It tasted like glue! Then they got a shot from the doctor in the ambulance.

Then they went to the lake. Then they splashed in the water. Mike broke his foot in the water. Julie called the ambulance. They had to go back to the ambulance again. Then Julie gets a bunch of hornet stings and gets hives. Kevin calls the ambulance. They come again and take Julie to the hospital. Then Alice broke her wrist by stubbing it on a rock at the lake. This time Julie called the ambulance, and she went to the hospital. Everyone got a shot. They all got fixed up.

The End.

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Mira Wicklund

Age 8 Summers-Knoll

Mira is eight years old and starts third grade in the fall. Mira enjoys writing about animals, and in her free time, she likes to crochet

The Story of How We Got Ice Cream That is Yummy!

There were lots of unicorns living in ice cream land, and these are their names: Baby Plum Rose, Martha, Leaf, Batty, Plum, Winter, and Springy. They have powers, too. Baby Plum and Plum have plum powers, Rose has flower powers, Martha can make rainbows, Leaf can make trees, Batty can make bats, Winter can make snow, and Springy can make spring. But they have bad ice cream. And bad candy, too. They want yummy ice cream. So, they go on a trip, and they have four hours to get there. It takes a really long time. But they get there finally. “Yaaaaay, we got here!” But they find a monster. They are scared.

One of the unicorns, Winter, says, “Who are you?”

“I am the monster of bad dreams,” said Tom, the monster.

“Aaaaaa!” screamed the unicorns.

The unicorns were scared. “But,” said the monster, “I have a sister, and she is nice.”

“What power does she have?” said Rose, one of the unicorns.

“She has yummy ice cream power. Her name is Lily, and she makes ice cream like Elsa. She has really long hair.”

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“Yaaaaaay!” said all the unicorns. “We found lots of yummy ice cream.”

Baby Plum Rose, Martha, Leaf, Batty, Plum, Winter, and Springy go back home, and they bring Lily with them. She turns all the bad ice cream and candy into good. They’re really happy they have yummy ice cream. They ask for a big swimming pool of ice cream.

The End.

Rihito Tsuruzono Age 8 Logan Elementary

Yellowstone We visited Yellowstone in August.

Yellowstone is the oldest National Park in the USA. The volcano erupted about 640,000 years ago. We can see some animals: grizzly and black bears, elk, moose, otters, and bison. I could see bison and wild deer. They have many hot springs. Old Faithful shoots at least 100 feet in the air. We waited to see the Old Faithful for about thirty minutes. It was just amazing!! A little hot water was spewing out of the mesozumi, but half an hour later, hot water spewed to a height of 100 feet. It lasted for about 5 minutes.

Steamboat Geyser is the tallest geyser in the world. It blasts 300 to 400 feet. There are many hiking trails in that area, and 35 million visitors a year. Grand Prismatic Spring is in Yellowstone.

We arrived here in the early morning, so we could not see so

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many colors. We went to an overlook trail to see it. It was such a beautiful color.

Tai Azzaro

Age 7 Ypsilanti International Elementary School

Tai is seven years old and starts second grade in the fall. A few of his favorite authors are Mo Willems, Dr. Seuss, and Dav Pilkey. Tai likes to write about dogs, Godzilla, and sharks. He is also funny and loves to draw.

Spacedog Spacedog is a brown Bull Terrier with a long pointy snout and tall pointy ears. He wears a blue and white spacesuit with an oxygen helmet. Bot is a robot from a metal asteroid from a different planet far, far away. He has electric wires on his head with yellow glowing eyes. He can teleport to different dimensions. He wears a Super Walkie Talkie that he can talk through, shoot lasers with, and change from angry mode to sad mode to happy mode.

One day on the moon, Spacedog is walking and sees a robot behind a small mountain. Spacedog tries to say “hello,” but Bot is afraid of him. Spacedog says, “I won’t hurt you.”

Bot comes out and says, “My name is Bot. I always wanted to see Earth. Can you please help me get to Earth?” Bot always wondered what Earth was like. He had been on the moon and saw Earth far, far away.

Spacedog says, “Yes, I can help you get to Earth in my spaceship.

That is my home.” But then he remembered he was out of fuel.

“I am out of fuel and working on solar panels.”

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Bot has a great idea!

“I can use my powers to fuel the spaceship! I carry all kinds of energy like fire, lasers, water, and superpower fuel.”

“Great idea, Bot. We can now get to Earth with your fuel and be best friends,” says Spacedog.

The End.

Ian Ochomogo

Age 7 Mitchell Elementary

Ian is seven years old and going into second grade. One of his favorite books is Dog Man. Ian likes to write about animals, and he enjoys folding paper airplanes.

The Snake That Wanted To Swim Kevin is a boa. He is green with a brown line on his back, and he is nine and a half feet long. He has a friend tarantula named Mike.

Kevin and Mike live in the rainforest. Kevin has a secret dream.

That dream is to swim in the sea. He lives far from the sea, and he cannot swim.

One day, Kevin tells Mike, “I have a dream to swim in the sea. Do you know how to get to the sea?”

“Did you know that I used to be a pet tarantula? I got on a plane to escape because my dream was to be free

ened So Fast

in the rainforest. Maybe you could get on a plane to get to the sea,” says Mike.

“All right. How do I get on a plane?” says Kevin.

“How about you slither to the airport? You should be able to figure it out from there. The airport is about three miles away,” says Mike.

“Thanks for the idea. Goodbye,” says Kevin. And then he slithers away.

On the journey to the airport, Kevin sees 722 rocks. It is a shorter journey than he thought it would be.

There is a tall tree right next to the airport. So, Kevin slithers up the tree and gets on top of the airport. He slithers all the way to the jet bridge and then the plane.

He gets on the plane. Not just on the plane, on TOP of the plane.

He wraps himself around the tail of the plane. Otherwise, he would fall off. Then, the plane takes off. He sees his old home in the rainforest from the top. He sees the sea and loses his grip on the tail. He falls in the sea accidentally.

He feels scared because he can’t swim, and he’s in the water. He sinks a little, and then he sees his friend Jack, a banded sea krait.

A banded sea krait is a snake that can swim. Kevin is surprised he fell in the same part of the ocean as his friend Jack. It is lucky.

Kevin and Jack have never met, but they were pen pals.

Kevin yells, “Help, help, help! I can’t swim!”

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“Hey Kevin, I can teach you how to swim. Just slither. It feels a little weird at first, but once you get the hang of it, it doesn’t feel that weird,” says Jack.

Kevin tries to swim. It is hard, but he keeps trying. He gets it after a few minutes.

Kevin is so happy to live in the sea and learn how to swim. Now, his next dream is to make a snow angel.

Henrik Diebold

Age 7 Mitchell Elementary

Henrik is seven years old and going into second grade. One of his favorite authors is Mo Willems. Henrik likes to write about trips, and he devours graphic novels like candy.

Cyclopso’s Golden Castle in the Sky Once there was a cyclops in Cyclopsington named Cyclopso.

Everything was peaceful. One day, the king found a flower that gave him magical powers, and he decided he wanted to use it for evil. He cast a spell upon his entire kingdom and made everyone his servants.

Cyclopso escaped the kingdom, he had a looooooooooonnnnnggg trip and found a large open field full of tall grasses. There was a mountain nearby, the wind blew, and he felt happy. He’d found a spot for a new kingdom, and he went, “Wwwwooooooowwww!” and he thought, “Woweeeee, what a great place for my castle.”

Stories and Comics by the Summ

For his castle, he needed gold bricks. He didn’t have much money, and he didn’t have a mining pick. He collected supplies for his pick-ax and made it. With it, he mined for gold. He used his gold to build his castle. It took him googleplex days. When he was done, he felt happy and tired, so he built an inn.

Thousands of creatures came from his old kingdom to join him.

They included: griffins, pegasi, tortoises, turtles, ogres, a fart cloud, and a poopapotamus.

They lived happily ever after.

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Alex Pototschnik Age 9 Workman Elementary

The Void

It all happened a we

. . . when we went into the portal . . . . . . into the VOID.

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eek ago . . .

I made it back . . .

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. . . my partner did not.

And that’s how it started . . .

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. . . the Apocalypse.

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A short time ago .

Hanako McDonald

Age 10 Ann Arbor Open

The Two Astronauts and the Mystery Poop

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...

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3 days later . . .

A couple hours late

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er . . .

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3 days later . . .

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And so they went to the closest (3 days later)

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t planet, Pluto . . .

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Josiah Atkinson Age 12 Slauson Middle

A Strange Adventure

Stories and Comics by the Summ

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Charlie Love

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Age 11 Scarlett Middle

The Adventures of BREMZs Prologue The Adventures Of BRMEZs starts in a desolate, yet nature thriving forest. It is called The Hidden World. No one knows why except for the Headmaster of Pyrithiqut, the land of the Mythics!! The Land of the Mythics may sound like a Percy Jackson book, but it has nothing to do with Greek mythology. It has to do with stuff like strange creatures that can talk. Like a spider with four legs that speaks Spanish. Or a flying dog with elephant ears. The realm of Pyrithiqut can be anything you want it to be. But, the realm of Pyrithiqut isn’t always sunshine and roses all the time. The dark wizard Eyqritey—yes there are wizards in the Land of Pyrithiqut—is slowly draining the Land of Pyrithiqut of its amazing, beautiful, thriving nature and animals. But it is not alone. Meet our fearless leader, Randy; beautiful, but deadly karate master, Emma; animal communicator, Malcolm; magical healer, Zoe; adorable panda, Bamboo; and the deadly leopard, Spot. They must protect Pyrithiqut!!

Chapter 1, Discovery “I wonder why I keep seeing life turning black and purple ?” Randy said.

“Uh, are you stupid?” Emma asked. “The dark wizard Eyqritey is trying to drain the life of Pyrithiqut so he can come in after all the life is drained and turn it into his own version of Hell!!!” Emma said.

“Guys, stop arguing,” Malcolm said.

“Fine,” Randy and Emma said simultaneously, still glaring at each other.

Randy and Emma are fourteen. Malcolm and Zoe are fifteen. You might not realize this, but Randy has a crush on Emma, and Malcolm has a crush on Zoe. Randy and Malcolm are BFFs, same as Emma and

Zoe. Randy and Malcolm keep their secrets to each other. They don’t know if Emma and Zoe have a crush on them. Randy thinks Emma is beautiful, funny, and smart, and Malcolm thinks Zoe is very intelligent, cute, and nice.

“RANDY LEAFELOK, EMMA STONUS, MALCOLM CHEASTUEM, AND ZOE BARABALOK: REPORT TO THE HEADMASTER’S CASTLE IMMEDIATELY!!!!!”

“OK then,” Emma said.

“What the heck?” Malcolm said.

“Why?????” they said simultaneously.

Five minutes later, they were at the castle gate with guards all around the ginormous gates.

“This doesn’t feel right,” Malcolm said.

Soon, they were at the headmaster’s office.

“Ah, welcome young travelers,” the headmaster said.

“Uh, sir, I’m not trying to be rude, but what is your name?” Randy asked.

“Ventquyito Kebalous Tyquata Groudala. But you may call me Headmaster Yito,” he said.

“OK,” Randy replied with wide eyes.

“So young travelers, you have been chosen.”

“Chosen for what?” Zoe asked.

“Chosen for a quest,” he said. “As you probably already know, the dark wizard Eyqritey—” “Don’t say his NAME!!” Randy yelled. “Sorry, it’s just he has killed so many people, including my grandparents.”

“OK, Randy,” Yito said. “As I was saying, the Dark Wizard has been draining the life of Pyrithiqut slowly but effectively, and this has to

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stop. You, young travelers, have been chosen to battle the Dark Lord.

I am guessing you guys already know each other?”

“YES!” they said simultaneously.

“Randy, you have been chosen because of your leadership skills and ability to use weapons. Emma, you have been chosen because of your amazing karate techniques. Malcolm, you have been chosen because of your ability to communicate with any creature or animal. And Zoe, you’ve been chosen because of your battle plans and healing skills.

Together, you make REMZ,” Yito said.

“REMZ?” they said.

“Randy, Emma, Malcolm, Zoe. REMZ,” Yito said.

“OK,” they all said.

“So, here are your weapons. Randy first. Randy, you may get a staff that can turn into a bow and arrow.”

“How am I supposed to turn this staff into a bow and arrow ?” Randy asked.

“It is easy. You just push it forward a little and . . . swish!!” Yito yelled.

“Emma, you will get nunchucks and shurikens. Malcolm, you will get an animal whistle and a dagger, and Zoe, you will get a lot of healing potions and kunai knives.”

“Thanks!!” they all said. And they were off!!!

To be continued . . .

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Hanako McDonald

Age 10 Ann Arbor Open

The Good World and The Bad World Once upon a time, there were different worlds that ruled the good side of the earth and the bad side. In the good world, there was a princess called Tiana. She was not the kind of princess who wore a long and puffy dress and sat down all day. Tiana was curious and liked to explore.

There was a queen called Titania. She always worried about Tiana.

“What if she gets hurt?” or, “What if she messes up with her magic and does something very wrong?” But King Augustus always said, ”Do not worry. Tiana is very strong.” The king was very mighty and strong. That is why he did not worry that Tiana would do something wrong.

There were a lot of animals that lived in this world, including Tommy the Squirrel. Tommy the Squirrel and other unicorns and bluebirds and other squirrels. Tommy the Squirrel got scared very easily.

One day, an evil demon that lived in the bad world wanted to be more powerful by taking over the world that humans lived in. The princess decided to go and stop the demon. She went on her pet unicorn Bluebell. She got her magic wand and flew off.

“I hope she will be OK,” sighed the queen.

“It’s OK, Hunny,” said the king. “She’s strong.”

Meanwhile, Tiana and Bluebell were trying to figure out how to get in the demon’s castle.

“I can’t touch the ground because there is muck and traps everywhere,” she said. “Oh, my! There are flying monkeys coming!”

Tiana and the unicorn flew to a tree to hide. Then, they

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turned brown to camouflage with the tree. The monkeys flew away without noticing Tiana and Bluebell. When it was all clear, Tiana and Bluebell went close to the entrance. There were two guards guarding the gate.

“Guards are never afraid of anything,” Tiana said to Bluebell. When she went down to the guards, they said nothing and stood still, so Tiana flew off while saying, “They don’t talk either,” with a grumpy face.

Going around and around the castle, they found a big window. They looked inside and saw a big, tall seat. Suddenly, the seat moved, and the demon was staring right at Tiana! Tiana could feel Bluebell tremble with fear. They quickly flew away. Since there were flying monkeys in the dark sky, Tiana and Bluebell flew close to the ground. Then, they saw a small cellar door near the ground.

“We can go through that cellar door,” said Tiana. Bluebell nodded.

When they went in, it was dark and damp. They saw a light that was coming closer. It was something with a dark robe on. Tiana and Bluebell could not see the face because it was facing back on them. In one hand, it was holding a lamp. The hand looked all shaky and pale white.

Then, Tiana tapped the creature on the shoulder and accidentally took the creature’s hood off “Oh, umm . . . sorry . . . “she said.

Then, the creature turned around, and it was a skeleton! It started to chase Tiana and Bluebell. They ran and ran until they stopped.

“If we go right that will be the way we came. That means we will go left!”

When they went left, it led into a dark cave. Then suddenly, the sides of the walls lit up with fire. At the end of the hallway, there was a big door. Tiana opened the big door, and there was the demon with a big screen of her opening the door.

“Welcome,” said the demon.

“What have you done!” said Tiana. “Be prepared for a fight!”

“Very well,” said the demon.

Tiana blasted a big pink bolt from her hand to the demon. The demon made a forcefield to protect himself. Then, he shot a dark laser at Tiana and Bluebell. Tiana and Bluebell were able to dodge the laser.

“I can sense the power of that laser. The demon is too powerful for only me to beat. I need to get help!” thought Tiana.

Tiana jumped onto Bluebell, and they flew to the good world while the demon was chasing them. She flew into the castle and said in a panic, “Mom, Dad help! The demon is chasing me! He is too strong for me to beat by myself! Please, help fight!”

The queen and the king looked surprised. “Um . . . OK .”

They all went out and the demon came. “I got you all now, hahaha . . . hmm?”

Tiana and the queen and the king all mixed their powers and made a huge shining bolt that had a rainbow over it. Then, they shot it at the demon. “N . . . NOOOOOOoooooo!!!” and the demon disappeared.

The only thing left was a dark crystal. Tommy the Squirrel was hiding came out and accidentally bumped the crystal. Then, Tommy suddenly turned black with red eyes.

“This is a dark crystal. Whoever touches this crystal turns into a demon,” said the queen.

The squirrel ran to the bad world.

After that, they settled in and welcomed Tiana back.

The End.

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Victor Pimentel Walker Age 11 Clague Middle

Victor is eleven years old and starts sixth grade in the fall. He is from San Diego, California. Victor is inspired by Marvel and loves reading books by Rick Riordan. He likes writing about aliens coming to earth. When he’s not writing, Victor plays four different instruments in his free time.

The Popping Chemical Catastrophe One day a frog ate toxic chemicals—glug, glug, glug . . . The frog grew bigger and bigger and bigger. In no time, it conquered the world.

Fortunately, soldiers found the same chemical and grew bigger too.

“It’s our only hope,” whispered a soldier. After a day of war, everybody who drank the chemical popped. Pow! “After the incident, scientists are trying to figure out what made the chemical make everybody pop,” announced the reporter.

In the science lab . . .

“Boss Bob, the chemical is made out of Pluto rock, steroids, and icky sun goo that smells like frog poop!” said the scientist.

“Boss, we also found out that the chemical is from an unseen planet between Neptune and Uranus,” announced another scientist.

“Send probes to that planet to figure out more about what the planet is made of. That might help,” responded the boss.

“Beep! Beep! Explosive planet made out of Pluto rock,” yelled the probe!

“Haha! We must extract the Pluto rock from the chemical since the planet is explosive and is made out of Pluto rock, which is part of the chemical,” announced the boss. “The Extractor 1000 should indeed extract the Pluto rock without making it explode.”

Zzzzzzzz! Ching! Ding ding ding!

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That extractor sure is noisy, but it worked out perfectly! Thank you to all the scientists that helped with the chemical’s problem.

Ten days later . . .

This award goes to Boss Bob and his assistants for removing the Pluto rock from the chemical that made everybody who drank it explode.

“Where did the chemical come from?” asked a scientist.

“Why don’t we check the satellite?” responded Boss Bob. The satellite showed that an explosion on the unseen planet hit the sun and crashed into a steroid factory and a frog ate it.

The End.

John Paulo Pimentel Walker Age 11 Clague Middle

John Paulo is eleven years old and starts sixth grade in the fall. One of his favorite authors is Rick Riordan, and his writing is inspired by movies he watches. John Paulo enjoys writing about monster and alien invasions.

Outside of Writers Club, John Paulo plays four instruments.

The Race to the Slickyness There was once a cat—a cat with a hat—and his name was the Cat in the Hat. The Cat in the Hat was very tricky, but the Cat in the Hat was not so slick to perform his trick on Ric. Ric saw the slick trick of messing around with Ric and his things. Ric reversed the Cat in the Hat’s trick, and that indeed was slick. Ric was more slick than the Cat in the Hat, but the Cat in the Hat reversed Ric’s slickyness, and it turned into stickiness, and the Cat in the Hat got stuck in the sticky slickyness. Now, the Cat in the Hat was more slick than Ric. Ric is mad—mad and sad. Ric wants to be more slick than the slicky and sticky Cat in the Hat.

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The stickiness is greenish—greenish and weirdish—and it smells like rotten orange, and when you forage with the rotten orange smelling stickiness, it makes you more slick, but it also makes your food more slick. It’s just a little trick, but the Cat in the Hat’s food became too slick and stole the Cat in the Hat’s slickyness and then stole Ric’s slickyness, and now, the Cat in the Hat’s food became too slick. Ric and the Cat in the Hat combined their slickyness to steal the Cat in the Hat’s food’s slickyness, and then they shared the slickyness, and now, they are both equally slick.

Cassidy Bell

Age 9 University Prep Science and Math

Born to Cheer Cassidy is nine years old and will be starting fourth grade. Cassidy enjoys reading The Vampire Diaries and gets her inspiration from her mom. She likes to write about cheerleading and loves to dance.

When I first saw the signup sheet for the cheerleading team, I got so excited to try out, so when I got home I started practicing. My older sister was on the cheerleading team last year, so she helped me practice for tryouts. The coach gave us all letters to go home with. When I got home, I opened the letter and found out I got on the team! On the first day of cheerleading practice, we went to the first floor, and when we got there, the coach gave us our cheerleading uniform. A few weeks later, we went to our very first basketball game, and we won! The next day, I went back to school with my friends, and when it was recess, we went outside and started practicing the cheers. When we went to practice after class, we started practicing the new cheers for the next basketball game. At the next game, my friends and I were in the front of the court cheering for our team. When it was getting closer to the competition, we started practicing our flips and round-offs. When

the coach saw me do the round-off, she made me the girl who does round-offs in the front of the court.

We were getting closer and closer to the competition, and the coach said she was only allowing a few of us to compete in the competition and said only the best girls would go, so we all needed to be prepared for the competition. We had to get our hair done and makeup. When we were at practice, we all found out that there was a serious issue, and school was closing down. So this meant we were unable to go to the competition. I was really upset when I heard the bad news. We all worked so hard for this year’s competition. It all happened so fast. When my school closed down, I continued to practice because I missed cheerleading. Cheering is something that I enjoy doing with my family and friends. Since school is closed I’ve been focusing on being around my closest friends. I’ve made new friends with kids in my neighborhood. We’ve started our very own dance team called “The Forever Girls.” We perform outside in front of our family and friends. I really like dancing, so this helps me with my heartbreak of not cheering at school. We practice and I’m the lead dancer. I show the other girls different routines and they follow along.

My older sister Kayla was on the cheerleading team last year. That’s why I wanted to be a cheerleader in the first place. She encouraged me to do my best and be proud of who I am. She works with me on my cheers to make sure they’re perfect. She’s been very supportive of me.

My brother helps me sometimes. He makes me laugh while I cheer, and my mom helps with my posture because she said that she was a cheerleader too. She showed me some of her cheers and she said she had to do a toe touch into the splits. Sometimes I speak to my dad, and I told him about me getting on the team. When I told him, I

Stories and Comics by the Summ

felt so happy. My stepdad was a football player, and he helped me do the cheers sometimes. My family and I call my grandpa Pop-Pop. He makes me laugh, too, and he is one of the best grandpas ever. That’s how I became a cheerleader.

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The End.

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Alex Pototschnik Age 9 Workman Elementary

No Proper Grammar Alex is nine years old and will be starting fourth grade. Alex has been writing monster stories for a while and likes writing about not just monsters but superheroes and giant robots as well.

Once on a distant planet, there was a small town called “No Grammar or UR Mean!” But this was no ordinary town . . . It had superheroes!!!

Sadly, I can’t tell you them. Here are the reasons: #1 It’s a secret #2 The list would be too long #3 The most important reason. I would have to write a list, and I don’t want to have to do that—and . . . wait . . . I’m writing one right now, aren’t I? Dang it!!! Anyway, back to the story.

OK, we’re (I’m) back baby! Hey, why did you say that, you mean person?

OK, so, for real this time. So, there was one problem. There was only one restaurant. It was located in that town I mentioned earlier. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it before, so please don’t get mad at me, the narrator, OK? OK! :) It was called McDonald’s. It’s a really unknown restaurant on your planet—I think it’s called Earth (or something like that). But it is really well-known on our planet. Mainly because it’s the only restaurant, but still.

So, then some evil dudes turned the restaurant into a pig! So, then one of the superhero guys I was telling you about came, and, to make a long story short, he won. But then, ANOTHER bad guy came and turned the restaurant into a cow. Blah blah blah, the superhero won again.

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The bad guys went to jail. Everyone was happy, no one was depressed.

Wait, there’s more?!?!?! Uh, then the world was saved, and there was a new restaurant called Burger King. It was a giant burger (hence the name). Anyway, the end . . . ?

What? (for real this time) . . . THE END of the most extreme book ever (hopefully).

☺

Aditya Nair Age 13 Clague Middle

The Virus Shannon Cook and Brook Butler were waiting in line at a rations station to get a little bit of food with the ration cards they had. They weren’t going to get a lot of food since they only had one card. So, they went out past curfew at 11pm and snuck out of the quarantine camp where zombies were abundant.

To get to their usual dealer for ration cards, cash, and ammo, he had them do odd jobs here and there to earn them. That day, Shannon and Brook found him lying on the floor dead, and he was shot. Mere seconds later, Marlene, leader of the Fireflies arrived. The Fireflies were the group fighting the police for freedom. To get out of the quarantine, she said that she needed a smuggling job done.

Then, Marlene said she will give all her ration cards and then some.

She led them to an abandoned restaurant and took them to a kitchen

as they were coming in. A small girl came out and tried stabbing Shannon. Marlene quickly yelled to the girl to stop. She dropped her switchblade and asked, “What are you doing here?”

Shannon said, “So, what are we smuggling?”

Marlene pointed at the young girl and said her name is Emily.

Shannon asked, “Why are we smuggling her?”

Marlene said, “She’s immune to the virus.”

Both Shannon and Brooke were suspicious since there hadn’t been a single immune person that they had heard of. Emily quickly showed them a bite mark. Shannon and Brooke quickly backed up, since they knew everyone turned within two days.

Emily said, “It’s three weeks old.”

Shannon and Brooke agreed to smuggle her out of the state.

They asked where they were going to smuggle her to.

Marlene said, “To New York, that’s where a hospital is run by the Fireflies who are trying to build a cure to the zombie virus.”

They realize that’s across the country. They ask Marlene to show them what they’re getting in return. She opens a wooden crate with a crowbar. There were over $9,000 worth of ration cards. Shannon and Brook agreed to smuggle the girl out.

Stories and Comics by the Summ

Aruna Bradley & Abby Krzysik Age 11 Scarlet Middle School and Beach Middle School

Underneath Your Feet I watched the car drive away from me. My short, curly blonde hair swayed in the chill breeze of the car. I was at a summer camp called “Camp Whoghton” (pronounced woo-tin).

I picked up my bags and followed the signs to the mess hall. That’s where everyone was meeting.

“OK, Mia, follow me. You’re in Cabin 22, Firefly,” said Kristien. She looked put together with her clipboard and her white button-up shirt tucked into her long light brown skirt. Her long, dark brown hair was in a French braid down her back.

I followed Kristien to the cabin. She held the door open while I nervously walked in. I saw two rows of bunks and another girl who was already unpacking. She had short black hair and a band shirt on. She had sharp eyes like in Korean or Asian genetics.

“Mia, you will be sharing a bunk with Kim,” Kristien said calmly. “I’ll be sleeping on the other bunk, but we don’t have another girl here, so it’ll just be the three of us. I’ll be back a little later, feel free to make yourself at home.”

“Thank you,” I said as I dropped my heavy bag on the ground. I climbed up the ladder to the top bunk and started making my bed.

“So where are you from?” I heard Kim say below me.

I stuck my head out and said, “Traverse City. How ‘bout you?”

“Jackson,” she replied.

As soon as I had made my bed, I started to relax. The heat of my house had been unbearable, and finally, I could be alone away from my family and away from it all.

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Kristien came back to tell us that we were about to do some activities to help us know our fellow campers. Since I met Kim first, we stuck together. I didn’t know if we would have anything in common. And it was downright awkward following her around all day though crowds.

But after the camp meet and greet talking about schedules, it was lunch, so we went to the buzzing mess hall where they were serving grilled cheese, my favorite, and judging by the look on Kim’s face, hers too. We snagged a spot next to Kristien and started to enjoy the greasy wonders. I don’t know what it is, but bad days are always fixed with grilled cheese. I was thinking all day about a good question to ask Kim, and I had finally found the best wording.

“I heard there’s gonna be campfires every night. Wanna come with me and eat s’mores?”`I asked.

“Sure, why not?” Kim said, shrugging.

We ate in silence after that, listening to the girls at the table ramble on. It had been a success, and I felt good after that.

We put on long sleeves and started walking to the campfire. Kim had a mustard-colored long-sleeve shirt with a pink flower on it, and I had a black-and-blue-striped long sleeve myself. As we passed the graveyard, we heard a strange noise, a sound that pulled us in like a siren. I wanted to know where it was coming from. When we saw a dug-up coffin and a hole with steps going down, we snapped out of it.

“What are we doing?” Kim asked “Are you sure . . . are you sure we should go down there? What if somebody sees us?”

I peered down at the eight small stone steps and wondered why there were stairs. I took a step down, then another.

“Mia!” Kim whispered loudly. “What are you doing?”

“Just trust me, there’s something we need that’s down there,’’ I said.

Kim still looked unsure but took a step anyway. I went down more and more.

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“What’s happening??” I said, taking back my idea for going down.

The floor cracked and crumbled. Holes started to form. I tried to reach Kim’s hand to pull me to the surface where she was, but the floor was gone so much that I just brought her down with me, and we went into the darkness.

Then, after a hard thud and a sting of pain, we landed. My body ached on one side, and my eyes needed to adjust to the dim light when I saw where we were. We were in a large wildflower field with a lake and woods in the distance. I looked down, and there she was. Kim was safe but not awake, laying on the ground. My stomach felt the hard drop of guilt. Why did I have to be stupid and drag her into this mess? Why do I always mess things up? I woke Kim up, hoping she wouldn’t be mad.

“Who puts unstable stairs out in the open? And how did we get here?”

Kim yelled when she was fully awake.

My guilt drifted away as soon as Kim went on a rant about child safety and the dream world. We didn’t know if we were dreaming or if we were just underground. So, we walked to find another person to tell us what was going on. We walked toward the woods hoping to see our camp, but instead, we saw a creek with a wooden bridge over it. We were about to walk across the bridge when we heard a voice.

“Gurl, don’t you go on that bridge. Water spirit is gonna go at five o’clock,” the sassy voice said.

“Who said that?” Kim asked as we looked around. I spotted a greenishblue frog sitting on the railing of the wooden bridge. It was small and adorable.

“Name’s Basil,” said the frog.

“Ahhh!” I screamed, completely shocked.

“Well, hello there. Here to bask at my majestic look?” Basil said, batting its frog eyes with a little grin on its face.

“It’s talking,” Kim said, disgusted.

“And I’m not deaf, OK!” said Basil crossly, pouting and looking away.

“Are we dead?” Kim asked, drooping her shoulders and raising her eyebrow. I pinched myself hard and yup, still alive. Why did I do it?

Now it stings. I looked up and saw a fading pink into a yellow ombré sky. I gulped down my denial that we were not dreaming and looked toward Basil.

“How can you talk?” I said. Basil looked shocked at the question.

“Um, well, I use my mouth to make a sound to talk, missy,” Basil said like it was common sense to know frogs talked.

“Oh, don’t you call us missy. And do you know where we are possibly?”

Kim said, looking like she didn’t want to be in this situation. Just then, a pile of water floated up from the creek and jumped over the bridge, splashing water all over us.

“Aaaaah,’’ Kim and I said together, soaked in water, and the sassy frog Basil was about to jump off when Kim said, ”Hey, wait! Can you tell us where a person who knows what’s going on is?’’ It seemed like she had been mulling over this thought for a while.

“Of course I can, but you owe me a favor,” Basil said.

Kim and I looked at each other. Then Kim said, “What?”

“You will need to give me some spider ginger cookies from Luna’s house.

She makes the best in town!” Basil said. “And stop calling me it!” she added, jumping off to show us the way.

“Wait, is it he or she then?!” Kim yelled.

“It’s Basil and they/them,” Basil said elegantly as they jumped ahead.

Through the path, the sunset sky started to go, and fireflies and fog lit the path, and I was soaked and shivering.

Stories and Comics by the Summ

“Here we are—Luna’s house,” Basil said as we approached a big house with a tiny top roof like a lighthouse. The lighthouse came out of the normal house like a chimney. Both were white colored with moss and vines growing all over them. They had many lights on the inside and seemed welcoming.

“Well, bye. Once you get those cookies, I’ll be at the bridge,” Basil said and then hopped away into the woods.

Kim knocked on the red door, and a very tall possum standing up like a human opened the door. She had a white apron on with frills at the bottom. She had teardrop-shaped earrings and fairy-like golden wings.

She wore a sweet smile on her face. Kim and I were shocked. A possum could tear us to shreds, and I could see how pale Kim was at the sight.

“Mia and Kim, what a sight for sore eyes,” said the big possum that was taller than us. She had the sweetest lady voice and embraced us in a big squeeze pulling us into her warm house. “I’m guessing Basil sent you?” I nodded, wondering if that was a bad thing or not.

She sat us down at a round table as she walked into the kitchen to fetch something. The table and house had lots of plants, lamps, unraveled scrolls, and old books. On all of the scrolls, there were names and places. I read ”Marco’’ on one scroll that had a red circle around it.

The possum came back in with a plate of warm cookies and tea and some towels.

“Here,” she said, taking a cookie and handing it to us. I silently took the cookie out of her hand—or her paw—and took a small bite of the spider ginger cookie. I pulled what I thought was a spider leg out of my tooth and placed it on my napkin. “You should try the legs, they’re practically the best part!” the possum exclaimed. She sat down with her tea next to us. “Oh, girls, you worried me so much. I saw that you had left Camp Whoughton, and you weren’t showing up on any of my maps, but I would have never expected you to pay me a visit at night,” the possum said.

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“Are you Luna?” I said, feeling a bit calmer when she spoke so sweetly.

“Yes, I am Luna. I am the spirit of light. I make sure at night that the world has light,” Luna said.

“Do you know where we are? And what do you mean by ‘wasn’t on your maps’?” Kim said.

“Oh dear, the spirits protect people, and each person is given a spirit to look over them. But the job lost its style a while ago, so now there’s only a few of us still left. That’s why I have so many children to take care of,” Luna said, looking down at her tea.

“So, you took us here? Do you know where we are?”I said.

“You’re in the spirit realm, dear. Below the human world’s grounds. And I didn’t let you in. You let yourself in,” Luna said.

Kim and I gulped down our questions and went with one: “What do you mean we let ourselves in?”

“You used a door. I would have expected you knew all about this world if you went through all the trouble to go through that door,” Luna said cheerfully.

“Listen, Luna, we saw a grave dug up, and the hole had steps down it, but the steps gave way, and we fell into this place,” I said, trying my best to get a good answer from Luna.

“Oh no, my dear Mr. Jett must have made a door to the spirit realm.

He must be here to get the water queen’s approval to overthrow this realm and take power,” Luna said as she covered her mouth and shook her head. “Honey, can you do me a favor? There are powerful crystals able to give power to spirits and corrupt them even to do others’ bidding. It is the way into this realm and out. A twisted young man has a corrupting crystal, and he is trying to overthrow the realm.

You need to go to the lake and find the water crystal. I know you can, girls. It will help you get out of this realm and not give power to Mr. Jett.

Will you do it, hon?” Luna said with both her paws on my shoulders.

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“Um . . . I . . . I don’t know,” I said, unsure. I was scared of failure. I was indeed.

“We’ll do it, Luna! We will try at least,” said Kim, standing up.

“Thank you, hon. I wish I could explain more, but this is such a long story that happened a long time ago. Get me the gem before Mr. Jett does. I will make a path of fireflies to lead you to the lake,” Luna said.

I followed Luna’s directions to get to the lake. It shimmered as it reflected the moonlight, and the fog drifted on top of the lake as fireflies wandered. The lavender that was up to our knees started to grow in front of our eyes. All the lavender surrounding the lake was taller than us now. And the stormy sky made great winds that pulled our hair back and forth. Kim nodded, and we started to walk into the tall lavender that constantly hit our face. We couldn’t see if we were getting any closer to the lake or if we were way off track because of the wind.

“Kim, are you sure—maybe this is a trap!” So many questions filled my head and I didn’t even know Luna. I just met her. And why was the lake protecting itself?

“Mia, listen. This is a time to do something exciting and do something to help people,” Kim said.

“Well . . . well . . . why can’t we get out here without doing anything dangerous?!’’ I said. I felt scared of failure on this mission. I had already gotten us into this mess.

“Mia, listen. I’ve spent my whole life thinking about good grades and my future and success. And I didn’t—well . . . I . . . I was a narcissist without knowing it. I had spent my whole life thinking about me and was willing to step on people to get what I wanted! So I need to do something good for once,” Kim said, walking ahead of me as the wind whistled in my ear. I felt bad and I knew the feeling of wanting to be successful.

“I’m sorry, Kim. I just don’t want to let anyone down,” I said as I stopped walking and the wind died down.

Kim turned to me and asked, “What do you mean?”

“I mean my parents work at a grocery store. They want to live through me and want me to be famous and successful throughout my life. But they don’t care what I want to do with my life. They only care about living their dreams with my life. And . . . I never wanted to tell them I hate it because I don’t want them to be disappointed in me,” I said, drooping my shoulders. “I always felt lost. Expectations to be successful are overwhelming. We should be working on being kids, not all this confusing stuff.”

Kim sat down with me in the lavender and said, “I get it, but you should tell your parents how you really feel. You will be fine, Mia.” Kim punched my shoulder and gave me a bit of a smile.

We walked again, and finally, we made it. I glanced at the lake.

“Let’s do this thing,” Kim said. We looked around the lake and then, squinting, we saw the gemstone. I looked at Kim, and she had started taking off her shoes and socks. She saw me looking at her and said, “I’m going in.”

“But what if it’s too dangerous?” I asked, a bit concerned.

“I’ll be OK, trust me,” Kim said firmly.

The gemstone was in the middle of the lake. It was shining in the night.

It was small and looked like a structure was holding it up. It looked like we could only see a tip of a large tower that was underwater.

I let Kim do her thing and watched as she walked into the lake. It looked like the water was cold and creepy. Having to swim at night wasn’t the best. I looked up and saw a stormy sky, and it started to sprinkle.

“Kim, be quick!” I yelled.

Kim had gotten a hold of the gemstone, and she was swimming back.

As soon as she was close to enough, I reached out my hand for her

Stories and Comics by the Summ

to grab. Then suddenly, big waves started to crash down. The rain got harder, and a huge, long water spirit whooped up. It looked like an eel-like creature that was blue and had spikes down its back. It bit Kim’s shirt to hold her in its mouth.

“Ahhhhh, let me down!” she screeched, but then the eel sparked with lighting, and Kim went limp.

“KIM!” I shouted. I was frozen scared.

Then, a pale man with slicked back, short black hair and a long, dark coat said, “Finally, I have a prize for Queen Ahanita. Thank you, Cora.

Your assistance was too kind.”

Then it hit me. This was Mr. Jett. He jumped on the eel and held on to one of her spikes. The eel plunged into the water, splashing it everywhere.

I ran into the water, hoping to catch the eel creature, but my clothes weighed me down, and the eel creature got away with Kim. I got out of the water and ran as fast as I could to get to Luna’s house. I followed the fireflies, and I pounded on her door. When she opened it, there she was in her white nightgown.

“Luna!” I said out of breath. “An eel thing captured Kim!” “Oh dear,” Luna said sounding worried.

“How . . . how can I save her!” I said impatiently.

“Mia, please calm down,” Luna said.

“But . . . but . . . Kim— she’ll drown!”

“Listen, Mia, I can’t swim. I’m a possum with wings and fireflies. But I can tell you that Kim will be fine. They’re keeping her prisoner in the water castle,” Luna said.

“Can you please tell me what this is all about?” I said.

Luna nodded. “I will tell you the tale of how this mess came to be, my dear.” She led me into her home and sat me down on the couch.

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“There was once a human who snuck into the realm. He was a friend to everyone—Basil, Cora, and even me.”

“Who’s Cora?” I interrupted.

“That’s the eel,” Luna replied.

“Oh.” “Anyway, his name was Marco Jett. He loved the strange things the realm had. He found a door to our realm and opened it. We were friends, and he loved to learn more, but his best friend who had felt almost like a brother committed suicide, making Marco feel like he hadn’t mattered to him. Twisted up and angry inside, he became evil indeed. When you have a void in your heart, you try to scrape up all the power you can get to fill the void of heartbreak, and you become blind with pain. He has tried in the past to steal dark crystals, and he got one piece and snuck it out to the human realm.”

Luna continued, “He opened a door with it. You can open doors in the realms you want. You just have to have crystals from that realm. He made a door to overthrow what he once loved. He is trying to get the Queen Anahita—the most powerful water spirit ever—on his side. He could conquer this world.” Luna shook her head. “His best friend was Mr. Whoughton himself. When they read the will, all of his fortunes went to his brother. Nothing went to Mr. Jett. In a search for money and power, he dug up Mr. Whoughton’s grave, thinking maybe he hid more of his fortune under it, but nothing, so right there he made the door.

Mr. Jett wanted to feel powerful. He wanted to take over this realm.

But it seemed like he used the dark crystal. He snuck out to open a door, and you two girls were unfortunate to fall in. And he corrupted Cora with the gem to make Kim be a prisoner in the underwater castle.”

I sat there understanding it all.

“Luna, what will happen if Mr. Jett is the king of the spirit world?” I finally asked.

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“We will be in dark times. The fragile world we live in would be taken over by darkness, and humankind would eventually find out the secrets.

If the crystal spends too much time in his hands, its conscience will happen to his human form. He is cursed with that dark crystal, and the only way for him to be free of more pain to his form is for a Whoughton such as yourself to break it. You need to say sorry. Mr. Whoughton hurt Marco so much, but your bloodline can break the pain that will come with the crystal,” Luna said.

“Wait, I’m not a Whoughton though,” I said.

“Yes, you are my dear. Have you ever wondered what your mom’s maiden name was?” Luna said.

“How can I get to the underwater castle without drowning?” I said nervously.

“Here, this is an earring with special properties made for humans to wear. It will make you able to breathe underwater.’’ Luna unclipped one of her white teardrop earrings. I clipped the earring to my ear, feeling special. I sat up a hugged Luna.

“Thank you for all your help,” I said.

“Anytime. Now, go save your friend!” Luna said.

I felt like I finally found a person who was like a guardian figure to me. I needed to find Kim and get the gem from the lake and say sorry to Mr. Jett to stop the crystal from feeding off his pain and destroying him. It was a lot, but I needed to do something good.

I ran to the clear blue waters of the lake. I made sure Luna’s earring was on tight to my ear. Then, I swam toward the center of the lake and hoped that the earring worked. I held my breath just in case and went under.

I closed my eyes and found there were some holes in this plan. Then, a bright light filled my eyes, and I found that I could see in the water, too. The water filled my lungs, but I was able to breathe in a strange way. I went down and down. I could see the white sparkling sand-like castle. I went down until I saw strange windows, and I went inside.

I heard voices: “My Queen, you are the most powerful spirit ever to walk this world. Please, can I conquer this world with you? As your adviser, my Queen Anahita?” It was Mr. Jett.

I peered out the door, and I saw Mr. Jett and lots of water spirits. Then, I saw a high-up royal chair where I saw a shrimp—the sea bug—with a tiny crown. It was like a normal shrimp, but it had tiny shrimp legs and arms. It was crossed-legged and holding a staff and had a white long-sleeve under a button-up shirt and a black bowtie. Wait, is that Ahahita?

They all spoke highly of her—the most powerful water spirit ever—but I had no idea it was a shrimp spirit. I was thinking of a shark or a jellyfish, but apparently, the power is with this shrimp. I snuck away from the main room and to try to find the prison, and I was there. There were spirits and humans locked away in bars—but no Kim. I swam around and nothing. I found an empty cell with a shining water gem in it, and the door was opened. I went inside and grabbed the gem. If Kim wasn’t here, she was gone. I went out the main room door and peeked out, only seeing half the room. I was here to break the curse on Mr. Jett.

“You! Listen, your friend’s gone,” he said. I walked into the main room and looked around, and the queen and royal guards were gone. It was just him and me. “It’s YOUR fault, isn’t it? You let her go. I can’t believe—aaaahhhh!” Black lightning shot from the dark crystal in Mr. Jett’s hand, electrocuting him. He screamed in pain, not able to let go of the gem.

“I’M SORRY!” I yelled, trying to make something happen when Mr. Jett fainted, letting go of the gem, making the pain stop.

“There she is!” a guard yelled.

I picked up Mr. Jett. The gem made him able to breathe underwater, so letting go of it made him endangered. I started to swim to the surface.

I made it and brought Mr. Jett to land.

“My sweet girl, what happened?”

Stories and Comics by the Summ

I saw Luna running over. She was in a pink dress and a summer hat.

It was warm outside. The wind whistled, and the sun shone brightly. I was soaked in water and was laying in the sand next to unconscious Mr. Jett.

“My dear, did you break the curse and find Kim?” Luna asked.

“No, Kim wasn’t there,” I coughed.

“I see,” Luna said.

“Basil, Cora, and I will take care of Mr. Jett. He needs a family more than ever now.’’ Luna said.

I started to cry. Kim was gone or lost or something. I failed to find her, and they say she escaped, but she might have just been eaten by a spirit. I always fail. Why must I drag everyone I love to pain? I guess I’m just like Mr. Whoughton—always hurting the people around me. ”I’m sorry what happened,” I said to Luna.

“It was not your fault,” Luna said thoughtfully.

“But what about Kim?” I asked.

“She is not lost forever. She shall turn up eventually,” Luna said to calm me down.

“But this realm is huge! It could take days, maybe weeks to find her,” I said a bit scared.

“No child, now go to the flower fields.”

“Why?” “You must go home,” Luna said.

“Thank you, Luna,” I said.

“It is my pleasure. Now go.”

I went into the flower fields. Away from Luna and the lake.

mer 2020 Writing Club Students

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It All Happe

Once I got there, I gazed at the hills full of daisies, tulips, roses, and a lot of other flowers. I ran to the largest hill of them all and searched everywhere.

“KIM!?” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

I raced back down and looked around some more. Then, I saw a fountain in the shady woods, and it had fog steam. It looked like an authentic fountain with a cobblestone path leading to it. It had flower designs on it and shot water out of a big stone frog jumping with its mouth open. Wait a second, the frog looked like Basil.

“So, missy, ya found my fountain, eh?” I turned around, and Basil was using the fountain water as a hot tub next to me.

“Yeah,” I answered.

“Why so gloomy? Oh, and where’s that Kim?” Basil asked.

“Well, that’s just it. I can’t find Kim. She’s lost in the spirit realm.”

“There’s more than just one spirit realm. She’s just lost in this one,” Basil said, gesturing to the woods around us.

“Oh,” I said, sitting up. “Is this realm huge?”

“Gurl, I wouldn’t say it’s huge, but I wouldn’t say it’s small either,” Basil replied.

“Of course,” I said.

“Tell you what. I’ll keep an eye out for Kim, then I’ll send her back.”

“Oh, thank you!” I exclaimed. “But what about the gemstones?”

“I’m a great swimmer. So once the gemstone gets put back to its correct place at the top of the water castle, I can get it.”

I wanted to thank Basil again, but instead, I was caught off-guard by a meowing sound like a cat. What was that? I turned around and saw that Basil was gone. “Basil?” I asked, kind of scared.

ened So Fast

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I heard purring around me. I peeked around the steam of the fog in the fountain, and I saw a small, furry creature with gray fur and white paws. It was a kitten. I really needed cat therapy right then for sure.

I knelt down, seeing a collar on it, making me think it wasn’t a spirit, so I stroked its fluffy hair. It had short legs for some reason and was really friendly. I looked at her collar for a name: “JuneBug” it read. As I stroked the kitten’s soft gray fur, I looked around for its owner.

“Are you lost?” I asked calmly.

The kitten laid down like the little, lazy baby it was, and I decided this kitten was so friendly. I attempted picking her up. She was fluffy and let me pick her up no problem. I had never ever seen a kitten love being held before, and this was officially the best moment.

Then suddenly, the kitten jumped out of my arms and walked up a hill in the flowers and led me to the top where there was a smooth metal gate with magenta drawings of flowers on it. The gate out of the realm.

Junebug had calmed me down to reflect and remember.

I remembered one day at camp Kim and I were doing activities; we made each other bracelets to remember each other by. Kim made me a blue and gold one because she knew it was my favorite color, and I made her an indigo and dark blue bracelet. I looked at the bracelet Kim made me and sighed sadly. I need to go home. The whole camp was probably worried sick, and there’s no place for me in the spirit realm. And I needed to tell my parents about how I feel, that I didn’t wanna be their come back for their bad lives. I wanna life of my own.

I took the water gemstone and put it in the gate and looked back, wanting to see Kim. I was disappointed once more. But then, a spark of hope came when I saw a light in the shady woods, a lantern. It wasn’t far away from me, but the person holding it was in the shade when I saw a hand with the blue braided friendship bracelet intact. It was like being filled with a million flowers of golden light of happiness, and my feet and my whole self knew what to do.

FIN.

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. Th rough 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 school year, our programs will remain virtual. When is it safe to return to our in-person programs, we plan to continue to offer virtual program opportunities as well!

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 oneon-one with their homework after school. Schoolwork Support is available for all subjects, for students ages 8–18. Generally, we offer this program at three locations: at our Liberty Street Lab in Ann Arbor, at the Michigan Avenue Branch of the Ypsilanti District Library, and at our Winder Street Lab in Detroit’s Eastern Market, though in-person programs are on pause this year. We have added a Virtual Schoolwork Support program. Students are paired with two tutors to work on assignments for school and writing projects of their choosing.

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-fi lled events in which families to 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 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. When it is safe to do so again, come visit the Ann Arbor Robot Supply Co. at 115 East Liberty Street in downtown Ann Arbor and the Detroit Robot Supply Co. at 1351 Winder Street in Eastern Market in Detroit. In the meantime, please 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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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

WRITING IS

A way to figure things out by ourselves

We create a safe place to be ourselves and try new things We support the ways that writers work (like thinking, sketching, talking)

A way to help us connect to our world

We study the writing we want to do so we can try it We learn how to change our writing for genre, audience, and purpose

A way to help us learn who we are and who we will become

We work with a group of writers who help and support each other

A way for us to use our power to make changes and build a better world

www.826michigan.org