Young Wordsmiths - 2nd issue 2021

YOUNG WORDSMITHS Young Wordsmiths is the online magazine of Lekha Writing Center.

It is dedicated to publishing writing BY and FOR children.

FOUNDER: JYOTI YELAGALAWADI

Text Copyright by Lekha students as noted in the Lekha Anthologies published by Lekha Publishers LLC. Material in this magazine are drawn from student writings’ from Lekha Anthologies published over the years as well as from current student writings’ from Lekha Writing Center classes and camps.

Images Used are Copyright Free and Royalty Free.

Images from Shutterstock have been used in this issue.

Fonts Used: Segoe Print

FOUNDER’S NOTE Dear friends of Lekha, Summer months are always fun for us here at Lekha Ink. It is a time when we meet new young writers. Children get together and write stories, poems, and plays as they discuss how to make their work better with each other.

We laugh together at the funny characters we create. We travel through the different settings of our characters who go on adventures and solve mysteries.

It is a time when we look at each other in awe as we imagine technological possibilities, travel through space and work with magic in our science-fiction and fantasy camps.

This year we started the summer with a lot of hope, looking forward to meet everyone in person after over a year. It felt really good to work with the cities and create a safe and healthy space for children to learn in through in-person camps. We are also conducting virtual and hybrid camps this year.

We look forward to bring out another anthology filled with the creations of all our campers after the summer.

Hope you enjoy reading this issue.

Love, Jyoti Yelagalawadi.

Founder of Lekha Ink, Corp.

YOUNG WORDSMITHS is a quarterly magazine.

ONLINE ISSN: 2691-7912

Vol 4. No 2 Price: $2.99 EDITOR: Radhika Rajesh Raikar

If you love to write and love telling stories, then please send your submissions to the following email address:

submissions@lekhaink.com

Inside this issue…..

Tiger goes to the moon

...Page 6

Wendy

….Page 7

Untitled

…Page 8-9

Candy Island

...Page 10-13

Haiku

....Page 14-15

The Electric Fence

...Page 16-21

Fairies do come out at night

...Page 22

Tule Pond

...Page 23

My Guma

…..Page 24-27

Word games

...Page 28-29

Peachy flew away

…Page 30-31

Dilly nearly lost her tail

...Page 32-35

Peck peck

...Page 36-37

Why ducks fly south for winter

…Page 38-39

TIGER GOES TO THE MOON

BY ISAAC WANG, AGE 7 YRS.

There was a tiger who wanted to fly a spaceship to the moon and live there.

One day he saw a spaceship. He hopped into it and flew to the moon. It took him a long long time to get there, so he took out a bag of cookies to eat and some milk to drink. Suddenly, there were big rocks blocking his way to the moon, so he told the spaceship to stop. The tiger got out of the spaceship and used his claws to cut the big rocks out of his way. Then, he got back into the spaceship and flew the rest of the way to the moon. Once he got to the moon he built himself a big house and painted it red.

He met some friends and they all played hide and seek. He liked the moon a lot and decided to stay there forever.

WENDY WRITTEN BY KRISTIN LEI LIN, 2013 Once upon a time, there was a girl named Wendy. She lived in her house with her family in the woods. She had a sister that was four years old, and a mom and dad. Wendy was eight. She was turning nine on June 22nd. Today was June 21st. Her sister’s name was Maddie.

Tomorrow will be Wendy’s birthday. Wendy wanted a kitten because all of her friends had kittens too! So she asked her mom. Wendy’s mom said, “No!” because her mom didn’t like pets! Wendy was sad.

Maddie asked Wendy, “What’s wrong?”

Wendy didn’t pay attention to her little sister.

She looked up at a genie that just came out of a magic lamp.

She asked if he could make a kitten appear but he made a fish appear instead! Then he disappeared.

Wendy said, “Come back!”

The genie was invited to Wendy’s birthday party. But, he didn’t talk to her; he just looked at her.

She came to the last present. Then, all of a sudden, POOF! It turned into a kitten. The new kitten was very cute. Wendy tried to find the genie but he had already turned invisible!

He giggled and giggled.

THE END!

UNTITLED

BY ELISIO BARRING, AGE12 , 2012

In a boring office cubicle, with no color, lays Captain Staples! He is a stapler with the power to hop, but Captain Stapler isn’t alone. He has two partners, Tapeboy and Glueguy. The only thing he hates more than an empty cartridge of staples is the Paper Thrashers, a notorious crime gang. The Paper Thrashers’ leaders are Staple Removekings, Laminator and Scissors. Together they terrorize paper with holes, cuts and freeze them between plastic.

While Captain Staples was hopping around when he saw humans playing rock, paper, scissors. As he watched it, the game quickly made sense to him because scissors cut paper, paper can cover a rock, and a rock can smash scissors. After that he got the idea of beating the paper thrashers up with it.

Just then he saw one of them spying on him, but when he was just about to go after him, Staple Removeking stopped him to fight.

“What do you want?, asked Captain Staples.

“The Rock”, said Staple Removeking.

“Not if I get it first”, replied Captain Staples.

So Staple Removeking called his team and so did Captain Staples.

Once they were done both jumped out the window, somehow hoping to land in the park where they could find the rock.

After everyone fell down they woke up inside a bush. Even though they fell down, they still tirelessly went toward the rock, undercover so humans wouldn’t stop them. Once they reached the massive rock, Captain Staples battled for the rock, but it was useless because they could not throw the rock.

All of them became frozen until Tapeboy quickly rolled the rock over them and they got away. As soon as everyone got away they made it through the park, across the street, past the front desk, and piled into the elevator.

While Captain Staples was doing that, the Paper thrashers took a shortcut and caught up with them in the elevator.

When Captain Staples wasn’t looking, they sneak-attacked the other team and almost used the rock on them. Luckily they moved out the way just in time. Just then Glueguy rolled the rock over them and the Tapeboy wrapped them in tape and threw them out.

“We beat them! Good!” said Glue guy.

“Good job!” Captain Staples remarked. Once they got to the floor, they continued to keep the office desk free of anyone who wanted to abuse paper. Captain Staples sometimes even bit the person ripping paper in half. Remember, if you don’t recycle paper, CAPTAIN STAPLES WILL GET YOU!

CANDY ISLAND MEGAN YANG, 2012

On an island full of candy, there are marshmallow houses and Hershey chocolate waterfalls. Trees have licorice trunks and nerds leaves. The grass is made of mint. And the people are all gingerbread men and women.

There is a downtown area where gummy cars drive around using Slurpee gas. There is a milkshake pool with chocolate chunk Oreo pieces in it. There is a soda and water fountain in the park. There are chocolate bunnies that hop around. There are Nerds for rocks. Hills are made of gumdrops. There is a bubblegum machine that turns into cake in your mouth. There is even a tunnel made out of Cake.

The soil is made of brownies. The bouncy house is made out of cake Jell-O. A chocolate river runs next to a huge cupcake rock known as all the spirits of candy. Gingerbread mermaids live in a chocolate sundae lake. Gummy fairies fly around in the sky, up high in the valleys. The sky itself is made out of blue licorice. And tape is made out of fruit roll-ups. The clouds are lollipops that are made out of cake batter.

For some reason there are no animals there, though.

Something scares them away. The gingerbread people think that they are scared of the land’s magic gem.

The gem protects them from things they never speak of. The ice people! The ice people had owned this land before the gingerbread people. They did not protect the magic gem because they did not care about it. But when the gem was stolen, they were forbidden by the spirits to ever live on the island again!

When they moved out, a cupcake appeared next to the river, which began turning into chocolate. And that was how the ice people’s land turned into Candy Island.

Well, one day while the blue licorice rain was falling, the council was holding a conference about how to make the gem safer.

At that moment, a gummy guard came and interrupted the council.

While breathing hard, he said, “A monkey-animal has arrived to tell a message!”

Then a little monkey, who looked like he had just seen a ghost, said with a moan, “The people, they’re coming! They’re coming!

They are going to destroy it!” Then he ran away.

So the council decided that they should build a wall to keep out the ice people. One councilor said, “What should we make the wall out of?”

Another councilor said, “I think we should build the wall out of gummies!”

Then another councilor said, “No! Gummies are much too weak! I think we should make the wall out of gum!”

And they argued and argued until the wisest said, “Stop! You are all arguing and you are acting so childish! I have an idea that all of you will agree on. How about we all make the wall out of chocolate?”

All the councilors said, “Huh?” One said, “Won’t it melt?”

The councilor said, “They will freeze the wall, not knowing that freezing it will make it harder for them to get in.”

“Oh,” said all the councilors. Then they agreed.

So they started by letting the town know the news. Once the town knew what was going on, they started working on the wall of chocolate.

For days and days they worked on it until finally, it was done.

They had finished the wall. To keep from melting, they used some ice guns that the ice people had left underground. For three months they waited for another sign.

Then finally, a funny-looking bird flew over to the councilors and said, “They are coming tomorrow at 1:16 sharp!”

Then he flew away! So they all got prepared. The next day came and everyone got ready with all their weapons and gear. Then, right when it was 1:16 pm, they heard a giant roar and then the chocolate wall started to freeze! Soon they heard many more roars, and they started to panic. They all ran around like crazy.

The wall fell down and the ice people rushed in.

The ice people are made of blue ice. Well, it was quite a battle.

Gingerbread men shot gummy bubbles to trap the ice men and send them high into the sky. Ice people froze the gingerbread men. It lasted very long.

Soon one of the ice people made his way over to the gem and was about to take it, but one of the councilors stabbed the ice man with a rock candy and he rescued the gem and asked the spirits to help them win the battle.

The spirits sent him an emergency staff and he stabbed some of the ice men with it. The battle was getting worse and worse. The ice men were starting to eat the gingerbread men! But then, the spirits came and pushed all the ice men into the water, where they started to die.

Soon all of the gingerbread people started to push the ice men too. It wasn’t long until they were all dead. Every single ice man had either been stabbed, sent into the air, or drowned. But the gingerbread town was ruined! Almost all of it had been broken down or frozen! The gingerbread people did not know how to fix it! It would take so much time.

The sky was cloudy and gloomy. No one had any hope. Nobody was happy.

So one of the gingerbread men shouted to everyone, “Call the spirits! Ask them for help!” So the councilors went over to the gem and asked for help. But nothing happened.

Then suddenly, fresh mint grass grew up from the ground. Then houses started to rebuild themselves. The sky started to become clear, people started to stand up strongly. Soon the chocolate river was flowing again. Finally, everything was back to normal!

People were happy and working again!

A couple of years passed happily for the gingerbread people. Even though the ice people had been destroyed, nobody knew that there was a small ice baby still growing in the land of ice. That baby’s destiny was to someday return to his people’s former land and destroy Candy Island once and for all.

Haiku is a Japanese poetry form.

It uses just a few words to capture a moment and create a picture in the reader's mind.

Traditionally, haiku is written in three lines, with five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second line, and five syllables in the third line.

A Haiku for You Written By Allison The flower and leaf

The smell is sweet like friendship They looked like best friends

THE ELECTRIC FENCE

BY ADRIENNE, AGE 10

“Mom, I’m going to our garden to pick some oranges,” I called.

“Okay, but remember-“ “I know,” I interrupted “Stay away from the electric fence.”

Ever since we lived here, a number of squirrels, foxes, and even a robber had been electrocuted by the fence. Fortunately, we’ve never had flesh cooked animals or robbers!

My mom always told me to back off from the fence and each time I listened, but this time I didn’t. I grabbed a large basket and headed towards the garden.

As my mom watched me go outside, I pretended to have fun picking oranges. The moment she turned around I ran towards the electric fence. Now don’t think I just randomly did this. In fact, I had given this quite a lot of thought. Well, I reasoned, if this fence is a portal to another world then I am very lucky, but if it isn’t then I’ll get electrocuted.

I was almost there, just a little more and I felt the wind swirl around me. I smelled the fragrant scents of blooming flowers.

When I looked beneath me I noticed I was lying on purple grass. Suddenly a group of villagers came running towards me.

“Come with us, we need to take you to the King,” they said.

“Wait, where am I? Who are you? What’s the king going to do with me?”

“Relax,” they answered “You’re in the land of Tanka. We’re Tankonians and we have no idea what the king is going to do to you.”

I followed them to the castle. There, a palace guard escorted me to the throne room.

“Your Majesty, an outsider has come to this land,” they said.

“Bring them to me,” he demanded.

He took one look at me and shouted, “Put this outsider in jail.”

Instantly soldiers escorted or more like dragged me to the dungeons. The jail guard locked me inside and gruffly said, “Don’t try to escape,” He watched me with an evil eye that made me feel miserable. I wondered if I was going to be stuck here for the rest of my life.

Pretty soon the guard fell asleep. Immediately an unknown trapdoor opened.

“Come with us, we are taking you through a secret passageway into one of our neighbors homes,” people whispered.

I couldn’t tell if they were lying or not so I just followed them.

After a bit of walking we reached the end and I found myself in a neat Tankonian home. “Thank you so much,” I exclaimed, “But if you made that passageway why couldn’t you hide me in the first place?”

“The king requires that every outsider must be reported to him. He’s afraid of the prophecy for it calls for him to be killed.

On the other hand we like the prophecy, for he is an evil king,” explained a teenage kid with glasses.

“Could one of you please tell me the prophecy,” I asked.

“I can,” someone answered.

Rejoice Tankonians and do not fear A good King’s reign is coming near This evil king will be overthrown By one whom you don’t call your own Who came of way by electric fence But is not someone from the land of six pence This outsider whom you will see, Will join your forces happily.

“Our goal is to overthrow the king and we think you are the outsider in the prophecy,” a voice from the crowd explained.

I stared at her in disbelief. Me? The person in the prophecy?

“Um, I don’t think I’m the outsider in the prophecy,” I told them.

“We can prove it,” a kid shouted, “you’re not a Tankonian, you smashed into an electric fence and came here, you don’t use six pence in your land and you would totally help us if you knew you were the correct outsider, right.”

“Yeah,” I said, “okay I believe you but I just came here so I don’t really know how to help you.”

“It’s alright, first of all the queen is on our side. What you must do is wear this bracelet. Follow the secret passageway back into the jail cell. Now, we gave the guard a bit of sleeping spray. He should wake up in a few minutes. Then wait until he wakes up and looks at you. Try to punch him in the face. He’ll take you to the throne room and report you. This time both the king and queen should be there. Make sure the bracelet is visible. The queen will then ask to speak to you privately.”

Now tell her all about yourself and talk to her about tactics,” another Tankonian instructed.

“I’m ready to help you,” I answered.

“Such bad behavior,” exclaimed the queen “I need to educate this outsider in private.”

The king and the guards left. During our little meeting I learned that the queen’s name was Erica, and that she would prefer me to call her this. For our battle plans, we would wait a few weeks until training sessions began. We could train the soldiers without becoming suspicious.

When the king made his daily parade to the village, we would have the person carrying him drop his chair. The king would be really angry and then call on his armies. But instead of helping him, they would attack the king. He would surrender and that would be the end of his throne.

The day finally came, nothing could go wrong. One bad step and we were done for. Erica and I held our breath when we saw the king in his sedan chair approaching us in the village. People were cheering, but in their hearts they hated him.

When everybody was watching the king, I told the servant “Now!” The servant carrying him immediately dropped the king’s chair.

“How dare you,” screamed the king, “Guards take this horrible person away.” I knew the person wasn’t horrible. How dare the king call him that! The soldiers immediately obeyed. They grabbed the king and said, “We arrest you in the king’s name.”

The king tried to protest, but the captain informed him “you told us to arrest the horrible person. There is only one-you.”

“Really?” he sneered, “raise your hand if you’re on my side.

There has to be one of you,” Nobody raised their hand. Every minute I waited for him to be gone made me more annoyed. “Wait,” the king shouted, “before you said that I would be arrested in the King’s name and I don’t agree to do that.”

I couldn’t stand to listen to the debate anymore.

“That’s fine with me,” I said, “but guess what your Majesty or should I call you your ex- Majesty? I arrest you in the queen’s name!”

Everyone looked at the queen with pleading eyes to agree with what I had just proclaimed.

“Yes I most certainly arrest you,” she added coolly, “There is nothing to be done, I suggest we give you a life sentence say hurrah if you agree with me.”

“Hurray!” everyone except the King shouted.

“Guards throw the ex-king in jail,” Erica commanded.

Smiling she looked at me and exclaimed “How was that for a fun day.”

“It was great,” I answered.

A little kid came up to me and asked if I could give a speech and I agreed. The whole town quieted as I stood at the podium and began.

“I want to thank all of you for making my stay in Tonka. It was a wonderful experience. You are all very kind and patient. You also gave me hope. Even though I was disappointed, you helped me and I thank you very much. Last but not least, Queen Erica.

She organized the battle and fought as bravely as any soldier would. She didn’t just stand there and give orders. I appreciate your help, thank you,” I said.

Just then Queen Erica came and announced “I make you the next ruler in line for the Tonaks throne.

I couldn’t believe my ears, Me? Ruler of Tonka? How do I get home? I just crashed through this fence.

“Good bye everyone bye,” I yelled.

FAIRIES DO COME OUT AT NIGHT

BY APOORVA RACHAKONDA, AGE 7 I was sitting in my bedroom looking outside through the window when I saw tiny little things flying in circles calling out for more of those things. I had no idea what time it was that night. Then my mom said it was sleep time, so I went to sleep.

Last night too, I crept out of bed and went out the front door even though it was 12 o’clock. Then I saw those tiny things again. I did not what they were but they looked very pretty so, I wanted to take one of them. By the time, I went to get a jar those tiny things had gone away. It was weird, but I finally understood that they only come out at night, and not in the day. So, I decided to be ready at nighttime by sleeping during the daytime.

I did stay up in the night and was able to catch one in my jar. But, it was really hard to see what the tiny thing was at night, especially when I was trying to find my lamp.

Then, I took a magnifying glass to see what it was . It was cool. I saw a head, a body, two arms and two legs. It was a fairy!

I thought it would be nice to share what I found with my friends but I knew they wouldn’t believe me. So, I decided I should keep the secret to myself.

TULE POND

BY ANANYA Crack! Leaves break like fallen glass under my feet. Tule pond is the place for me.

Tule Pond’s nature made me get ready early to explore its creatures and forest of trees. I used to go to Tule Pond camps for archeology. Before camp I didn’t like archeology, but now I do.

On the first day we walked out in the fresh air holding maps.

As the group explored along the dusty trail, the students marked down the landmarks.

For example we mapped butterfly garden, Bart station, the bird hangout, the giant tubes, and picnic areas. When we started I felt a big difference. I felt free and my love of nature grew stronger each step of the way.

This next day was even better. The group found a place with scattered glass, potter, soda cans, plastic and tin foal. I found potter down stairs and through an arch. So the teacher said to clear the path and if you find an artifact leave it where you found it.

I could not help because I was not one of the older kids. So I helped the teacher set up and look for more artifacts. While helping the teacher I learned a lot of skills for archeology. That is when I realized I like archeology.

At the end of the camp I did not want to go because in Tule camp I learned all about artifacts and mapping the part of nature at Tule pond. Tule pond is different from other nature sites.

MY GUMA EMILY CAMERON

The scorching sun glared overhead as the sleek black car pulled up beside a rusted gate. Rumbling to a halt, the car door opened and several people clambered out, including my grandmother, my mother, and myself. Shielding my eyes from the burning sun, I peered up at the house in front of me, surrounded by a gate with spikes at the tips.

We were visiting our sick Guma, who was my great aunt from my mother's side of the family. I had never seen my Guma before, but I was excited to meet her.

An elderly woman came to the door, the guarded caution in her dark eyes switching to glowing warmth when she recognized us. I stared at her in confusion, accepting the gentle embrace she welcomed us with. Was she Guma?

"Come in, come in," the old woman invited us, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm.

Flinging off my flip-flops, I stepped inside the house, sighing with relief at the welcome sensation of air conditioning.

Suddenly, I drew back in sheer horror when I saw her and let out a terrified gasp..

In the middle of the room, a skeleton lay on a plastic chair.

No, it wasn't a skeleton-it was alive, but barely.

Papery white skin clung to her faltering frame, and I could see every single bone outlined sharply against her flesh. Her eyes were sunken deep into her face, and they were a pale gray color, all the life drained from their depths. I could see her heartbeat throbbing in her neck, rapid and irregular.

A choking noise gurgled in her throat with each painful breath, and her chest heaved, fighting for air. She was on the brink of death, barely clinging to life. The lady who answered the door wasn't Guma-this was Guma.

My mother rushed forward, tears spilling from her anxious eyes as she grasped the figure's bony hand in hers. I didn't dare get close to Guma, afraid that I would inherit some sort of contagious deadly disease from her.

But, I watched in fascination and bewilderment as my mother and my grandmother crowded around Guma, murmuring words of comfort and pity.

I could see Guma's jaws moving ever so slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but she was so weak she couldn't get the words out. She stared blankly at the wall, hardly acknowledging my mother and my grandmother as they comforted her like she was a newborn baby, stroking her hair and gripping her hand.

"Mom," I whispered, stepping forward to shake my mother's shoulder.

She turned to me, her eyes swollen and red, her face streaked with dried tears.

"Mom, why is Guma so important to your family?"

My mother gazed thoughtfully at me for a heartbeat, then she settled down onto the couch. I plunked down beside her and looked at her expectantly. She stared into the distance for a while, her dark eyes brimming with memories, until finally she turned her sorrowful gaze to me.

"Let me tell you who I remember Guma as…...," she began.

"She wasn't always like this, you know." She paused, weighing her next words carefully, before launching into her story.

"When I was younger, my Guma was very close to me. My mom had four children to take care of and was always very busy, so my Guma took part in the role of looking after us. I remember how at night whenever I couldn't sleep and my mother was too exhausted to tend to me, my Guma would come inside my room and comfort me, rocking me to sleep.

My Guma will never forget the time when I was a misbehaving baby. Once I became so furious that, in the heat of my anger, I grabbed her dangling earring and pulled, hard. The force of my yank ripped a line down her ear, and the wound never healed properly. To this day, there is still a scar cutting down her earlobe.”

As a child, my Guma would always tell me about her pitiful life, complaining about how her mother had never sent her to school and how nobody ever cared for her. I grew so sick of hearing her complaints that I begged her to be quiet, but she always repeated herself. Now, I realize that all she wanted was for somebody to listen to her life and truly understand her.”

Think about the places outside your home you go to in life: the mall, the beach, swimming pool, a hotel, school. My Guma has never been to these things. In fact, she has hardly ever been outside her own house. When she was a child, she didn't go to school, so therefore she couldn't write her own name, count, solve math problems, or even know her own age.

Another major thing that was an obstacle in her life was that she couldn't ride in a car. Whenever she did, she would always complain about the 'smell' or the rocking movement of the car and felt like she was going to throw up.

Because of her incapability to ride in a car, she couldn't go places very far from her own home.

When she was younger, she was always very physically weak.

When she walked, her feet shuffled across the ground in a slow, awkward movement, as if each step was painful.

She always was lacking in strength. But she still helped out around the house. Every day she hung the clothes outside to dry, swept the floor, and did some daily chores to keep herself busy. She didn't do a perfect job because of her disabilities, but she played an important role in keeping the house clean.

Once, I brought my Guma several books and tried to teach her how to read them. She actually did quite well. She was a fast learner and I taught her some basic words before I grew bored of teaching her."

My mother hesitated for a heartbeat and sighed softly. Her eyes flaring with sorrowful memories and pity for the painful life Guma had been through. She glanced at the faltering frame sprawled across the chair, tears streaking her face.

"Well, that's really all have to say," she concluded. "Guma has lived such a hard life, and it's sad to see her die, knowing what she has been put through. It's a tragic end to a tragic life."

I stared at Guma for a moment, then turned my gaze back to my mother, finally understanding the unbreakable connection that bound them together.

"Thanks for telling me, Mom," I said. "I wish all the best for my Guma, and I hope she lives a happy afterlife."

PEACHY FLEW AWAY SASHA BALASINGAM, 2012

Chirp Chirp

Once there lived a girl named Lily who always wanted a bird. So, she asked her mom and her mom said, “Since it’s close to your birthday, yes!”

Lily ran to the pet store. She found the perfect one. It was perfect because it had had favorite colors, red and orange.

She paid for the bird and quickly ran home.

Lilly said “Mom, dad, look what I have”.

“It’s beautiful” they said.

Lily decided to name her Peachy because she was about to eat a peach when Peachy just snatched it away from her and into her mouth.

Lily wanted to teach Peachy tricks, but she didn’t know how! She asked her mom and dad and they said, “You can take them to the people who teach birds tricks”.

“That’s a great idea” exclaimed Lily.

Lily and her parents jumped into the car and drove as fast as they could to Lassy’s Bird Tricks. It took a long time but finally they got there. Lassy taught Peachy how to fly, flip, spin, and jump. Lily was very happy and Peachy was very happy too.

After that, it was time for lunch. Lily fed Peachy dead worms and seeds. Then, Lilly took a nap and Peachy rested with her. Pretty soon, Lilly started to notice that Peachy would follow her everywhere she went.

For Lilly’s birthday, everyone liked Peachy especially all the tricks she did. That night Lilly went to bed and the next morning, she woke up and Peachy was gone.

“It’s almost time for breakfast. I have to find her!” thought Lilly.

She heard her mom call, “It’s time for breakfast”.

Lily sadly walked downstairs. She really wanted Peachy to be home again. She quickly ate her breakfast and started to look for Peachy right away.

She looked for her at the park and she looked for her at the pet shelter, but she still couldn’t find her.

“Maybe she is at a neighbor’s house” thought Lily so she knocked at the door, but Peachy wasn’t there either.

Then it was time for lunch. She ate and sadly took a nap to rest. Then it was time for dinner. Lilly skipped dessert and went straight to bed.

The next morning, she had an idea. She decided to check all the places she went because Peachy followed her around and might have gone to one of them. She went to all the places, but still couldn’t find her.

Then she heard her mom calling. “Lilly, can I show you something? These are all of the places you went. You can check all these places for Peachy” she said.

I didn’t check my bed! Lilly ran upstairs quickly and saw Peachy.

“Peachy you’re safe!” she cried. “Come on, I have to feed you breakfast”.

THE END

DILLY NEARLY LOST HER TAIL LAUREN KAHM

A dolphin named Dilly glided swiftly though the ocean water. She swam slowly but very gracefully. Dilly was a very friendly and smart dolphin. The water was a dark blue color.

The color gave Dilly a nervous feeling, and schools of fish swam into the dark water. As Dilly watched them, getting ready to strike, Dilly looked around and saw a pretty big fish slowly swimming by. The fish looked like it had a lot of meat and looked really juicy. As Dilly watched the fish, she decided that it would make a really good meal. Dilly made sure that the fish wasn't looking at her. She was about to strike, but then she saw a pair of eyes staring at her. The eyes were starting to move towards her. She soon realized that the pair of eyes belonged to a shark. Suddenly, Dilly forgot about the big fish and swam as fast as she could, away from the shark.

Dilly swam faster than she had ever swum in her life. The shark was really fast.

Dilly's heart began to race. She had no idea where she was going, and she didn't know what to do because this was the first time she had been chased by a shark. Dilly started to get tired and started to slow down. Since Dilly had gotten distracted when she was about to catch her food, she was getting even hungrier. She started to go pretty deep into the water.

Dilly went deeper because she thought that there would be a lot of fish near the bottom of the ocean, but she was wrong.

There were barely any fish. Little fish darted occasionally from one hiding place to another. Dilly swam to the surface to get a breath of air.

She dove back down and hoped that she was faster than the shark, but the shark was right at her tail. Dilly was losing a lot of energy because she was starving. She pushed herself to keep going. Her fins ached as she tried to keep going.

Eventually, a storm swept in. The wind howled, the waves were rough, and rain splattered heavily on the ocean waves.

Dilly did’nt know where she was anymore.

When the storm was over, Dilly had no idea where she was.

The shark was still following her. Dilly rushed around the ocean in circles, trying to figure out her location.

Finally, after a long time, she found somewhere familiar.

Suddenly, she heard the shark's tummy grumbling with hunger. The shark started going faster. He opened his mouth and… chomp!

The shark bit some of Dilly's tail off. Blood was everywhere.

The ocean turned red. Dilly felt really weak and tired. Her eyes started to close and she passed out.

When Dilly opened her eyes, the first thing she thought of was the shark. She looked around and didn't see it. Instead, she found her friend, Ottie, inspecting her tail. Her tail looked really bad. The part of her tail that had gotten bitten was still attached but was hanging on by only a tiny piece of skin, and hurt terribly. All the water around her tail was red and full of squishy-looking bits of flesh.

When Ottie saw Dilly watching her, she asked, "Are you okay? How much does it hurt? I'm going to get you out of here. The shark that bit you could still be around."

Nearby, there was a big, silver fish with sparkling scales that Ottie had killed for Dilly. Dilly slowly ate the fish and felt a little better. Ottie went under Dilly and brought her to the surface to breathe. Dilly turned around and saw the shark following closely behind again.

The shark's teeth were stained with blood. Disgusting bits of red flesh from Dilly's tail were stuck between his teeth.

Ottie and Dilly swam through small spaces trying to get away but the shark still followed.

Finally, Ottie found a narrow hole in some creamy white coral. The two dolphins swam through the hole. It was a tight squeeze. The shark went partially through the hole then got stuck. The shark couldn't get out and eventually died. Dilly's tail got better and she swam away happily.

PECK PECK! WRITTEN BY ARIA LELE, AGE 9 IN 2021

Peck Peck!

I am looking for food.

Looking in every tree for a delicious bug to eat.

I am looking, but not finding anything,

I am hungry, and getting a little hangry.

Peck Peck!

I am looking for food.

Looking in every tree for a delicious bug to eat.

I am hungry, and getting a little hangry,

But, I won't stop pecking until I find a bug to eat.

Peck Peck!

I am looking for food.

Looking in every tree for a delicious bug to eat.

But I won’t stop pecking until I find a bug to eat.

I perch on a tree, thinking of giving up, but I will try one last time.

Peck Peck!

I am looking for food.

Looking in every tree for a delicious but to eat.

I perch on a tree, thinking of giving up, but I will try one last time.

After I try, I will find lunch.

Peck Peck!

I was looking for food.

Looking in every tree for a delicious bug that I ate.

After I tried, I found lunch.

And I am not hungry and hangry anymore.

Instead, I am happy!

Peck Peck!

Kris Au-Yeung won second place in Kay Snow writing competition for this short story in her age range.

The Kay Snow awards are awarded annually by the Williamette Writers group in Portland, Oregon.

WHY DUCKS FLY SOUTH FOR THE WINTER

BY KRIS AU-YEUNG, 11 YEARS Every year the Animal Association Council (AAC) chose a winner to receive a new facility for the winning animal's group to use. It could be a new barn, a trough, or a pond.

Over the years, many different animals had won however, the ducks had never won. The ducks were a humble group of animals, and each year they wondered why they were even nominated as one of the finalists.

One sunny afternoon in May, they found out what others thought.

A peahen and a peacock were strutting about on the gravel beside the duck pond.

The peacock spoke, "I don't know why they even let the ducks get nominated for the prize! Such impudent creatures!"

The Peahen said spitefully," Let's be glad that the animals don't like the ducks anyway. That's because they don't do anything all day!

They don't even do anything to help the farmer, unlike the horse."

The Peacock replied with a very superior tone, "The council knows that we are the most magnificent and the most beautiful animals on the farm! Besides, that is all that really really matters. Plus the ducks don't really have a say in the council."

The Peahen whispered to the Peacock while taking a sudden glance backward at the ducks wadding in the pool, "Let's leave before they notice us."

So, they strutted down the gravel path with the astonished ducks staring after them in disbelief.

That night the ducks held a secret meeting in the dead of the night.

"They don't appreciate us!" declared the leader of the ducks.

"Yes, Yes! Do something about it, Leave, leave!" cried the crowd of ducks simultaneously.

"Be patient fellow ducks! We must wait for the time to leave!

We shall leave at the beginning of the winter. If our plan works, they will be sorry they treated us so bad! Take notice of our plans, and dare not defy us!" proclaimed the leader.

"Hear, hear!" cried the angry crowd erupting in a cheer.

As the farm animals prepared for the winter, there was lots of anticipation about the AAC competition. Everyone wanted to know which group would win. The ducks though, knew that they would not win, and they were busy making plans to leave.

On the day of the announcements everyone was busy getting ready and no one noticed the ducks leaving in the confusion and excitement.

One by one they lifted into the sky with not a single sound and flew off in a "V" formation, resembling a flock of swans graceful in flight. They flew south and landed in the sunny lands of the south.

Back home, it was time for the announcements.

"And, the winner is... The Ducks", read the person on the stage.

It came as a surprise to all the animals, especially to the peafowl that the ducks won.

The ducks did not come up and everyone went looking for them. When they saw that they were gone, they sent for them immediately. The ducks accepted and in the spring they flew back home.

Apologies were made by the peafowl. The Peafowl were sorry that they mistreated the ducks because they thought they were better than them.

That is why the ducks fly south every winter, to take a break from the animals' bragging.