YOUNG WORDSMITHS - 3rd issue 2019

Read stories and poems written by Lekha’s YOUNG AUTHORS !!!

September 2019

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 is 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.

Fonts Used: Segoe Print, Adobe Devanagari and Chiller.

FOUNDER’S NOTE Dear friends of Lekha, We have just finished a very successful 13th year of Lekha Summer Camps!!

This summer Lekha camps were offered through 11 cities at 15 different locations. More than 700 students enrolled at the 78 different camps that were conducted over 10 weeks of summer break.

As usual, this year's summer camps were very productive and seeing children writing from their hearts was inspiring. It reenergized my passion for Lekha, reminding me once again why I do, what I do. Lekha is all about nurturing the imagination of young wordsmiths!!!

In this issue, we have showcased some of the stories and poems written by children during the summer camps. We have also highlighted some works written Lekha's young authors.

Over the next few months, we will be gearing up for the end of the year sales, during which we will promote books written by old and new Lekha authors!

Hope you enjoy reading this issue!!!

Love, Jyoti Yelagalawadi.

Founder of Lekha Ink, Corp.

YOUNG WORDSMITHS is a quarterly magazine.

3rd issue of 2019 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…..

Mia’s Silver Shot

...Page 6-7

Visualization

….Page 8-9

The fire of a dragon

…Page 10-12

Little Dragon

...Page 13

Word Search

...Page 14-15

Lekha’s Creative class

…Page 16-17

Legend of Millow Farm

...Page 18-22

Lekha author– Madison Tomihiro

...Page 23

Clarity

…Page 24

Connect the Dots

...Page 25

Acrostic Poems

...Page 26-27

Luna Learning

...Page 28-35

Shape Poems

....Page 36-37

Fairies of Zarhali

…..Page 38-39

Mia’s Silver Shot

By Sarah Horner “The Queen’s egg is hatching.” explained Lightner.

“This dragonet is supposed to be an animus,” said Lena. “Queen Silvery is an aminus, so shouldn’t this one be an animus, too?”

The egg cracked in half and a silver baby dragon with aqua-blue spots sprawled out and shook it’s tail like a scaly dog.

Suddenly, Queen Silvery came flying in and pushed her way through to gaze into the dragon’s sky-blue eyes.

“Mia,” Silvery sighed with happiness. “My new baby will be Mia.” “E-excellent choice, Your Majesty,” stammered Lena.

“Thank you Lena. Alright, little Mia!!” Silvery commanded, “Cast a spell!!”

Mia did a little cough and spread her arms out like she was saying, “Ta-dah!”

NOTHING. “Mia cannot cast spells? Impossible! That means, she is not an animus!”

“NO !!” Silvery shouted. “Lightner, take her to the Dragonet School.”

Lightner sighed and nodded.

“Come on, Mia,” said Lightner.

So, Mia went to Dragonet School and only learned how to fly.

When Silvery heard the news she was furious.

“Mia has only learned how to fly. Lena, she can’t just learn that. She must know how to grant wishes, powers, everything! Oh my God! You must take Mia to see Madeline and Maya.”

“Yes, my Queen,” said Lena. “ So, Mia wants to learn?” asked Madeline.

“Ummh, yes,” answered Lena.

“Okay! Mia say SHOT,” smiled Maya.

“ SHOT. SHOT,” said Mia. A blast of silver flew into the air and came back down.

When Lena , Lightner and Mia got back, Silvery was very happy. WHY??

Because, Mia was now an ANIMUS.

This story was written in the Summer 2019 Fantasy and Sci-fiction camp in San Ramon.

Lekha methodology involves the use of Visualization techniques to trigger Creative Writing.

Artwork by Susan Capra

FREEWRITE-VISUAL PROMPT GALAXY

There is a legend of a cat who was born in space and send to live on Earth. His name was Galaxy.

On planet Earth, he met a cat named Rose. They fell in love and had baby kittens.

Unfortunately, Rose died giving birth and so did some of the kittens. Rose had six kittens, but only Georgie, Samantha and Toby lived.

One day these kittens were kidnapped and taken away by humans to be their slaves. At least that’s how he saw it.

He had lost everything-his parents’, wife, kids and home.

That’s when the Oracle cat came to him and said, “When you see the next rainbow, you can take a ride into the galaxy and see your family again.”

So he waited and waited and waited until, finally a rainbow came. He was reunited with his parents.

He started a new family with Stella. They had 11 kittens– Max, Sarah, Christopher, Madison, Martha, Timothy, Jake, Jenna, Ruby, Chase and Erika.

They all lived happily ever after except Rose.

But, Samantha, Georgie and Toby lived with their owners on Earth.

THE FIRE OF A DRAGON WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY ALIYA

THE FIRE OF A DRAGON

By Aliya

Icee, an ice dragon and leader of the Dragese clan was taking a nap in his cozy cave. He had been sleeping peacefully for thirteen minutes, when a portal opened and a cat jumped out. Her name was Klepto.

“What in the world are you doing in my cave?” Icee asked.

“I came to see your clan,” replied Klepto.

They continued to talk to each other and a wonderful friendship began to bloom.

Well, it was going well until Klepto actually saw the Dragese clan.

“Ewwww!! They are so stinky and scaly!” exclaimed Klepto. “All cats in my clan poop in litter boxes.”

“Oh Yeah?! Well, I think your clan is furry and has fleas!” Icee shot back.

The two leaders continued bickering so loudly that they didn’t know both their clans woke up cranky from their naps.

Even after their clans broke the leaders apart from each other, Icee and Klepto continued to shout at each other.

“THERE WILL BE A WAR TOMORROW AT 5.oo A.M. SHARP !!!!!!” they both declared.

That night, Icee and Klepto pressured their clans very hard for the war.

“I shall start the war,” said Klepto, “Three, Two, One, Go!!”

“RAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!” said the clans imitating a lion that was super angry.

During the war, Fire a fire dragon met Ghost, one of the Guapocats.

They became friends and both agreed that both the clans were the same but that they were just shaped differently.

“Hey, you wanna chase butterflies?” asked Ghost.

“Sure!” replied Fire.

Ghost made a portal. The two friends jumped into the portal.

“Whoa!! This is so cool Ghost!!” squealed Fire when they arrived.

“I wish this was my home.” said Fire.

“Me too. But, let’s play! If we stay here too long, the portal will close.” said Ghost.

Fire agreed. The friends played for half an hour.

“Look the portal is about to close! We better hurry!” exclaimed Fire.

Ghost and Fire both scrambled into the closing portal.

“Huh, the war didn’t begin here,” said Ghost with a confused look on her face.

“We must have gone into the wrong portal.”

“What if the war was just over?!” exclaimed Fire excitedly.

“No, it didn’t. While we were in the portal, no time passed in the portal we just left,” said Ghost, “We must go back.”

Ghost made another portal and hopped in along with Fire.

When they arrived, Fire yelled to Icee and said, “Father! This war has to stop!

We are all the same and part of the circle of life!”

Everyone stopped except for Shape, a member of the Guapocats. She lunged at Fire but missed and tumbled into a heap. Shape was send to the infirmary tent.

While Shape was in the tent, the clan’s bodies began to change.

The Dragese clan now had cat ears and tails. The Guapocat clan now had dragon tails and wings. Together they were the Guagese club.

This story was written in the Summer 2019 Sci-Fiction and Fantasy camp in San Ramon.

Dragons are so adorable in stories and poems.

Little Dragon

By Aarna

Tiny dragon flying by Blasting fire mighty and high.

Brave little dragon, Loyal and sweet, Little dragon we shall meet.

Tiny dragon in search of adventure Found her home was better.

Looking for her sweet cave

Her parents told her she was brave.

Sweet little dragon go to sleep.

Again we shall meet.

This poem about a sweet little dragon was written in the Summer 2019 Poetry camp in San Ramon.

In our camps and classes, we engage and interact with the students

spontaneously to nurture their innate IMAGINATION !!

Below is an example of a spontaneously generated freestyle poem which was created by students with the help of staff at the 2019 Summer camp in Tracy !!!!

I dance on this sweet sweet day As I watch the sweet rain Fall on the soft green grass.

Is it just me that feels this way?

Or do the thorns smell of roses today.

Lekha staff work with the kids to help generate the momentum for a good story as they explain the concepts of fiction, genre, plotline, characters, settings and various other elements of story writing in our camps and classes.

Below is a collaborative attempt between students and staff as they worked on the initial pages of a sci-fiction story.

Momo and Tiko were walking in the neighborhood. They loved the night sky and the cool breeze.

“Hey, what’s that light?”, asked Momo as he moved his head in the direction of the bright light that shone behind the houses and above the trees.

“Shhh, let’s wait and see.”, replied Tiko.

The trees started to sway widely. It seemed as though they were getting swallowed. They got shorter and shorter-all 12 trees that bordered the park! The light got brighter and brighter. It looked like a circular disc in the skies and it made a loud whirring noise.

Momo and Tiko ran behind a house and sat on all fours. Their hair stood on end and theirs tails tucked between their rear legs. They peeked out from the side of the house with their ears back and waited.

It looked like the lights were getting less brighter as the circular disc swallowed the trees and lowered onto the ground. Soon, all Momo and Tiko could hear was scraping sounds in the darkness.

They got up gingerly and walked towards the park.

The circular disc was swallowing the grass and digging up the dirt below.

Momo and Tiko ran home.

THE LEGEND OF MILLOW FARM

BY MADISON TOMIHIRO, AGE 10 YRS

The Farm

A car rumbled and drove off into the mist of the country­side. If you were in that car, you would have heard a very big argument between a young ten year-old girl and her father.

"Daddy, I don't want to go to the farm. Why can't I stay with you?" said the girl.

"Don't you want to visit your grandma? You loved going there when you were younger," replied the father.

"Dad, if you haven't noticed, I am much older now. I think farm animals are dumb," said the girl.

"I thought that you wanted a dog. Those are farm animals."

"Whatever," answered the girl. ''Well, because you are being so stubborn," replied her father, "I am going to tell you the legend of Millow Farm..." “A long time ago, there was a farm. Inside that farm, there were animals. It was spring and everyone was recovering from the winter. All of the animals hid from the blinding sunlight, except for three new animals that had just been introduced to the outside world.

A lively puppy named Melsie, a smart bunny named Mento, and a hungry hamster named Melon. All three of them had become very good friends in the barn. After a few days, they decided to stick together forever and ever and ever. The three friends spent a few weeks playing and meeting all the other animals in the barn.

They met Jennie, Will, Taylor, Joey, and Finn the sheep. They also met Mama Hen, with all thirty-five of her little chicks (the farmer cared too much about the eggs to sell or eat any of them).

They also met the one and only Tess, the old, wise, and holy cow, who had served the farmer for so many years.

When the three friends got back from their long voyage around the farm, Melsie said, "Did you hear that Mama Hen is going to have another chick, and that the egg is shaped like a lemon?"

"Yeah, I heard. I hear everything," said Mento. "Come on! It is lunch time and I am getting very hungry!" said Melon.

"Let's go," they decided.

The Terrible Talk

A few weeks later, the three friends decided to go play in the barn with the old cow Tess. When they walked into the barn, they saw the farmer talking to a man in black about taking Mama Hen for a while.

"It will only be for a short time, plus I'll be paying you for this," said the man.

"I know... but I just can't leave those little chicks without their mother," said the kind farmer.

Then the man pointed at the three friends and said, "Then, why don't you have those animals take care of those chicks!"

After a lot of discussing, the farmer finally gave in after being told that he needed the money to save his farm from being taken away from him.

"Fine, you can borrow Mama Hen.� said the farmer.

Melsie, Melon, and Mento ran out of the barn to tell everyone the terrible news.

When they got to Mama Hen, who was in an oddly happy mood, they told her everything that they had heard. Mama's smile turned into a deep frown.

She sat down and thought about what was going to happen.

All she could say was, "I will not lay any more eggs."

She said that proudly and then walked off, while the three friends looked on after her, hoping that she had not gone crazy because of the shock. Melsie and her friends then ran to tell all of the other animals in the farm.

The Sad Departure The day of Mama Hen's departure was very sad. Everyone was moaning and crying.

All the baby chicks surrounded their mother, saying, "Oh, don't leave mother, please don't leave!"

A few minutes before Mama Hen was going to leave, she cornered Melsie and said, "I'm going to have to leave you in charge of my little lemon shaped egg! I can only trust you with him. When I come back I want him to be right in this farm."

"I can do that !!! Don't worry. I will take very good care of your egg. But, what happens if the chick hatches?"

"Show her around the barn. Show her what to eat and what she cannot eat."

"How do you know that she is a girl?" asked Melsie.

"I just know these things. Anyway, I have to go now, goodbye."

Mama Hen was then taken in a cage and carried off into the misty dust.

Right after she left, Melsie got into action. She ran back to the nest where the little egg lay, and found a big crow hovering over the egg. In a fast motion the bird swooped down and carried the egg out of the window.

Screaming and running, Melsie said to her friends, “Come on, we have to save the egg, or Mama Hen is going to freak out!"

Just as they were about to run out the window, Mama Hen heard the screams and broke free from the cage that she had been put in.

She ran as fast as she could back to the farm, burst through the door and said, "Don't worry, little egg, I will save you!"

Saving Lemon Egg Mama Hen jumped out the window screaming.

Melsie said, "Oh no! Mama Hen is going to crash and turn into smithereensl" “It's our entire fault because we let Mama Hen commit suicide," added Melon.

"What are we going to do now?" asked Mento.

Suddenly, they saw Mama Hen slowly fly up above the window and yell, "I am the Flying Hen and I will save my baby!"

"Oh my gosh, look at what Mama Hen is doing!" said the friends.

"If she can fly, so can I" said Melon. ''You will never be able to fly. You don't have wings and you are probably too heavy because of all that cornbread you ate in the morning," said Mento.

Mama Hen swooped down and up trying to corner the huge bird.

Finally when, Mama cornered the black crow, it said, "Why are you following me and my little baby? It is very rude and I don't like it!"

"That is not your egg! It is my egg, and you are not getting your dirty claws on it. I just hope that it doesn't catch a disease from you. Now, put my egg down right now, you little beast!" Mama Hen cried.

"Prove that it is your egg," said the crow.

Suddenly, the egg started moving. Both of the birds stared at the egg. They heard a little crack and then suddenly a little yellow head popped out of the egg and said, "MAMA."

MAMA

"Ha! I told you that this was my egg," said Mama Hen. "Oh, I'm really sorry. I should go now, shouldn't I?" said the crow.

"Thank you for being so truthful Mister. Goodbye and I hope that you find your egg," said Mama Hen. Then she flapped her wings and started flying home.

The last thing she heard from the crow was, "I like your wings. I never knew that hens could fly."

Mama Hen just laughed and flew away with the little chick in her mouth.

The Ending When Mama Hen got home, everyone was looking in the air, trying to find Mama Hen. Finally, when they saw her everyone started cheering and said, "Good Job Mama Hen." When she landed, everyone kept cheering and asked, "Where is the egg? Did it crack?"

Mama Hen pulled out the little chick from under her beak. Everyone was in awe of the cute little chick. Meanwhile, a man was trying to get the farmer to sell the hen to the circus, but all the farmer could say was, "No." After a lot of discussing, the man left, cursing under his breath and mumbling, "You'll regret every word that you said." The man got into his car and drove off into the mist.

Everyone started cheering after he left. Mama Hen was filled with joy.

Suddenly, she started feeling a very weird sensation. It got bigger and bigger each moment and then suddenly, "plop" a huge golden egg came out. The farmer came over and picked it up.

All he could say was, "Oh my!"

After that, everyone was quiet. Then Melsie came over, and said, "Mama Hen, why don't you give that egg to the farmer, who always took care of you."

Mama Hen told the farmer that he could have the golden egg, for it was of no use to her.

The farmer thanked her and never again gave away his animals, because that day the farmer learned how all animals are special in their own way.

"That is the legend of Millow Farm. So, how did you like it?" asked the father.

"I really, really liked it," answered the girl.

"That is good, so now do you want to go to the farm?"

"Of course I want to go to the farm. I can't wait to see the fluffy sheep," said the girl.

"Well, that's good. Why don't we stop over there and get a smoothie. I think we're going to need it. We have a long way ahead of us," said the father.

"Can I get a chocolate smoothie?" asked the girl. "Sure," answered her dad.

"Dad, you're the best!" she exclaimed.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Madison Tomihiro is an accomplished writer and illustrator.

She was a student of Lekha Writing Center. She was an excellent writer and many of her stories were published in Lekha Anthologies. She wrote Sinim while she was in high school. She graduated in 2016 from the Harker School in San Jose, CA. She has illustrated three picture books-The Two Finned Schwinn, Cats are Liquid and A Rock in My Pocket.

This summer, the students loved the poetry camps.

Prompting from instructors like the name acrostic poem written below inspired the kids to create their own poems.

Acrostic Name poem by SHERMAN

Silly Jokes Hilarious

moves

Enormous Reliable Movie

star famous

Artistic

Not

me

me

mean person

Acrostic Name poem by MAKENNA

Makenna likes Adventures,

movies and books and is

Kind Energetic Nice,

most times but

Not

Always,

so beware.

Luna Porter has always chosen to be invisible, but after taking a chance on a relationship, Luna opens up to some special. She is dazzled by this person, who teaches her that change can be good. Everything changes for Luna, and she discovers that taking chances can lead to good things.

This work was created as part of Lekha Summer Writing Camp 2009.

Prologue Up until halfway through senior year I was someone else. I was Luna Porter, the quite girl who was born in Washington and had only a few friends. I was the girl who didn’t know how to be spontaneous or outspoken. I wasn’t cool or really fun to be around. I was just Luna, a five-foot two girl with wavy black hair, whose favorite color was blue and who worked at Yogurtland on Sundays. But senior year, I met someone who changed all that. I’m still me, but I’ve learned that I shouldn’t be scared to be close to someone. I learned this on Valentine’s day.

Four Months Earlier It’s Valentine’s Day. One of the worst days of the year. It might sound weird not to like a day of love and happiness, but that’s not the reason, I dislike Valentine’s Day. Every 14th of February, the high school jocks have a humiliation ritual that no outcast can avoid. I am, of course a target. Paper bags are taped to the lockers of outsiders.

The basketball and football players station themselves in front of your locker, waiting for you. They’ll hover, watching you, wanting you to open the paper bag. Inside is something repulsive, usually moldy food. By eleventh grade I just threw it away. I would avoid going to the locker completely, but my English book is trapped inside it.

I turn the corner and see my blue, beat up locker, but there is nothing taped to it. You would think the tigers would have finished off their prey. It’s my last year; wouldn't they want to get me really good? My backpack is so heavy that I stagger over to my locker clumsily. I enter my combination: 3-15-09. No jocks or bystanders are waiting for me to be humiliated.

My rusty locker squeaks with old age. This might be good. Maybe they have forgotten to embarrass me this year.

When I open my locker I realize that I’m wrong, there is a brown paper bag. Oh no !

Someone knows my locker combination. Great, just my luck. A red card is taped to the bag. I ignore it and try to take out my English book, but the bag with the card falls to the ground.

My name is written in sloppy handwriting. LUNA. If there is any way for a heart to freeze for five seconds, it would have happened right now.

I know that handwriting. It can’t be. I decide not to ignore the card, but I am still scared to open the bag. The inside of the card is pink with hearts all over it.

The Hallmark card says “ Happy Valentine’s Day.” The person’s handwriting says something more.

Dear Luna, This is for you, have a good day.

Smile more.

Love, Adam P.S. Meet me at the bench at 6.00

This is unreal. He gave me something on Valentine’s Day. I should have known he would. I should have done something for him. I should have been more sensitive. I unwrap the bag. Two pieces of pizza are inside. My spirits have been lifted.

The rest of the day passes easily, until I get home. My spirit is stressed out about something. Lori can’t decide if she wants to be my sister or act as a mother. The more I tell my sister that she doesn’t have to replace Mom the more she becomes parental, always telling me what to do and asking about grades. These are things she never did before and it seems weird that she is doing them now.

She has decided that we need to have more family meetings. She herds us into the living room right when I get home.

My mind drifts to earlier in the day when I got my Valentine’s Day gift. It was probably the most unexpected thing to happen to me on a holiday. The greatest guy in the world gives me, of all people, a Valentine’s day card. I’m going to keep it as a souvenir, incase this whole relationship thing doesn’t work out. By the time I’m done day dreaming my voice shield has used up the last of its fuel and I have to listen to Lori talk about family activities. She goes on longer and I try to listen since I can’t tune her out. After she’s done I check the time. It’s 5.28 p.m. I should get going.

I catch my dad slinking into his office.

He’s wearing one of Lori’s “fashion forward” suits and his hair has recently been buzz-cut.

“Dad, I’m gonna ride my bike, okay?”

“Where to?” Dad asks, without looking up from his computer.

“Ashley’s house. I’ll be back before seven.” My dad doesn’t care, the most he’ll do is call Ashley’s house to make I’m there And Ashley is the only person who answers the house phone, so no need to worry. I head towards the door.

“Oh Luna?” my dad calls out.

“Yeah?”

“Stop by the market and get some paper towels, we’re out.”

“Okay.”

I march out of the house. There’s a small market called Pinemart a couple of block away. I’ll stop there first.

Something in my pocket buzzes. It’s my cell phone. I open it and there’s a text from Adam.

Adam: Luna, where are you?

Reply: I’ve got to go to Pinemart for my dad. I’ll be there in ten minutes.

Adam: I’ll pick you up there.

Reply: Okay.

I’ve been here a million and two times. Paper towels are on aisle two. Adam’s van is outside. I smile. He’s holding something red. Roses ! I remember that I didn’t get him anything for Valentine’s Day.

“Hey,” we say simultaneously.

“Jinx,” he says.

“Whatever.” I smile as he helps me lift my bike into the trunk of his van.

This guy is too nice. Even his outfit is nice. He’s wearing a vintage jacket with jeans and a turtleneck shirt. Everything on him is so perfect, his high cheekbones, his ruffled blonde hair and his emerald green eyes. He sits in the driver’s seat of his vintage Volkswagen van like a male model with more gifts piled on his lap. Of course the roses are for me, along with German chocolates from his grandfather’s sweetshop.

“Thank you, for everything. I wasn’t…”

“Expecting to get something on Valentine’s Day,” he interrupts.

“Yeah,” I admit “Did you get stuff from your parents?’ he asks.

“No, we just had a family meeting.”

“That’s nice.”

We talk continuously during the ride to the park. I have never had such healthy conversations before.

As much as he makes me nervous he also makes me comfortable. Expanding my comfort zone is easy around him. He understands me more than anyone else. He puts his arm around me while we are walking along the trail. We finally get to the bench, our bench.

“Look here,” Adam says before we sat down. He points to the back of the bench.

Someone has carved the initials “ A & L” into the knotted brown wood. I look at him knowingly, and he smiles back.

“Let’s sit,” I say.

“Actually, I was wondering if we could sit somewhere else today,” he says, pulling me back to his tan-colored van. Is that all we are here for? To look at the letters carved in the back of our bench? I want to sit down and watch the sunset.

He persuades me into going with him. The parking lot is small with trees scattered around it. He reaches in his van and puts on some music, then jumps on the hood.

He reaches a hand out to me. I shake my head. Sitting on top of his van sounds dangerous. I could slip and fall or push him off by accident.

“Come on Luna, nothing bad is going to happen. It’s just a van.”

I roll my eyes and take his hand. The radio station plays some of the classic rock songs that Adam often plays on his guitar. The sun is setting and the only things I really hear are the crickets and our breathings.

“I can’t believe you know my locker combination.” I say, breaking the silence.

It wasn’t that hard to get. I just asked Ashley to write down the combination for me,” he replies.

“I wonder if I could sue you breaking and entering. Doesn’t our school have some sort of student court system? I joked. He closed his eyes and smiled.

“And I guess I can’t trust Ashley anymore,” I go on and realize that for the first time I’m talking more than he is. I blab about my sister and everything that has happened today. I don’t think he’s listening. He just lays next to me, calm and statuesque.

“I like sunrises more than sunsets,” he says finally. He sits up now, looking at the sun sinking into the sky.

“Because with sunrises you know there’s going to be another day,” I reply. He nods; for once I had read his mind.

Adam drives me home and we make it back right before seven.

Lori and dad are now having father daughter time by watching Transformers, my dad’s movie selection. I throw my bike in the garage and head to my bedroom, setting the flowers and gifts on my desk before going into the living room.

“Hey, Luna. You want to watch Transformers with us?” mu dad asks.

“No thanks. I have some homework I need to do,” I say.

“Okay, Lori made lasagna.”

Wow! Lori’s really going far with this mother thing.

For once I didn’t make dinner. The lasagna was actually really good. Who knew my worry wart sister could cook?

After I finish my homework I decide to take over one of Lori’s jobs, laundry. I know the basics , whites verse darks. My sister has some dresses that need to go to the dry cleaners. Maybe I can do that for her this weekend, as a Valentine’s day gift.

By the time I’m done doing some more house cleaning its 9.00 p.m. I decide to go to bed early.

The next afternoon, Ms Newman starts a new lecture. She’s actually doing a lot of new things; she got a new haircut too. It’s awkward looking, like someone took a bowl, put it on her head and cut around it. It’s not great but it’s better than the scraggly mess that the hair was before. She writes “POETRY” in big letters on the board. We’ve already learnt about poetry, I don’t see why we have to go over it again.

“Poetry is everything. Remember that poetry is life, love, air, anger, even math,” she explains.

Ms. Newman is wrong, very wrong. Math is not poetry, and it will never be poetry.

Not in a million years. Poetry is my least favorite part of English. I think it’s cheesy. And it’s the one thing that I can’t write. Ms. Newman tells us that we should write one long poem, of any type. This is going to take me forever. At the end of class, Ms. Newman makes some kid write part of his poem on the board. He explains that he didn’t write very much. I recognize him as one of Adam’s friends.

He trudges up to the board. He’s bulky and I can tell he was part of the football team. His handwriting is horrid. There are only two words on the board after he’s done.

“Who cares?”

Everybody starts cracking up. Poor Ms. Newman, no one likes writing poetry. The football player looks at Ms. Newman, she’s laughing.

No one has ever seen Ms. Newman laugh. People have laughed at her, but not with her.

“Well Alan. That is a good start,” she says, still chuckling.

You’d think she’d be mad. I guess everyone’s happy on Fridays.

I like Friday, it’s the best day of the week. I run errands and go to the tennis courts.

The only places I have to stop at are the dry cleaners and the grocery store.

This morning I took Lori’s dresses from the laundry room and kept them in my car during school. The dry cleaning shop is small and family run. The grocery store is right across the street. I buy milk, eggs, my dad’s Coffee-mate bottle, vegetables, fruits and meat. The weather is too.

My old truck whimpers on the way home. It needs gas. That’s another stop. Lori is at her classes and my dad stayed late at work. I put the groceries away and change into different clothes for tennis. I have twenty minutes to get to class, so luckily the gas station is on the way. My truck is happier after being fueled and it quickly gets me to tennis. I think my racket is lucky because the tennis ball shooter couldn't get one ball past me. I’m sweaty and tired by the time I get home.

Dad is watching a baseball game in his grungy stay-at-home outfit.

“How was tennis?” he asks.

“Good. Where’s Lori?”

“I told her to go out with some friends. You should go out too. Both of you pamper me too much with all those chores,” he explains.

“No thanks, maybe tomorrow, I’m going to take a shower.”

“Okay,” he says, becoming absorbed again by his baseball game.

The shower is refreshing. Afterwards, I check my mail.

I stay up that night, reading and watching the sun push through the sky. A sunrise is a battle between clouds and the sun. No matter what, the sun comes to give us light, every single day. It’s extremely generous, especially for seven billion people on a planet.

Adam was right, sunrises are better than sunsets.

Four Months Later Today is the day of Senior Prom and I’m terrified. I never went to the dances at school because: 1) I can’t dance and 2) It sounds like torture.

Adam is forcing me to go; he would kidnap me if I didn’t. I went dress shopping with Kelsey, Adam’s sister, but I didn’t find anything. So I decided to go on my own. I found a little shop downtown with unique dresses. The one I bought is blue with black paisley print all over it. I’m standing in front of the mirror examining it, but there’s nothing for me to correct or criticize because it looks beautiful. I even have little blue accessories to match the dress. The doorbell rings, its Adam. I hear my dad’s voice.

“Hello. She’s getting ready.”

“Hello Mr. Porter. How are you?’ Adam says.

“Good. Yourself?’

“Great.”

I look great but I don’t feel great. My legs are shaking with nervousness. I wobble downstairs as carefully as possible. They stare at me, wide-eyed. Adam is wearing a tux and his blonde hair is combed his usual way. He looks so good.

“You look gorgeous,” he comments after a moment of speechlessness.

“Thanks. You too.”

Epilogue And so we went to prom, and it was actually worth it. I had fun, and I watched Kelsey win the title of “ Prom Queen.” I’m glad I went and I’m also glad that I let Adam into my heart. I’m proud and confident of myself and it shows. At tennis, I’m faster, better and stronger, and I’m at the top of my team. I am undefeated.

My next challenge is college. I can’t wait to show the “new me” to new faces and meet new people. And the best part is that Adam will be right there with me.

THE AUTHOR My name is Raven Fields. I was born in Portland, Oregon and I moved to Oakland, California when I was 13.

I love writing because it’s very easy and fun for me to do. I started writing when I was very little , and I kept doing it since.

My inspirations are my family, Stephanie Meyer ad Laurie Halse Anderson.

When I grow up, I want t be a Screen writer/author. I wrote this story as a miniature version of a story that is still in my head. When I get older I would like to expand this short story into along novel.

Many kids enjoy writing creative shape poems.

Oh, to see the clouds in the sky, to see the wag of the dog’s tail.

How I wish I could see all the pretty flowers bloom.

Yay! Now I can see with my new purple glasses. Oh, Yay!!

THE FAIRIES OF ZARHALI written and illustrated by Sanjana Dantuluri

Magic, mischief, and fairies! Welcome to the fairy kingdom of Zarhali, where Queen Calla-Lily must decide which one of her fairies is most worthy of the crown after her reign comes to an end. Will it be the fastest fairy? The wittiest? The most honest? Dive into the world of Zarhali to find out!

A few pages from The Fairies of Zarhali.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR

Sanjana Dantuluri is an artist, writer, and musician from the San Francisco Bay Area, and was a student at Lekha. She has had her artwork published in “Celebrating Art,” a nation wide art anthology. Sanjana’s passion for writing grows as she continues to explore the infinite possibilities that come about when one combines art with story

BUILDING CREATIVE YOUNG MINDS Young Wordsmiths is the online magazine of the Lekha Writing Center.

Lekha Writing Center is committed to developing a generation of children who think beyond the book! We do this by teaching them to write creatively, using a blend of time-tested and newly-developed methods that stir one’s IMAGINATION.

write4joy This app will help children and adults to learn the art of writing creatively.

Writing stories, poems, plays, and essays will become a joy.

Use the write4joy app and become the writer you wish to be.