UTC | Young Southern Student Writers | Grades K-5 | 2024-2025

YOUNG SOUTHERN STUDENT WRITERS 2025 WINNERS

GRADES K-5 POETRY AND PROSE

Created by the UTC English Department Managing Editor: Elizabeth Weems

Introduction

It is a real pleasure to be a part of the Young Southern Student Writers contest, an annual celebration of creative writing in Hamilton County. From interacting with our region’s outstanding teachers and facilitating judging at UTChattanooga, to assembling this collection of winning submissions, YSSW is my favorite part of the academic year. This contest exists to promote literacy and amplify the creative energy of emerging writers. The submissions that follow demonstrate strong writing while also providing a glimpse into the wild imagination of young minds. Thank you to this year’s writers and their teachers. You’ve given us all much to think about, enjoy, and appreciate.

Many thanks to SoLit’s Chelsea Risley, whose generosity and support of our area’s outstanding young writers is integral to the contest’s success. The partnership between SoLit and the UTC English Department effectively promotes and celebrates the region’s literary arts. I am thankful for her collaboration in this event and look forward to an exciting future as we look to grow this contest and elevate even more young writers.

I also want to thank the region’s dedicated K-12 teachers who work tirelessly to instill the value of literature and creative writing in young hearts and minds. I am grateful for their efforts as they teach their students to enjoy the art and craft of writing. Without our elementary, middle grades, and high school English/Language Arts teachers along with parents and guardians, we would not have such fine work to celebrate here.

Thanks are also due to this year’s contest judges. Each submission is carefully read by a faculty member from the UTC English Department. Our faculty volunteer to serve in this capacity with pleasure. In fact, it is not uncommon to hear them sharing submissions that are especially funny, creative, or inspiring. It is another way we contribute to this wonderful city and region.

Thank you to Elizabeth Weems, an outstanding UTC undergraduate English major, who served as this year’s managing editor. Elizabeth worked tirelessly to facilitate judging, compile winning submissions, and create this year’s digital booklet. She has spent countless hours managing the contest and has done so with patience, grace, and maturity.

Last, but not least, thank you to Dr. Jessica McCarthy, the contest’s faculty editor, whose wizardry with Excel spreadsheets kept this contest organized and on track.

Now, without further ado, I hope you’ll read and enjoy!

Andrew D. McCarthy UC Foundation Associate Professor University of Tennessee-Chattanooga Chair, Young Southern Student Writers Contest

Kindergarten Prose Winners

On a snowy day I had a snowball fight. It was gnarly.

Tucker Hardison

Nolan Elementary School Kindergarten, Marah Smith

On a snowy day I drank hot chocolate.

Ladd Campbell

Nolan Elementary School Kindergarten, Marah Smith

On a snowy day I like to build an igloo.

James Render Thompson

Nolan Elementary School Kindergarten, Emily Adams

On a snowy day I make snow angels.

Iris McAfee

Nolan Elementary School

Kindergarten, Emily Adams

On my snowy day I had a snowball fight.

Nolan Elementary School

Kindergarten, April Sutterfield

Harlow Keefe

On my snowy day I made a snowball.

Nolan Elementary School

Kindergarten, April Sutterfield

Holden Mobley

On the snowy day I went sledding behind a dirt bike.

Nolan Elementary School Kindergarten, Laney Holmes

Radford Ashburn

My Snow Day

I wak up and I wosh my fas and I brush my taf and I put on my Klos and I wit outside. I med a snow angl and my sistr sorit a Snow Ball fit. I was Happy bkus I love my siswr.

My Snow Day

I wake up and wash my face and I brush my teeth and I put on my clothes and I went outside. I made a snow angel and my sister started a snowball fight. I was Happy because I love my sister.

Kaliyah Sherrod Bess T Shepherd Elementary School Kindergarten, Tammy Anderson

On my snowy day, I made a snowball.

Nolan Elementary School Kindergarten, Ashley Wells

Cami Labrecque

On my snowy day I build a snowman with my friend Arie.

Bristol Hindman

Nolan Elementary School Kindergarten, Ashley Wells

Kindergarten Poetry Winners

On a Hot Day

I feel a hot slide.

I hear kids making noises.

I smell hot dogs.

I taste sandwiches.

I see birds.

Evelyn Adams Thrasher Elementary School Kindergarten, Megan Methvin

On a Hot Day

I feel heat.

I hear mowing grass.

I smell berries.

I taste water.

I see the flowers.

Mary Alice Magee

Thrasher Elementary School Kindergarten, Megan Methvin

On a rainy day

I feel sad because I can’t go outside

I hear pitter patter

I smell fresh pizza yummy

I taste pizza

I see flowers

Finn McManigell

Thrasher Elementary School Kindergarten, Alyssa Brewster

On a rainy day

I feel cold

I hear rain

I smell rain

I taste drops of water on my tongue

I see clouds and rain and my rain jacket

Shepard Rudolph Thrasher Elementary School Kindergarten, Alyssa Brewster

On a Hot Day

I feel sweaty

I hear children playing

I smell birds

I taste ice

I see birds flying

Jack White

Thrasher Elementary School

Kindergarten, Hannah Nelson

On a Windy Day

I feel calm

I hear woodpeckers

I smell hamburgers

I taste bubblegum

I see eyeballs

Amani Rogers

Thrasher Elementary School Kindergarten, Hannah Nelson

On A Warm Day

I feel Happy.

I hear bees.

I smell I smell flowers.

I taste I taste Ice cream.

I see the sun.

Elliana Weiss

Thrasher Elementary School Kindergarten, Sarah Kent

I feel happy.

I hear birds

I smell flowers.

I taste ice cream.

I see sun.

On

A Warm Day

Ellie Mansolf

Thrasher Elementary School Kindergarten, Sarah Kent

First Grade Prose Winners

When the sun came up in the morning, me and Evie woke up. We looked for feathers. We found a big one and little one.

As the sun became brighter in the middle of the day, we were walking home and the trees are shaking. As the sun began to set, we are home in bed.

Riley Murphy

Nolan Elementary School 1st Grade, Rachel Demuth

The Singing Star

There was an alien. He was rainbow colored. His name was Jack. He lived on Jupiter. Jack had a friend named Feet. His friend was a red fly but he was small. But Jack was tall. Feet couldn’t sing. Now Feet is sad. But Jack is trying to help Feet learn to sing. Feet is still sad. What will Jack do now? Jack turned on “The Masked Singer”. Feet started to sing along and he was happy. They were happy singing together. Jack records Feet singing. Jack puts the video on the INternet. Natalie, a famous singer, sees Feet’s video. She asks Feet to sing a song with her. They had a concert together. Jack cried because he was happy. Now Feet is a famous singer.

Harper Ellis

St. Nicholas School 1st Grade, Stephanie Marshall

Best Friends

Once upon a time there was a yellow cat named Cupcake. Cupcake had a best friend. His name was Sam. Sam was a dog. They played together all day. At night they went to bed and they sang songs to help them sleep. In the morning, they ate toast for breakfast. They played tag again and ate warm soup for lunch. Then they went for a walk. They passed by Pink Pig’s new blue house. “Hello, Pig! Can we play?” they called. Pink Pig said, “Yes, let’s play hide and seek. I’ll count and you’ll hide.” Cupcake and Sam played with Pink Pig until dinnertime. They decided to eat potatoes for dinner. They ate until they were full. Sam and Cupcake said, “We have to go home. Let’s go to the movies tomorrow.” Pink Pig said, “Ok! See you tomorrow.” Sam and Cupcake went home.

Merry White

St. Nicholas School

1st Grade, Stephanie Marshall

The Day the Man Went into the Forest

There was a tall man that went to a forest to plant many seeds. Then a bluebird came and took most of the seeds. Then the tall man only had one seed lift. Then the tall man went back home to get more seeds. He got eight seeds and went back to the forest to plant four of the seeds. The bird didn’t come this time. So the tall man planted the rest of the seeds. Then he went back home. After three months, the plants grew into trees. Then the bluebird came and built a nest in one of the trees. The bluebird and his family lived in the tree forever.

Prem Patel

St. Nicholas School

1st Grade, Stephanie Marshall

The Story of Michael Jackson

Do you know Michael Jackson? He was a famus singer and danser. Some peple call him MJ. His fame dance is the moonwalk. When he moon walks his fete that gp back wrds. He had femse hari and fense clowse.

I wrot about MJ because I lrn to sing frum his muzick. If I was his borther I wold always show up to his prformins.

The Story of Michael Jackson

Do you know Michael Jackson? He was a famous singer and dancer. Some people call him MJ. His famous dance is the Moonwalk. When he Moonwalks, his feet go backwards. He had famous hair and famous clothes.

I wrote about MJ because I learn to sing from his music. If I was his brother, I would always show up at his performances.

Ryan Elliott Willis

Bess T Shepherd Elementary School 1st Grade, Diana Mammen

Second Grade Prose Winners

Bessie Coleman was born in Texas. She was poor and had twelve brothers and sisters. She was born in 1892. She went to college in Oklahoma. She worked in a barber shop. No pilot school would accept her. She learned to fly a plane in France. She performed tricks in the air. She parachuted off of her plane! She wanted to open a flight school for black people. She died when she was 34, in 1926. Bessie Coleman inspires me to shine my light! She inspires me because she was the first black pilot. She opened a flight school. I can be brave like her.

Luca Koettig

St. Nicholas School

2nd Grade, Katie McCorkle

Jackie Robinson was the first black person to play professional baseball in America. He had four siblings. He won rookie of the year. His team won a championship. People yelled at him and tried to scare him. Jackie Robinson inspires me because he never gave up. I will not give up. He worked to help others. I can help others too.

Ryan Shah

St. Nicholas School

2nd Grade, Katie McCorkle

It was a nice day in Montana. I was walking along with my group. The desert was nice and warm. A perfect day to look for fossils. Suddenly, I spotted something in the mountain. I ran over to check it out. The rest of the group at my heels. I got my pickax, shovel hammer, and chisel out of my bag. I started digging with my group to find more. I found the skull nearby. We carefully removed the skull and belly and then we searched for more. It looked big. I was so happy I found a fossil. I thought it was amazing. The rest of the group thought so, too. The fossil was amazing. I drove it to the lab and then called the museum to see if they wanted it and they said yes!

Brooks Brown

Nolan Elementary School 2nd Grade, Robin Kelley

From forests to space slugs

Once upon a time there was a famous explorer named Henry.One time he was exploring the forest when he came to a canyon. Below it were crocodiles swimming in a river. But Henry knew what to do.He got out his grappling hook and swung across. After a few minutes he noticed that there were cages hanging from the trees. If he stepped under them, he would be trapped! But again, he knew what to do.He swung his sword and cut them down. Then he walked around them. At last he saw a pyramid. He climbed to the top and found a treasure chest! Inside he found a crystal. He took it back to his lab and experimented on it. He discovered that it had special powers! Suddenly his bed disappeared! In its place was a spaceship.He jumped in and blasted off. Unfortunately,he got eaten by a space slug and was never seen again. The townspeople looked and looked for him but they never found him. THE END.

Benny Bird

Lane Lake Montessori

2nd Grade, Bethany Lane

Escaping Thanksgiving

“Hi, I am Turkey. Thanksgiving is in a couple of days, and I’m so worried. Farmer Bob is going to kill and cook me! I need to escape before Thanksgiving Day.”

But where will I hide, he thought? I need to brainstorm. After thinking for a while, Turkey had an idea. I could get on a plane and fly away, he thought. Then he realized that he had no money to buy a ticket. So, he went with a different plan.

“I could run away,” he said. So, Turkey packed up his stuff and left. But, he had no where to go. He decided to leave the state. “I wonder which state I’ll go to?” Turkey questioned. “Oh, I know. I could go to Alabama!” He took out his map and set off. He was three quarters of the way there and ready to take a break. He was not on the road much longer when he found a farm. Thankfully, it was not Thanksgiving there. So, he set up his stuff and went to bed.

The next day, he decided to go home because Thanksgiving was over there. He repacked his belongings and left Alabama. He was so tired when he got home, that he slept until morning.

When Turkey woke up, it was snowing!! I guess I had a great Thanksgiving after all. I hope Farmer Bob wants to eat ham for Christmas.

Rosalie Taylor

Soddy Elementary School

2nd Grade, Tonia Mercer

Second Grade Poetry Winners

Grizzly

He’s brown like a tree trunk, Snowy flurry spots of glory.

Spotted like a fawn, A growl like a bear, But as sweet as a turtle.

He runs like a wolf, Leaps like a deer, He digs like a mole.

He sheds his fur like dumped-out glitter, Everywhere he goes.

He's happy when we play with him.

Fetching his toys, He puts them in holes and never returns them

It’s tug-a-war galore to him.

If I'm feeling sad we snuggle and he makes me happy

He's my little fluffy scruffy puppy.

Venture Powell

Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts

2nd Grade, Wesley Castle

Third Grade Prose Winners

Why Lava Comes Out of Volcanoes

One summer day, Derek walked into college holding his laptop. He set the laptop down on the table and went to his room. He then saw that there was a big volcano statue on his bed. Derek ran to it and remembered that there was a science fair today. He picked up the statue and ran down the hallway making it just in time. Derek dropped the statue on the table and pulled out a red and orange liquid and started pouring it in. Just then a hole burned through the cardboard statue and liquid spilt through the hole. It started hissing and smoke arose in the air. Everyone started screaming as the lava rose. Derek couldn’t remember what he put in the liquid. Just then he remembered that while he was on the phone he must have put the chili peppers in the liquid. Derek ran but the hot, wet, red and orange liquid was catching up to him. He ran to his room, and took a fire extinguisher from the Wall case. He got ready for the hot liquid to seep through the door and that's exactly what happened. Derek lost grip and dropped the extinguisher in the liquid. He quickly opened the window and crawled on the roof. He ran to the glass of the science room. He plopped down on the table, and pulled out a bottle of water. He poured it in the half statue, and the whole thing froze. The lava disappeared and the coach started yelling at Derek to fix the whole college for the damages. Derek grabbed his bag and ran home fast.That is why lava comes out of volcanoes.

Cole Jackson

Nolan Elementary School 3rd Grade, Ashley Narramore

Why Mountains are Tall

Long, long ago there was an earthworm named Marine. Marine loved sculpting with dirt. There was a contest in town about sculpting with dirt, and Marine wanted to sign up.When they said that Marine could enter she was so excited. She had to tell her mom the great news. Marine said,”Mom, guess what? I can sign up!” She went ahead and started to dig.

Then the butterfly, (her enemy) flew up to her.”What's wrong?” Asked butterfly.

“I'm just throwing dirt back.Stop it!”yelled Marine, ”And go away!“

“Ha! ha! ha! ha! Ha! Did you not know? I don't want to go away, I only like watching animals that are working,” said the butterfly.

“Why are you tormenting me?” Marine asked.

“Because I want to,” said butterfly. Suddenly, Marine had an idea. She dug a tunnel underground to her friend, mole. Her friend's name was Eleanor. Marine asked Elanoir to help with her project and she said yes! “I knew that you would say yes!” Marine cried.

“Well, when do we start?” said Elanor.

“Right now,” Marine replied.

“Let's go!” They both cried. So they started to dig. Elanor was faster than Marine (of course.) Nearby butterfly was basking on a rock. As soon as butterfly saw them she got up.”Ha, you guys look like clowns in a bath!”said butterfly. Eleanor and Marine ignored her.Finally they finished, and the contest was tomorrow and Marine couldn’t wait!

It was the day of the contest and Marine and Eleanor both felt scared. “I’m so scared that I might puke!”

Eleanor said. “Are you scared?” Eleanor asked.

“Only a little.” Marine replied. The contest had just begun and guess who was up first… Marine and Eleanor! They got onto the stage and began their presentation. After they had finished and heard the applause they took a bow.

Then after the whole entire contest 3rd place goes to…

Lola and her volcano sculpture!

In 2nd place we have… Maria and her easter egg! In 1st we have… Marine and Eleanor with their incredible mountain! They both squealed in delight.They both got a blue ribbon and ran home to tell their moms. They won every sculpture contest in town.

Adeline Jellison Nolan Elementary School 3rd Grade, Ashley Narramore

Why Narwhals have A Really Big Tooth

1,0000 years ago, there was a narwhal called Coral. Coral lived in the Arctic. She was kind, smart, funny and creative.

One day Coral watched a family go out to eat at her favorite restaurant, fish, fish, and more fish! She swam over there and got some fish! She bit into her sardine,and Coral found out she could not chew!

“Oh no’’,she cried, “I can't chew!” Coral heard tons of laughter around her. She ran to her house and locked herself in her room.

“What will I do!” She cried! Soon she drifted off to sleep, but while she was asleep a plan was forming in her mind. The next morning she set off in search of teeth. It took hours and hours to find a trader who would trade for teeth. Finally, she found the perfect trader who would trade for teeth.

“I’ll trade if you give me some tuna,”said the trader.

“Sure”,Coral replied ,”I have tons of tuna.” Then Coral went back to her house and got some tuna. When she got back the trader was sitting on a log.

”Ah there you are”, the trader whispered,”I was starting to think you abandoned me.” Then, they made the trade. When Coral got back to her house she realized something.

“Hey why is there one extra tooth? She wondered.

Coral ran back to the trader with the extra tooth in her hand. She was running just a little too fast and the tooth slipped from her hand.The tooth hit a rock and stuck to her forehead. Then it grew and grew and grew.It looked just like a horn!

It was a lot easier to catch food. Plus it looked really cool! All The other Narwhals loved it! She soon became the star of the town! Her children had a really big tooth on their forehead as well! It kept going until every single narwhal had a big tooth on his or her forehead! And this is why narwhals have a really big tooth on their forehead.

Wrenn Wilson Nolan Elementary School 3rd Grade, Ashley Narramore

Why Red Pandas Eat Grass

A long time ago, more than 100 years ago, there was a red panda in a jungle (a huge one) he named wren. He was very kind and very smart. Wren got invited to a party. (It was the card that had sparkles that blew in his face.) So he went to the party. “Welcome” one of his friends said. “Hope you're ready to eat sweets!” “Wait, I don't eat swe…” he was trapped. The doors closed. “I'm really scared” There were trees, very tall ones. So he climbed them. Red Pandas do that. He escaped and ate some grass. He wondered what it would taste like! The lights went out. But he's great at jumping. So he jumped on the trees to make sure nobody would be down there. Luckily he came down and liked to eat grass so much. Finally, he went home and rested on the trees. That’s why red pandas eat grass. THE END

Katherine Newnam Nolan Elementary School

3rd Grade, Jessica Matukewicz

My Neverland: The Realm of Internal Sneezing

So far, I have gotten good grades. The bad part is that there was a new realm, the realm of internal sneezing. My dad is the emperor of Rome. It is hard holding the entire kingdom of Rome in your hands, but my dad is meant to hold an entire kingdom. He was chosen by the 3 gods, Zeus, Poseidon and Pakman. Poseidon controls the sea, Zeus controls the thunder, Pakman controls the ghosts, and my dad controls Rome. They said he was meant for destiny but they were wrong. In 1967 my dad died and lost the throne. Many were taken captive. Some were taken as slaves and some got killed by the person who killed my dad. I got revenge but then someone stabbed me in the back. The crew of the person who killed my dad got me. It was my fate. I cannot wait for more.

Milo Higgins

Nolan Elementary School 3rd Grade, Emily Russell

My Neverland

Every kid has a neverland, this is my neverland. First, the setting there is a forest, desert, snowy mountains, and rainforest. The forest has a bunch of monkey butlers in it. The desert has a bunch of fun camels to ride. Oh and I have to tell you about the snowy mountains! There are a bunch of cute snowy animals like polar bears, foxes, and penguins. Last but not least, the rainforest. I love the rainforest. It is the best! It has a bunch of cute little animals. Oh in the middle is the evergreen tree.And fairies live in the evergreen tree! Every landform is full of magic! Next, animals there are no humans on the island except me! Animals of every kind are there in their beautiful home.cute animals, funny animals, furry animals, and animals that live in the water! but don’t worry there are no scary animals. In my neverland I have pets all over my house. If I ever see a hurt animal I take it into my little house and take care of it. Sometimes if it is a baby and loses its mother I keep it. But my favorite animal is a little cute red fox. It has a cute little white belly a white tip on its nose and tail. It also loves to roll around on the grass. Then, obviously my house. It is a little house but a good one, it has red walls, white roof, and two windows. Also there is a little mushroom tree next to it. Well maybe I lied about the little house thing and the no humans except me thing. There are a few other ones.

Yeah, my butlers, shhh there is a secret portal that leads to a beautiful mansion. Also time pauses outside the portal. The mansion is where my butlers are.There are beauty butlers. They do my make up and stuff. Then there are kitchen butlers, they make my food.Then boring toilet butlers, and obviously they clean the boring toilets. There are a lot more butlers but we don’t have time for them. Then when you go out of the portal the time unpauses and you go on like you did not go through a magical portal into a mansion with a bunch of butlers in it. I hope you like my Neverland.

Abby Ashton

Nolan Elementary School 3rd Grade, Emily Russell

My Neverland

There is no neverland that is the same. Every one of them is different. What you are going to read is the Neverland that is mine. So, I rule the school. Well, me and my best friend Margot. We empty out all the rooms and choose which one is ours. So basically it's not a school anymore. It’s our house. Well,we only keep the prometheans so we can draw and watch stuff on them when we want to. The kids that went there would have to find another school except for a few that we pick to be our servants. Some of the servants would be the cooks. We would say anything that we wanted them to cook and they would have to make it. They would have lessons of course to know how to cook so they would not hurt themselves. We would have some servants that would build a swimming pool and make the playground the biggest playground ever! It would have really high slides and next to it would be a smaller playground for little kids that did not want to go on the big playground. What I mean is that the playgrounds are the only public thing for other people to use. We would get a millionaire to buy us a genie so that we could get anything we want by just asking. He would be the kind where you never run out of wishes. Margot would wish that we had that cat thing from Harry Potter that had three heads to protect us from people that wanted to steal our stuff and people that tried to break in to hide and dress up like us and give our servants orders that we would never give.

Like, for instance, make Jerry [our cat thing that I still don't know who he is] go on vacation wherever he wants for a whole year because they say he is to ugly to guard without getting embarrassed so they replaced it with a “pretty” unicorn instead to guard. But luckily that would never happen because he would just chase them away before they could persuade him to go on vacation. Okay, back to the inside. So I chose the biggest classroom. Not the biggest room but the biggest classroom. I put in a beanbag chair, my desk, a lava lamp, a normal lamp, some glow-in-the-dark stickers, lots of art stuff (pencils, erasers, a pencil sharpener, markers, glue, tape, glitter paper, crayons, pens, etc.), my bed obviously, a bookshelf with all my books in it, my clothes, (I’ll get my servants to build a closet in there), but the only thing I don’t know is what Margot’s room is like. I would have to ask her. That is the end. I hope you liked my Neverland.

Addie Sarver

Nolan Elementary School 3rd Grade, Emily Russell

The Story of Cody Rhodes

There was a guy who lived in Georgia, and his dad was a WWE wrestler that they called The American Dream Dusty Rhodes. His son was Cody Rhodes, The American Nightmare, and he grew up to become an undisputed WWE Champion after facing Roman Reigns at Summerslam. After that, Roman left never to return. He was a tribal Chief. The Rock left, then Solo took over, and Jey Uso left. His brother Jimmy got betrayed by them then the next week the Wiseman got betrayed by them. Then Solo asked Cody for a shot at his belt.

He said let’s not do it here let’s do it at Summerslam. So, they did it. It went back and forth then Cody was in trouble. The Bloodline showed up then Randy Orton came, and Kevin Owens showed up to help Cody. Then Roman Reigns showed up to help Cody out. Cody then did his move to pin him, 1... 2... 3... ding... ding... ding! CODY WON!

Roman kept it cool then The Bloodline started attacking them and Roman helped. A few months later at Bad Blood they had a match. Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes vs. Jacob Fatu and Solo Sikoa. It was a big fight. Roman was getting teamed up on, and they were having a big one. Cody went to the corner. He saluted to Roman then Cody body slammed Jacob Fatu into the table.

Roman did a superman punch, and he started pinning Solo Sikoa 1... 2... 3... ding... ding... ding! Roman and Cody WON! After that was upcoming The Crown, Cody vs. Gunther. Cody is the undisputed WWE Champion, and Gunther is the WWE Heavyweight Champion. The match was for the Crown Jewel Championship. It started rough then Cody tried to body slam Gunter, but he got caught in a sleeper. Cody turned it around and 1... 2... 3... ding... ding... ding! Cody won to retain the undisputed WWE champion and got crowned the first Crown Jewel champion. A few months later, at the Saturday Night Main Event Cody Rhodes versed Kevin Owens for the undisputed WWE Championship. The End.

Brantley Wright

Silverdale Baptist Academy

3rd Grade, Melissa Colter

Lucky Charms Big Adventure

In an enchanted forest in a magical land far far away, there was a little bunny named Rose. Rose had just had babies. She had five little ones to be exact and they were all so beautiful! She loved them very much and she would do anything for them. Four of the little bunnies where boys, and their names were Hoppy, Floppy, Boppy, and Nick. They where all very happy, cheerful, and playful except for the last one. She was a girl and her name was Lucky Charm. She was not happy, cheerful, or playful and this made the mother rabbit very worried. The mother rabbit asked her what was wrong, and the little bunny replied that she was sad because she did not like being a bunny. The mother rabbit asked her what she wanted to be, she did not know but she knew she did not want to be a bunny. “Why do you not want to be a bunny?” asked the mother rabbit. Lucky replied, “I do not want to be a bunny because all the other animals here have a special supper power and I have none.” “No they don’t,” said the mother rabbit. “Yes they do for example; the bear is big and strong with sharp claws, the bobcat can climb up trees, the fox can smell almost anything,” said Lucky Charm. She turned around to see that her mom had left to go cook dinner, so she walked away and mumbled to herself.

Lucky’s dad saw her moping around and asked her what was wrong. She told him everything that she has just told her mom and her dad said, “How about you go find a bear, a fox, and bobcat, ask them if they like their supper powers.” So she started of on her adventure by going to a place where there were lots of bears. Almost immediately she finds one and she goes up to him while he is sticking his arm through a small opening in a cave. She asked the bear what he was doing. He said that he was trying to get through this opening because there was a beehive inside that was filled with delicious honey, his favorite! Lucky thought, “Maybe I can get through the small hole and get that beehive for you!” “That would amazing!” said the bear. I am so lucky that you showed up, by the way are you lost? “No, I am on a big adventure! But before I leave: Do you like your supper power?” The bear responded, “What super power? I do not have a supper power!” “Yes you do! You are big and strong!” say Lucky. “I am little bunny, but there can also sometimes be disadvantages to being so big. You’re pretty lucky that your small enough to get into places others can not. That could almost never be a disadvantage!” said the bear. Lucky thought for a second, okay then, bye! She then wonders to a place where there are a lot of bobcats.

It takes Lucky a little longer to find a bobcat but she hears one screeching and growling on the riverbank. Lucky hopped over the to bobcat and asked her what was wrong. The momma bobcat said her baby boy was climbing a tree and the limb snapped and the baby and limb fell into the river! “I cant swim and I am to scared of water to get her! Could you possibly get her for me?” asked the mother bobcat. “No problem!” said the little bunny. Lucky hopes down to log that the baby bobcat is on and pushes it over to dry land and saves the little bobcat. “Thank you so much little bunny, “ says the momma bobcat! Before bunny goes she asked her if she likes her super power, and in a confused voice momma bobcat says that she dose not have a supper power. “Yes you do! You can climb up trees!” said the little bunny. Yes, but sometimes it can be a disadvantage because limbs brake. You are brave, quick on your feet, and lucky that could never be a disadvantage. Lucky thought about that for a second then hopped to a place where there were to be a lot of foxes. She finds one before she even gets there. He looked worried and troubled. She asked him, “What was wrong?” He said he was lost and he could not use his sense of smell because he had a cold. He needed to get back home before dinner.

“I know a place where there are a lot of foxes maybe that is where your home is!” said Lucky. So they went to the place where there was supposedly foxes and she found his mom and dad. The mother fox was so very thankful said we are very lucky that you found our boy and brought him home, you must be a lucky charm! Lucky thought for a second, that was it! That was her super power! She brought luck to those and need now she understood why she was named Lucky Charm. From then on Lucky was always on a mission to help others in need and gave 100 percent, because she truly believed that she had the best supper power there was, luck!

Ansley Hill Silverdale Baptist Academy 3rd Grade, Melissa Colter

The Fear of the Dentist

Hello, my name is Quinn Anderson, and I love candy! It’s my favorite thing to eat. It’s soooo good, but sometimes I have to sneak it. I know it sounds bad, but it’s too good! Sometimes I get the question do I brush my teeth? I don’t like brushing my teeth because I don’t like the minty taste. Sometimes it even seems to be spicy. One day I had to go to the Dentist, and I hate the Dentist! I had three cavities. I went back and was very scared. She asked me what flavor toothpaste I wanted. There was banana, strawberry, bubble gum, mint, and blueberry they were all gross especially blueberry. I chose bubble gum and it was so bad, but she had to clean my teeth and I couldn’t stop her. She got a needle and had to give me a shot in my mouth. I screamed really loud! I got scared. She got the cavities out, but had to put me to sleep because I was screaming. I woke up and saw some boxes. I asked the lady what the boxes were and she told me they were treasure boxes and I could get a treasure since I did so good. In the treasure box there was a fifty dollar bill and I realized if I took that I could use that to buy more candy! We left the dentist and went straight to the store.

I got a bunch of chocolate candy because it’s my favorite and realized if I’ll just brush my teeth after I eat the candy then I won’t get more cavities. That’s how my worst day became my best day and I didn’t have to fear the dentist anymore. The end.

Charleigh Kate Curtis

Silverdale Baptist Academy

3rd Grade, Angela Miller

The Snowmen

Did you know that when you build a snowman, they come alive at night time and get together? They’ll sled and slide. They’ll hop, skip and jump. They’ll tell stories and they will feast. But, when the first light of morning comes over the tops of the hills, they all glide back to their houses and watch for the children to come out and play.

In fact, let me tell you about one particular snowman. It was bedtime and my parents had gone out of the room. It was dark outside. I looked out my window and I couldn’t believe what I saw. My snowman was having a snowball fight with my neighbor's snowman. I blinked and suddenly they were still as statues. It made me wonder if I’d actually been dreaming.

I went to school the next morning with my friend Riley. We were talking and then I saw a snowman in somebody's front yard and I was sure that he was facing a different direction yesterday. All through class that day I was wondering about the snowmen. On my way home from school that day, I was walking alone. That same snowman that I saw that morning was now closer to the porch. I just knew that I was right.

When I got home that day, I tied a rope around my snowman so that he could not get away. In the morning I would be able to see if the snowman had actually moved. I woke up the next morning to find my snowman on the complete opposite side of the yard and the rope was broken. So now that I know the snowmen come alive at night time, maybe tomorrow night I’ll go out and join the snowman party. Would you like to join me?

Pearl Thompson

Silverdale Baptist Academy

3rd

Grade, Angela Miller

Why Squirrels Climb

One day long long ago there was a squirrel named Climber. He wasn’t a very good climber so I don’t know why he was named that. He lived in a beautiful forest called Rumkly forest. Climber had big black eyes, soft brown hair, big front teeth, and a big fluffy tail. He was always nice to everyone, even to the bully Duce who was always mean to everyone .Climber was sooooo exited because he was about to sign up for a climbing contest! Climber had never climbed before, but he wasn’t worried I mean it was in his name! But after he signed up, he went home to train and kept falling. Uh-oh, he thought I’m not a good climber at all. Duce saw this and walked over and started making fun of him! The next morning Climber kept training and getting better. One week later it was time for the contest. Climber was in the last round against Duce. They were about to go in. “3 2 1 Go!” shouted the announcer. They raced off to the starting line. Climber climbed and climbed. Climber was in the lead and he won! “Good job,” said Climber. Duce just looked at him rudely. Climber got a huge trophy. And that's why squirrels climb!

Ruthie Griswold

Nolan Elementary School 3rd Grade, Jessica Matukewicz

Why are Deer’s Legs are so Tall?

Once upon a time, a deer named Hanna lived in a warm cabin at the top of a mountain near a lake. Hanna is a wild type where her best friend Aly is a very calm type. Hanna is small for a deer and has dark brown fur with brown eyes and short hair. Aly is a little bigger than Hanna and has long hair and more white. In Hanna's cabin they were getting ready for the biggest Christmas party ever and Hanna and Aly were throwing the party. There was a lot to do so they better get ready!

Unfortunately Hanna and Aly went different ways to go get some more Christmas supplies. Sadly they lost each other. Hanna said,” Aly, where are you? I'm really scared!” While that was happening Aly said,”Hanna I lost you where are you,”? Hanna and Aly both felt very sad at first but then Hanna and Aly thought they could find each other. They both said ”even though I am scared I need to find her”.

They yelled and yelled for each other and got closer and closer then farther and farther and then a big break. Then yelled more. The next day they were looking around and Hanna and Aly both bumped into someone.Then they looked up and it was her! Hanna and Aly found each other and that's why deer’s legs are so tall!

Joey Cunningham Nolan Elementary School 3rd Grade, Jessica Matukewicz

Deeyana’s Trip to Canada

One time I went to Canada. We were in Toronto. We were looking around.

I told my dad, “Let’s go to the upside down house.”

“Ok,” my dad said, “It’s just over here. Come!” I showed it to my mom, brother, cousin, and my cousin’s brother.

We got there and all I could say was, “Dad, can we go inside?!”

He said yes. My cousin, my cousin’s brother, my brother, and I all got to go inside. It was so fun (besides when I got dizzy). We came out and I felt so excited for what we were going to do next.

Then I told my mom, “I’m hungry.”

“Ok, let’s go eat something,” Mom said. We walked to the place. We basically walked everywhere! We then got eight donuts! They were so good! I loved Canada.

When we got back to the hotel we went to the pool.

The next day, we went to Niagara Falls. We went on the Maid of the Mist. They gave us big ponchos. We went to the top of the boat. The water was so loud.

Shoo, shoo, swish, swish!

“Wow,” I said. “That was so cool!”

After that, we went to the gift shop. I didn’t know what to get so I didn’t get anything. There was a lot of cool stuff so I’m glad I looked.

The next day I went to the top of the river. I saw the whole Niagara. There were lights. It made the water colorful. It was so pretty.

“Cool,” my brother said uncaringly.

The next day, we went to a zipline. It went over Niagara! I was soooooo scared! It took me a while to get over it. But it was a good thing that we were last in line. As we got closer and closer I got even more and more nervous!

Then it was our turn. I was brave and I did it. They told me to spread out my legs and arms. It felt like sparkling water was blowing on my face. It was so crazy!

After, they took us with a golf cart to our moms. Before we went to our moms, they took us to an all white room and showed us our pictures. We laughed so hard. My brother’s face was crazy and mine was smiley. Hehe, haha, I thought!

After that we went to the hotel and went to sleep.

The next day there was a food festival going on. We went around and I spun a BIG wheel and won a prize.

The next day we went home. Now I can tell all of my friends all about my trip to Canada.

Deeyana Patel St. Nicholas School 3rd Grade, Madeleine Hitel

Raccoon Run

One weekend, my mom’s friend, Megan, came for a visit all the way from New York. So, they were chilllaxing to the maxing at the pool. I decided to come outside and see what was happening. They were just sitting around the pool talking.

I decided to explore under the pool deck. I was startled to see a raccoon gnawing on a snake. I knew what to do. I’d been to camp for many years.

I froze like a tree and I slowly scooted backwards in a moonwalking fashion. I had locked eyes with the raccoon. He must be thinking, Predator! I kept saying to myself, Don’t move, don’t move, don’t move. I backed away slowly enough that he continued eating the snake. I didn’t want to ruin my mom’s friendtime, plus, I didn’t want to get in trouble.

Still curious if he was still there, I almost walked over him. He had moved to the entrance. He saw me and shrieked, “Eehhh!”

There, I thought, I don’t want to cause a riot! I walked backwards fast. He was hidden by some elephant ears and zinnias. I tried not to scream. I was sprinting and I ran into the pool house. I closed the door. You can’t get me… Lol! I made a teasing face at him. It looked like he was getting madder at me.

So, I thought, This isn’t good because when I walk out, he is going to really let me have it! I spotted the leaf blower in the pool house. I unplugged it and I taped a cushion to me and I put socks from my feet onto my hands. Then, I put on some goggles, because I didn’t want him to scratch out my eyeballs. I put on my head this old pot and as soon as I did it, I regretted it because it smelled terrible! So then, I grabbed the broom in one hand and the leaf blower in the other hand because you never know when you might need another weapon.

At this point, I could barely fit through the door because I looked like an idiot. It felt like an hour and then I finally got the door open. I shimmied out the door and he was there.

I said, “Buddy Boy, you’re really gonna get it now! Take my wrath!” I shooed him toward my mom and Megan. I waddled toward the raccoon with the broom. I plopped the broom down over and over saying, “Come back here, Guinea Pig!”

My mom said, “What are you doing, Marion? What is going on?”

“Not now!”

“What’s happening?”

So, the raccoon went full wrath on me. I deflected him with the leaf blower. So then, he decided to give up.

Meanwhile, my dog is just watching me from the side of the pool. The pot had fallen off my head, the goggles were lopsided, my hair looked crazy , and there were dead plants on the ground everywhere. There were bees swarming realizing I was out of control. The raccoon also thought I was out of control. So, the raccoon, in defeat, walked away. I thought, Victory! I went inside the pool house and removed all armor and came out thinking, They will never know!

Marion Moore

The Bright School 3rd Grade, Cindy Womack

The Loopy Dream

One night I was as cold as a blizzard. My mind was racing in its dreams, but I was not really in my dreams. I could hear the mumbling of the TV and my mom and dad. I was closing my eyes. I see something. It is a little light shining as I walk into the light. I see a big park and I run.I see my friend Madolyn. I felt the wind. The ground began to shake. I felt a hand grab me! I saw the park collapse. I screamed, “NO!” I heard a familiar voice. I turned my head and a man was in a very hypnotizing outfit. He sang a song. It sounded like a friendly song from my old teacher Mr. Bill. The man walked me to a loopy place. He walked me in. I tried to push back, but I could not, so I walked with the man. I asked the man, “What is your name?” He did not answer, so I just walked with the man. But then I felt the ground bend to shake. Then I heard a bird calling. I open my eyes and I am awake.

Penelope Ross

The Bright School 3rd Grade, Lindsay Wyatt

The Adventures of Harriet and Jane

Harriet Williams opened the door to her mother’s candle shop and called out to her mother, “Mother, I have gotten the wax you asked for.”

“Oh Harriet, what would l do without you?” said her mother.

“Now, how can l help you, Mother?”

“Well, l have to give a few candles to the Hickman family. For l feel so bad, because l have just been so busy that l could not deliver them. They were expecting them an hour ago. Will you deliver them for me?”

“Yes, of course, mother; but l have something for you.”

“Really, Harriet?”

“Really. Here.” Harriet’s parents’ anniversary was today and the night before her and her father made an apron, but since Harriet’s father had work to do, she delivered it herself. “Happy anniversary! Me and Father made it last night.”

“You shouldn’t have!”

“Now l best get on to those candles now, shouldn’t l?”

“Yes,” said her mother.

“After l am done, father wants me to help him with a project,” said Harriet “Very well.”

“Goodbye, mother!”

“Goodbye, Harriet.”

Now when Harriet had delivered the candles she noticed right next to her house a new family had moved in. So Harriet decided to give a few candles to the new family, and she knocked their door.

“Hello,” said a girl who was about Harriet’s age.

“Hello, I’m Harriet, and l came to give you these candles . ”

“Thank you. I’m Jane.”

“Nice to meet you,” said Harriet. “Nice to meet you too.”

“Ruff!” said a puppy who had white fur, as white as a cloud and golden spots. “Oh, hi what’s your name,” said Harriet. “That’s Jip,” said Jane.

“l am so sorry but l have to go.”

“Where?” said Jane.

“To my father’s shop.”

“May Jip and l come?”

“I think you need to ask your parents,” said Harriet. “Wait one second,” said Jane. “Me and Jip can come!”

“Great, let’s go!”

Harriet’s father is a carpenter. “Father?”

“Yes.”

“I’m here, and l have someone for you to meet.”

“Hello Harry. Oh who is this beautiful young lady?” “l’m Jane, sir.”

“Well hello, Jane. l’m Harriet’s father.” “Ruff!” said Jip. “Oh hello little one.”

“That’s Jip,” said Jane. “Lovely,” said Harriet’s father. “Alright father, what is the project we are doing?”

“Well sense it is your mother and I’s anniversary, we are making a candle holder for her.” “Would you like to help us, Jane?” said Harriet.

“Yes, please!”

They all worked and worked until they agreed that it was perfect. “Alright girls go to the back of the shop and pick out wrappings.”

“Yes, father.”

“Alright Jane, what wrappings should we pick?”

“How about this blue one?” said Jane. “Perfect,” said Harriet. “Father, we got beautiful wrappings!”

“Perfect, now Jane, will you hand me the gold ribbon?”

“Yes, sir.”

“There,” said the girls. “Now let’s deliver it!” said Jane excitedly. “Yes, let’s do it!” said Harriet.

“Goodbye, father!”

“Goodbye, Harry!”

As Harriet and Jane walked to Harriet’s mother’s shop they decided to go out in the woods and pick flowers. “Mother, we have a surprise for you!”

“Another one?!”

“Yes, and l have someone for you to meet.”

“Very well, Harriet, I’m coming. Oh, hello, young lady. What’s your name?” “l’m Jane, ma’am.”

“Lovely! l’m Harriet's mother.”

“Alright, mother, here is your gift.”

“Oh my goodness! Thank you so, so much!”

“Do you come here often to the woods?” asked Jane.

“Yes it is like home away from home to me,” said Harriet. “So who are we getting these flowers for?” asked Jane. “l was thinking, your parents, because you just moved in.” “That is a great idea!” exclaimed Jane. “Do you know what flowers they like?”

“Daisies,” said Jane.

“I know the perfect spot.” They walked past a lot of flowers and Jane was very confused. “Where are these flowers? We have passed so many of them.”

“We will turn left and then look at what you will find.” When they had turned they saw an entire field of daisies.

“Oh my goodness, this is amazing!” When they had finished picking daisies they noticed something peculiar on the way back.

“Where did this wall come from?” asked Jane.

“Oh, no! I forgot today the men were blocking off the woods because it was dangerous for children and they put a code in that only the men know to get in and out!” “Oh, no! Whatever shall we do?”

“The only thing we can do is try to climb over it,” said Harriet. “Then let’s try that,” said Jane. The girls tried and tried but it was no use. They were stuck. “I guess we will have to camp out,” said Harriet. “What’s that?” asked Jane. “lt is a big cloth sheet,” said Harriet. “Maybe we could make a teepee!” said Jane.

“Yes, lets do it!”

The girls made the teepee up on a tree and used the extra parts as sleeping bags, and they dug out worms and put them on a stick and fished. When it had gone dark the girls said, “Goodnight,” and drifted off to sleep. The next morning the girls heard men calling their names and when they went out they saw their fathers! The girls had been saved!

“Father!”

“Harriet!”

“Papa!”

“Jane, my dear! How did you ever survive?”

“That is a story for home,” Harriet said.

They all giggled and walked home together. So Harriet, Jane, and Jip lived happily ever after.

The End.

Audrey Pierce

Silverdale Baptist Academy

3rd Grade, Lauren Kowal

The Pony Friends

Starlight and Ruby were best pony friends but one day that almost changed. Jack, who is the owner of the stables where the ponies lived, walked in with a girl named Peggy who wanted to buy a pony. She walks over to Starlight a beautiful black pony with a white line down her forehead that looks like a shooting star and said, “that’s her”. Ruby, a white and brown painted pony, started kicking in her stall. The two friends have been at the stables together since they were born. Ruby was scared that Starlight was going to be sold. She was right. As soon as Peggy saw her white line, she wanted to buy her. Peggy could tell by the look on Jack’s face that he wasn’t sure about selling her. He knew the two would be hard to separate but eventually agreed and he told Peggy to come back in the morning. The next morning Peggy showed up to take Starlight. She brought a rope, and a lead and loaded Starlight onto the trailer. Ruby was so sad she didn’t come out of her stall for weeks. She had lost her best friend. Then one day a new pony shows up. His name is Jet and he’s a dark brown boy pony. Jet tries talking to Ruby, but she isn’t interested. Jack comes in and takes Jet for a ride. He wasn’t broken in yet and still wild, so he didn’t stay out long.

That night there was a terrible storm. Jet wanted comfort in a friend, so he tried talking to Ruby again. Ruby decided to learn more about this new boy pony in her best friend’s stall. That’s when he told her that he knew Starlight and that Peggy was his old owner. He had lost his friends too. Jet knew where Starlight was and Ruby, through the scary thunderstorm, decided to go see her friend. The cold, wind and rain were not stopping her. She ran faster and faster. A tree, struck by lightning, fell blocking the gate leading to the field and stables where Starlight was. She was so frightened she turned and ran back home. Would she ever see her friend again? A couple days go by and she’s sad all over again. She wants to give up, but Jet won’t let her. He wants her to be happy. Ruby is ready to try to see her friend again. She knows the way and there’s no rain and thunder to stop her. Out to the woods, over the hill and down to the gate that is now clear. She can see Starlight in the distance grazing. Her heart is beating fast. She calls out a whinny to Starlight who sees her standing at the fence and looks just as excited. Here she comes running over to see her best friend. They had to get her out. Ruby kicks down the gate and they both take off back to the stables.

They sneak past Jack and get to hang out together all night. The next morning Peggy shows up saying Starlight went missing. He looks around and finds them all together in the stables. Right then and there Jack bought Starlight back. The two pony friends quickly became three pony friends and never separated again.

Charleigh Hickman Silverdale Baptist Academy

3rd

Grade, Lauren Kowal

Welcome to Wacky World

Welcome to Wacky World! We are Wacky World’s Wing and Lean Feather. I know what you’re thinking, no it is not King and Queen. Why do you ask? Because it is Wacky World. Everyone who drives by asks us “do you ever get tired of wacky?” We always say “No! We love Wacky World! Let us show you why.” One of the main attractions in Wacky World is the Wacky Wonder train and there are four train cars. The first one is the best one, the Wacky Weather Car. This is how it works: there are many buttons, each one creates different weather inside the train car. Wow is right! The second train car is named Wacky Tracky. This one works very differently, it has levers and triggers and each one changes the track in every direction. The third car is called Treat Your Treat. This one is extremely fun!

It has one big table with all kinds of desserts and one big machine that turns these delicious desserts into robot friends. Our favorite is the cream filled donut that turns into a robot that will play pickle ball with you (in Wacky World we play with a real pickle).

The last train car is called Sticky Sculpting. On this car everything is covered in peanut butter! You can grab a big glob of peanut butter and then sculpt whatever you can think of.

One of our favorite sculptures is of the Easter bunny playing pickle ball with Santa. The first stop on the Wacky Wonder train is the Wacky Palace. The palace is the perfect place to learn about Wacky World’s history. But if you really want a wacky time you should meet the triplets. The triplets are our daughters and son and their names are Herbert, Sherbert and Broccoli. They’re the masterminds behind the design of the Wacky Wonder train. The triplets also designed the Wacky Waterpark and the Wacky World Zoo. Sometimes the triplets are called the wondrous wacky workers. Broccoli loves singing. She usually writes her songs and that is what makes her music so great. Herbert, likes gardening. She grows all kinds of stuff including hobble wobbles, rutabaga and taro. Herbert even grows the less common vegetables such as bitter melon and ramps. Sherbert is a mathematician. Whenever something is built in Wacky World Sherbert is in charge. He also prints the blueprints himself. Now I’m sure you are hoping to hear about us! So, as we told you at the beginning we are Wing Couch Feather and Lean Potato Feather. Wing Couch likes riding llamas and Lean Potato loves art and painting when we are not busy taking care of Wacky World.

Say goodbye to the triplets and get back to your seat on the Wacky Wonder train, we are heading to our next stop, Mount Wackymore! Mount Wackymore is enormous! When you stand next to it, we look like microscopic ants. We have heard of Mount Rushmore in America and while there are some similarities Mount Rushmore is still tiny compared to Mount Wackymore and Mount Wackymore has five faces carved into it. The five faces are of the Feather family (Wing Couch, Lean Potato, Herbert, Sherbert and Broccoli) and it is made entirely of gold. Well, it looks like we are running out of time for your tour of Wacky World! Please come back soon and we would love to show you the rest!

Annaleigh Hurst Silverdale Baptist Academy 3rd Grade, Jennifer Young

Once upon a time there was a brave turkey, named Gobbles. Gobbles was tired of getting eaten on Thanksgiving. Then one day on Thanksgiving, Gobbles planned to break out! He told all of his friends to pack up. They broke the fence, and broke out into the wild! Then Gobbles and his friends found a forest full of free animals! They found cardboard, a stick, some glue, and made a sign that said “Eat More Pig!” Gobbles and his friends went deeper into the forest. They met some new animals. There was a fox, wolf, two bear cubs, and a fierce looking turkey, with a scar over the right eye.

Goggles asked “What happened?” The turkey said he escaped, but Farmer Joe used the rake to try and catch him. In the process the rake cut him. The two bear cubs were lost and they had almost got run over by an angry moose. The fox was looking for food. The wolf was chasing a rabbit. They heard a noise, then the old cow came out, and all were surprised. It was a very old cow that disappeared a couple of years ago. The old cow said “Hi my name is Barry. I used to live in Florida, with Farmer Joe, but when we moved he built a farm, grew more crops and bought more animals.

He loved me more than anything else, but one day I disappeared and never came back. I sensed evil in his heart so I ran away.”

Gobble said “You really went through all of that, and just to get out?”

Barry said “Yes.”

Gobble said “Well let's get a move on.”. They all walk side by side ready for danger to strike. Then they all walked happily and lived happily ever after.

The end.

Isabella Braunstein

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic School

3rd Grade, Aimee Passavant

Once upon a time there was an angry turkey named Gobbler. It was close to Thanksgiving and he was scared. He wobbled down the sidewalk and made a sign that said, “Don't Eat Turkey! Eat More Beans!”

Many people saw it, and the sign worked. A lot of people said, “We will eat more beans.”

The end.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic School

3rd Grade, Aimee Passavant

Jayson Espinoza

Goodnight, Huck!

“Go to bed Margaret and Parker,” Mom said. We were at the house. We got into bed. We decided to sleep together. So, we slept in my bed after putting pjs on and brushing our teeth.

We finally got into bed. All of the sudden we heard footsteps crawling up the stairs. For a second or two I wondered what it was. Then it was clear. It was Huck! He’s our dog. He ran up between us and laid down. I scratched his ear and he started licking our faces.

I told Parker to hide under the covers. He said, “Okay.”

But Huck dug his nose under the covers and found us. We laughed so hard until Huck ran down the stairs and Parker drifted off to sleep.

Margaret Stanley

The Bright School 3rd Grade, Allison Sakich

Third Grade Poetry Winners

My Dog

My dog, My dog is the best. He always, always rests.

My dog, my dog makes me complete. That is why he gets lots of treats!

He jumps and plays though the days and checks on me so I’m okay.

He paws me and paws me till I give him food, He is quite the dude but he is never rude.

My dog loves the snow but then he barks “It is time to go!”

I love him, love him to the moon Hopefully I’ll see him soon!

Jamison Deering

Nolan Elementary School

Grade 3, Jessica Matukewicz

My Dog

Loud, cuddly

Barking, running, sleeping,

Really chubby

Rocky

Olson

Nolan Elementary School

Grade 3, Jessica Matukewicz

Maddox

Fat, mischievous

My Cat

Hunting, playing, begging

Striped like a tiger

Sushi my cat

Emmy Holcomb

Nolan Elementary School

Grade 3, Jessica Matukewicz

Dragons

Elemental, Beautiful

Soaring, Enchanting, Saving Heroes of the Century, Hydra

Miles Landis

Nolan Elementary School

3rd Grade, Ashley Narramore

Turtle Cute, Slow Walking, Talking, Chomping I love turtles!

Turtles are the best Reptile!

Claire Foster

Nolan Elementary School

3rd Grade, Ashley

Narramore

I Am Poem

I am as Quick as a Speedy Cheetah, Slow as a Slow Giant Tortoise, silly as a Silly Kitten, Small as Small Ant, Large as Monstrous Blue Whale, Sad as Forlorn Kitten, Happy as my Happy, Nice as my Nice Mom, Mean as a Mean Crow, Cold as a Cold Polar Bear, Hot as a Warm Horned lizard, Weak as a Frail Dog, Strong as a Strong Leafcutter Ant, Loud as Hollering Howler Monkey, Quiet as Quiet Snail, Tough as Tough Tardigrade, Gentle as a Gentle Capybara, Brave as a Courageful Honey Badger, Shy as a Shy Bat-Eared Fox, Wild as a Wild Fox, Lazy as a Lazy Three-Toed Sloth, I Am Fox Fine.

Emerson James Fox Fine

Nolan Elementary School 3rd Grade, Ashley Narramore

Outside

I see a brown building that looks old.

I smell my own perfume in my sweater, and it is flowers.

I tasted grass, and it looks green, it's bad like a medicine.

I heard a bird squeaking, it looked kind of gray.

I can touch a blanket, it looks like dark blue and it's soft.

Alan Jesus

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic School

3rd Grade, Aimee Passavant

Ms. Passavant's Class

I can feel the nice, smooth pencil in my hand.

I see the board's screen with a video playing on it.

I taste the delicious, sweet protein bar stuck to my teeth like glue.

I hear annoying, loud, talking from classmates.

I smell Ms. Passavant's fresh, warm coffee which is perfume.

Gordy Johnson

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic School

3rd Grade, Aimee Passavant

What Comes From the Trees

I smell the strong, lovely fragrance of pine trees.

I touch a wet, soft leaf of a birch tree.

I taste dry, cold air coming from the trees.

Isee a bumpy, spiky pine tree that resembles the pins of a porcupine.

I hear a singing, feathery bird in the distance.

Elaina Woodall

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic School

3rd Grade, Aimee Passavant

Joy is like the feeling

Of a rainbow

In the morning

After a cold

Rainy night

You feel

Nice and happy

You start fresh

Joy is a

Exciting feeling

Or peace

Just think of Something You love

And you’ll be

As happy as a dove

Joy

Elliot Guild

The Bright School

3rd Grade, Allison Sakich

Sad

Having a cat that runs away and never returns

Having a grandfather die

Moving away from good friends

Having no home, living on the streets

Having no money to buy food

Having no toys

No birthday party

No Christmas presents

No family

No friends

Sad

Alex Osl

The Bright School 3rd Grade, Cindy Womack

Birds

Loud, cute

Laying, chirping, pecking

Flying through the air

Animals of the sky

Juniper Harris

Nolan Elementary School

3rd Grade, Emily Russell

Books

Old, classic Inspiring, flipping, creating How wonderful! Novels

Margot Smith

Nolan Elementary School

3rd Grade,

Emily Russell

Penny

Big, playful

Sleeping, fetching, hugging

Sweetest friend

My Dog

Melody Stroud

Nolan Elementary School

3rd Grade, Emily Russell

Once upon a time the owls disappeared into the woods. It took them five years to come back.

The sun sang a chorus with the moon and the stars.

The owls hooted to the chorus.

The people were happy.

The people sang too.

Austen Goggans

Homeschool

3rd Grade, Laura Goggans

Good Grief

At the end of that long line of grief, Light is searching for a purpose.

At the end of that long line of grief, Faith is growing like a flower.

At the end of that long line of grief, Smiles are beginning to show.

At the end of that long line of grief, Someone is doing the right thing.

Mirabelle Soufer

The Bright School 3rd Grade, Lindsay Wyatt

The Bad Kid

One day I was so mad, So I tried to hurt myself. I hit the pole.

My mom said stop falling so I said shut up. She said stop talking back. We argued in the store I was so frustrated.

So I cried and felt alone. I wanted to explode like a bomb! I want to lose my mom so bad!

My mom said I am bad, But I’m just so sad. She called my dad and he said I had one more chance.

Robert Todd

The Bright School 3rd Grade, Lindsay Wyatt

My name is Fox

I have lots of socks

I like French toast

My last name is Yost.

Fox Yost

Thrasher Elementary School

3rd Grade, Matt Sentef

Colin is nice

He likes to eat rice.

He eats it for brunch

But saves some for lunch

Fletcher Pedeux

Thrasher Elementary School

3rd Grade, Matt Sentef

Peter Pan

I’m a fan. He can fly, Fought a pirate guy.

William Fortuno

Thrasher Elementary School

3rd Grade, Teri Hustedde

I am Squirm

I am a worm.

I cannot see. I squirm with glee.

Squirm the Worm

Jack Waldorf

Trasher Elementary School

3rd Grade, Teri Hustedde

Jessica is my mom’s name We are not the same. But she is really nice And warm like fuzzy mice.

Jane McCarthy

Thrasher Elementary School

3rd Grade, Susannah Jacobs

Joey Drew betrayed you because he believes you stung him with bees.

Bruce Tryjack

Thrasher Elementary School

3rd

Grade, Susannah Jacobs

My dog is Lady Mae

She really likes to play

She likes chasing a ball

Whoops! And then she falls.

Eleanor Carpenter

Thrasher Elementary School

3rd Grade, Susannah Jacobs

A rabbit Has a habit

Of thumping his tail

When he sees a quail.

Ellie Wilson

Thrasher Elementary School

3rd Grade, Alison Cauthen

My cat’s name is Moon

She wakes up at noon.

She has fur

All of us love her.

Lola Akridge

Thrasher Elementary School

3rd Grade, Alison Cauthen

My mom is so sweet

Like a tasty treat

She is kind of tall

While I am very small.

Virginia Wells

Thrasher Elementary School

3rd Grade, Brandi McAlpin

Dr. Greene

Is nice and lean. Sometimes he drives me nuts

But he helps me with I get cuts.

Kaylee Greene

Thrasher Elementary School

3rd Grade, Brandi McAlpin

Fourth Grade Prose Winners

Feathers & swords

Prolog:

Midnight. The stars were shining brightly over Featherwind Forest but as peaceful as It Seemed within the heart of the forest a Battle was raging. Blood and feathers everywhere The sound of metal against armor as arrows whistled through the air. Bodies of owls littered the ground with arrows or spears through their necks and chests and then everything seemed to stop as a shriek so piercing shattered the night air. Then an owl shreaked Redwood is dead! Redwood is dead! As the words echoed around the forest and the owls parted there was the lifeless body of a Great Horned owl with red and gray feathers and a golden armor lay motionless on the forest floor with an arrow through his neck. As whales of grief and agony rose into the night from those who called themselves the Horned regiment waited through the Sea of blood and feathers toward their fallen leader to mourn and grieve. As a small owlet with obern feathers called Browntail waddled through the crowd toward Redwood's body piped a small sentence “Reedwood will not be forgotten” and as these wise little words of wisdom died away murmurs of agreement swept through the crowd. But little did they know this owl could change everything and not yet aware that Redwood's death was not the worst thing that had happened to them but the worst was yet to come.

Chapter 1 - 2 years later

“Again!” shouted Horntail (Browntail's fighting instructor) as an arrow whizzed past him and struck the target made of twigs and leaves in a clearing surrounded by forest Which the Horned regiment called home. Redwood's death had affected them all but Browntail had learned to live with it. Now a fully grown owl he was an accomplished hunter and fighter. While being skilled with a bow and spear, he sometimes could not shake the image of Redwood's body out of his mind, and when that happened, he would sometimes miss a shot or throw a spear some yards short. Horntail would always notice for he knew as a young owl he had had a deep affection for Redwood. He would say (as the sun was setting and training ended) “Love anything in your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. but if you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one”. The hours of Featherwind did not respect Redwood for his courage in battle or strength as their leader Redwood had been known as one of the last the ancient ones a group of owls known to teach others mysterious powers and if you were skilled enough to teach you would have the power to shift reality itself. But this power came at a terrible price you would have to leave your home and family. Learning this power can be dangerous it can come at a Great cost and risk to your own life and those who chose but were not worthy never returned… To Be Continued

Luxana Heidt

Normal Park Museum Magnet School 4th Grade, Lauren McDuffie

The Chronicles of Pixie hollow haven

Chapter 1

Once upon a time… there was a poor woman named Sylvia and she had a hunger for money. She always tried to take up an opportunity that would give her money. Then one day some guy she had never seen in her life showed up at her house. The man had a message. He said his name was Atlas. When Atlas told sylvia that she had a message her instant thought was “ MONEY”.

After that thought she said” Tell me more”.

Atlas explainedthat it was a job andshe started to get excited. Then she asked “Would I make money”?

Then Atlas said “Oh yeah, you will make a fortune!”

After Sylvia heard that news she said “I’m in” But then she asked “what's the job”After that Atlas said “the job is an explorer”.After that she seemed concerned because she wants the money but not really the explorer but is still in.

Chapter 2

A few days later…

After Sylvia took the job she asked “What will I be Exploring”

Atlas said “you’ll be exploring the place where nobody’s gone and trying to see if the legend of pixie hollow haven is true”.

“So you're saying that i’m going to be the first one to discover pixie hollow haven?” said Sylvia.

“You’ll leave tomorrow,” said Atlas.

The next day Sylvia started to pack for the expedition but when she was about to walk out the door Atlas appeared. “Take this ,it’ll help,” said Atlas as he handed her a small box. Then she was off on her journey.

As she was exiting the town, she saw a metal block in the ground. She felt like it was saying “lift me, lift me" So she did what it said and lifted it.Underneath was a ladder so she climbed down.

At the bottom of the ladder there was a hallway. “I wonder if this is the way to Pixie Hollow Haven,” she thought. She started to walk down the hallway with a hunger for money. Then she thought “I've seen Indiana Jones so I should look out for traps.” After she had that thought she started to watch where she was stepping.

Chapter 3

At the end of the hallway she saw a light. She started to walk towards the light. But then she stopped because there was a pit in the ground. She looked to the bottom of the pit. At the bottom of the pit she saw spikes and SKELETONS! So all she had to do was jump over it and that was exactly what she did. Then she was on her way to the end of the cave. At the end of the cave there was some sort of CANDYLAND!

“Is this a candyland?” Said Sylvia to herself. “I wonder if I can eat the trees?” Said Sylvia. So she picked up a small tree and ate it up. That filled Sylvia up. After that she starts along the trail through candyland. She felt pride that she had gotten this far. Then Sylvia heard muffled voices so she went to investigate. When she found the voices she was surprised that she saw GUMMY BEAR PEOPLE! Then they spotted her and started to chase after her! While running, she ran into some twin snakes! One orange,One purple but they were both connected. But then, Sylvia jumped over the twin snakes. But then she ran into a wall then she saw that they were the walls of a kingdom.

Chapter 4

She went into the kingdom but she wasn’t surprised by what she saw because she saw gummy bears. Somehow she made it through the crowd with nobody spotting her. She had to makeit to the palace. The palace had a path made out of Oreos and a fountain of chocolate. It also had wafer cookies for the structure. She felt like she was walking in dreamland. Then she walked into the palace. soon after that the king greeted her with a happy smile. Then the king said “How can I help you” then sylvia said I need a safe passage to Pixie Hollow Haven.” “I know the exact way and I wasn’t the very 1st person to realize and a girl named Ariana told me and here's a map to help you find your way.”

You're about to say thanks until King candy Stops you “Here, you can borrow my servant, Holden and he is a magic user.” Then you leave the palace wishing there was some way to repay him. Holden shows you the way to pixie hollow haven. After 3 days going through the sugar sand dessert and the the Lollipop Lagoon she had finally made it to pixie hollow have. But the gates were closed. So holden cast a spell on the gates so they would open. So that's exactly what happened. So they made there way to the palace. When they made it to the palace they talked to the king. “Since you are the first person to come here I will grant you one wish.” Said the king “My wish is to go home” said Sylvia. So that's exactly what happened. When she got back atlas gave her the money and said “Congratulations!”

THE END

Oliver Gentry

Normal Park Museum Magnet School

4th Grade, Ali Redfoot

The House On Maple Street

There it was, the house on Maple Street we lived right across from it, and The people that live there are the Shimtz, and I’m pretty sure it’s haunted. I think it’s haunted because they invited the Dupes over for dinner and they were never seen again, but my mom thinks they're fine, but my mom is always nice to everybody but me. I have some bad news because the Schmitz's invited us over for dinner, but I have a plan I’m going to fake being sick. Last night, I saw some gurneys and some human test chambers.

Alright, today is the day, now how I'm going to fake being sick, how I'm going to get out of this?

“Time to go," said my mom.

“I feel sick," I said

“Ok I’ll test your temperature," she came into my room and stuck a thermometer in my throat. “Be back in two minutes," said my mom. I sneakily went to the kitchen sink. When I ran the hot water my mom walked into the room and said “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!

You are grounded when we get home.”

“Yes mam,” I said,”

“Now let's go,” said Mom.

We walked across the street and it was raining and we didn’t have rain jackets, so when we got under the porch we were sopping wet. We knocked on the door and heard a loud “HELLO! Come in come come.” I dried my shoes on the mat and walked in.

The floor creaked and cracked with every step I took while I was walking to the women. A man burst into the room and I got shaky, but my mom had a straight face like always.

Then the man said, “Oolala more guests.”

“This is my husband, he can get a little crazy,” said Mrs. Schimtz.

I thought to myself you're sure right? Then we all heard aloud BONK. We all looked toward the stairway and saw a small child in a cardboard box that looked like a rocket ship.

“Sorry, that's our son Mike, he loves space. Mike, you know you're not supposed to do that. Ok now that you’ve met everybody we can have dinner, we are having pasta” said Mrs. Schmitz

We all walked to the dining table. Mrs. Schmitz put some pasta on our plates. It made a sloppy sound then she put red sauce on our plates. It made a sloppy sound too. We all sat down, at first I only ate one bite but it was really good so it persuaded me to eat more.

Something happened and it felt like I passed out. Soon I woke up in a human test chamber. It was very cold. I banged my fists and screamed as hard as I could.

Suddenly, Mrs. Schmitz walked up and said, “I’m an alien, we are all aliens. We came to earth because we wanted humans to be our slaves and you're a chosen one.” I thought to myself I knew he looked like an alien when I walked in.

“This is going to be a perfect take-off,” her husband mumbled. He pointed upwards. I felt a rumble in my knees then I went very hard to the ground. I got a small glimpse of the window. I saw black with white dots. We were in space.

Eliot Senter

The Bright School 4th Grade, Amanda Dickson

Afternoon on Apollo

They both had a feeling something great was going to happen that day.

One day Howard and Joe were playing on their Grandfather’s farm. They both loved space, for instance Howard has space magnets in his locker, and Joe has lots of space suits. On the farm the boys were playing tag until Joe noticed a brick structure. Then Joe said, ‘’Come on Howard let’s go check it out!’’ Joe raced to the structure and Howard sprinted after him.

There was a half rotted oak door, and Joe started to turn the handle but Howard grabbed his hand and said, “STOP! We don’t know what’s in there.’’ But Joe turned the handle anyway, and there was a time machine in there. Joe loved Apollo 11 so Joe said to the time machine, “Take us to Apollo 11!’’ but before Howard could say anything they were in 1969.

The big launch control building stood proudly before them. It was two days prior to launch and they needed to find Niel Armstrong. Then Howard said, “ Look! It is the Saturn v rocket and walking next to it was Niel. They ran over to him.

And Joe said, “Hey Neil!’’ “Keep it down Joe!’’ Howard said. Neil turned and looked at them. “Neil, can we come to the moon with you?’’ Said Joe. “I would like to have two boys walk on the moon with me, but NASA would probably not want two boys into space, but I will see what I can do.’’

Two days later the crew suited up for the mission Niel, Buzz, Michael, Joe, and Howard. They all climbed into the space craft, and the door slammed closed then in Houston they said, “Retro go, booster go, flight go, capcom go launch control this is Houston we are go for launch T minus 15,14,13,12,11,10,9,8,7,6, ‘’ignition sequence start’’5,4,3,2,1 ignition as we got higher and higher even more, then the first stage separated then the second stage separated. They docked with the lunar module four days later the eagle had landed on the moon.

Neil and Buzz got off the ladder but when Joe got off he said, “One small step for kid one giant leap for kid kind.’’ Then Joe and Howard gasped at what was before them, “it’s amazing!’’ said Howard, ‘’sure is’’ said Joe Neil then said, “Hey guys, how does it look?’’ “Great! The boys said together Neil laughed and said, “ It is time to head home.’’

They all climbed back into the lunar module and blasted off the moon they docked with the command module they jettisoned the lunar module and burned the boosters back to earth and by then the only thing left was the capsule there was a heat shield on the bottom of the capsule to keep the capsule from burning in the atmosphere. Then they started to shake and rumble they bumped and bounced around as they emerged from blackout they stopped shaking and the parachutes slowed them down They

Splashed Down in the South Pacific. The rescue team opened the hatch and they all happily climbed out. But they were right something amazing happened that day, they walked on the moon.

The End

Will McCall

The Bright School 4th Grade, Amanda Dickson

Feeling Catty?

It was exactly 11:37 Friday night when they found the bloody body. Sadly, the rabbit had been decapitated.

*** One month earlier***

Charlotte woke to her sister's booming voice, “No! What happened?!”

Charlotte went downstairs and saw Abby on the old, rickety landline. “Who are you talking to?” asked Charlotte.

“Shh!”

Charlotte sat down on the couch; she felt alone and sad. Her parents had gone on a trip to England, but were coming home tomorrow. Abby walked into the living room crying.

“What happened?” asked Charlotte.

Abby sobbed, “Everyone on the luxury cruise ship fell into the ocean!”

Charlotte pictured her parents falling and getting crushed by waves. There’ll have to be a funeral, she thought, petting Coco, their cat.

Last time there’d been a funeral, she hosted it. Her fish died. She made the invitations, sang the songs, and cried the most. Nobody came.

Abby called Miss. Linda, their neighbor she’d been there for them all their life. Now that Miss. Linda moved to the other side of town, they only called her in emergencies, like today.

Charlotte laid down, closed her eyes, and tried to make it a bad dream.

Miss. Linda came to Flenzo's house that evening– her bulky, black bag sank into the couch as she placed it.

"How's Coco?" Ms. Linda asked, hugging Abby.

“In here," said Abby as she led Ms. Linda and Charlotte to her room, but there was not a single cat. They searched the house and she was nowhere to be found. Charlotte said, "Maybe she snuck out. "

“Maybe she ran out when I came in, " said Ms. Linda.

“Yes,” said Abby, trembling, Ms. Linda reassured them and they went on with their day.

The next morning, they woke to a terrible noise. Abby thought she heard her Coco, so she ran into the kitchen and saw the cat in the cupboard.

"Have you been there all night? " asked Abby in a tone of voice that she would never use with Charlotte, it was sweet and comforting. Charlotte came downstairs and saw her sister on the floor with their cat.

"What are you doing? That floor’s disgusting and you know that! " Abby jumped up immediately, took her cat to her room, and slammed the door behind her. Miss. Linda came down the steps with her hair in rollers.

"Where's your sister and what was that racket?" asked Miss. Linda.

Charlotte didn’t respond, but rolled her eyes.

“Why don't you and Abby go on a walk." Miss Linda suggested.

"But it's 11:37 at night! " argued Charlotte. "Go," said Ms Linda.

The girls walked for less than 30 seconds when they found their cat’s tail poking out from underneath a bush. Charlotte crawled into the bush finding her cat with a body and multiple heads.

Sadly, the rabbit had been decapitated. Abby almost fainted, but Charlotte reached out to touch the rabbit. Suddenly, the head grew back! Petrified, Charlotte jumped back. Then a mysterious voice said, "What? It's not THAT scary. "

Charlotte asked, "Who's there?"

The voice responded, "Me”

"Who's me?" Charlotte squinted in the dark and saw Coco looking at her. Then, Coco whispered, "Get your sister and run home! "

Charlotte grabbed Abby's hand and they ran home as fast as they could.

"Go to bed!" Abby demanded. Charlotte marched to her bedroom.

Once she knew that Abby was asleep, Charlotte opened her window and jumped.

"What are you doing?" she heard.

"Hey Coco," said Charlotte in a sassy voice.

"You've known all along haven't you? " asked Coco.

"Pretty much, since you were in the cabinet. You weren't stuck and I knew it. I saw the tunnel, you were outside, then made that noise so Abby would find you. Where are my parents?" demanded Charlotte.

"Gone. Dead. But they didn't die how you think. The cruise ship never left and they never fell in. The Society of the Bronze Knife took them."

"What's with the bunny?" Charlotte asked.

"The Bronze Knife controls them. I've been trying to kill it, but it's indestructible. Every time the head grows back. They're watching through it. They're watching you, Charlotte."

Charlotte asked, "So it was you that killed the bunny?

" By the time Charlotte finished that question, Coco was gone. Charlotte ran home scared and confused.

Abby went out on their balcony to see a rabbit's head and eyeballs. She shrieked and ran to get her sister "Oh my, Charlotte look! "

"Thanks for waking me up at 7:00 a.m. just to see… AH! Rabbit head! " Charlotte said "What is tha-, oh my!!" said Ms Linda

“I need to go... somewhere," said Charlotte suspiciously. She ran with all of her might trying to find Coco. She came across a cat, "Coco you're covered in blood. Why did you bring us the head?"

"Think of it as a gift," said Coco giggling

"Look, I have to tell Abby," explained Charlotte "No, she can't know," said Coco.

Charlotte turned and ran home to tell her sister. Coco pounded in front of her hissing and growling, but Charlotte jumped right over Coco. When she got home, Miss Linda and Abby were just arriving, too. They told her that they’d been looking for her.

“Hey did you know Coco could talk?" Abby blurted Charlotte whipped around and said, "What"

"And, she was the one behind the death of the rabbit?”

"What else do you know? "

"There's more to know?"

"That's… none of your concern," said Charlotte.

"Glad you knew too. I thought I was the only one. What's nothing of my concern? " asked Abby curiously.

"I'm not supposed to tell you, but…”

***one long explanation later***

"Wow," said Abby

"Yes, take it in," added Charlotte. They were tired and ready to relax when the phone rang.

Abby picked it up and heard her mother's faint voice, “Help me I'm..." her voice trailed off. Abby heard a faint scream come over the phone then she heard nothing but silence.

Eliza Osborne

The Bright School 4th Grade, Amanda Dickson

It was a normal Saturday when things got out of hand. As John walked around his mom's garden and the town pond, he noticed strange things happening around him. The plants in his mom ´ s garden all died at once, the fish in the town pond tripled in size when he walked by, and all the acorns on the trees dropped when he passed… John was puzzled, so he went home to ask his mom. She was the smartest person he knew, so his mom was not surprised at his question.

¨Mom, why are these strange things happening around me?¨

¨Maybe you just had a bad dream. Go outside and play with your friends. That will clear your mind.¨

¨Ok,¨ mumbled John.

When John made sure he was far enough away, he switched directions and went to the library instead. Usually, John didn’t care for the library, but now he had a reason to go. He needed to find out about the weird things happening. If his mom didn't know why, there was only one more place to look…

At the library, John searched but could not find anything about the things happening around him.

¨Dangit!¨ yelled John. He stamped his foot down in frustration. BOOM. Weird,that sounded like a drum. He stomped his foot again. BOOM. John got down on his hands and knees and got his fingernails under the wooden board. Slowly, he lifted the board, placed it beside him, and reached his hand down into the pit.

The stone walls were cold from being boarded up. John felt around for a ladder, but didn’t feel one. He knew that once he jumped down, there was no coming back up. But that was a risk that he was willing to take. He jumped. It was not as deep as John expected, but the sound of him hitting the ground echoed through the tunnel. Then, John heard a loud clunk from above him. He turned around fast enough to see the librarian standing at the foot of the pit.

¨Oh, those raccoons again! It's so rude how they sneak into buildings, eat trash, and make a mess of the place! They should clean up after themselves!¨ the librarian said.

John tried to not go off howling with laughter. Then everything went black, except for the flickering torches along the walls. He realized the librarian had put the board back in place. He was trapped. He realized the only way out was through. As John walked through the tunnel, he saw strange pictures on the walls. John reached his hand out to touch the painting but when he did, he was shocked by what John thought was electricity. The painful jolt weaved and waved its way through John’s body. It was like a thousand needles poking at his insides all at once. Then, John’s body got heavy and he hit the floor… When he woke up, there was no tunnel anymore. There were little flying figures around him.

¨What are you?¨ asked John

¨We are fairies…and so are you. Call me Emet.¨

¨I´m what?!¨

Sure enough, when John looked down at his body, he had bright pink hair, and a pair of wings, and he was the same size as everybody else.

¨What did you do to me?!¨ yelled John.

¨We did nothing. When anybody touches those paintings in the tunnel, they transform into what is painted in it. You just happened to touch the picture with fairies on it and got teleported into this world.¨

¨What are you doing here then?¨

¨We live here…and so does your father.¨

¨I don't have a father. You must have me and someone else confused.¨

¨We’ll take you to him and show you he’s real.¨

As John walked, he saw strange things like colorful animals and lakes. ¨What is this place?¨ asked John.

¨This is the city of Niagara. And this is your father’s castle.¨

When John looked up, he saw the most beautiful castle. It was a vibrant aqua and had diamond encrusted dornobs.

¨Your father will be in there, John.¨

¨Thank you!¨ yelled John as he ran into the castle. The inside looked even nicer than the outside.

¨Hello,¨ said a booming voice.

John flinched. Slowly, a fairy floated down.

¨Dad, is that you?” exclaimed John.

¨Yes, John, it is me. ¨

At that moment, John went running towards his father and gave him the biggest hug he’d ever given.

¨Dad it is so good to see you!!! How did you get here? Why are you here? How are you… ¨

¨Slow down, John, we will catch up later. Come, take a walk with me. ¨

John and his father walked and talked for quite a long time. It was only until John's father offered him dinner that John stopped talking.

¨Wait, what time is it? asked John.

¨Five thirty…?¨

¨ If I don't get home by six thirty, mom will be worried sick¨

¨That's ok. Just go back the way you came. ¨

¨I can´t. The librarian shut the door behind me and there’s no ladder.”

¨That means there’s only one way to get you home. Magic. I can teleport you, but you can't tell anybody, even your mother about this world, or that I’m your dad.¨

John nodded.

At that moment, John saw a flash of light, and then he was not in the fairy world. He was in his hometown playing four square with his friends. He heard his mother call, ¨Dinner time!¨

John sprinted home.

As he was eating dinner, his mother asked, ¨ how was your day?¨

¨It was great, I had a good time playing foursquare with my friends all day long…¨

Later that day, John heard a loud knock on the door. It was Emet, the fairy.

¨ Your father is gone. We need your help!¨

To Be Continued…

Jasper Stone

The Bright School

4th Grade, Amanda Dickson

I wake up and get in nice clothes. Today is a very important day. Today can change our lives forever. Today is the day of determination. The event is very scary, anyone could be taken away. Nobody knows where they are taken. Nobody knows except for the people in the capital of the world, which is Carna City. Only rich people live there. The richest person of them all is Dictator John James. He controls everything in the world. The day of determination is when he changes stuff. When we leave everyone is dressed in nice clothes. When we reach the square brick buldings that are about three to five stories tall, the ground is muddy and it is very crowded. Everyone in the Area is here. The Area has a large population. We make bricks in this Area. Every Area has something they make, mine, fish, or grow. A state is a place full of Area’s. Every Area has a number, our’s is 102. We just call it the Area because we're not allowed to move to another Area.

There are stands everywhere, on top of buildings, and in the block. We’re sitting in the front row. When everyone is seated, Governor John Cane starts speaking. He says “Good morning. Today is the day of determination. We will start judging which people will be sent to the coal mines. This decade 50 people are being sent away.”

What are the coal mines? You have to be very, very bad to get sent away to the coal mines. Only two people got sent to the mines last decade.

Governor John Cane started naming every one who was getting sent away. At the end he said “Mary Green and Jimmy Hardstone”. My best friend and mom are being sent away to the mines.

I wish they would leave us alone. In anger I grab a brick and throw it at one of the soldiers. He drops his gun in shock and about half of the citizens run to their homes. But some of them start throwing bricks at the soldiers and attack the stage. The Governor gets escorted away by four soldiers.

I keep throwing bricks at the soldier until I see a gun lying on the stage and grab it and try to fire at the soldiers. Five of them fall to the ground, likely dead. The others run away. When I meet up with the other rebels, one of them says “we have to do something quick, before more soldiers come, we need weapons”. “Where would we get that?” I ask. “In the soldiers’ armory” another one of them says.

Jimmy, my friend says “before we do anything we have to knock out the cameras because they can hear everything we say”. We knock out the cameras then someone says “we have to take the armory by surprise”. “Good idea” someone else says. We make a plan to take out the armory and it is this: walk slowly to the armory, then once we get close we run inside as fast as we can.

Then we go inside the armory and get the weapons. After we make the plan we start walking to the armory. We reach the entrance to the fort and run in. The unprepared soldiers' guns aren’t even loaded. While we run in we throw bricks and take the soldiers' guns. We rush in the armory and grab weapons and defend the fort. There we vote on the leader of the uprising. The winner is Ray James. He made a plan to go out of the fort and put bombs in the fort so that when the enemy comes in it will blow up.

In the fort we find a communications computer and we use it to send a message to the citizens in other Areas that there is an uprising here and that they can start an uprising too.

We did our plan and it worked out well, the enemy soldiers fell for our trick. After that there was five weeks of brutal street fighting, until one day, an airplane came. It didn’t bomb us, it bombed the enemy soldiers. It landed near us and someone came out of it and said “Hello, I come from Area 108 and we got the message of the uprising and we rebelled and now the whole world is rebelling….

Charlie Hetrick Silverdale Baptist Academy 4th Grade, Courtney Capehart

The Six

Alex, Sawyer, Liam, Alison, Cyrus and Laura were best friends, but orphans.They were siblings, Laura then Cyrus, Alisson, Liam, Sawyer and finally Alex. They were all smart, but Alex was the smartest. They were all good with people, but Sawyer was the best with people. They were all strong ,but Liam was the strongest. They were all good fighters, but Allison was the best fighter. They were all good organizers, but Cyrus was the best organizer. They could all be a substitute for each other, but Laura was the best substitute.

Now England is a very busy place, especially in 2024-2025! They lived in an orphanage with very mean poeple. They went to a private school because the orphanage paid for it. Because it was a terrible orphanage, Alex and Cyrus were planning an escape plan. So one day Alex asked Sawyer, “Hey, Sawyer because you are so good with people can you convince Mrs. Demerit to give us a break so we can escape?” “Okay but it will be hard though” said Sawyer. Two hours later, Sawyer said, “Okay Alex, I convinced her so can we escape now?” Hey Liam can you help me?” “Sure Alex” , said Liam. Then they escaped.

Then they saw a sign that told them that a bank robber was on the loose!!!

So right then and there they decided to catch the bank robber immediately the next morning! The next morning,”Whoo that was a long night”. said Alex. “Okay said Liam let's get started to look guys a clue! Let's follow it.”said Liam. but they had to go through a crowd of people, which they did not like. Then the clue led them to the bank. “We should go in” said everyone. “Wait! That is a trick. It leads into an alleyway.” In the alleyway was a hut with the man that had stolen the money from the bank.

“Girls, get the police” said Liam. Alex, Sawyer, and Liam kept him in the alleyway. Allison, Cyrus, and Laura came with the police. The police said, “Put your hands up!” The robber put his hands up. He was arrested and put in the police car. “We did it” said everyone. “You guys deserve a big reward” said the police. So they all went into the car and got a reward from the government. A new house and lots of money! The money stolen was returned to the bank. Alex, Sawyer, Liam, Allison, Sawyer, and Laura had solved their first mystery and were very happy!

Britton Peggram

Silverdale Baptist Academy

4th Grade, Courtney Capehart

My Silverback is my sister Charlotte.She shares similarities with Ivan from the novel “The One and Only Ivan.” To begin, my sister is supportive of me, just like how Ivan was supportive of Stella, Ruby and Bob. My sister supports me by going to my gymnastics competitions and she makes me feel at ease when I’m scared to do something. Ivan was just like my sister; he was supportive of Ruby in any decision she made.

Additionally, my sister is adventurous. How? Well, she is the master of the out-doors. She hangs-out with me and tries out for sports and clubs and doesn’t know what’s coming. This is similar to how Ivan was adventurous. Ivan was adventurous because he went to the zoo not knowing what was coming. Finally, my sister is funny. She does not lack a sense of humor. She tickles me and tells me jokes and does really funny voices- just like how Ivan was funny. Ivan was funny because he told Ruby jokes when she was sad. This is why it was a piece of cake for me to pick her. That is why Charlotte is my “Silverback.”

Emma Cabell

Nolan Elementary School 4th Grade, Allison Brown

My Silverback is my Mom, she shares similarities with Ivan from the text “The One and Only Ivan”.

First of all, my mom doesn’t lack a sense of humor, it is similar to Ivan because he was funny to Ruby. First of all, she is funny because one time she scared my sister and we screamed so loud and we all laughed. Ivan was funny because he told Ruby funny jokes.

Additionally, my mom is supportive to me like how Ivan supported Ruby. She utters on Mondays and Wednesdays that I should go and complete gymnastics practice because she supported me to do it.

Finally, she is loving just like how Ivan was loving to his family. My mom is loving because if something is wrong, she says she still loves me and gives me a hug.

Ivan is loving because when his family is worried or sad he gives them a hug and makes them feel better.

This is why my mom is my silverback and how Ivan is similar to her. It was a piece of cake because she is so nice.

Saylor Stanley

Nolan Elementary School 4th Grade, Allison Brown

My dad is my Silverback. He is just like the One and Only Ivan.

First, my dad is dependable. For example, he always helps me with my work, instead of adding fuel to the fire by yelling at me. Ivan is dependable because Ruby can depend on him for protection. He helps Ruby mature.

Next, my dad is loving. He shows that because once I fell on Windy Way Hill in Hidden Brook and my dad waved his arms to get a car to stop driving when I was on the ground. Ivan is loving because he lets Bob in his cage and cares for Ruby.

Also, my dad is adventurous. He shows that he is that trait because he goes on a bunch of bike rides and hikes with my family. Ivan is adventurous because he tries to get out of the Big Top Mall; that is a big adventure!

Finally, my dad is cheerful. He shows cheerfulness because when I make a big mistake he still cheers for me and recommends I do it differently next time. Ivan is cheerful because he cheers Ruby and Bob up with stories .

That is why my dad is my Silverback and how he shares similarities with Ivan from ‘The One and Only Ivan’.

Joseph Demuth

Nolan Elementary School 4th Grade, Allison Brown

My Silverback is my Mom. She shares many similarities with Ivan from the text “The One and Only Ivan.”

To begin, my Mom is caring because once I got stressed out about a project I didn’t understand in third grade. She texted my third grade teacher and got it covered! In the text “The One and Only Ivan,” Ivan was very caring, too. He took care of Ruby and got her into a zoo after Stella passed away.

Secondly, my Mom is so smart. For example, in third grade I began getting fourth grade homework, which she had already mastered, so she made it a piece of cake! Ivan was also very smart ,because Ivan knew how to spell HOME, and make it into a puzzle!

Lastly, my Mom is very cheerful. Even though we have to get up early for church, she always has a remarkable attitude! Similar to my Mom, Ivan was cheerful because even when he was stuck in a domain, he was happy!

That is why my “Silverback”is my Mom!

Anna Kate Zurawick Nolan Elementary School 4th Grade, Allison Brown

Something…

It is the first day of school in 2024. It's Friday 8:30 AM. Tootsie Roll or Bob for short, was scared but also excited for his first day of school. Snickers was also curious about what he would do on his first day. The day started normal until a giant sloth randomly ran into the classroom. After lunch, recess started, so they all went outside.

3 Musketeers went on the slide, Hershey and Reese’s went on the monkey bars. Heath Bar went on the swing and fell off! Bob wanted to go on the seesaw but, so did Snickers. That is where they met.

The next day was not a school day. Snickers told Bob he would take him to his favorite place in the whole wide world. Bob thought that it would be a fancy restaurant, but to his surprise it was a junkyard! Bob was super duper mad, he wore his best outfit, but because it was a junkyard and there were flying worms it got all dirty.

Bob went home and crumpled all of his drawings that Snickers drew him, and then played on his Meow Meow Puppy Dog 3,000 to get his mind off of Snickers...

Snickers did not know what to do so, he decided that he wanted to jump out of an airplane with his pet elephant named Weirdo. They jumped for fun, but it did not go as expected. Weirdo forgot his parachute and got hurt!

Bob was getting lonely, so he decided to go to the junkyard to see if Snickers was there. There was also a Hospital in the junkyard and Snickers was there helping Weirdo get better. Bob wanted Snickers to apologize, but Bob also knew it was silly of him to get mad at him for that. So he apologized and they became friends again.

Selah Boone

Silverdale Baptist Academy 4th Grade, Abby Webb

Jingle and Jangle

“You’ll pay for that!” exclaimed Jangle. She and her sister, Jingle, were having a snowball fight. Jingle and Jangle were both reindeer. Jangle hurled a snowball at Jingle and hit her smack on the back. Jingle was just about to throw another snowball when her nose twitched. “I smell a snowstorm,” she said. Jangle sniffed the air too. “I see what you mean,” Jangle said. “Let’s head back to the cave,” said Jingle. So that’s just what they did. The next morning, Jangle woke up and looked out the door. To her surprise, she saw nothing but white snow. Confused, she walked toward the door. She felt a strong gust of wind push her. “Jangle!” shouted Jingle, who had woke up. “Step away from the door! The snowstorm is huge and could blow you away!” Jangle turned around, but it was too late. She was sent zooming out the door. “Jangle!” cried Jingle as leapt out the door.

The two reindeer later found each other. Night came and went, and they were still in the storm. Until one morning, they woke up in a much warmer place. “Where are we?” Jangle asked. Then they looked around and found out they were in a house. “Good morning!” came a voice. A little girl was standing right in front of them.”Welcome to California! My name’s Lisa!” said the little girl. “California!” exclaimed Jingle and Jangle. “Feel free to make yourselves at home,” said Lisa before she skipped away.

“Hey, Jingle,” said Jangle. “Maybe this isn’t so bad.” Was she nuts? “We have to go back home,” Jingle explained. “No, we don’t!” said Jangle. “Can’t you see? We live in a warmer place, get to live in a house, and beside, it’ll take forever to get back to the cave.”

“Maybe Jangle’s right,” thought Jingle.

Soon it was December 25th, Christmas. Jingle and Jangle tied bows around their necks and collars that said their names. Jingle and Jangle turned out to be pretty good pet reindeer, and they would always be.

Emma Cate

Silverdale Baptist Academy 4th Grade, Abby Webb

The Best Worst Christmas Ever

The sky fluttered snowflakes as I got to school.Oh!I forgot to tell you who I am. I am Autumn Pierce. Any way on to the story.

When I opened the door May was standing there. May was my best friend in 4th grade. Her golden hair glimmered against the sun's light. “I was so excited for the first day of school I got here extra early to wait,” May said as I walked up. May was a fashion queen and got C’s in school. I guess you could tell she would rather stay at home.

We went to Stony Brook School in a small town called Noel, and you could tell there was going to be a Christmas Pageant that week. I had gotten picked for Mary and Jack had gotten picked for Joseph! Jack was the boy you could think of. He was friends with April, the meanest girl in school, and with her friend group that was called “The Girlies.” Just then Jack walked up and said “What are you doing? They're Having free pizza!”

Then I said,“We don’t wanna be late just because of pizza.”Before May could argue, Lavender walked up behind us and said, “Yeah. I’d rather go to class on time than have free pizza.” We turned then walked inside. As we walked in the classroom Miss June, a nun and our teacher, greeted us, “You three are the first here. Good job!”

Lavender had lovely red hair, freckles, and two green eyes. She was very smart and also my other best friend. Miss June was kind but strict, and couldn’t stand when someone was late. Today, Jack was the latest and Miss June greeted him with a stern look. I almost felt sorry for Jack and I secretly had a crush on him. My friends knew, but we didn’t talk about it. But I had always questioned why I had a crush on him. He was always so mean. “School is out!” I yelled, once I was through the gates to school. The next day I went Christmas shopping, and I went to the ice rink to skate. Jack was there. I waved and said “Hi,” but he started throwing snowballs at me!“Ha!” He said as he skated away. Then I heard a whisper saying, “You’re missing something.” It was April! Then I realized that my bracelet, which my grandma had given me, was gone! While Jack was distracting me by throwing snowballs, April stole my bracelet! The Christmas Pageant was happening on Christmas Eve, tomorrow.

At the Christmas Pageant I heard Mr. and Mrs. Frostner, the directors, saying “Welcome to the Christmas Pageant!” The Christmas Pageant went surprisingly well. Joseph wasn’t yelling at me.

At the Christmas Pageant I heard Mr. and Mrs. Frostner, the directors, saying

“Welcome to the Christmas Pageant!” The Christmas Pageant went surprisingly well. Joseph wasn’t yelling at me. The next morning on Christmas, there was a package in front of the door, and there was a note that said, “For Autumn, From Jack.” In it was a husky, a kitten, and the bracelet April stole. At Christmas mass I asked father Mathew why he thought Jack gave it to me and he said “Maybe he has had a change of heart.”

The End.

Genevieve Moy

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic School 4th Grade, Aimee Passavant

The Walkie Talkies

It was the fall before Covid 19. There were two friends Bob and Fred. Bob loved sports, so did Fred. They were on the same middle school team. They played for Sacramento Baptist Academy. They both were really smart and they both made really good grades. Bob and Fred would get 100s on every paper and test.

But, one day Bob's mom got an email. The email was from the school Sacramento Baptist Academy. Bob noticed the title of the email said, “No School For The Rest Of The Year.” Fred's mom also got that email. Bob and Fred were both happy at first because they thought they could play with each other and not go to school. Bob thought of it as a fall break for the rest of the year.

But suddenly, Bob realized that his baseball season would be cancelled. Bob started to cry. Fred was really sad too because he was on the same team as Bob. The next day, they could not play with each other because they had to do online classes. Their parents did not have each other's others phone number but Bob did know Freds address. So in that moment, that gave Bob an idea. Bob went online and bought two walkey talkeies.

When the walkey talkeies arrived Bob mailed one of them to Fred. When Fred got it, they were both happy. When they got on online school they would turn off their camera and mute their mic. They talked to each other and the only thing that kept them friends was the walkie talkies. When Covid was over they loved to so see each other. Later that year Bob and Fred won their state tournament.

William Widener

Silverdale Baptist Academy 4th Grade, Stephanie Martinez

Paper Man

One time there was a person named Paper Man. There was also Evil Dr. Ghost. And there was the Wimpy Kid, Paper Man’s best friend. But this has nothing to do with the Wimpy Kid. Let me tell you of one mission. Dr. Ghost, who dressed as a ghost, was going to shrink the city and this would turn the city black. Suddenly, a super hero entered the room and Dr. Ghost shot him with the shrink gun! The super hero was touching a piece of paper. At this moment he shrunk into a paper and he was all black. Then Dr. Ghost tried to start the shrink gun but it exploded. The part that makes you little went out on Dr. Ghost. He was touching the black paper and also a white blanket. Now a Paper Man came out and he can go anywhere as paper.

And that is the beginning of the Paper Man.

Pierce Swafford Silverdale Baptist Academy

4th Grade, Stephanie Martinez

The Elephant and the Ladybug

Once upon a time there was a ladybug that was minding her own business and then an elephant came up behind the ladybug and almost stepped on her, “WAIT! I promise to repay you if you don’t kill me,” whimpered the ladybug. “Fine,” grumbled the elephant. So the next day the elephant got stuck. “HELP! HELP! HELP ME!” yelled the elephant.

A few minutes later the ladybug came running up. “Oh thank goodness you are here! Please help me,” whimpered the elephant, but all the ladybug said was, “Are you kidding? I’m not nearly as strong as you. Surely you can do it yourself.” The elephant never escaped, but let’s just say the ladybug got a taste of her own medicine. The moral is to stick to your promises.

AnnaKate Grubbs

Chattanooga Christian School 4th Grade , Heather Murphy

The Snail and the Grasshopper

Once upon a time there was a Grasshopper, and he was the fastest in the forest. He wanted to face the slowest in the forest which was the Snail.The Snail said “slow and steady wins the race.” The Grasshopper mocked; “If you’re fast, you win the race.”

So the next day was the big day “Ready. Set, Go!”

The Grasshopper was so fast he was already beating the Snail by half a mile when he decided to take a rest.

Five minutes later, the Snail was way past the Grasshopper. Suddenly, the Grasshopper woke up and tried to win the race. Back and forth, back and forth. Snail, Grasshopper, Snail Grasshopper. Suddenly, the Snail crossed the finish line and won. He is known as the fastest in the forest. Slow and steady wins the race.

Roe Voskuil

Chattanooga Christian School 4th Grade, Heather Murphy

Chickens Crossing The Road

One time Mama Chicken sent her two baby chickens to the supermarket for some eggs. One chick said “Let's go across the road, it’s quicker “ but the second chick said “There's a crosswalk right there.”Then the chicks decided to cross the road without the crosswalk they almost got hit by a car! Next time Mama chicken said “go to the supermarket to get more milk” But they still had to cross THE ROAD. Still they decided to cross the road without the crosswalk.This time a cop pulled up and said “I'm giving you two a ticket for jaywalking!” On the third time they used the crosswalk and got THE EGGS! Sometimes the longest way is the best way!

Samuel Dowling

Chattanooga Christian School 4th Grade, Lisa Tallent

The Horse And The Rat

One day a horse named Maximus decided to take a walk in the forest. It had been a few minutes when he met a fox walking around. Maximus walked over to the fox and said, “Hello, I am Maximus the horse.” The fox responded “Hi, I am Fink the fox.”

“I probably should be on my way. It's getting dark and I need to be home for dinner,” said Maximus. “I would be happy to take you to my house and you can have dinner there,” said Fink. I suppose we must be on our way then,” said Maximus. Maximus and Fink went to Fink’s house. When dinner was over, Maximus thanked the fox and headed home. On his way home, he saw a rat. The rat came up to Maximus and said in a disgusted voice, “Who are you?” “ I am Maximus the horse,” Maximus replied. “Oh you're a horse, one of those ugly things that look like deformed deer,” laughed the rat meanly.

“Well good day,” said Maximus in an annoyed voice, as he trotted off home. It had been a few weeks when Maximus decided to visit Fink again, and on his way he met the rat again. The rat was stuck in a big bushel of vines hanging from a tree! Maximus thought about leaving him there because when the rat said all those men things about him when they met last time.

Maximus remembered to always be kind to others. He helped the rat get out of the vines, and the rat scampered away without even a thank you, but Maximus still felt good for rescuing him.You should be kind to others even if they’re not kind to you.

Naomi

Wagner Chattanooga Christian School 4th Grade, Lisa Tallent

A Cat and a Balloon

As the colorful balloon flew higher, I ran around in circles. I could not believe I jumped up on that silly balloon. Oh wait I need to back up to the beginning. Well….

It all started when I woke up. It was a normal winter day…. So I thought. My name is White. I walked to the river to get a drink of water and a bite of fabulous fish. Fish is the most wonderful food on earth.

“WHITE,” yelled a familiar voice. It was Bitey, a brown tabby and also my best friend. One day she wandered onto the porch of a nearby family and they adopted her immediately. Bitey would always bring me food, snacks, and other delicious items; milk, meat, mice, and much more. Today’s treat was ham. Bitey was still across the river so she hopped on some rocks to get to the other side.Then she dropped the ham in front of me and I gobbled it up.

“You eat that food so fast it’s like it disappears!”

replied Bitey. I would have answered but my mouth was full of ham so all I could manage was a muffled “uuuuuaaaa.”she laughed. “Swallow.” I swallowed.

“Well, what do you want to do today?” I asked.

“I saw some red and yellow thing on the way here.” Bitey said. “we could check that out.” “LET’S DO IT!” I yelled.

“Real quick I need to take a cat nap.”, said Bitey then she collapsed for one, two, three, four, five then jumped up and blasted away, calling “hurry up slowpoke!” I laughed and ran after her. I followed Bitey back across the river and through the woods. Before I knew it, we saw the big red and yellow thing.

Beneath the thing that was red and yellow there was a basket. I grew very tired from running here so I hopped in the basket to rest. Up above there was a lever. I jumped up on it. Bitey was pawing at a rope around the basket and it broke. immediately the yellow and red part began to expand. It got bigger and bigger, like a ball inflating. "It's a balloon!" I shouted.

I think we're all caught up now. Let's continue. I ran around in circles. My stomach began to feel like it was rising higher than the balloon, leaving me behind in the basket. I thought about everything I knew about fires, because I saw a flame nearby when I hopped on the lever. I remembered from the pages of science books that blew past my home some of them were about the science of fire. Some of them were about very different things. One of them I found very interesting was about why flamingos are pink. I'm very interested in birds. Mostly about how they taste, but I think I'm wandering away here.

So anyway, I remembered that hot air rises, and that must be why the balloon was rising. But I needed to know how to get back down. I remember that fire needs a fuel to keep burning. But eventually all the fuel would burn out and the fire would have nothing to feed on. So all I had to do was wait for the fuel to burn out. But who knows how long that would take?

The wind started to blow and jiggled my thoughts about. The wind pushed me this way and that. The balloon tumbled and swooshed through the air. I was sure that the wind would blow out the flame, but somehow it didn't. I wish it had because then maybe I could've gone back down sooner. At every swish and swoosh, I felt like my stomach was several swooshes behind me. Meanwhile Bitey was either yelling at me to come back or some kind of delicious dessert with meringue. That thought didn't make my stomach feel any better. I waited for what felt like hours even though it was probably just minutes. I hoped the balloon didn't get too high. If it did, it would take a long time to come back down. If I didn't come back before lunch, all the fish would swim away and I wouldn't be able to have lunch or dinner. I would have to eat, (shudders) plants. And there isn't even any catnip near my home. "This is an emergency! I don't want to eat plants!"

I thought. That lever started the fire, maybe it could end it. I looked around for the lever. I realized that I should've tried looking up instead of looking around and down at the ground. When I found it, I began to push up on it. I pushed harder and harder, but it wouldn't budge. I had jumped on the lever with all of my weight to start. But I'm not Spiderman, I couldn't jump and stick to it upside down. That would be pretty cool though. Then everything but the wind and my beating heart went quiet. The flame sputtered out and I began to descend. "Woohoo!" I

yelled as loud as I could. I hoped I landed close to where I took off. The wind had blown me around so much! I did not want to land on someone's roof. I tried jumping up and down to make it go faster. But the only thing I managed to do was get tired. So I sat down and waited for the balloon to hit the ground.

It felt like hours and hours and hours, but finally it hit the ground with a thump! I jumped out of the balloon to see where I was. Luckily I landed only a couple of feet from where I started. But where was Bitey? I walked around calling her name. "Bitey! Bitey! Where are you?" Then I realized I wasn't in the same place. How far away from home was I? I hoped I could get back to it. I walked around.

I had no idea where I was. I walked and walked. There were so many cars. I dodged wheel after wheel. I walked up a hill, stopping at some doors to see if I could find a human to help me. Finally I came to a house with a blue car and silver car parked outside. There was a big tree covered in green vines. I walked up the stairs. I scratched and scratched on the door. Finally they came to it. There was a man with black hair, a black mustache and beard and a kid that looked around six years old with blonde hair. "Hello!" said the girl in a sweet voice. "Daddy! It's so cute!" she said to the man who seemed to be her father. "Can we keep it?"

"Let's give it some food and we'll see," said her dad. "OK!" replied the girl. They walked back inside and returned carrying a silver bowl. They set it down in front of me. I looked inside. What I saw was not what I was expecting. It was a bunch of little brown pellets.

But I decided to try it anyway. It was delicious. I ate it up quickly. "You were hungry, weren't you?" said the girl. "Yes," I said, though I don't think she could understand me. They went back inside, so I walked away. Lunch was delicious and they had given me enough to hold me over. I decided to find a nice place to spend the night. The next morning I went back to the house and did the same thing.

This time the girl and her father and a woman that looked like the girl, who I assumed was her mother, answered the door. "You're back again!" said the girl. She bent down and reached out to pet me. I nuzzled into her and the grownups gave me some more food. "We might as well keep the cat. We only have one," said the dad. "Hooray!!" the girl said. "But first we need to name her." The mom and dad started suggesting crazy names, like cross-eyed Ninja, which I did not understand at all. But the girl yelled "no!" to all the weird names. "We should name her Mia," said the girl. The parents like it, so that is my name now. I live happily with this family, including Ninja, the cat they already had. And sometimes I wonder if Bitey still walks around town, yelling for and trying to find me. I miss her but I'm glad that I found this family. I like them. I wouldn't want anything different. But I decided to try it anyway. It was delicious. I ate it up quickly. "You were hungry, weren't you?" said the girl. "Yes," I said, though I don't think she could understand me. They went back inside, so I walked away. Lunch was delicious and they had given me enough to hold me over. I decided to find a nice place to spend the night. The next morning I went back to the house and did the same thing.

This time the girl and her father and a woman that looked like the girl, who I assumed was her mother, answered the door. "You're back again!" said the girl. She bent down and reached out to pet me. I nuzzled into her and the grownups gave me some more food. "We might as well keep the cat. We only have one," said the dad. "Hooray!!" the girl said. "But first we need to name her." The mom and dad started suggesting crazy names, like cross-eyed Ninja, which I did not understand at all. But the girl yelled "no!" to all the weird names. "We should name her Mia," said the girl. The parents like it, so that is my name now. I live happily with this family, including Ninja, the cat they already had. And sometimes I wonder if Bitey still walks around town, yelling for and trying to find me. I miss her but I'm glad that I found this family. I like them. I wouldn't want anything different.

Alie Addison

St. Nicholas School

4th grade, Amy Johnson

The Lonely Balloon

Yay! Thank you for this fish balloon daddy. “I am going to the bouncy castle now,’’said the boy. He ran as fast as the wind to the bouncy castle. When he hopped in, he bounced up and down. He bounced so high that as he hit the bottom he accidentally let go of his fish balloon. “Nooo!” said the boy. The balloon floated up, up, and away. After some time the balloon was lonely and the boy looked like a tiny dot. Then the balloon began to see the stars. He could not see the boy anymore. The balloon continued to feel more lonely The higher he went.He started to cry. He tried asking the stars if they would be his friend. But they would not answer.He tried singing, talking to himself, But nothing worked. He remained sad and lonely. He even tried saying hello to the moon.Then the moon said, ‘’Hi is someone there?” “Yes!” replied the moon. “I am a fish balloon can you be my friend?’’ asked the balloon.’’Why certainly!” “What are you doing here?’’ Asked the moon. “My boy accidentally let go of me and I drifted up to you.” said the balloon. “ Well, now you have me!” said the moon sweetly. Finally the balloon had a friend. They lived amongst the stars for many years.

Milton Olson

St. Nicholas School 4th grade, Amy Johnson

Christmas

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and all the Christmas trees will be farmed then. Every single christmas tree wants to be picked first. One tree says,”My branches are as green as the grass below my trunk. I will surely be picked first.” Another tree says,”Please have you seen how tall I am! I will be picked first.” Little Leo stands as tall as he can but is not nearly as close as the others. Leo is so embarrassed. It’s like a feeling of invisibility except you are there. “I am there, it's just that my brown short branches will never be that tall.” Leo thought it was a race with no finish line, Leo would just not grow. The other trees noticed Leo as a target to hit. “Leo you should stop trying, you'll never get picked!” Leo fell into a deep despair as his branches sagged. What will Leo ever do to make the finish line appear? It seemed as if all the other branches were ahead of him. He knew there was a solution, he was just not looking through the clear glass. Leo stopped doubting his looks and what others said about him.”I might not get chosen first but that does not mean I am less than anyone else.” Leos branches spiked up. He continued, “I’m amazing!” He felt himself rise.

Leo complimented his strengths the whole night. By morning Leo was taller and greener than any tree that stood. Leo realized real beauty comes from your heart. The other trees were astonished. “How did you do that Leo? Leo stated , “ Don't judge from the inside or outside a wise tree does not judge at all.” Leo was the first tree picked that morning.

Brooklyn Yeager

Thrasher Elementary School

4th Grade, Amanda

Smalley

My protector is my cousin Chandler. She shares a bunch of traits with Ivan from the text, The One and Only Ivan. First of all, Chandler is warm hearted just like Ivan was to Ruby. Chandler is warm hearted because when we go to the beach she will take walks and go into the ocean with me. She also makes sure I have a sufficient amount of everything I need. In the text The One and Only Ivan, Ivan is warm hearted because he got Ruby out of the mall and into the zoo.

Also, Chandler is supportive exactly like Ivan was. She is supportive because when I make a mistake or mess up she says, “It's okay!” or “You still did good.” In the text The One and Only Ivan, Ivan was supportive because he made sure Ruby was happy and okay.

Finally, Chandler is wise. She is wise because when we go to the beach I always ask her questions and she will answer them or give her best guess, like they were a piece of cake to answer. In the text Ivan is wise because he could paint and he even made a plan to get Ruby out of the zoo that actually worked! As you can see, my cousin Chandler is my Silverback.

Audrey Eady

Nolan Elementary School 4th Grade, Allison Brown

My Ivan is my uncle. He shares many similarities as Ivan from The One and Only Ivan. First of all, my uncle is dependable just like how Ruby depended on Ivan. My uncle is dependable because one time there was a bad storm. I was dismayed but he kept me safe. In the text, The One and Only Ivan, Ruby depended on Ivan to keep her safe.

Additionally, my uncle is very loyal. To explain further, my uncle is loyal because one time he guided me and my sister on a hike. We felt at ease. Like my Uncle, Ivan is always a leader to Ruby, Bob, and Stella.

Lastly and the most important trait of all, my uncle is one of the most caring persons I have ever met. I would share a million reasons but I will go with the time we were camping. I got really scared on a hike. The clouds were projecting. It was really cloudy. I didn't know that it would be one of the scariest parts of my life, but he was carrying me and kept me safe. My uncle is very caring. He makes it a piece of cake to be caring. Ivan is caring because he cares about Bob and even Stella. This is why my uncle is my Ivan.

Mary Beth Morehead

Nolan Elementary School 4th Grade, Allison Brown

Girls vs Forest

They were the most unlikely of friends, Annie, who is so calm and Nancy, who is kookoo (crazy) and adventurous. It’s late August, and quite hot. Nancy and Annie rode home from school together. After they did their homework, they get bored and go outside but after a while they get bored of the swings and wander into the woods then they heard it, a grunt! A bear!!! A fierce black bear. The girls ran and ran. They ran so far they got lost! The light was fading, Annie and Nancy had to make camp. They got to work camp right away. The thought of blond haired, green eyed Annie sleeping on the ground was unusual. On the other hand Nancy loved the idea of camping in the woods with no adults.

At home Nancy’s Mom was not too worried because Nancy often stayed outside, and once was out until morning!

Back at camp, which was a clearing, Annie was trying to start a fire. While Nancy was trying to find something that would make a good shelter. Nancy found three large sticks, six giant leafs, and some pine branches. They leaned the sticks together, used reeds to tie the leafs to the sticks and put the pine branches underneath for bedding. In the morning they would go fishing but for now it was off to dreamland. In the morning Nancy got up early. She had a sweatshirt tied around her waist, with some string in the pocket.

Annie had a safety pin to hold her shirt a little tighter. Then Nancy found a green, live, branch, tied the string to it and tied the string to the safety pin. Then they went to fish in the large creek that was about ⅛ of a mile away. They caught three fish; Annie cooked them on the fire. Once they made sure that it was cooked they ate it off the piece of aluminum foil that was on a paper airplane that Nancy made in S.T.E.A.M. yesterday. After they finished their breakfast, they started walking again. They walked all day and made camp again.

For the next two days the same things happened. Then on the fourth day after eating leftover fish from that morning they start walking again. All of a sudden Annie realizes that this place looks kind of familiar. It was her Grandma’s back woods!!! They kept walking. They decided to go around to the front door and knock. Annie’s grandma, let them in and called their moms. Their moms were relieved and came at once. They greeted their daughters warmly and asked how they got across Oregon. The girls told them that they had walked. But now they are home safely.

Summer Feldman

Silverdale Baptist Academy 4th Grade, Angela Denton

The Mexican Mission

Once there were two teenage girls, Chloe and Lili. Their families went around the world together. One day, Chloe and Lili went on a mission together to try to find the lost world. It was known that it was an island off of Mexico. So, they went to Mexico. They made it to the jungle and walked and walked and walked, but it was getting dark. So, they made camp and went to sleep for the night. They woke up in the middle of the night. There was a tiger and he was hungry! Lili got a stick from the fire and used it like a sword to defend them. The tiger ran away. Chloe said “THANK YOU” and hugged her. Lili said “oh , you're welcome Chloe.” “Now, let's get some sleep”, Chloe yawned. “Yep”, Lili said.

The next day when they were walking, they got separated. Lili was looking everywhere and she heard something. Someone was crying. She saw a little girl and said “Are you ok? What is your name?” “Ava”, she said. “What are you doing?” asked Lili. “Hiding”, Ava said. Lili asked, “Do you want to come out?” “Yes, ok”, said Ava. “Come here, I won’t hurt you”, Lili promised. “Ok”, said Ava. She came out. She was really small. “How old are you?”, Lili asked. “Four”, Ava said.

“How long have you been out here alone?” asked Lili. “So long”, Ava moaned. “Wow”, Lili said. “Who is that?” said Ava. “Chloe!” Lili said. “Lili!” said Chloe. "Are you ok?” “Who are you?” said Ava. “I’m Chloe.” “What”s your name?” “Ava.”

“That’s cute.” “Thank you”. “You're welcome”. “I like you” said Ava. “Ok” said Chloe “let’s get moving before it gets dark”. “Ok” said Lili. “It’s already getting dark. Let's set up camp.” “Oh’ I have a cousin looking for me,” said Ava . “What?” “We need to watch for him because he is also castout from our village.” “Ok, how old is he?”, they asked.

“12” said Ava. “Now, let’s get some sleep” said Chloe. “Good night, Ava” said Chloe “Good night, Ava” said Lili. She was already asleep.

“Ava, Ava you got to wake up” Lili said loudly. “Why!!” grumbled Ava. “Because we’ve got to get moving,” said Lili. “Ok”, Ava said. “COUSIN!”, yelled Ava. “Ava”, said her cousin. “Just to make it clear, what is your name?” Chloe asked. “My name is Jack.” “Ok, let’s get to the lost world.” Lili said.

“Yeah and then we can go home!” said Chloe. “What”, said Ava sadly. “What will we do?” asked Jack. “We can bring you with us.”said Chloe. “But this is our home.” Jack said sadly.

“We will figure out something.” What's that?”Ava asked. “What's what” Chloe said. "That," Ava said pointing. Everyone was staring. “Is that what I think it is?” “It’s the lost world!” Everyone yelled. ”Yay”were here”, said Ava. “Why were we looking for this?" asked Ava . “Because we are the first people to be here”, said Lili. “Cool” Ava said excitedly. “Let’s go explore around here!” Lili said. “Who knew there would be a temple?”said Chloe. “I was guessing,” said Ava. Everybody started laughing but Ava didn’t understand, but laughed anyway. “Look, there is so much gold,” Lili said excitedly! “What ? Cool,”said Jack. “I know right .”Lili squealed. “Oh my gosh! I just realized we need to tell our parents where we are located!” Lili realized. “You can call them” asked Ava. “No, but I have a machine and there is a button on it that can locate us and tell ou parents where we are.” explained Lili. “ Cool” said Jack. “Press the button” everyone yelled. “Ok, yesh!” said Lili. She pressed the button and a couple of hours later they heard a helicopter. They saw their parents and ran up to them. Their parents said “Who are they”? “Oh, that’s Ava and Jack.” Lili said. “We met them along the way”, Chloe said.

“They are alone” explained Lili. “They can come with us” said Chloe’s mom. “No, this is their home. They won’t leave”, Chloe said. Ava ran up and said “ I have an idea. You stay here!” “Ummm” said Lili’s mom. “Let’s talk about it.” “What do you think girls?” asked Lili’s mom. “We’re with Ava” said the girls. “Ok, it’s settled then. We’re staying”, said Lili’s mom. “Yay!” said Ava and Jack. “Don’t worry Chloe, we are staying too” said Chloe’s dad. So, over the years it became a popular place to visit. Everyone loves coming here and Ava says she loves everyone that comes.

Eloise Loizeaux

Silverdale Baptist Academy 4th Grade, Angela Denton

Christmas Eve

It was Christmas eve the most holy jolly time of the year! Everyone was celebrating the holiday, and spending time with their family and friends. By 8 o’clock everyone was in bed. It was snowing gently and it was a peaceful silent night. As the lights went out Mary was looking outside just waiting for Santa to come. As the hours went by Mary started getting more and more tired, but just when she was about to go to sleep she heard something! She ran downstairs as fast as she could but all she saw was a bunch of presents. Even though she did not see Santa this was definitely the most cool Christmas ever!

Carys Hahn

Thrasher Elementary School 4th Grade, Lauren Smalley

Fourth Grade Poetry Winners

The wonderful world

Sunday morning the damp wet grass shines from miles away

You can hear the birds chirping echoing through the sky

The gentle breeze makes the trees sway

The sun shines bright as a comet in the sky

The snow covers everything for miles as the eye can see

The joyful laughs echos the grey sky covering the light

The many snowman orange nose the brown sticks and black eyes

You see the children speeding down the hills with their sleds

The bright light soars through the sky melting the snow away

The glazed grass damp and wet shines as bright as the sun

The ground soaked from the endless rain that keeps going

The flowers grow as fast as the rainfall speeding down the sky

The leaves begin to change to the bright beautiful colors

One by one falling leaves covering the ground fast

The trees lost all of their leaves the branches and twigs stay

The cold breeze whistling through the night in the dark sky

The seasons come the seasons go while the earth spins

Round and Round Day and Night come and go forever

The world might seem dirty loud and smelly But in the end

You need to see the beautiful world around you

No matter what people say is still are wonderful world

Know matter what happens or what changes

Friend and family come and go but love never does

The galaxies and planets are cool but

We will always have our wonderful world

Cooper Blair

Normal Park Museum Magnet School

4th Grade, Lauren McDuffie

A Snowflake’s Journey

We are crystallites

We come on icy, crisp days

We are transparent

Emma Cabell

Nolan Elementary School

4th Grade, Allison Brown

A Snowflake’s Journey

Pointier when cool a crystallized hexagon eccentric crystal

Eden Melhorn

Nolan Elementary School

4th Grade, Allison Brown

Tree Elf

Small and tiny

Running through the woods

You couldn’t see me

No one could

A forest elf

Gliding on air

Lite as a feather

Quick as a hare

The trees are beautiful

In the wind

I watch them all day

They are my friends

These earthly giants

I protect day and night

My journey is long

And my spirit bright

Eleanor Beukema

Normal Park Museum Magnet School

4th Grade, Ali Redfoot

A Snowflake’s Journey

I fall while bumping

I land on a mushy tongue

Sparkling like a star

Simon Perrin

Nolan Elementary School

4th Grade, Allison Brown

A Snowflake’s Journey

Gliding with new arms dendrite stars are elegant forming with crystals

Alice Widner

Nolan Elementary School

4th Grade, Allison Brown

A Snowflake’s Journey

Glossy flakes like glass complex figures in crisp cold intricate shapes fall

Ryan Aboulfaida

Nolan Elementary School

4th Grade, Allison Brown

A Snowflake’s Journey

Water vapor skies

The ice crystals take their shape

Swiftly falling down

Olivia Millican

Nolan Elementary School

4th Grade, Allison Brown

¨When I Was Younger¨

When I was younger I had a cat that we had to put down I came home from school one day seeing my sister crying I asked what's wrong

She told me he's gone Sebastian is gone I ran upstairs crying

When I was younger I slept in my sister's room Every night

We would do a handstand contest In our beds

Until we got tired

When I was younger

Me and my dog played outside

On the concrete

But she ran me over

When I was younger

I would always get in trouble for Talking back

one time my dad told me not to talk back

But I told my dad

But that's how conversations work

When I was younger I got my dog for Christmas

When I got to Hold her I screamed she so fluffy

When I was younger I played in the snow

one time for the first time my dog jumped in with me

When I was younger

I told everyone I was a superhero one time I told my class I have a mission then I asked my teacher if I could use the bathroom.

Riley Hill

The Bright School 4th grade, Amanda Dickson

“Sam”

When I was younger I got a dog. My mom told me to follow my dad. He was holding a carrier. with a white thing inside.

When I walked to him he bent down and opened the crate.

Then out popped a little wrinkly forehead. It was a puppy.

We named him Sam.

When I was younger I got a dog. We were getting the water ready.

We had our phones ready to record. My dad put him in the dog pool.

We put soap on his back and rubbed it in.

And after everything was over he took a nap. This was his first bath.

When I was younger I got a dog. I was downstairs alone with him. He was biting a chair and I was trying to stop him. I pulled him over to my lap and he was angry. I tried to hold him but he didn't want to be held. So he bit my lip and I had to get stitches.

When I was younger I got a dog. It was a Monday it was his first vet visit...

...When we brought him in he sniffed almost everything

We got him checked out and got his shots.

Everything was going fine until it wasn´t.

We were leaving when Sam ran back in.

He attacked an old lady and her dog

When I was younger I got a dog. It was a Monday so it was vet day. When we brought him in everything was normal.

He sniffed around then his name got called.

We brought him over then he got carried into the back.

Then we got the news that he weighed fifty pounds

He was seven months old.

Henry Hudson

The Bright School

4th grade, Amanda Dickson

“From the Other Side”

One day, i was walking

And i felt a cold hand

Grab me

On the shoulder. It was not a soft grab, it was a hard grab.

The second it touched me, i knew the hand was not my friend. I could feel the hand pulling me down into this dark, dark place. It was a cold and lonely place, Where nothing lives but sadness. Then all at once, Memories start flooding my head. The memories just float there

And they never go away.

But as i get older, Those memories one by one, Start to pop. Very slowly they pop and go away.

But they don't go away forever, They just go a little farther down so that Every time I think of something, It doesn't come back up to the top So easley.

And as I get older, I can feel the other hand, The good hand coming back to me, Coming to pull me back up to the other side Where the good memories spawn. It took me awhile to find that other hand, And for the other hand to find me. Every once in awhile, That dark hand finds me again, But the good hand always finds me faster. I will never forget those memories, But i don't think about the bad ones anymore, I think about the good ones. I don't think about him walking out the door, I think of the Braves games we went to, And all those good memories. Even though he is not with me anymore, On our planet, I know he is still with me in my heart.

Jasper Stone

The Bright School 4th Grade, Amanda Dickson

“Shards of memory poem”

When I was 8 years old me and my sister went to a farm close to my house they had 4 cats orange and black cats me and my sister got a black cat and I got a orange cat I named my spider-man and my sister named her cat lucky.

When I was 1 years old

we were moving to Chattanooga from Texes it took 2 days to drive there and we stopped at Bucky's shop and I got a toy and meeted bucky the the person who is in a costume and after that we left and I watched

a movie it was the lego flash in the car and when we got to Chattanooga we got a dog it was so small that it could fit in my pom.

When I was 4 I was at a friends house and we were swimming in the pool and I was stuck in a flout and I was kicking the water and the dog was trying to bite the water and the dog bites my foot and I almost had to get butterfly stitches and I had to put a bandage over my foot and I could barely walk.

when I was 10 years old my mom was pulling to

the driveway and my dog got in front of the car and my mom stopped the car so my dog could get out of the way but my mom moved up to early and the back tire hit my the dog’s butt and scraped her legs and she spent the night at the vet.

Charlie Card

The Bright School 4th Grade, Amanda Dickson

Imagination

I remember it like it was yesterday…

I am exploring the jungle

Snakes nipping at my heels

I climb up vines to flee

But sometimes the vines aren’t vines

Just more snakes

Jump, dodge, dive, weave

If it's a boa constrictor or anaconda

I am cornered but here comes backup

My best friends, my helpful colleagues

My stuffies

They come to the rescue, they come to dinner

The snakes drop back we have won

We celebrated with a movie

One of my stuffies got teary eyed because a kid stopped believing

So thank goodness I still do

Even if the snakes were just jump ropes

Even after many years i still remember fleeing from those writhing reptiles

Morgaine Halloran

Thrasher Elementary School

4th Grade, Lauren Smalley

Log

Dam and brown, I am a town to little ants all around,

I am also a bench for big hikers, and even weary mountain bikers

So now you know, I’m many things than just a log

So when you pass by, take some time to just say hi.

Crosby Martin Thrasher Elementary School

4th

Grade, Amanda Smalley

I Remember

I smell wettish, grassy, freshly cut grass.

I see colorful, swaying trees that are nature's rainbow.

The flower petals were as soft and silky as a pillow.

The distant birds were whispers beneath the wind.

I taste sweet, sugary doughnuts.

Genevieve Moy

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic School 4th Grade, Aimee Passavant

Night Shows Itself

Night shows itself by the lapis blue sky

The wind whispering in the trees

Cars weaving in and out of streets

Their headlights blazing like enraged eyes

Night displays itself by a deafening owl hooting

An uncanny silence except for the sound of airplane flights

The lampstands cast a strange, primitive orange light

Obscured, but lighting up the nearby viewing

Night expresses itself by a star burning bright

The moon beaming down incandescently like a friend

Sometimes night can be the best kind of trend

Especially when you are wrapped up tight

Cecelia Nunn

Westview Elementary School

4th Grade, Laycica Harjes

The Pickle Poem

Pickles can be small

Pickles can be big

Pickles can be sweet, just like me

Pickles can be dill

Pickles can be mean

Pickles can be dipped in kool-aid

Pickles can be red

Pickles can be spicy

Pickles can be nice

Sheikh Faye

St. Nicholas School

4th Grade, Amy Johnson

The Beach Day

This beach:

The sand in our feet.

Making sand people.

Looking at the boats

On the freezing sea.

You put our feet.

In the freezing cold sea.

On the flaming hot day.

Stella Pope

Wallace A. Smith Elementary

4th Grade, Jillian Green

A Black Cat

A black cat rushing past all The trees in the woods

To go somewhere.

The Black Cat Was Only Going South For some Reason. Light came from some Thing, A Cabin In The Middle of the woods.

The Cat meowed at the door

And a old lady opened the door And said ‘’hi black’’.

The lady picked up up the cat And took her inside steam Came from inside the Cabin the smell of tea.In the peaceful woods it was raining.

In the house the old women and the Cat sat together, the old lady drinking Tea and the cat eating food.

As the fire ran in the cabin

As the morning light came From the sky.

Suleen Sumo

Wallace A. Smith Elementary

4th Grade, Jillian Green

Fifth Grade Prose Winners

Marsh Periwinkle Snail at Jekyll��

Splash, splash,splash! I was stepping on wet mudwalking into the marsh. As we got to the high grass and the water, I saw the marsh periwinkle snail.

Vivian, Paisley, Audrey S, the guide-Maggi and I were there. We noticed that it was high tide and the water kept getting higher and higher. We were all fine but we were getting worried because Mr. Hendrix was telling us that the water was getting really high.

I was standing in silence, my feet slowly sinking into the mud. Eventually, the water was past our knees and I was failing to stand. I heard Maggi tell us, " Come on, Come on!"

At this point, almost my whole group was freaking out, but I tried to stay calm. I tried to look for the marsh periwinkle snail that I named Garry. I found Garry, but he was climbing to the top of the spartina grass to get away from the water. I pulled Garry off the grass and placed him on my hand. I was scared that the water would flood.

Quickly, I gathered the snail and Vivian, Paisley, Audrey S and Maggi were pulling snails off of the grass and putting them in our hands. My feet were soaked from the water, but I had to keep getting snails. I was focused on the snails, but none of us could hold anymore.

I didn't know what to do. The guide Maggi said," Put them on the ground where it is uneven, so they will be safe. They will use their tentacles to stick to the ground or you could put them on the rocks because they can stick to the rocks for safety."

We all agreed and said, "Ok!"

Suddenly, we noticed the water going down dramatically. The snails were all in one pile, and they stayed untouched. Some of the snails tried to get away, but I picked them up and put them back on the pile. As we were putting snails back on the pile the water had almost already gone down, but we were all wondering what we would do with all of the snails.

Maggi said," We can get our sleeping bags and spend the night in the marsh."

We were all excited to spend the night in the marsh, so we got our stuff and set it up to sleep. Maggi was keeping an eye on the snails and thinking about what we would do with them.

After we had all our stuff set up and all the water had gone down, we did have to empty our boots a few times and dry off, but we were still thrilled to be able to spend the night at the marsh. Maggi told us," Put the periwinkle snails back on the spartina grass.

The next day, we woke up about 7:00 and we were all tired but we still had to pack all of our stuff like our sleeping bags, flashlights, tents, and our med kit, but Maggi was holding on to it for an emergency. Furthermore we all put our stuff back in the cabin and we started to go back so we could get cleaned up from all the mud.

I tried to find Garry on the spartina grass and in a blink of an eye I found him because he was a young snail so he had ridges that made him stand out. I placed him in my hand one last time and told him goodbye.

Amelia Sewell

Chattanooga

School for the Arts and Sciences

5th Grade, Alyssa DiNitto

Have you ever had anxiety? Well I have, and it's not enjoyable. I realize it really prevents me from being my best self.

Since having it, I've had a real rollercoaster ride with all the ups and downs. I never thought that something that bad would happen to me. I wished I had never gotten it, but it taught me that I have to be tough and strong to overcome anything. I had to learn to defeat my anxiety and believe in myself, for it will always be a part of me.

I went to the store with my dad. I picked up a bag of chips, but little did I know later that night I was going to get something unexpected.

That night I was watching a movie, Cinderella to be exact. I watched it over and over again. My dad was getting on the couch, and my mom was taking a shower.

My dad announced, “Time to go to bed!!!!!!”

I was so furious at my dad that I started to scream, cry, and have a big fit. That failed, so I stomped up the stairs.

A few hours had passed and I sprang out of bed. I started to panic in fear as my feet carried me down the stairs, starting to sob. My palms got all sweaty, my stomach started twisting and turning, and I just broke down.

I told my dad, “ I don't feel good!!!!!!!!”

My dad spoke to me while my mom was watching a show, “ maybe you are just overreacting. It's ok!” I didn't think so.

A couple of weeks had passed by and I was panicked that I would never be “regular” again. My Mom booked an appointment for a therapist. My stomach turned, I felt jittery inside. My mom and I leaped in the car, and she drove to the therapist. I tiptoed into the building holding my breath. The nerves going through my body. My legs wobbled. I even thought there were real butterflies in my stomach. I thought I was going to fall over.

The woman took me to her office. She taught strategies to help me with my anxiety. She drew pictures, wrote goals, and we even played games. I didn't think the strategies would help me inside my head. it came to the end of our time, I unlocked her door and the therapist trailed after. My mom and I left the building. I was feeling confident in myself. I felt like I could overcome anything. Maybe the strategies would give me a helping hand.

A flashback came to me… It was a time when I was so panicked and anxious that I couldn't do anything. My anxiety got the best of me. Now, I'm more confident than before!

I said to myself, I can do this, I can do this, I can do anything!!! My flashback had come to an end.

“Are you coming?” my mom shouted. I bolted with each foot, rushing to the car. Not even a couple hours later, the monster came lurking back from the darkness… The Anxiety!!!!!

I used the strategies that the therapist taught me. I told myself, breath in, breath out. That one didn't work. I used the second one she taught me. I got my coat, and I went outside to take some breaths and get some fresh air. I walked back and forth very quickly thinking of all the memories. The journey pops into my head. I have come so far, and I will not stop now. Slowly but surely it started fading and fading away.

“I just did it!” I hollered.

I walked back inside the house into the warm toasty air. I was freezing because it was so crisp outside. I realized that I did it!!! Since I had used my strategies, my mom and dad were very proud of me!!!

The next time I went to the therapist I was so thrilled to tell her that I had overcome anxiety. I told her that I have overcome my fear! She congratulated me that I did it. When I finished telling her, we played all sorts of games. I picked chess, and I won, but I think she let me win. Then she gave me this paper with more strategies on it. Time flew so quickly because after one game I had to leave.

I said “Bye!”

She told me, “Bye!!! I'm so proud of you!”

That stayed in my head. I was proud of myself, too. My mom and I walked back to her shiny sparkling car. I hopped in the car and strapped in. Twenty minutes later we were home. I hugged my dad tightly, and I felt warm and cozy. I ran to my room where I had gotten my anxiety. I stared at the paper that the therapist gave me to keep, and I realized that I didn't need it anymore.

I looked at it one last time, crumpled the yellow paper up, and threw it in my tiny trash can. It was like I threw my enemy away, and I was the super hero that defeated it.

I was struggling to believe that my anxiety would go away if I tried. My story is about believing that I can overcome the toughest things. I want to say that nothing is impossible. You just have to believe.

I hope I taught my readers that if you don't believe, it is impossible, but if you do believe you can overcome anything. In the beginning I was scared, but reflecting back, it taught me a valuable lesson to not give up. Now I believe that I can do anything.

Charlotte Cohn

The Bright School 5th Grade, Ann O’Brien

The First Time on the Lake

I'm not a fan of slimy little lizards, but I'm fine if they are at least five feet away from me, or in a cage. I don’t know why I don’t like them. I just think they are weird. I’d rather not think of the slimy little critters getting so close to me, but one time a slimy lizard got a little too close for comfort. Before you do any outdoor activities, you should look for slimy little lizards high and low. I learned that the hard way.

One sunny, but cold day I was with my mom on a Girl Scout trip. Our first activity was canoeing on the lake. I chose my mom as my partner to go canoeing with me. It was my first time, but my mom had been canoeing before. She knew what to do. I was a little nervous, but I was ready to get out there. Our canoe was waiting for us by the shore. My mom stepped into the canoe and sat in the front. When I got in next, the canoe rocked a little. Once she handed me my paddle, we pushed off the shore, and slowly drifted out into the lake.

We were little ways out from shore, and my mom and I were enjoying the delightful scenery. The sunshine reflected beautifully off the water. We were having so much fun looking at everything all around us. All the trees, mountains, and rocky structures. When all of a sudden a lizard scrambled out of the bow in the front of the canoe from a small opening!!!!!! My mom found the lizard first but when I saw it I started to freak out because it was a lizard. COULD YOU BLAME ME!?!?!?!?!?!?!

We went back to the shore. When we got to shore my mom gave me two options. Either we stay on shore and wait for the group, or I get myself together and get back in the boat. This led me to think well if I pick the first option I will miss out on the most fun experience of canoeing in my life or "I could suck it up and go and experience the time of my life out there .

So I picked the second option which was to get myself together and head back out. I did not want to miss out on my chance to go canoeing for the first time with my mom, and I didn’t think I would see that slimy little lizard ever again. So we got back in the canoe. My mom pushed us into the water, and off we went back out into the lake.

My mom paddled us out, but I was still a little nervous about the lizard popping back out. So I relaxed just a little but that much because if the lizard came out I would start to freak out.

My mom yelled “STOP, KENZIE!!!!! I don't want to go swimming today!!!!!!” As I rocked the boat as if it was a seesaw because I was freaking out about the lizard in the boat.

I responded “SORRY, but can you get it OUT!” The lizard was running everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE!!!

“I’m trying to!” my mom pleaded. So my mom tried to pick up the lizard with herpaddle, but she cut the tail into three pieces. The cut up pieces of the lizard’s tail kept MOVING!!!!! So I started freaking out, even more than before! Seriously, could you blame me!?

My mom finally picked up the lizard with her paddle and flung the squirming lizard out of the canoe. IT STARTED SWIMMING AND TRYING TO COME BACK INTO THE CANOE! Out of instinct, I splashed it with the water.

My mom shouted, “STOP, YOUR ROCKING THE BOAT! YOURE GOING TO MAKE US FALL IN THE LAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” So I froze because I did not want to fall in with the lizard.

Because of all the lizard problems, we struggled to catch up to the others. Finally, when we did, it was time to head back to shore. I had to steer the canoe, and I was not the best at steering that thing. That's probably why we were the second to last ones to get back to shore.

My mom and I are still talking and laughing about this experience to this day. I don't get as freaked out about lizards anymore, but I still don't like them right at my feet. Although I got freaked out by the slimy little lizard, this was a “fun” experience for my first time out on the lake. I will never forget this first canoe trip on the lake with my mom. Now that I have learned the hard way, I will never forget to look high and low for a slimy little lizard, especially before an outdoor activity.

Kenzie Rogers

The Bright School 5th Grade, Ann O’Brien

Dare to Dance

Don’t underestimate people. Trying something new is difficult, and doubting the person that's trying it won’t make anything better. Sometimes, we doubt people subconsciously, even though we know it's wrong. Actually, it took doubting someone very close to me to learn a valuable lesson. I really needed to be more respectful.

“Do you want to go to Main Street for dinner?” my mom asked.

“Not really,” I replied.

“Well, too bad. We are going anyway,” she said.

“Why didn’t you tell me in the first place?” I ask.

“Cause, I knew you would say no.” she replied.

I HATE going to any place in a car. I immediately get a headache and want to vomit. At least the ride isn’t very long. I already have a headache from thinking about the ride.

“I’m sorry Layla, we aren't eating here today. We are going someplace else today.¨

I knew she wasn’t joking. She had this look in her eyes. I got nervous.

“Where are we going?” I asked my mom, dreading the answer. I swallow hard, for this one mystery adventure would change my life.

I had been waiting for this day to arrive for months. My mom was asked to participate in a dance competition called “Dare to Dance. ” This is a local competition my mom was practicing for, similar to the national competition “Dancing With the Stars. ” This competition is organized by the Kidney Foundation to raise money locally. For months my mom has been practicing so much with her professional partner, Joel. Although my mom has no prior dance experience, she was working hard and with the help of Joel, she was perfecting her dance. Then there's me, your average ten year old girl who has watched every, and I mean EVERY one of my mom’s dance practices. Although it was fun to watch, I did get tired of watching the same thing over and over again. We were walking into the studio when Joel asked,“What's up Layla!?!”

I look up,

“A fan,” I replied.

“Very funny,” he sighs.

“Gina, are you ready to dance?” Joel asks my mother enthusiastically.

“Alright, Layla, will you hold my phone, please?” my mom asks.

“Fine,” I groan. I hope this goes by quickly, I tell myself.

One day later…My parents and I were having dinner together when I brought up, “Momma, your dance is only three days away. It’s Wednesday night, and your dance is on Saturday night! We better get you to practice.”

Two Nights Later….

It’s the night before my mothers dance. I'm excited, but my mom is nervous, yet she wants to get it over with. I am really nervous that she won't win. I´m scared my mom won´t make her lift.

¨Goodnight sweetheart, love you. ¨ my dad whispered

¨Love you too, dad.¨I answered drowsily. After that, I quickly fell asleep.

¨ Good Morning sleepy head¨

¨What dad?¨I whine

¨It's momma ´ s dance today,¨ he whispered.

¨MY MOM'S DANCE IS TODAY!!!!¨I scream!

I´m so excited for my mom’s dance. It starts at fivethirty P.M. She has been at the ballroom since ten A.M. practicing and practicing and practicing! Well I better get going!

After a while it was time to go to the ballroom. I was wearing a black dress with a big white bow in the middle, and my dad was wearing a tuxedo.

I sat in our quiet car anticipating the chances of my mom winning, when my dad told me,¨Ok, we are here. Are you excited?¨

¨Of course, why wouldn't I be?¨ I exclaimed.

¨Come on, or we will be late.¨

¨Alright, I´m coming¨ I stammered.

Right now it was cocktail hour. At this time you get to see the ¨Celebrities¨! In other words, my mom. There is Dr. Tatiana Joab, another contestant. I found Joel. Maybe he knew where my mom was. I was about to ask him when I heard,¨ Ladies and gentlemen please take a seat.¨ Nevermind I guess. I thought to myself, so I took my seat.

ONE HOUR LATER…

And now … we have…GINA DHANANI AND JOEL TOMAS!!!!!!

All I heard after that was screaming, screaming and more screaming. If you could catch screams there would be at least a million. I have to admit, I screamed a lot,too. Then I saw her in her beautiful flowing dress, waving. We lock eyes, and my mom blows me a kiss, I make a heart with my hands, and she smiles. I am still screaming, and she is still smiling as she starts her dance. She spins and twirls so gracefully and fluently. I wonder how she does it. Are you ready? You can do this, you can do this, you can do this, you can do this I pray. Come on momma you can do this. I think to myself. Please,momma; please I'm sorry I didn't believe you could.

YES!!! YOU’RE DOING IT MOM!!!!! OK, only one more lift to go. You got this girl!

¨And now go to the star to receive your scores.

“Your dance was amazing, a 10.”

“Wow! All I can say is wow, 10. Speechless! 10¨ The judges exclaimed.

I go feral.

¨Now in third… Dr. Tatina Joab!

In second…this is a close one… GINA AND JOEL!!!

Oh mom you did it, you did it!!!! AND IN FIRST, ERIN SIZEMORE AND CASSY HAYWOOD!!!!¨

I ran on stage and gave my mom a hug. “Good job,” I whisper.

4 months later…

Now my mom is up and running again. All I wanted was for my mom to get first, but now I realize all I should have wanted was for her to be happy. Also, now I take dance lessons with her dance partner, Joel. In the future, I hope to do something like my mom did with Joel.

Layla Dhanani

The Bright School 5th Grade, Ann O´Brien

Ms. Frannie’s Secret

Ms. Frannie was born on March 29th, 1901, in Frankfort, Kentucky. When she was 69 years old, she moved into a little neighborhood in Sacramento, California, named Blackberry Hollow. It was a rainy October morning when Hannah and Paul Jones moved into the house next door. Ever since they met, Ms. Frannie has gone to their house to eat dinner every Tuesday. A year after the Jones’ moved in, Hannah and Paul were blessed with both a random stray cat on their front porch and a baby boy! The cat was pretty chubby so they named him Porky. Baby Patrick was born February 1972 and two years later he became a big brother when twin girls Scarlett and Ruby were born. By the time Patrick and Porky were 5, Ms. Frannie was practically their grandma. If Hannah and Paul needed to do something as small as giving the neighbors their mail, because the mailman could never get it right, Ms. Frannie was always there for those 9.4 seconds.

One day, Ms. Frannie went to visit her little brother Bob. She waited until the kids were 15 and 13. Why did she wait this long? Your guess is as good as mine. Ruby had the great idea to clean Ms. Frannie’s house as a surprise for when she got back.

She told her brother and sister and they agreed to go into Ms.Frannie’s house two hours after she left, so that she would have enough time to think whether or not she forgot her toothbrush. When Ms. Frannie was finally done saying her goodbyes, the kids got ready to go next door. Scarlett already knew where Ms. Frannie’s cleaning supplies were so they didn’t have to bring anything. Patrick said they should start on the second floor and work their way down to the basement, so that’s exactly what they did. The kids knew where to put everything because they practically came to Ms. Frannie’s house everyday. “Can you go get me the broom, Scarlett? "Ruby called out. “Sure thing.” Scarlett shouted back as she flew down the stairs almost tripping herself. “Scarlett, can you also bring me the duster?” Patrick yelled over the banister. “Okay.” Scarlett yelled back. Once Scarlett came back, it only took the kids thirty minutes to finish upstairs. “I’m gonna go organize the fridge,” said Patrick. “Oooh, can you grab me a soda? Ms. Frannie said her fridge is ours.” Ruby said back. “Of course.” Patrick said. Patrick wanted to play a little prank on Ruby. “Well I asked for something more like a can of soda, not a can of soup.” Ruby said sarcastically. She went and got it herself. They worked until it was time for the girls cheer practice.

The next day all they had to do was clean Ms. Frannie’s basement. “No one told me Ms. Frannie was married.” Ruby said holding a picture of Ms. Frannie with a man the kids have never seen. “That’s because she never was. That’s Bob in the picture with her.” Scarlett said to her sister. “How do you know?” Ruby asked. “Ms. Frannie showed me a family photo album and Bob was in it.” Replied Scarlett. “And where was I?!” Ruby wanted to know. Scarlett simply said back, “Asleep.” While the girls were talking Patrick was wandering around until he found something that caught his eye. “Umm guys, look what I found.” Patrick said. “What?” Ruby and Scarlett said at the same time. Patrick held up a small, detailed chiseled marble statue of a poodle. It was no bigger than a computer mouse. The girls asked where Patrick had found it and he led them to a pile of moving boxes where he had found the little poodle next to them. Without a word, Ruby started to look through the boxes when she found one labeled “Made By Frannie”. Ruby opened the box and saw a beautiful marble cherry blossom tree that obviously took years to finish. Ruby went through more boxes with the same label and found more marble statues. There was an angel, a nutcracker, a fork, and other miscellaneous objects like a cat who was DEFINITELY not Porky because the statue was slim and Porky was fat.

These statues were worth a lot of money and if Ms. Frannie sold them she could go to visit Bob and her other siblings who live far away. “Ms. Frannie will be back tomorrow, we could ask her about the statues.” Said Patrick. The kids agreed to ask her at dinner Tuesday night. Ms. Frannie was so surprised to see her house squeaky clean. She said she missed eating dinner with the Jones’ while she was gone. After dinner was served, Patrick slowly started creeping into the statue topic. He lost a bet so he had to bring it up. When Ms. Frannie realized what he was talking about, her face lit up with excitement. “Oh my goodness! I forgot about those!” Ms. Frannie said loudly. “There are two for each of you and the rest are going to be sold.” She said. “What are you gonna do with the money?” Said Ruby. “Stuff.” Ms. Frannie said slyly. “Like…” Scarlett said. But Ms. Frannie said nothing. The next day Ms. Frannie took all the kids to her house to pick their statues. Ruby picked the poodle and the water lily, Patrick picked the banana and the giraffe, and Scarlett picked the poinsettia and the bow. When Ms. Frannie got her money, she told the kids she had copies of the ones she sold and the kids could take as many as they wanted! With the money she extended her house into the Jones’ house. Continued...

Hannah and Paul had wanted to do this for a long time. It would have been done sooner but Ms. Frannie insisted on paying. When the renovations done, Ms. Frannie ate dinner with the Jones’ every night, but Tuesdays were still special!

The End!

Aniston Lewis

Silverdale Baptist Academy

5th Grade, Katie Dockery

The Unknown Creature

One lovely day, a girl named Violet was taking a walk on the beach with her dog named Palmer. That day was very sunny, so it was hot!

“What is it, Palmer?” Violet asked. Palmer barked and barked and would not stop. Violet had no clue what Palmer was trying to tell her. Finally, Violet turned and saw something big jump up out of the water. Violet was amazed! So, Violet called her friend Jack to come down to the beach. As soon as Jack got there, they looked up a picture of the massive creature that Violet saw. ” Wow! That thing is awesome!” Jack exclaimed.

“What is it called?” Violet asked.

Uh, it is called an “Alocaliasourus.” The two friends were puzzled. They had no clue what to say. That night when Violet went home, she told her mother about what she saw. Her mother told her that was awesome! And then she told Violet that it was time for bed. The next morning Violet ran down the stairs for breakfast. But before Violet could finish her breakfast her mother looked at Violet and told her that Violet and her friends would be going Scooba diving that day! Violet jumped with joy and went to get ready. When it came for the time for them to leave violet almost forgot her waterproof camera!

Violet looked everywhere for it until she thankfully checked her bag by the front door and realized it was in her bag all along! Violet hopped in the car with her parents, and they drove off to the docks. While they were in the car Violets mother told her that her friends Jack, Maggie, and Crew were also going!

As soon as they got to the dock, they began to drift away on the boat. Once they arrive to their spot, they all jumped into the water. After about five minutes violet looked at all her friends and realized that Crew was gone!

“Crew! Where is he!? Violet yelled. Everybody started to look for him. Maggie looked at Violet and said, “Look! Crews gear is caught on some coral! So, they all went to help him. Once they got him unstuck, the parents said it was enough for one day. But all the sudden a ginormous tail flipped out of the water!

“What was that? I need to take a picture of it” said Violet.

As soon as Violet snapped the picture she hopped on the boat, and they headed back to the dock

When they got back Crew noticed his leg was scraped from the coral. But a little bit of ice helped.

Violet showed her mother the picture of the massive creature and her mother posted it online and tons of people said they had never seen that before. As it turns out the creature was known to be an extinct species! I guess taking a walk on the beach with your dog can help you rediscover an extinct species!

Elyn Parham

Silverdale Baptist Academy

5th Grade, Katie Dockery

The Money Jar

“Mom,” asked Jacob, “What’s for dinner tonight?” “Let’s see, Jacob. Well, we only have canned corn,” said Mom. “But we’ve been eating that all week!” said Jacob. And Jacob was right. All they’ve been eating was canned corn. Because that’s all they could afford to buy. “Mom,” asked Rebecca, “What’s for dinner tonight?” Mom said, “Honey, couldn’t you hear me talking to Jacob?” Rebecca said, “Sorry. I was looking at the money jar. It’s looking really empty and something weird is happening in it.” And Rebecca was right too. It was like the coins inside were moving when the jar wasn’t. The Great Depression had hit hard on the Rivers family. They had very little money left, along with most of America. “Kids! Dad’s home!” said Mrs. Rivers. Mr. Rivers usually came in the door with a smile on his face. But today, he came in with a frown. “What’s wrong, Honey?” said Mrs. Rivers. She didn’t know what was going on until she saw Mr. Rivers was holding everything he had kept in his office and she looked at the clock. He was home early. He must have been sent away from his job. “Oh Honey, I’m so sorry.” Mrs. Rivers gave Mr. Rivers a hug, Jacob ran to his room crying, and Rebecca went back to the money jar. “What are we going to do now?” Rebecca whispered to herself.

Then, she went to her room, sat on her bed, and thought hard about what would happen next. Meanwhile, there was really something strange happening in the money jar. The coins were moving. They were alive. And every other coin but these in the money jar had been used right up. The last coins left thought they would be at the Rivers’ house forever because they were at the bottom of the jar. And that meant when more coins got added to the top, they were the next ones used. The Rivers had never used the coins to the bottom. But because of the Depression, it was becoming a threat to the last few coins. “Alright coins. If you want to survive, you must follow me out into the wilderness. But you have to be careful and hide. Because you know how humans are. They pick up and keep every coin they see. Got it?” asked the coin leader. “Got it,” said all the coins. “Yes, Nick?” He asked, “When do we leave?” “Tomorrow,” said the coin leader. “So pack up all your things.” The next day, Mr. Rivers sent out to go look for a job. He came back home with a smile, but the kids were already in bed so they couldn’t see him. “You’re back late. We were worried about you,” said Mrs. Rivers. “Sorry,” said Mr. Rivers, “I got a job interview somewhere and they say there’s a very good chance I will get it.”

Mrs. Rivers said, “That’s great, Sweetie! But how did you get it?” He said, “Well it’s a pretty new place and I heard the president made something called the CCC to help people get jobs. But if I get the job, we will have to move.” “Ok,” said Mom, “We’ll do it.” “Rebecca,” said Jacob, “Did you hear that? We’re moving. Uh oh, I need to check the money jar. Do we even have enough to buy a new house?” So Rebecca and Jacob went to the money jar. When they got to the money jar, they couldn’t believe what they saw. “Ahhhhhh!” Rebecca screamed! Jacob didn’t want anything to do with this so he ran back to the bedroom. The coins that used to be in the jar were marching away! “Come back here!” she said. The coins stopped and slowly turned their heads to Rebecca. “What are you doing out of the jar?” she asked. The coin leader replied, “Well, what are you doing out of bed, young child?” They fought for a while and then Rebecca finally got the lead coin to tell her what they were doing. “Ok,” said Rebecca, “What about I hide you and don’t spend you until we move?” “Alright,” said the coin leader, “I guess that’s fine.” So she picked them up and went straight to her room. The next day, Mr. Rivers picked out a house that was not too much money, and was the perfect size for his family.

“Alright, Sweetie, I have a house saved. Are we ready? Where is the money?” Mom replied, “Right over heeeerrre! Where is it? The money jar is empty!” “Dad,” began Rebecca, but Mr. Rivers replied, “Not now, Honey, I’m looking for…” “The money, I know,” said Rebecca. “I have them. They’re alive.” “Seriously?” asked Mr. Rivers. “Yes,” she said. “And nobody wants them to get spent.” Some neighbors came by and asked what was going on. Once he told them, they offered him money because they had just gotten jobs too. So, now the Rivers were packed, the coins were safe, and they had money for the house. Everything was perfect now, so they lived a happily ever after.

Emma Ballard

Silverdale Baptist Academy 5th Grade, Suzy Rogers

Super Sponge One day in Taffy, Texas, there lived a kid named Sponge. A bad storm was brewing, and everyone was ordered to evacuate. However, Sponge refused. His mom and dad, along with everyone else, explained he would be all alone, but Sponge insisted on staying. After everyone left, Sponge wandered the deserted city. He spotted an abandoned science lab and a school. Deciding to check out the lab first, he walked in. There, he thought he heard something. Approaching the sound, he found an old man frozen in place. "Hello?" Sponge said fearfully. The old man turned. "Who are you?" "I'm Sponge," he replied. "I decided not to evacuate." "Why not?" the old man asked. Sponge explained. The old man, who introduced himself as Goofy, said he did not evacuate either. "If you're staying," Goofy said, "you should take this potion." Sponge hesitated. "What is it?" "Gives you superpowers," Goofy claimed. Sponge was not convinced. He took the bottle and inspected it, but before he could argue, Goofy shoved it down his throat. "You can't survive without it!" Goofy declared. Furious, Sponge stormed out. An alert on his phone announced the storm's approach. Next, he ventured into the abandoned school. As he walked, he contemplated staying there during the storm.

He could already hear the hurricane howling outside. Unsure where to go, a strange feeling directed him to the third floor, second room on the right. Was it survival instinct? It did not seem like it. He climbed the stairs and entered the room. The crashing waves were deafening. Finally, the storm subsided. Stepping out, he saw no damage on that floor, except for water in the rooms to his left. He wanted to leave, but suspected flooding. He ascended to the fourth floor, only to find the roof missing. A fierce gust of wind sent him scrambling back. As he approached the stairs to descend, he saw a vast expanse of water below. Trapped, he returned to the room and searched for his phone. Wishing it would fly into his hand, he was astonished to see it rise and land right in his palm. Shocked, he realized the potion was responsible. He looked up the power - telekinesis. It allowed him to move objects with his mind, even fly! He returned to the fourth floor and soared through the missing roof, landing safely on the ground. He then made his way back to the abandoned science lab. Entering, he found Goofy. "You were right," Sponge admitted. "I probably wouldn't have made it without the potion." Goofy's smile vanished. "Now that you know about me," he said, "I have to kill you."

Goofy lunged at Sponge, who swiftly flew to the other side of the room. Using his telekinesis, he hurled a chair at Goofy, sending him sprawling. Goofy tried to rise, but Sponge choked him with his mind. Goofy, who intended to kill Sponge, ended up getting killed himself. Sponge destroyed the potion. Eventually, he met another person with telekinesis named Pat. Together, they became the heroes of Taffy, Texas.

Gunner Bethune

Silverdale Baptist Academy

5th Grade, Suzanne Rogers

Wild Cats

Waiting, waiting, waiting. Mamma still wasn’t back from hunting, and Ivan was starting to get worried. What if Mamma had been eaten? Ivan was a small, black tuxedo cat with long whiskers and a big bushy tail. Chester, on the other hand, was orange and brown with stubby feet and a bobtail, but they were brothers! Chester was scratching at the small wooden door of the den whimpering. The den was under a big willow tree covered in moss. Mamma had built it herself. It was very small and cramped, but it was comfy for these three cats. Finally, the door swung open, and it was Mamma! Her golden fur was soaking wet from the rain, and she looked as if she caught a bad cold.

“Mamma are you okay?” Chester asked.

“I-I think I need to sit down.” Mamma said painfully. Ivan brought her to the bed then felt her head.

“She has a high fever,” Ivan whispered.

“We need to get help!” whimpered Chester. They let Mamma sleep,and then, they went to the smartest person they knew, Professor Loopy. Professor Loopy was a very smart cat, but… Well, he was loopy! They brought him over to their den to check on Mamma.

“Oh dear,” said Professor Loopy, “she has a serious case of Scarlet fever- it is extremely rare.” Even though neither Ivan or Chester had any clue what that was, they were terrified.

“Can you help her?” Ivan asked.

“Well, there is a cure, but I don’t have all the ingredients,” he said, “you need to get me a dragon flower petal.”

“WHAT?! Those are so rare!” Ivan screamed. “Yes, indeed.” They are rare, that's why you need to get them,” replied Professor Loopy. Both kittens sighed, but they agreed to take on the journey. They packed up a month's supply of food because they had no idea how long it would take. Ivan had seen a dragon flower before, just once, and it was beautiful. Sparkling red petals glow as the light dances across the flower. However, he was only two years old though he did briefly remember where it was, but it’s at the old den, which was all the way across the forest! Anyways, they proceed on their journey. They were walking for at least an hour before it was starting to get dark. “We need to make camp,” Chester exclaimed. They set up both tents and went to bed after eating some berries they had packed.

In the morning, they had some salmon they caught in the river for breakfast, and it was delicious! Then, they continued their journey. In the morning, the forest is covered in dew, and Ivan hates it. The wet goo gets in his bushy black tail, and it just stays there, all day. “Ugh, dew is nasty!” Ivan compained. It was starting to get dark when they heard a noise! It was a howling noise like a dog barking.

“Umm, was that a dog?!” Chester whimpered.

“I don’t know,” Ivan whispered. Suddenly, a big wolf jumped out at them! “RUN!” Ivan screamed. They ran as fast as they could. Then, they ran up a tree, and the wolf couldn't get to them, but it was barking at them. The dog wouldn’t move. Finally, after an hour it gave up and walked off. Then they climbed down the tree. “Woah, that was close.” Chester exclaimed. They kept walking along for a few hours until they came across a field of flowers! They were beautiful, but they were not dragon flowers. They went to the field to look at them, but as soon as they put their nose to the flower, they fell asleep, and after an hour, they woke up.

“Wha-what happened?” Chester asked. ‘We fell asleep because of the flowers, and we don’t want it to happen again.”

They grabbed one and left, because who knows, they might run into the wolf again. They were getting close to their destination where the flower was. They probably walked another hour or so before they found it, but guarding it was the wolf. It growled and snapped at them. “Ivan, get the sleep flower!” Chester screamed. Ivan grabbed the flower out of the pouch, then stuck it in the dog's face. A second later, it had fainted. They grabbed the dragon flower and left hoping to never do this again. When they got home, they gave it to Professor Loopy so he could make the potion. They were so excited for Mamma to be better. Professor Loopy fed it to Mamma. “This is nasty!” Mamma giggled. They all started laughing. After a few weeks, Mamma had fully recovered, and they still don’t know how she got it, but it was all worth it. Mamma was healthy! After this Journey, Ivan discovered the bravery inside of him, and next time, he will be ready for whatever comes his way.

Abby Ethridge Chattanooga Christian School 5th Grade, Madelyn Hayes

The Curse

Not so long ago, in the deep thickens of the Glade forest, lived two siblings, Alex and Levi, and their mother, Jenn. They lived in a small house, but it was enough for the three of them. “We have to free the curse,” said Alex brushing her teeth then hoping to go to bed after. She had been helping her mom all day, and she was very tired.

“I know. Dad is gone in the army, and if mom dies of the curse, we would have to live with Auntie Shufflebottom,” Levi, Alex’s brother exclaimed.

“Oh no, Auntie Shufflebottom does not like us,” Alex cried. The evil witch had cursed Levi and Alex’s mom about a week ago because the witch was very evil hearted. They were hoping to free the curse somehow. Alex took her hair out of the braid she had in all day and went to the bathroom. She looked in the mirror and looked at her beautiful brown eyes and her few freckles on her face. “Well, get some rest, we have a very big day tomorrow,” Alex whispered to Levi.

Alex woke up to the sound of knocking on her door. “Hello?” she said, frightened, not knowing who it was or the time.

“Open up!” said her brother Levi.

“You can come in,” whined Alex. Levi swung the door open like he had been waiting there for years.

“Come on,” he grumbled, “we need to go and somehow free the curse.” Alex pulled herself out of bed.

“Okay, I will be out there in a minute,” Alex called.

“Hurry up,” Levi declared “we don’t have much time.”

When Alex came out, she ate breakfast really fast, and they set off on their journey. When they stepped outside, they heard a noise. “What is that?” Levi asked, his voice shaking like an earthquake. “I don’t know, but let’s go find out,” Alex said, acting like she was not scared. They started walking towards what they thought was some kind of animal, but it wasn’t. They heard the sound again. But a lot closer.

“Hello,” the voice whispered, “I know why you are here, Alex and Levi.” said the voice. “What?” Levi whispered back, surprised and scared at the same time. Suddenly, a figure appeared a few feet away from Alex and Levi.

“It’s me, the evil witch.” “Y-y-you! You're the one that cursed my mom!” Levi blurted, his voice shaking from how scared he was.

“But why?” Alex said in a calming voice. The evil witch started telling the story,

“Well, when I was in highschool with your mom, we were best friends...

We had sleepovers, and we played every day, but one day, she left me, and someone else was her best friend.”

“Well, is that the only reason you cursed her!?” Levi asked. “Oh no, she also embarrassed me in front of the whole school!” the evil queen exclaimed.

“How, why? Mom would never do that!” Levi said, angry and confused at the same time.

“She-she-she tripped me in the hallway and got me in trouble!” The evil witch exclaimed.

“Does that give you the right to curse her!?” Alex yelled, finally speaking.

“Well, not really, but she also left me,” the witch said.

“Okay fine, you will need to answer this riddle to free the curse,” she explained.

“What’s that?” Alex asked.

“On the shale, you will see something small but long,” the witch explained, “shining in the sun, use your fingers and go to the sick one. Abracadabra!

You should shout. Alex was writing it down in her notebook so she would not forget it. The witch continued, “Round and round spins the light, free the curse before the night.”

“Wow,” Levi said, “that is very long.”

“Good thing I wrote it in my notebook,” Alex said cheerfully.

“Now let’s go!” she exclaimed in a strong voice. They saw the witch spin round and round and flew away. When they got to their yard, they reread the first thing the witch had said. “On the shale you will see something small but long.” Alex explained.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Levi said.

“Well, where would shale be?” Alex asked.

“Maybe on the roof?” Levi wondered. They went to the side of the house and started climbing onto the roof. They saw something small but long, and it was shining in the sun! “Look!

There’s the object that is shining in the sun! It’s a wand!” Levi exclaimed. When they went over to it, they read the next part of the riddle, “Use your fingers and go to the sick one,” Alex explained. “I think she means to pick it up, and then go to the sick one! That’s mom!” Alex quickly picked it up because they had to free the curse before night. “Now, let’s get off the roof and go to mom.” Levi declared. When they got inside the house, they immediately went to their mom’s room. She was laying in bed.

“We got it!” Levi shouted.

“Ready?” Alex asked.

“Only if you are,” their mom said in a gentle voice.

“Quick! the sun is setting!” Levi exclaimed. “Abracadabra!” Alex shouted pointing the wand at her mom.

They immediately saw their mom spinning round and round in the air and a tornado of light around her. She gracefully landed on the ground like a princess.

“Yes! It worked!” Levi exclaimed.

“Thank you so much!” their mom said thanks to her children.

“Not a problem,” Levi lied, he did not like that mission, “One question though.”

“What’s that?” their mom asked, hugging her children.

“Why did you embarrass the evil witch in highschool?”

“Oh, I will tell you later.” their mom said “Aww man!” Alex said, disappointed.

THE END

Meredith Lindquist

Chattanooga

Christian School 5th Grade, Madelyn Hayes

The Graduation

We were all in English class getting ready for graduation. While Eliza was putting on her graduation gown, she accidentally kicked the teacher's desk. A locked drawer opened, and a key dropped out.

Josi and Emily asked with wonder ,“I wonder what that key opens up?”

Blakely exclaimed, “ I don't know.”

Then, we heard a sound coming from the hallway, so we took the key and ran into the hallway. We heard a sound coming from the locker; a locker that had never been opened before. It had a lock on it that said,“Do not open!”

“Let's just try," Nova said, so we did, and it opened. We saw something beautiful, so we went in,and we were all amazed. I could not believe what I saw. The green leaves are made out of chocolate, trees made out of licorice, and best of all, the chocolate covered strawberry bushes.

When they went in, they were greeted by the licorice tree. “Hello,” said the tree. “Hi,” we all replied.“Why are you guys here?” asked the tree. “Oh, well we found a key, and it opened up a locker," I explained. “Well you guys can explore, but make sure that you don't lose the key because that's your only way out”

We were exploring,we stepped on a piece of candy. The deeper we went in the forest, the more candy we found, and the more we ate. While the candy was up to our knees, we still kept going until our pockets were full of candy.There was so much candy it was like an ocean. “ I think we should head back now,” I exclaimed.“Yeah, it is almost time for the graduation.,”Emma said As we were walking back and got to the door, I asked “ All right Emily, hand me the key.” Emily panicked,“ I don’t have the key.”

We all panicked.“Who has the key?” I yelled. Josi asked,“ Eliza, do you have the key?” “ I don't know, let me check my pockets.,” Eliza said. “Oh no, I don't have it!” Eliza said with fear "Wait if you don't have it and no one else has it then, oh my goodness, we have lost the key!” We went back and tried to find the key but could not find it. We might not make it in time for the graduation!

We were all terrified and had to find that key. Everyone checked their pockets, the chocolate covered strawberry bushes, and the locoish trees.

“Ugh, where is that stupid key?” I said. I was getting mad and frustrated.

“Y’all, there is one place we haven't checked,” Nova responded.

“Where?” We all asked.

“Back in the candy walkway,” Nova said. We went back and looked in the candy. We couldn't find anything until we found a Twix bar that was opened, so we looked inside, and we found the key! We went back and unlocked the locker and ran back to the English classroom where they were lining up. As we were getting in our spots, we all were laughing, “that was so fun it was like an escape room!” Best of all was when we got onto the stage. It felt really good to finally walk on the stage. I alway thought I could do things by myself and so did my friends, but one thing is for sure, this is a graduation to remember.

Caroline Huang

Chattanooga Christian School 5th Grade, Sara Davick

Tracker

One night, on May 5, 2030, in North America, over 2,000 people went missing. When I heard that they went missing, I went to work to find them. I am a tracker - a really good tracker. Eventually, every other tracker went missing too. “Yes! I get to work alone. Wait a minute, I have to search for them too, ah flapjaks,’’ I exclaimed. “Let’s go Tony,’’ I said to my work dog. Tony is a good tracker because his nose is really good at finding people, and his fur is perfect for all weather. We searched for three months until we finally got a signal. One night, at 11:35 pm, I heard a dripping noise in the hallway. “Wake up Tony,’’ I called. He got up and barked at me. “Shhhh,” I whispered. Then, I heard a scream. It looked like it was coming from a vent. I walked up slowly, and there was a small puddle of water. Then, I heard another scream, and there was blood dripping from the vent, so I opened the vent, and nothing was there. I thought I dreamed the screaming, so I got paper towels ,and as soon as I touched it, I went to an all red world, and all the people that went missing were slaves, and they were building a statue. I walked around trying not to get caught. Then I saw someone getting whipped, and I walked up to the guy that was whipping him, and I tapped his back and he turned around.

As soon as he turned around I punched him in the face. The guy that got whipped said thank you. I took him to the exit of the place to my house.I walked around a lot more and then someone shot me with a tranquilizer gun. I woke up, and I was laying in front of someone. He said, “ Hello, Nial, I am king Jaklen,”

“Who?” I asked.

“Wait, You never heard of me?” he questioned me.

“No,’’ I answered.

“Well, all the earth will know,” he said.

“No they won't,’’ I responded.

“Yes they will!’’ exclaimed the king.

“How?’’ I questioned.

“Did you see the people working for me?’’ he asked “Yes,’’

“Their building a statue that will open the portal to my world and your world'’

“ Oh and how do you know my name?’’ I wondered

“It doesn't matter, anyway. I am going to destroy your world and take everyone for slaves,’’ he told me

“The only way to stop it is the staff I am holding”

“You mean the staff I'm holding,’’ waving the staff I sneaked from him. At him I turn around and someone punches me in the face. “No double teaming guys,” I said.

The staff flew up in the air, and the person that punched me caught it.

“Hurry up, turn on the statue!’’ “But it is not finished. people are going to die.’’ “ I don't care about them. Turn it on, NOW!’’ So, he turned it on, and every one on it fell and died.

The statue's eyes glowed red and moved and crushed everything in his path. The king dived trying not to get stepped on. He stopped and opened the portal, but it was opening slowly, but I could get through.

For some reason it dropped me in the U.S military base with all the bombers and some tanks. I got in the bomber, and I tried to fly into the other world with an aircraft carrier attached to it, but a bunch of the king's workers jumped on my ship, so I spun the ship and they flew off and died.

Then, I got in the world and dropped the aircraft carrier on it on the statue, and it absolutely crushed him into a pancake. “yes!’’ Then ,I saw a lot of them get into my world, and the king did too, but for some reason in New York, the aircraft carrier fell out of the world. “Uh, oh’’ I said softly. It crushed the bad people, and crushed the empire state building. The king survived and ran away. He was laughing. He robbed banks and stole things. Then, he looked at me running and laughing, and then he got bulldozed by a truck. He died.

Since the king did not have the staff anymore, the portal closed, but everyone went out of the world and got back to their homes, and so did I. When I got back, Tony jumped on me with joy. It took 1 year and 45 days to rebuild the empire state building. All the people were happy to see them again. The day was August 6 2030 and The day was called Nail day. Everything was normal, or so we thought.

THE END

Titus Edging

Chattanooga

5th

Christian School

Grade, Sara Davick

As I, Mother Nature was sitting high up on my nature throne, I looked down at what I have created: a mostly water, frog ruled kingdom. But what do I see the frogs doing? Nothing ,but eating, sleeping, and admiring their tails! Those tails were a gift! King frog told me he wouldn't let their tails keep them from working!

“Get to work, frogs!” my voice booms throughout the valley. The frogs started to go to king frog, it looks like they were consulting him. Soon, they go and sit back down.

“It’s going to take more than that!” said king frog's tiny squeaky voice. All of the frogs looked surprised about what he said, now all of them will be punished. Now, every frog knows that if you don't do anything worthwhile and you aren’t helpful to others you should be taught a lesson. And that is what they got, a lesson.

“ King frog come up here!” I yelled angrily. And so, he had one last glimpse of his “beautiful” reflection before he came up. King frog was so glum that he dragged his feet instead of walking with pride.

“Because you think of nothing but your tail, it shall disappear. Because you don’t do anything but eat and sleep your mouth will become as monstrous as a door and your eyes shall come out from your head.”

I said “No, Nooo,” said king frog ”my beautiful tail, eyes, and mouth!” King frog kept on looking at his tail again and again, until it was gone. When it was gone his eyes popped out of his head and his mouth became as big as a door. And like king frog all of his subjects transformed too.

Just as wise, old grandfather frog said,” from that day to this, every frog has started life with a big tail, and as he has grown bigger and bigger his tail has become smaller and smaller, until finally it disappears, and then he remembers how foolish and useless it is to be vain of what nature has given us.”

That is why I made all of the frogs lose their tails.

Alma Sapp

Nolan Elementary School 5th Grade, Leslie MacPike

A Day or More in the Life of Emma

Hiya! The name’s Emma, and I have pretty much a perfect life, not to brag. I guess perfect might be an overstatement, nobody’s life is perfect but mine’s pretty awesome! I have two older brothers ( Elijah 14, and Liam 12) they’re a little annoying, but it’s fine. I am in 5th grade and I can’t wait for 6th grade, I auditioned for an art school called CCA, and I think (and hope!) I’m going to get in, I want to get in for visual art, my brothers go there, Eli is doing visual art, and Liam is doing percussion. I live in Chattanooga, Tennessee it’s kinda boring here, I go to school at Normal Park Museum Magnet, it’s a good school, but school is so boring, so does a good school even exist?

You may be asking, Emma why is your life perfect exactly? Well, I’m smart, I’m in advanced studies, I’m good at art (which is why I auditioned for visual art at CCA), and my family’s cool except for my brothers and my dad, okay my mom’s cool, and I have a lot of friends, so overall a pretty good life. I also have the cutest dog ever, Max, and he’s funnylooking because he has short legs and is fat, he’s the best doggy, I love him. So you can see that my life’s pretty cool but kinda boring, which I guess is good. “Emma! Get ready for school!”

“Oh, sorry Mom! What should I wear to school?”

“I dunno why are you asking me?”

“Uh ‘cause you’re the one who knows what the weather is gonna be like today.”

Okay so, I put on a T-shirt, sweatpants, and a jacket now it’s time to leave! I went to Ms. Pod’s classroom and when I sat down, there was a girl. A new girl.

“Hi, who are you? I’m Emma.”

“Uh, I’m Jenifer, call me Jenny.”

“Cool! Are you new here?”

“Yup. just moved from California.”

“Jenny, I have a very important question.”

“What is it?”

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Oh. My. God. That is a very important question, I think . . . lilac.”

“Ooh, that’s a good one.”

I think I’m liking this Jenny character. I carried on the day and at lunch I sat next to her we chatted about various things, school, siblings, the fact that everything in the universe is either pizza or not pizza, you know, that kind of thing. I went home, and while eating an after-school snack, I told Mom all about Jenny. When I was getting ready for bed I smelled something gross in my bed, when I turned around, it was gross.

“Ew! Mom, Max threw up in my bed!”

“Ew! Tell your dad to clean it up!”

Dad cleaned it up and told me that if he threw up again, we should call the vet. I went to bed, and in the morning Mom told me Max threw up again. I went to school and talked to Jenny about Max.

“Wait, you have a dog?”

“Yeah, I thought I told you.”

“I have two dogs, Buster and Biscuit.”

“Cool! Our dogs should meet each other!”

Our parents met each other, and Jenny and I started to see her more, Biscuit, Buster, and Max loved each other, especially Buster. As time passed Jenny and I got closer, same with our dogs. Max kept barfing, which the vet thought was weird because we all thought it was just a little bug. We went to the vet, and they told us something horrible.

“Max has come down with canine distemper.”

“I-is it fatal?” Asked Liam, voice shaking.

“Yes. Often times it is. And it’s not too uncommon.”

“Wait, Is Max going to… die?”

“Yes. I’m so sorry.”

Liam and I started to cry, Eli just looked sad, like Mom and Dad. We got home, I cried and petted Max over and over again, “Mommy, is Max really going to die?”

I asked. She just looked at me and nodded. The next day at school, I told Jenny about it, and she agreed and said Buster would be especially sad. The next week, we put him down, better than having him suffer. Jenny just looked sad and said Buster would whine, I visited and Buster was excited but realized Max wasn’t with me. Jenny said Buster wasn’t eating as much and never seemed happy.

Fast forward a few weeks, and Buster has depression. Jenny didn't seem that bothered, she “thought it was sweet that our dogs loved each other.” Fast forward again, Jenny’s dog is doing worse, I am still a little sad about Max, but we were looking at new dogs, and they have this adorable Shiba Inu, we’re going to get it, but we’re still thinking about what to name it, I’m voting on Charlie, Mom and Eli like that too.

We got Charlie and Buster is doing better, he likes playing with Charlie, but knows that Charlie is just a replacement for Max. A day (or more) in the life of Emma, not bad, but not perfect, Charlie is cute, everybody’s doing fine, and overall a pretty good life.

Astrid Colvin

Normal Park Museum Magnet School 5th Grade, Amanda Podgurski

This Is Me

It's a bright and sunny summer morning with hardly a cloud in sight. Mom’s in the kitchen cooking up potato soup for our pregnant neighbor, Mrs. Hall.

I'm swinging and staring at the flowers on the ground. If I were pregnant, I would not want potato soup. I think to myself, but then again, I hate potatoes. I hate them so bad that when Ms. Rotenburg (a rich old lady mom used to clean for) served me mashed potatoes, I fed them to the dog. After that incident, mom never brought me to clients' houses again.

“Jose, get in here and finish packing!” Mom hollers at me.

“Coming!” I yell. This is why I positively hate summer. The beach.

I don't even hate it because of the sand, I hate it because of me. Me and my body. I never even wear swimsuits unless mom makes me, but even then, I wear something over them. The last time I swam in public actually wearing a swimsuit and not clothes in the water was three years ago. I shouldn't have, though. Some boys made fun of me and called me fat. That's why I stopped wearing swimsuits, tank tops and shorts that stop anywhere above my knee. I throw my suitcase into the car and climb into the front seat where the AC is the best.

Then, of course, mom makes me move to the back so my brother, Jeff, can have the front. Just because he's the oldest. Oh well, we're dropping him off halfway to the beach with our aunt and uncle so he can have some quiet study time for college. I can't believe he’s old enough for college.

Dad is meeting us at the beach, and I know he will miss Jeff most of anybody, but personally, I wish dad didn't have to go to the beach for work. I never see him anymore.

As we finally pull into the driveway of the beach house I grimace. Mom is renting it because she thinks it's pretty. To me, though, it looks like one of those houses whose owner hates kids. I hate the way those houses look, all stuffy and perfect even though nothing and nobody is perfect. If anyone knows that, it's me.

I go inside and up the stairs, then throw my stuff into the first room I see. It's painted blue and has shells on the dresser. Ugh. It looks perfect. Thankfully, we'll only be here for two nights. Which to me seems like a waste of money. Immediately, mom calls me to go to the beach. We'll probably be there for a long time because mom is absolutely obsessed with the beach. Dad is not. Neither am I.

As we get to the beach, I can't believe my eyes. Dad is already there, and he’s wearing sweatpants and a tshirt. He's also reading a book, his favorite classic, Pride and Prejudice.

“Daddy, I missed you so, so much!” I run up to my father and throw my arms around his waist.

“Hey Jose, how's my favorite daughter?” He hugs me back.

“Daddy, I'm your only daughter!” He laughs, and then mom comes and hugs him.

“I'm going to go swimming, but you two can do whatever you like.” Mom takes off her cover-up and runs to get in the ocean.

“Jose, I've been wanting to have a conversation with you.” Dad leads me to his umbrella and chair. “You used to be so excited to go swimming, but because of some stupid boys, you won't even wear a swimsuit anymore.”

I swallow, I want to hear what my dad will say because maybe he can make me feel more comfortable about myself, but I’m scared that I'll never feel comfortable, that I'll never wear a swimsuit again which, I want to do because believe me when I say that swimming in jeans and a shirt is not comfortable.

“Jose, I know you, you persevere through so many things, so why can't you even feel comfortable in the body that God gave you?”

He looks down at me, “You are absolutely perfect the way you are, Jose, and nothing, nobody should be able to make you feel like this. I know that you're not the skinniest person in the world, but I'm glad you're not. It hurts me to see you staring longingly at the water and not going in because you think that you are not enough. But you are enough.”

I know he's right. He always is. This right here is why I love my father so, so much. He makes me see reason. He makes me feel like I am enough. I realize that now, but I still feel self-conscious about myself.

“Jose.” Dad takes my hand, “You are absolutely. Positively. Amazingly beautiful in my eyes. Not just the outside you, but the inside you too. Those boys were lying, you know that deep down. Go feel comfortable in your own skin. Don't let stupid boys get into your head. You are just the way that you should be. I love you, Jose.”

“I love you too, dad, and I think I want to swim now.” I hug him again and go to put my swimsuit on for the first time in three long years. I am me, and even though I'm not the prettiest girl in the world, I realize now that being pretty is not what matters.

Vera Sanders

Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences 5th Grade, Tina Whaley

Miss-Take

An icy cold, feeling tingled through my spine. It felt as if my whole life was built up to this moment. I could hear the crowd cheering behind me, but I didn't let it distract me. The announcer started to count down. I hopped onto my skateboard, hoping for the best. ”3,2,1!” the announcer shouted. It was in slow motion that day, all of it. The jump off of the starting block was messed up, and I broke my leg.

One year later…

“I know it was a year ago, but I have lost LOTS of sleep just thinking about it!”

“Sam, honey, we know you're still upset about the loss, but what do you want us to do about…” Dad never got to finish his sentence, because a loud banging noise was coming from the kitchen. When I saw what was making the noise, I wasn’t surprised. “Sam, my darling, sorry for all the noise!”

“Grandpa? What are you doing here? I thought you had to leave for New Jersey?”

“Well, after I heard your little conversation with you parents, I thought it would be the perfect chance to show you my new invention! I call it the MissTake, and it can take you back in time to fix your little shenanigans.”

“Well, does it work?” I said in a doubtful voice.

“Do you trust me or not?” answered grandpa. “Ok, I’ll go, but how do I work it?”

“All you have to do is dial it to the right time.”

“Here I go, wish me luck.” Sam dialed the key to one year ago and pressed the GO button. A blue wind lit up in the air. Thunder crackled, and when the air cleared, Sam was gone. Sam was jolted back in time. She banged and crashed against walls, but she soon found herself sitting safely on a bench.

There it was, all over again. I sat still, daydreaming about how exciting it was to be in the finals. I didn’t get to daydream long though. I felt a tap on my shoulder, then a very sympathetic voice in my ear.

“Sam, we were looking all over for you!”I knew exactly who it was. “MANDY, I am sooooo excited. I have a good feeling about today.” Mandy had been my best friend since 1st grade, so of course she was there. “Then let’s go, you have a competition to win!” I climbed up to the top of the starting block. I was ready this time; no more being a scaredy cat. The announcers shouting rang in my head. I wooshed and swooshed and shredded the gnar. I finished with no mistakes. The crowd cheered and shouted. Finally, it was time to figure out who would win.

The announcer gathered the scores and went up to the stage. “The winner of the annual skateboarding competition is…Skyler!” I was sad, I was nervous about what everyone was going to say. I guess you can’t change the future.

It felt as if an ocean of emotion was going to flood my mind. I couldn't stop it. Thoughts of failure struck me like lightning. I had to get back to present time, and FAST. I picked up the Miss-Take, and dialed one year to the future. Blue lightning struck as I hit walls. It felt the same as last time, but this time a little longer. That’s how I figured out why my grandpa called it the Miss-Take.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Campbell Covey

Chattanooga Christian School 5th Grade, Elizabeth Lawhorn

The Amazing Otter

AAAAAHHHHH!! I screamed as all the water came rushing in. I was the tiny runt in my family, so I got picked up and washed away. I was forced to swim, but then I could not go any farther. I started to sink but then I could feel something pushing me up. I thought it was a log but I didn’t know. I was just happy for the help.

First, I landed on a smooth type of land kind of like at home. Then, I looked up. There were trees all over the place, and I could hear a lot of different kinds of birds. “Right now I want my mom,” I thought in my head. I did not want to go any farther than I was but I knew that if I was going to find my family, I had to. “I can do this; I am strong.”

I heard so much around me that I decided to camp out where I could find a place that was not that loud. About 30 minutes later, I found a spot to set up. I did not have anything to put up. I found some twigs and leaves to make a tent just big enough for me. I was so tired that I went right to sleep before I ate dinner. Crunch, crunch. “What is that?”I say to myself. I go to look it’s a monkey. He is looking for food. “My food!” I shout.

Finally, I got my food back, but there was not that much food left in the bag for me to even have breakfast. I went to the river bank to see if I could get some fish, but I looked where the food was last time. It was not there. “That's ok I’ll just go farther,” I thought in my head. I was able to find fish so I continued my journey. Now, I could hear something in the distance. It sounded like another otter. “Hello!”

I could now see it’s my cousins Sally and Kate. I have never been this happy to see them before. We came to a point where it started to get dark. “Oh no. It is getting late. We should head home,” called Kate. She was the one that always was worried about being on time. “Ok, we're coming!” When we got home, I was so happy to see my parents and they were happy to see me.

Charlee Stoddard

Chattanooga Christian School 5th Grade,

Elizabeth Lawhorn

In North Carolina Bryson City there is a cabin on a cliff in the Smokies.

That is where I stayed for Thanksgiving. The drive up was a two-hour drive with my dad's college friends Jess, Mike, Lina, who took us to get lunch at a barbecue place in Cambridge Square, and then we left our mom there. and left about an hour down the road we stopped at a grocery store and got stuff for the cabin and chapstick and then we were on the road again like 30 minutes later we stopped at another grocery store got candy and some water and left, 30 minutes later we made it to the road that led to the cabin it was a long winding road, the road was small the miata could fit just fine but we had some trouble but we made it up the mountain to our cabin we went in first to get a lay of the land and then we went out to unpack.

We were sleeping in the loft which is like a half floor, the kitchen was below us and Lena’s parents were next to that, Lily’s parents' room was on the ground floor while Lilly, Kell Lena and I had bunk beds I got top bunk and kell got top bunk. That day was just to get there and relax. That night was long I didn't get much sleep the next day we drove to Charocky and went to a craft shop and got blow guns then we went to a nearby museum to use the bathroom then got boba and ice cream the boba and ice cream shop had balcony and under the balcony was a cat it was so cute then we checked out the other stores on the block and left to go back to the cabin I took a nap on the way back that was nice.

When we got back Kell, Lily and I played Monster Hunter Rise. Then we ate dinner and went to sleep at like 11:00. The next day we went to another shopping center and we had fun! We didn't get anything then but we got memories. Kell and I took a nap on the way back to the cabin. When we got back we took a walk and found a half-built house in the woods all that was in it was a too and some trees we crept walking and went back to the cabin that night we had sliders and hot cocoa and wet on to the patio and let me tell you you have never really seen stars but while we were at that cabin we sow stars we sow orin every night it was beautiful. The next day we kind of just stayed at home and ate dinner and that night my mom came in the middle of the night. That was nice. The next day we took a train ride downtown. We got boxed lunch gum and a free water bottle. About half an hour later there was a train wreck from a movie that was cool. It was all on the ground with broken windows which was so cool. When we reached our destination there was another shopping center we got cool rings and went back to the train station and left we went back to the cabin ate dinner and Kell, Lilly, Lina and I watched a movie while the adults played board games.

The next day was Thanksgiving so we kind of just sat around and watched the Macy's Day parade. Had turkey for dinner and went to bed

Friday is the last full day of being on a cliff. We went roller skating after lunch and had sushi for dinner then went to the cabin. The next day we packed up and went to the Nantahala outdoor center got these adorable stuffed animals and went home.

Eleanor Bertrand

St. Nicholas School

5th Grade, Alice Clark

My best softball tournament ever!!

I woke up at 6.pm and I had to get ready for my softball game. Once I was ready I got in the car, ate my breakfast then waited till we were there. When we were there I got all my bags and my water bottle then started walking to my dugout.

All my friends were out on the field practicing getting ready for the game. The other team was doing the same thing. Then we had to do the coin toss. Our coaches went up to the umpires and flipped the coin. We were hitting first.

My friend Alyssa was hitting first. When it was my turn I went up to home plate and hit the ball. I ran to first as fast as I could. And I got safe! The next person who went up to hit struck out and that was three outs, so we went back into the dugout and went on defense. I was playing first base that inning.

When the pitcher started to pitch the other team was hitting very well, and we were off to a bad start. So we had to step up our game. The game was over. We shook hands and said good game. The next game we had, we were hitting good and also doing good on defense. At the end of the game we ended up winning. We had been playing for two hours straight now. After our third game, we finally had a one-hour break. In that one-hour break, we got some food to have more energy.

Once our break was over we gathered up all of our bags and headed to the field. Once we got there we started warming up again. When we were done we got to the dugout and looked at the board to see where we were going for defense. I was pitching, yay!! I was pitching very well and my team was also doing well, we won the game!

After our 4th game, we had another break that was for two hours. We went to the bathroom, got food, and more water then chilled under our tent. When our two our break was over we had 2 more games. We won the first game, but now we are down to the last game, the championship. I was pitching again.

I was doing awesome at pitching. After a couple of pitches we got all three outs and went to hit. When they got three outs our team's score was 4 to 0, we had 4. At the end of the game we ended up winning but we had to do a shoot-out, which means that since we lost one game and they lost one game we have to play again or else it would be a tie and we would both win.

We were hitting first. We were all doing good hitting. And we got a bunch of runs. Once the other team got three outs it was time to get serious. I was pitching. The first pitches they got were pretty good hits. It was time for the last out.

I was sweating I had tears coming down from my eyes! It was the last pitch of the game. I was so tired I barely had any energy left in my body. I had to focus and pitch the last pitch. So I stared into the glove, and I stared and I stared until I was ready! So I did my wind up and whoosh! it went right in the glove and she was out, we won! Everybody was jumping and cheering, we were all so happy!

After that, we all said good game and lined up for our softball rings. And that is my best softball game ever

Tansy Burgin

St. Nicholas School

5th Grade, Alice Clark

The Great World

Crash! Violet the flowerwing was running through the walls of the art gallery with a bunch of worldwings behind her. Flowerwings can grow flowers with a swoosh of their tail. Her mother was a flameflower. A flameflower is a flowerwing with the power to set the flowers they grow on fire with or without hurting them. Violet was probably a flameflower too. Flowerwings don’t know until they are six. She was very silly and came up with a lot of useful things.

Then, she saw her friends outside, Globe, the worldwing and Polar the articwing. They were here to help her keep the Queen from capturing her. Then, she heard them talking to each other through the wall about how to rescue her. Just when she thought they were coming to save her, they left! She thought they left her there, but she did not know that they got an amazing idea of how to rescue her! They went to the art room, and they found some paint. Globe painted colorful mud on Polar to look like a worldwing. He had colorful shades of bluedark and light and just lots of amazing blues also bright to mid dark green. Then, Globe thought of an awesome idea!

Violet was running into a dead end when she heard, crack!

The wall crackled down in a sloppy way in front of her. On the other side was Globe and another worldwing with an expression like Polar. Wait, Violet thought, it was Polar!

“Why does Polar have mud all over him?” she asked Globe.

“There is no time to explain!” hollered Globe “We have to go!” They ran through the halls of the school and found a closet to hide in. The worldwing soldiers flew past the closet and when Polar peeked out, he didn’t see anyone around. Then, he called them out and motioned for them to follow. Then, they took off for Queen Landfall’s palace.

At the palace Violet, Globe, and Polar sneaked around the walls of the palace hoping to sneak around the palace to the ocean.

“Oh no!” gasped Globe, “There are guards over there!” He pointed to his right around the corner of the palace.

“I have a flower that puts dragons to sleep if you smash it under their nose.” said Violet. “Globe, go pretend you are giving it to them, then, as you hand it to them, smash it under your nose,” she demanded.

“Why can’t I do it?” asked Polar “I would be better at it!”

“I am a worldwing!” “If a articwing did it we could never get you back!” yelled Globe, "They would capture you forever!”

“Fine!” Polar said strongly. Globe went up to them and smashed the flower in their nose, and they fell asleep. Then, the friends took off for the other continent and when they got there they were amazed!

The other continent was amazing! There were a lot of new dragons that they never knew existed!

Then, they found a Charlottewing and a Campbellwing, the best dragons on the continent! They played with each other and were very happy. They hoped they never had to be chased again.

Hadley Brewer

Chattanooga Christian School 5th Grade, Kara Kruchinski

The Sunken Shipwreck with Treasure Rrrrrrring rrrrrring! “Time to get up, Bobby and Jimmy Bob!” Stated Pablo. Bobby and Jimmy Bob were slow to get up as they had stayed up late listening to the waves crash into the rocks at the beach under the stars. Pablo shouted, “Boys, let's get moving!” It is time to load the gear into the truck. Three of them carefully started loading their scuba gear into the truck making certain they did not leave anything behind. The three old college friends

Bobby, Pablo, and Jimmy Bob were embarking on a sunken ship treasure hunt off the Channel Islands in the Pacific Ocean near Los Angeles. Pablo’s family raised him in New Mexico and Jimmy Bob and Bobby were raised on ranches in Texas. The three of them became best friends as Freshmen at Colorado State and have been close ever since. They fell in love with the Pacific Ocean when they went on spring break in Santa Monica their sophomore year. While on Spring Break they learned how to scuba dive.

“Yay we're finally here,” said Bobby. The three young men jumped into action unloading their gear from the truck and moving it to the dock. Right on time, Captain Johnny Pappa arrived rumbling his contender into his boat slip and quickly tied up.

Pablo dabbed up Johnny Pappa with a big grin. “Let’s get this adventure started!” shouted Bobby with excitement. All four of them quickly loaded the boat, and they immediately took off to the area where the Flying Duck schooner was reported to have gone down to its watery grave. Upon arrival to the search area, Pablo suggested that they all dive together leaving only Captain Johnny Pappa to stay on the surface.

The men agreed and carefully put on their diving gear and search tools. Splash! They purposefully fell back into the water. A few minutes after diving toward the bottom, Pablo motioned to Bobby and Jimmy Bob to follow him to the large hole in the starboard side of the old schooner. Pablo, followed by Bobby, entered through the hole and started searching for a container that might contain treasure. After rooting around through a half dozen boxes, Bobby yanked on Pablo’s arm and asked, “Where is Jimmy Bob?”

Bobby looked around. “I see him,” mumbled Pablo swimming around.

“Are you okay?” questioned Pablo.

“We're going to get you out of here,” called Bobby Bang Bang “you're free now Jimmy Bob.” “Let's go find that treasure!” stated Pablo digging around. Continued...

“I think I see it.”

“Let's go, I found it!” announced Pablo.

“Alright let’s get out of here,” suggested Bobby. Swimming back up to the surface ah ah

“Did you get the treasure?” asked Jonny Pappa.

“Yes we did,” stated Bobby

“Time to get moving,” suggested Jonny Pappa, while the water crashed onto the boat. “were almost to the dock. Alright, time to see what's inside the treasure chest. Wow there is so much gold! stated Pablo. This might be a million dollars. Alright, we have to split the treasure into four parts because Jonny Pappa drove us out here.

Now you know not to leave your parents or your grandparents because Jimmy Bob got stuck because he swam away. Just like how you can get lost in a grocery store or a big event.

Grayson Hilkert

Chattanooga Christian School

5th Grade,

Kara Kruchinski

The Oak

“Laura, Ella, pay attention!” Their teacher Mrs. Mary shouted. The sisters looked up surprised. “Passing notes in class?” Mrs. Mary shouted again. “You sisters are in trouble”. Laura and Ella both slumped into their seats and Laura who had the note crumbled it and threw it on the floor. They payed attention for the rest of history class. When the bell finally rang, Mrs. Mary said, “Class dismissed, except for you two” she pointed at Laura and Ella. Once all of the class had left the room, Mrs. Mary cleared her throat and said “Girls, I am disappointed in you for passing notes in class.” The girls looked down at their feet, pretending to be ashamed. But they were not ashamed at all. “Since you girls did not pay attention you have a research project to do tonight.” “A research project on what?” asked Laura. “You live in the neighborhood Oak Tree Farms, don’t you?” the teacher asked. “Yes,” said Ella with no enthusiasm. “Well, your project will be researching the tree in the center of the neighborhood and writing a report about it.” As the girls left Mrs. Mary said “oh, and girls please come into class tomorrow ready to pay attention.” As the girls walked home they were silent. They both knew that even if they wanted to do the report they would not have time to.

As they entered their house they tried to walk in silently so they wouldn’t have to answer the question their mom always asked. “How was school?” a voice from the kitchen called. “Fine.” Ella lied. “I wouldn’t be so sure.” mom says sternly. “Why is that?” asked Laura. “Because I got a call from your teacher telling me you have a report to do.” Mom answered. “But mom we can’t write, dads coming home from his meeting in California today and he has a lot of plans for us.” Laura said stubbornly.

“Well, you girls better get started now.” Mom handed each of them a piece of paper and a pencil. “Goodbye.” she called as they walked out the door.

As Laura and Ella walked towards the center of the neighborhood their heads were filled with silent complaints. “Why do we have to do this?” Laura asked Ella as they reached the center of the neighborhood. All that was there was an old oak tree surrounded by black fencing. “How are we supposed to research this?” Ella asked with slight confusion.

“Look, there’s a sign on the other side of the tree.” Laura commented. Laura walked to the other side of the tree, but Ella stayed right where she was. Ella waited and waited for Laura to come back with all the facts about the tree that they needed. But Laura did not come.

Just when Ella was about to check and see if her sister was okay, she heard Laura scream.Ella ran to the spot where Laura was supposed to be, but no one was there. Then she heard a crackling noise and looked at her feet. The grass had disappeared and the earth around her was black. Then she fell! As she fell she closed her eyes, but when she opened them she saw that she was falling down into outer space. She could see Laura underneath her. Then Ella felt herself being pulled back up and her world went black.

When she awoke she was standing in the center of the neighborhood with Laura but she couldn’t move or talk. Then she noticed something even more strange. The nice white brick houses had been replaced with log cabins. Suddenly, a man walked past her and around where the tree would have been, but there was no tree. She realized she had gone back in time. Then more men, women and children walked past and more and more people were coming. It seemed like the whole town was out there. They gathered around where the tree had been. A man dressed fancy walked through the crowd. Ella assumed he was the mayor. The man dropped a seed into the dirt in front of him and used his foot to kick dirt onto the seed.

Then shouted “as long as the tree thrives our people will be free.” Ella heard lots of clapping and cheers. Then for the second time she blacked out.

When she awoke, she noticed that her sister Laura was sitting against the oak tree. “We’re back in present time, right?” Ella asked. “Yes, and while you were asleep I finished our report.” Laura said smiling. “Good.” Ella said. “Well what are you waiting for, let’s go home and see dad!” Laura shouted.

The next day at school, Ella and Laura presented their report to the class. They finished just as the bell rang. As they went back to their seats to get their history books, the class applauded. Right as they were about to walk through the door, their teacher said “good job girls, that was the best report I’ve ever heard but what did you learn?” “We learned that the tree was planted for a symbolism of freedom,” Ella answered. “But we have some questions,” Laura added. “Like what girls?” the teacher asked smiling. “Like who are the people getting freedom from?” Laura asked, puzzled. “Laura, the village was fighting with the local native Americans.” Mrs. Mary answered. “The day they planted the tree was the day that the village and the native Americans decided to become allies.” Continued...

“So, the people planted the tree as a sign of tranquility between local people?” Laura asked. ‘Yes.” Mrs. Mary said, smiling. “One more question.” Ella said. “How do we know that someone won’t cut down the tree?” “That’s an easy one.” Mrs. Mary answered. “If you keep the secret of the tree, no one will have a reason to cut it down.” As the sisters left the room, Mrs. Mary called after them, “keep the secret!” “We will!” They called back.

Madilyn Barry Silverdale Baptist Academy 5th Grade, Caroline Marks

A Fateful Day for Ice Cream

It’s a windy Fall day in New York City. Elana and her best friend Ellie play together at a playground in Central Park like they did almost every day since Elana moved to the big city. Elana had been so worried about making new friends and she was very happy to have a friend like Ellie.

“Elana, me and your Dad are leaving soon for work,” Elana’s mom said to the two girls. Elana’s mother worked as a doctor downtown, and her father worked in an office at the World Trade Center.

“Okay,” Elana said.

“Also, Ellie’s grandma will be here shortly. She’s going to take you to breakfast and then to school.”

“Oh yeah,” Ellie said. She’d forgotten that Elana was going to be at breakfast with her and her grandma. Ellie was happy to be with her best friend and grandma. Ellie’s grandma had been very sad because Ellie’s grandpa had passed away a year ago, but Ellie and Elana knew how to make her have fun.

“Alright, Elana, we must go now. I love you,” Elana’s mom said.

“Ok, bye Mom!” Elana said.

The girls played a little more while they waited for Ellie’s grandma to arrive, and once she did... Continued...

they gathered their backpacks, hungry and ready for pancakes. Elana planned to ask for whipped cream and sprinkles on hers.

At the breakfast restaurant, while they waited for a table, Ellie’s grandma noticed Elana looking up at the sky.

“Look at that airplane in the sky,” Elana said.

“There are lots of planes in the sky, Elana. This is New York City, after all,” Ellie’s grandma said.

“But that one is flying so low it looks like it might hit one of the twin towers,” Elana said.

Just then, the breakfast restaurant felt like it was having an earthquake. Everything shook and all the lights went out, and the girls heard a loud boom. Elana and Ellie ran to the window. The plane was gone from the sky, but now there was a hole in the side of one of the towers. Smoke and fire were everywhere.

“Come on, girls,” Ellie’s grandma said. “We need to run.” They left the breakfast restaurant, and outside there was dust and smoke everywhere. After a while, Ellie’s grandma got a call from Elana’s mom checking on them. Elana’s mom told them that she was okay and that Elana’s father was also safe. That morning, he’d had a meeting in a different building from the Twin Towers.

Just then, they heard another plane getting closer and saw it flying very low. Ellie’s grandma screamed and covered Ellie and Elana’s eyes with her hands. This time, the crashing of the plane was so much louder than before. Ellie’s grandmother took their arms and said, “Girls, we need to run!”

They ran away from the twin towers as lots of other people were also doing. A man in front of them stopped running and turned to look at the towers. Suddenly he yelled, “The tower is about to collapse!” Elana, Ellie, and Ellie’s Grandma all turned around too, and saw one of the towers falling. The same man yelled, “Everyone! Take cover!”

Elana noticed an ice cream store and said, “Come on, Ellie. Follow me!” They all ran to the ice cream store, but the door was locked. They knocked and yelled, but they were stuck outside with all the dust and crashed building pieces flying through the air.

Just then, they heard the door to the ice cream store open, and a kind old man yelled out, “Hurry up, get in here!” The old man locked the door behind them and asked, “Are you all ok?”

Ellie and Elana said yes, but Ellie’s grandma hugged the kind old man. She had been so scared, and all she could do was cry and hug the man.

Eventually, Elana’s parents met them at the ice cream store and Ellie’s did too. While they waited, the kind old man made them the biggest ice cream sundaes Ellie and Elana had ever seen in their lives.

Even though the day was very sad and very scary, Elana was so glad to have been with her best friend through it all. And she was even happier a year later, on September 11th, 2002, because she got to be a guest at the wedding of Ellie’s grandma and the kind old man who owned the ice cream store.

Marlowe McCoy

Silverdale Baptist Academy

5th Grade, Caroline Marks

Almost War

It was one moonlight ago that Queen Moon Bright had yet another kit. The birth took place deep in the Pine Forest, where the Finders Group lives. They are one of several cat groups in the area and they are responsible for finding solutions to problems among the groups. The Queen named her tiny kit Sparky. “Lightshu, leader!,” shouted Albera the healing cat, “Queen Moon Bright has yet another young, bright, and beautiful kit!” After a hustle and a fury, the leader arrived. “ Merlay Merlay!” (that was their word for Sunshine Sunshine!) “such a wonderful kitte-” BRAAAUUU BRAUUUU! He got cut off by the sound of an alarming war siren. “AHHHHHHH!!!” All the cats were screaming and preparing, but there was so much chaos that Sparky was tossed in the chaos! Miraculously he landed in a small basket in the river. Once the cats were settled from the startling alarm, Queen Moon Bright lay her eyes on an empty kitten bed. “WHERE IS SPARKY?!?!’’ “Calm down queen, it will all be ok, you and the kits will be safe,” said one of the nearby cats. “But my kit is gone!’’ All the cats frantically looked around, confirming that baby Sparky was gone.

Just then a rustling sound came from the bushes. Shinesha, the vice leader yelled, “Who’s there? Reveal yourself!”

As a dark blue cat came out, more rustling came followed by more cats. “Meow. I am the leader of the Fighting Group and we need to speak to your leader,” said the blue cat. Queen Moon Bright announced that she’d take the group to LightShu who had taken his position at his meeting place as soon as the war sirens sounded. After some walking they reached the crosspath. “This is a crosspath. It carries hoomans in heavy machines fastly so we must cross carefully,” explained Moon Bright. Soon they arrived at the den and perch, which was LightShu’s meeting spot. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?” asked LightShu. The cat leading the visiting group asked, “You’re the leader of the Finders group, right?” LightShu nodded suspiciously. The visiting group’s leader stepped towards LightShu and said, “We need more land. We don’t have the resources we need to buy any so we are going to have to fight for it. We’d like to declare war with the Sailor Group!” “Hold on just a minute!” stated LightShu. “As the leader of the Finders Group I am responsible for helping groups like yours find solutions and you want me to give permission for war without even trying to think of another solution?!” “Well, yes. We have to have more land and we are prepared to fight the Sailor Group for it.

I’ve been training my young warriors and we’ve even brought our war feathers so we can start fighting right away!” Cheers erupted from the Fighting group. Suddenly Queen Moon Bright burst into tears. “First I’ve lost my precious kit and now I have to witness war between our brother groups?! My feline heart can’t take this!” She ran to the back of the group where her other kits, Leaf, Sun, and Kalalu stood nearby to comfort her.

Meanwhile, the Fighting Group were still getting all riled up about the war when one of the young warriors yelled, “My war feather is gone!” “Amu, KiCha, and Lady, the warrior cats of the Finders Group immediately started searching. After just a few minutes, Lady had found the feather! The cats in the Fighting Group were amazed at how quickly she had found it. “Ok,” said LightShu. “Now you see how well we do our jobs of finding things so please let us find another solution for your land problem.” “Ok. Ok,” said the Fighting Group leader. Just then, Kalalu spoke up. “I have an idea! Everyone knows the Sailor Group has been wanting to sail off to find new land for years but they can’t because they need parts to fix their ship. Your group has so many boat and scrap parts that you got as your reward for winning the battle you fought with the Fix-It Group last year.

Why don’t you offer all of those parts to the Sailor Group in exchange for their land? Then they can sail off and you’ll have more land! It’s not land they need, it’s adventure! They are sure to agree!” Everyone cheered and the Fighting Group leader said, “That is a spectacular proposal!” The group ran off in the direction of the Sailor Group’s land and LightShu approached Kalalu. He purred and licked one of his paws. “So, is it that we have a new little warrior,” he asked. Kalalu giggled and said, “I’m becoming one but I’m still training.” “Well do you know what’s important in becoming a good warrior?” “What?” asked Kalalu. “Lots of sleep! It’s already moonup,” replied LightShu. “Ok,” said Kalalu. “But first, I’m going to practice catching mice for a few minutes.” Suddenly a loud voice echoed, “WE FOUND SPARKY!!” LightShu and Kalalu quickly caught up to the others who were running towards the river where the sound was coming from. One of the healers, Temuphu was carrying a perfectly happy Sparky in her mouth while retired warriors, Acorn, Snow, Coal, and Ash followed behind, soaked and exhausted. Snow explained that while the rest of the group was working out the Fighting Group’s dilemma, they decided to show their true Finders Group spirit and look for Sparky.

“You won’t believe this but we actually found him by following the voices of the Fighting Group who spotted him drifting down the river while they were following the river down to the Sailor Group’s land! They started shouting that they’d spotted a tiny kit and we just knew it was Sparky!” As soon as Queen Moon Bright got to her baby, she began purring and crying happy tears. LightShu looked all around at his group. He had never been happier to be a Finder.

Kendall Clampet

Silverdale Baptist Academy 5th Grade, Melissa Wilson

The Lake

One morning, Chloe Clampet was watching her favorite show and she got bored. She asks her mom to go see her best friend, Rosey. Mrs. Clampet says “As long as you take your dog ,Charlie, with you.” “Ok!”, Chloe replies happily. Chloe and Charlie walk to Rosie’s house and ring the doorbell. Mrs. Hives walks out and says “Hi, Chloe! Rosey is upstairs”. “Thank you”, says Chloe. She walks up stairs looking for Rosey and calls her name, “Rosey, Rosey”! Chloe and Charlie walk into Rosey’s room. Rosey jumps out of her closet and says “Boo”! Chloe screams and they both laugh. “You scared me”, Chloe says. “Good”, says Rosey. “What, do you want me to pee my pants”? Chloe asks laughing. Rosie laughs too. “So, do you want to go to the lake?”, says Chloe. “Yes, how about we go swimming with Charlie?”, says Rosie. “Maybe we could use the row boat to go out farther to swim?” Chloe suggested. “That’s perfect!”, says Rosie. So, the two girls and Charlie, the dog, walk to the lake. They get to the dock and see Sam, from school. They ask him if he wants to go on the boat too. “Sure”, he replies. They hop in and it’s a little wobbly. They start to get the hang of it. “So, have you heard about all the creatures in the lake?”, says Sam. “What!” they both say.

“Did you not hear about the man that went out on his fishing boat and all they found was his boat and his hat?”, says Sam staring out into the lake. “Maybe we shouldn’t stay out here too long”, Rosie replies.

“Don’t be such a chicken”, Chloe says confidently. They get to a good spot. Chloe and Sam jump in, but Rosie hesitates and jumps in too. Soon they forget about the scary story and have fun splashing each other and playing Marco Polo. Charlie stays on the boat watching their every move. Suddenly, he stands up and starts barking in his stranger, danger voice.

“What is it Charlie?” they all say. “Something is not right”, Chloe says worriedly. “Maybe we should get in the boat”, Rosie says. She climbs in, looks around and wraps her towel around herself. Sam and Chloe climb in the boat. They look around and see something on the nearby rocks. It starts to swim towards them. Sam realizes, “It’s an alligator!” They start paddling as fast as they can! Sam starts yelling for his dad on the dock. Sam’s dad, Mr. Brown says “Keep paddling!” They paddle and paddle. Soon they are at the dock and climb the ladder. Sam pushes Charlie up the ladder. The alligator swims under the dock while Mr. Brown calls animal control. Mrs. Hive and Mrs. Clampet arrived at the dock shocked! Animal control capsures the alligator and asks the kids if they want to name the alligator before he goes to the zoo.

They say yes and start whispering names to each other. They came up with the perfect name! Steve, like Steve Irwin, the crocodile hunter. Sam goes back with his dad. Chloe and Rosie run to their moms. “I’m hungry” they both say. Mrs Clampet and Mrs Hive both laugh. Mrs. Clampet suggests going to Taco Bell so they can tell them all about their adventure. After eating, they all go to Chloe’s house to relax. Chloe, Rosie and Charlie are watching their favorite escape room show while their moms chat. Their moms walk into the room and ask “Do you want to go to the zoo?” “Why!”, they reply. “Sam is asking if you want to go to the zoo to visit Steve.” “Yes”, they say as they turn off the tv. Rosie asks, “Can we bring Charlie too?” “Sure”, said Mrs Clampet. They arrive at the zoo and see Steve. He stares at them. “Now you’re in your own escape room”, Sam says. They all laugh happily. The end

Violet Loizeaux

Silverdale Baptist Academy 5th Grade, Melissa Wilson

Strange Day In July

Not too long ago, on the first day of July, two kids wandered through a forest to a lake. Those two kids were named Jake and May. Jake and May were two really nice kids. They often went outside to play games and went inside when it got dark.

“Jake, where are we going?” asked May.

“A lake,” answered Jake.

“What lake?”

“Just, a lake.”

Jake and May trudged through the soggy woods. They passed trees, wet leaves, and worms. Finally, they got to a shiny lake, with sparkling water. But, on the other side of the lake, stood a dark and tall forest with gray trees with a foggy atmosphere and a strange figure.

Finally, they emerged from the woods and May wowed with amazement.

“See, a lake,” said Jake.

“I didn’t think it would be this beautiful,” May replied.

Jake kneeled down and found some stones as smooth as the lakes’ flow. Jake picked up one of the stones and tossed out onto the lake. 1, 2, 3, skips on the lake and then it sank into the lake. “Cool, can I try,” asked May. “Sure, let's see if you can beat my record of 4,” Jake replied.

May found a smooth stone and threw it as hard as she could. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 skips on the lake. “Wow, you did it, now my turn,” said Jake

Jake found a stone that had an eerie green glow to it. He threw with all his might, but the third stone came skipping back.

Suddenly, the stone hopped out of the water and Jake and May screamed. They both look at it as the stone went from green to a dark void color. Then, suddenly, the stone fizzled into nothing and there was a deep howl from the other side of the lake.

Immediately, Jake and May ran through the woods. They could hear whatever was chasing them right behind them. May started to panic, she knew whatever was chasing them was dangerous. May was about to fall when Jake pulled her into their house. They didn’t notice how long they were out, so they went straight to bed and tried not to worry about what happened that day.

Later that night, Jake found himself in a dark room. The room seemed to go on and on and on. Jake tried to run but the more he moved, the room grew more. Then, in the distans Jake saw what seemed to be a cloud of darkness as dark as the night sky. The cloud was a darker shade of black than the room. As the cloud got closer, Jake tried to run, but dark chains grew from the ground up and latched on to his hands.

As the cloud grew closer and closer, he screamed. Immediately, Jake sprung out of his bed. He ran into the hallway with fear, and to his surprise May was there.

“What are you doing here,” questioned Jake.

“I had a nightmare where I was stuck in a dark room,” May told him.

“I had that same nightmare,” said Jake. “Wait, do you think these nightmares are from the monster in the woods?”

At that moment, Jake and May both had the idea, they have to go to the woods and confront the monster.

Soon, Jake and May rushed through the stormy night as fast as light. They arrived at the woods which had thick mist surrounding it. As they ran through the woods it got darker. Then, they found something on the ground that looked sharp.

“Is that metal,” wondered May.

“Hey, we could use that as a weapon for when we get to the monster,” said Jake. Jake looked on the ground for more things and found some rope. He took the rope and metal and thought for a moment. “I need something that you can use to attack from a distance.” Then, Jake got a stick and tied the rope to it and tied the other end to the metal. He handed the weapon over to May.

“What is this,” she asked.

“It’s a weapon, you swing it at the monster and the metal will hit it,” said Jake. May took the weapon, but she felt a little nervous at the fact that she had to attack the monster. They got to the lake and a shadowy figure hovered above the lake. The monster howled at Jake and May. Jake grabbed some stones and started throwing them at the monster. The monster landed on the ground and ran to the two. Jake and May ran with fear as the monster followed them. They wanted to attack the monster, but their fear of the monster was too strong. They ran as fast as they could through the woods. They wanted to get back to the road, but all they found was a dark void. The monster jumped at Jake and May and pushed them into the void as they screamed. Soon, In the void, Jake and May floated there motionless. They wanted to speak to each other, but couldn’t speak. So, they just floated, thinking about what they did. Nowaday, they try to warn other kids, just like them, “Don’t skip the stones at the lake.”

Jayce Sochalski

Wallace A Smith Elementary 5th Grade, Chastity Rehagen

It all began, sitting at the table for dinner, when Miguel came in. He looked like he had been in a dust storm all over again. Everyone wondered why he was so dirty.In the gleaming light,you could see the creases of dirt in his clothes.

“Some of the men from Oklahoma came and told my boss they would work for half my wages. He didn’t hesitate for a millisecond before hiring them to do my work. So, I dug ditches,”he explained.

My anger slowly gurgled in my stomach. The Okies? Taking his job? Why did they get everything? They got a sleek, new camp with hot water and a swimming pool! Do us Mexicans get that? No! We only get to swim in the pool on Friday afternoons, before they clean it!

“Miguel, why would you agree to that? Why would you let them treat you like an animal? Why do we have to live in this dirty, dangerous, terrible camp?”

I bolted like a cheetah across the camp to a foreboding spot by the border, next to the disgusting lake, where the sewage was dumped,and the fish never swam merrily.A very sweaty, dirty, and exhausted Miguel caught up to me.

“It’s not right!”, I screamed.We are living like horses! Tell me why the Okies get everything!”

“Well-”

“Well nothing, Miguel!” They are the fairest in the land.While we are struggling just to feed our families! I want Mama.I want Abuelita.I want Papa!”

Then everything was still. Everything was perfectly motionless.You could hear a coin drop. His eyes were like plums.The moonlight made his hair look like metal.

“Wait a little while and the fruit will fall into your hand," said Miguel.

Soon, I was vividly imagining red dust encircling my head.It was red like my fury.Spinning.Spinning.Faster and faster.I could see Abuelita’s blanket in the swirling fury.The zigzags of life flashed like lightning before my eyes. My life revolved around chaos.I wondered if I could fall all the way back to Mexico if I never opened my eyes again.What if I can’t pay Mama’s medical bills?What if Abuelita never comes back?

“You have been so optimistic, yet you still stand on the other side of the river! You are still a peasant!”

“And you still act like a queen,” Miguel responded in a melancholy tone, a scowl on his face.

The next day,I woke up to the smell of coffee in the kitchen and I could hear Pepe and Lupe happily gurgling.

“Esperanza,” said Hortensia and Josephina in unison.Have you seen Miguel?” “No. I haven’t seen him since last night.”

Deep down I already missed him. I felt responsible for the fact that the only trace left of him was his candle outside. After I had had a not very satisfying breakfast, I went to see how much more money I would need to get Abuelita to the United States. I sucked in my breath. I looked down in shock. My money that was in my valise was gone. Although I could feel my anger rising, I prayed that Miguel would come home at any time I could. While I was packing away fruit, I prayed. While I was watching the babies, I prayed. Many days and many nights passed.I was starting to think I might be losing Miguel as I had lost Abuelita, Mama, and Papa.At night, as I cried inside my head and sometimes on the pillow, I prayed that one late night, the owls would hoot, like a fanfare, and he would come to my bed and say,”Goodnight Anza.”

Ellie Arnold Wallace A Smith Elementary 5th Grade, Chasity Rehagen

A Slight Mishap

Did you ever think that you could get lost in the ocean, end up somewhere crazy dangerous, almost die, and get attacked by animals? To prove it can happen, this is the story of Parker Sharp, an internationally known professional sailor, who was on his 50th trip around the globe by boat. It was all because he thought he was cool and didn't check his equipment. He didn't even bring a compass or map. How careless.

Not long after Parker set out he realized that he was quite tired. He went to bed after putting the anchor down so he didn't float away. So he thought. The anchor had gotten stuck on some coral and stopped moving so Parker thought he was fine. He wasn't. He figured this out the next morning when he woke up and went on deck because he felt the sea getting rocky. He looked out and saw no storm. "I wonder why the sea is so rocky?" He thought. Suddenly, he felt a jolt and heard a slight scraping sound behind him. He whipped around faster than a bullet and what was it his eyes did see? Sand. And lots of it. All he could see was sand, trees, and more sand. "What the heck?" He thought in surprise. "I was not on an island when I dropped the anchor last night! Oh, let me pull up the anchor."

He went to the chain where the anchor was and started pulling it up. Only, it felt very light! As he finished pulling it up, he saw that the anchor was nowhere to be seen! He pushed the boat away from the shore and kept sailing. The waterway got very narrow and it was hard for him to steer.

Parker started getting very hungry. Usually, he can sail around the world only stopping to get food from each country he passes. He kept his eye out for a dock but he saw none. "Oh come on, now I'm thirsty!" He thought with annoyance. He looked down at the water. He bent down and stuck his hand in the water. He scooped some up and drank it. It was very refreshing. He repeated that about five times. On the sixth time, he reached his hand in and immediately screamed out in pain! He yanked his hand out of the water and saw a fish attached to it by its teeth! "Piranha!!!" He screamed, waving his hand wildly about. The piranha let go of his hand and flopped on the deck. Parker kicked it off the deck as hard as he could. Then he looked at his hand. It was covered in blood. It hurt like he couldn't believe. He found his first aid kit, disinfected it, and put some gauze on it. He taped the gauze to his hand with medical tape. Once he calmed down, he looked ahead.

He saw some bananas growing and pulled over to the edge of the river, held his boat with one hand, and picked multiple bunches of bananas with the other. As he set sail again, he ate some bananas, and threw the peels onto the edge of the river, some landing in the water. Little did he know, this would end up being a very bad idea.

He realized what he had done about five minutes later. He started hearing screeching. Loud screeching. It sounded to Parker like a monkey. Not just one monkey. Lots of them. Like a stampede of monkeys. He realized that it must have been the bananas! Since he had left the shore after getting bananas, he had thrown the peels out of the boat. He tried to make his boat go faster but he was unable. So Parker just sat, in the hot and humid air of who knows where, while the screeching of multiple monkeys grew nearer. He sat stressing and trying to figure out what to do. "Should I go below deck?" He thought. He dismissed this idea because the monkeys could ransack his boat, then find him, and because the below deck was so small they could trap him there and attack. As he was thinking that, he felt the boat rock. He turned around to see three monkeys clinging to his boat. He grabbed an overhanging tree branch and wielded it as a weapon.

"Gosh, I wish I had better supplies." He angrily thought. He hit the monkeys with the stick and they flew into the river. Monkeys were flying at him from every direction. When he got too overwhelmed with the monkeys, he crouched into a ball, covered his head, and threw some bananas onto the shore. The monkeys chased after the bananas and left him alone. About half an hour later he was able to control his heart rate and cool down a bit. Since the air was hot and humid, he had been sweating a lot. He sat down on the deck again and looked ahead. The river had opened up gradually and was now wide enough for a cruise ship to pass through. He saw the big blue ocean ahead of him and he yelled, "Hallelujah!" He was so glad to be back in sorta familiar waters. He thought for many hours and realized he must have been in the Amazon! Where else would piranhas be? And millions of monkeys? "That's why it was so hot!" It all made sense now. The heat, humidity, and animals made sense! How did he not realize it sooner? As Parker is thinking this, he saw an island. He sailed over to the dock. He climbed off his boat and asked a woman for directions. "Go due north for 30 minutes, turn west, and sail for twenty minutes that way. Then, you will see your home."

Parker thanked the woman and hurried away. After he climbed onto his boat, he looked for his compass. After ten minutes of searching, he couldn't find it. "I must have left it at home! Oh come on!" Parker said, defeated. A villager passing by heard this and asked if he was ok. "I need a compass to get home!" Parker wailed. "Don't worry. Here you go." The villager said. "Thank you so much." Parker replied. He pointed the compass north and started sailing. When he arrived home, he made a promise. "I will never sail again." And to this day, he has not broken that faithful promise.

Beatrice Robinson Thrasher Elementary School 5th Grade, Tracy Crosby

The Foolish Frog

“Ribbit, Ribbit”, I heard the frog tribe as they watched their king wave his tail back and forth in the water. I am mother nature, and this is how the king lost his tail.

He was very vain and loved his tail very much. I decided to keep an eye on the king and his tribe. When he waved his tail, his tribe acted as if it were a prize that he won. Every time he waved it in the water, every frog would say “Oh” and “Ah.”

The next day, the king would do nothing but sit on his lily pad and eat, sleep, and admire his tail. Soon enough, all of the frogs were doing nothing but eating, sitting about, sleeping, and admiring their own tails and the kings. Finally, I had enough.

I summoned the king to see me. I told him this: “Because you can think of nothing but your beautiful tail, it shall be taken away from you. Because you do nothing but eat and sleep, your mouth shall be wide like a door, and your eyes shall protrude forth from your head.”

After that, I watched the tribe grow sadder as their tails disappeared and their eyes popped out of their head, and their mouth grew bigger and wider.

From that day forth, every frog (when they came of age) would lose their tails, and the king would always remember the day he lost his tail.

~Mother Nature

Emma Shealy

Nolan Elementary School 5th Grade, Emily Wheeler

Fifth Grade Poetry Winners

Wanting it all

Once upon a time the grass grew green and whispered a rhyme

A rhyme about a girl who wanted it all

The story begins when she was just so small

In a town where flowers grow through the night

Like daisies and poppies which give delight

To people who are grateful and some that are not They do not know that some folks need them a lot

As she walked through town in people galore she spotted a person who sat without Someone to love them or someone to care

She walked right past and never did stop to think that one thought to help one and not

To be so selfish or want it all

But one dark night her dream explained it all

The next morning, she went to the meadow and she saw something that would not settle

A white mustangrunning at pace the print of her hooves did not leave a trace

The way that she ran was a heartbeat on land

Then she came to a stand her heart was pounding and her thoughts were grand Everything she had ignored they seem to know soar through the sky this was no lie

She believed she could fly on the black stallion who grew wings to soar up high

She thought, ‘NO!’ what have I done her heart was pounding she know she was the one

Her heart began to feel

So she flew back to town to help all those around to heal their hearts all over the world

And peace grew like daisies and poppies in the meadow.

Norah Petticord

Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences

5th Grade, Alyssa DiNitto

The Dog In Heaven

When my dog was

A wee little pup

Emmi was hyper

She buzzed

Around the room

Of Course I was not there

My mom told me that

While she drank beer

We miss her terribly

At least me I guess

She was the best Dog ever

Audrey Geraci

Normal Park Museum Magnet School

5th Grade, Amanda Podgurski

Feline Moon

Graceful paws, Long, sleek tail, A beautiful tabby princess.

Soft oak pelt, Emerald green eyes, A handsome feline prince.

Walking through the cool night air, Meetings known of only by the stars, The hidden romance of a cat’s evening life.

Lillian McNeely

Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences

5th Grade, Tina Whaley

I like to draw

me gusta dibujar

I like to read

me gusta leer

I love a lot of things

amo muchas cosas

Which makes me me

qué es lo que me hace ser yo

I love to sing

me encanta cantar

I like to dance

me encanta bailar

I love to move I love to grove

Me gusta moverme y me gusta bailar.

Which makes me me

qué es lo que me hace ser yo

Eleanor Bertrand

St. Nicholas School

5th Grade, Alice Clark

Pink

Pink is pretty.

Pink is the color of my water bottle every day.

Pink is that warm heartfelt feeling I get when someone I love dearly is nearby.

Pink is my favorite puffy jacket I wear in the cold, bitter winter.

Pink smells like the sweet cherries in the garden that are just starting to ripen.

Pink tastes like the sweet chewy bubble gum in my mouth.

Pink sounds like the rustling of the pretty flowers in the spring.

Pink looks like the joy on someone's face when they get to spend time with their family.

Pink feels like the excitement I get when I can’t wait to do something.

Pink makes me feel calm.

Nyla Shridharani

St. Nicholas School 5th Grade, Alice Clark

I Saw a Reindeer

I saw a reindeer in the atmosphere drinking crystal-clear root beer but never fear because he was wearing a Volunteer jersey.

Royce Felts

The Bright School 5th Grade, Ann O’Brien

Lights out

Laying there

Cold

My sleeping bag holding me tight

Like it’s armor

Feeling the breeze from the window

Smelling smoke from the campfire

On everyone's clothes

I open my eyes

I see nothing

But darkness

But then CRASH!

Branches falling on the roof

Then Another…CRASH

More branches falling…

Crash turns into the

Drop…

Drop…

Drop…

Of acorns

Finally…

I fall asleep.

Paisley Rogers

The Bright School

5th Grade, Ann O’Brien

I am Zeus

I am annoyed

I wonder will the gods ever shut up

I hear the gods chat

I see Dionysus’ ugly face

I want the gods to shut up

I am annoyed

I pretend the gods are flies

I feel my fury

I touch my lightning bolt

I worry if I throw my lightning bolt I will be in Tartarus

I cry because the Gods won't zip it

I am annoyed

I understand they will talk all night

I say stop talking

I dream they will I try to run

I hope I can get away

I am annoyed

Greyson Early

The Bright School

5th Grade, Ann O’Brien

The Fall Bird

One day in late September when summer is just a daydream, what the birds are going south.

Only one bird is out at this time, it is the fall bird. Its feathers are a nice red, orange, yellow, and a little brown. Its feathers are like a warm marshmallow.

I look forward to campfires and s’mores. It makes me happy on fall nights.

Until the Fall bird turns white.

Annora Gianella Wauhatchie Forest School

5th

Grade, Kara Cadwell

Blooming petals grew Small fireworks of color That light up my life. Winter has come, it’s wilting in the hope of a new life.

Sam Dunkin

Thrasher Elementary School

5th Grade, Michelle Mann

Crashing

on the shore

Blue, with an outline of white Wonder lies within Bright shades of coral glisten In corners, predators lie.

Ada Waldorf

Thrasher Elementary School

5th Grade, Michelle Mann

Sitting on tall trees

Blue and red wings soaring high

Above the white clouds

Little blue birds flying high

It’s migration time.

Jax Smalley

Thrasher Elementary School

5th Grade, Wes Wood

Trees dressed in rich greens

A cottontail zooms right through Clomping through the woods

Bare trees and a shallow pool

Together with dad again.

Jane-Yi Welch

Thrasher Elementary School 5th Grade, Wes Wood

Sun shines oh so bright

Flowers bloom red, blue, and pink.

Sun burnt a the beach

Concrete blazing my feet

School is out, ready to swim.

Claire Sikes

Thrasher Elementary School

5th Grade, Tracy Crosby

Bloom from a small sed

Become a colorful plant

Come see its petals.

A bee takes your pollen now

So another can grow tall.

Rachel Stack

Thrasher Elementary School

5th Grade, Tracy Crosby

Colorful, unique

Bright sky, wings, fly, beak chirp, seed.

Beautiful feathers

Soaring high in the sunshine.

Soft, cute, fierce, they’ve got it all.

Julia Stabler

Thrasher Elementary School

5th Grade, Karen Simpson

Climbs and lives in trees

Plants acorns, and grows oak trees.

Long bushy tail, small

Fast, good reflexes, big teeth,

Easy to spot in the forest.

Pearson Clark

Thrasher Elementary School

5th Grade, Karen Simpson

White shape in the sky

Sizes differ, big and small

Surrounded by blue

Blue sky begins to darken

Flash of light, crack of thunder.

Liza Morton

Thrasher Elementary School

5th Grade, Maddison Millwood

Worried but ready

Tiny and weak, short and small I was still fearless.

Now today I’m going far

To a place of hopes and dreams.

Thrasher Elementary School

5th Grade, Maddison Millwood

Trillium Lundy