The Creative Spot
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826DC would like to thank the brilliance of our editors both student and adult. A special thank you goes to Anna Lukacs, Robert Schuster, and Caitlin O’Hara for their dedication to supporting our students and our mission as well as to Koi for her amazing cover drawing.
This magazine was created through a workshop provided by
Copyright © 2015 by 826DC & its authors All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without written permission from the author except in the case of reviews in famous newspapers. Library of Congress Catalog Information has been applied for. A Dewey Decimal has not. —— first u.s. edition 2014 —— Written, Drawn, Printed, and Bound in the District of Columbia.
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The Creative Spot Staff Student Editors Koi, 12 Xia, 11 Junior, 13 Marlyse, 10 Ziyah, 12
Consulting Volunteer Editors Anna Lukacs Robert Schuster Caitlin O’Hara
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Editor's Note Our goal as editors was to create an enjoyable literary magazine using works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and comics written by students from 826DC. 826DC is a writing and tutoring nonproftit that encourages kids ages 6-18 to write. In creating this magazine, we selected pieces that are well written, original, and about a variety of topics. Signed, The Editors
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Table of Contents Foreword by Dan Brady Diamond by Anthony Clown Story by Tyler The Long, Long Journey by Maia The Unknown Scary Night: Parts 1 & 2 by Roger Circus by Trinity Thanksgiving by Julie The Unknown Scary Night: Parts 3 & 4 by Roger Life as a Dog by Neika Dangerous Animals by Eric My Family and Me Going to the Beach by Julie The Last Day of School by Gustavo Mitten by Samuel at Wilson High School Night at the Haunted House by Edwin Candy Art Island by Sydney
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Foreword You all know the story of Archimedes in the bathtub, right? The Greek fellow somewhere around 2300 years ago? One day he was getting into the bathtub and he filled it up a little too high. As he got in, slowly lowering his body down beneath the water, he noticed that the water began to rise. “Eureka!” he said, springing from the tub, dashing over to his desk, dripping on all his papers. He’d just discovered how to measure volume. Hmm. Volume. Right. Like books are sometimes called volumes? Like we use our voices so we have volume? Nope, that’s not where I’m going with this. What you have in your hands is the first issue of the newly launched literary magazine, THE CREATIVE SPOT, edited and assembled by the students at 826DC, and I’m here to talk about the makings of a literary magazine. You see, volume isn’t the important part of Archimedes’ story for me; it’s the “Eureka!” Editing a literary magazine is all about those eureka moments. In the Greek, “eureka” means “I have found it!” Editing is a process of discovery, searching for that one piece of writing that makes your life a little more somehow—a little richer, a little darker, a little lighter, a little brighter, whatever it is that you’re looking for. And when you find it, it makes you want to shout and show it to everyone you know. You’ve found it. The best part of being an editor is when you get to say, “Yes.” Yes, this is the piece for me. Yes, this is the voice I’ve been looking for, the one that speaks to me, that tells me the things I know, or don’t know, but ring true.
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Discovery, like love, is a lifelong process. As these young writers and editors get their first taste of literary magazines, they should know that it’s only the beginning. Reading and writing and the communal act of discussing literature that you love can enrich one’s whole life, from age six to ninety-six. But it’s a love that you have to nurture and pursue, and, I think you’ll see in these pages ahead that these young writers are after it. They’re chasing down ideas and putting words on the page with a fresh perspective, with voices aching to be heard. And these editors are listening! Looking for that one piece among all the others that makes them say, “Yes! I’ve found it!” When we started Barrelhouse magazine here in DC, about two miles south of 826DC, just over 10 years ago, we too were taking things into our own hands. We wanted to publish the writing that appealed to us, that spoke to our world, equally concerned with great literature and bad TV. We believed, and continue to believe, that we have a unique and valuable take on the world and the writing we select from the thousands of submissions we receive each year speaks to that take, confirms it, confronts it, contorts it, make us spring from the tub and say, “I’ve found it!” - Dan Brady, Poetry editor, Barrelhouse
Dan Brady is the poetry editor of Barrelhouse, a literary magazine and small press based in DC. He is the author of two chapbooks, Cabin Fever / Fossil Record and Leroy Sequences. Learn more at danbrady.org.
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Diamond Anthony, 12
Definition of best friend intelligent awesome my FRIEND overachiever nothing mean does nice things
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Clown Story by Tyler, 10 Once upon a time there was a family that went to a carnival and they found a picture of a clown. The clown had five fingers up then the family brought it home. There were two kids and their grandparents were over. The kids hung up the picture in the basement while their grandparents were doing something in the basement. When the kids went downstairs, they saw their grandparents on the floor dead and when they sawthe clown picture, it had four fingers up. The next day, the kids called the police but they said the kids are not to worry about the clown picture and they left. During the night, they heard a yelp from their dog downstairs so they went and their dog was hanging from the ceiling, drooling blood. The clown now had three fingers up. The next night, they slept with their parents because they were scared. When they woke up, their parents were dead. They checked the clown painting. It had two fingers up but when they looked away and back the clown came out of the painting and had two knives up and he killed the two kids. The message of this story is if you see that something strange is lying around and you do not know what it is, don’t bring it to your house.
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The Long, Long Journey by Maia, 10 Once there was a poor country who had to send travelers to other countries to get food and useful supplies for their everyday life. Well, one day, a young girl named Cori was just walking on a crowded street by the sea when she started yelling, “Look everyone! Look! I see the returning ship!” Then, everyone started pushing and shoving to try to get to the dock to see their loved ones who went on the journey. Yet people, like the police, had to block the dock to make sure the people on the ship could unload. Once some of them got off the ship, they ran to their wives and children because only men were allowed on the ship. Cori was the most excited of all. She ran right past the “Police people” and threw a hug at her father. “I missed you so much!” said Cori. “And I missed you too!” he said back to her. “I’m so glad to see you again,” she responded. “Well, I’m so glad I made it back safe and without any sicknesses!” “Let’s celebrate!,” she said joyfully.
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The Unknown Scary Night: Parts I and II by Roger, 12 Part 1 On a dark, stormy night, there was a creepy looking doll. There was a girl named Lisa. She was 12-years-old. She was hanging with her friends at the park when they saw the scary doll. The doll looked old and burned. Lisa picked the doll up and took it home to give the doll to her sister. For a few days after, things have been strange in Lisa’s home. The doors opened by themselves, the oven turned on, the lights flicked on and off. Lisa ran out of her house because it was creepy and went to her friend’s house. Lisa had been gone for five hours. When she went back home, Lisa’s sister and her mom were missing. Part 2 Lisa was confused; she saw her mother’s car outside. Lisa went to go look for her mom and sister in the house. Lisa looked in every room but Lisa still didn’t find her mom or her sister. The only place left was the basement. Lisa was too scared to go down there. Lisa heard a little echo scream from the basement. Lisa was afraid so she decided to call her friends. When her friends had arrived at Lisa’s house, Lisa told them what happened in the house. So they went downstairs and saw some blood on the floor and Lisa started crying and fell to the floor because she thought it was her mom’s and sister’s blood. Then Lisa and her friends saw the creepy doll again. Lisa thought she put it upstairs. Lisa wondered how it got down in the basement. To be continued...
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Circus by Trinity, 11 Before me stood Frank, the clown in the spotlight, juggling fruit. The crowd cheered and clapped on as he added more fruit to his collection. Frank kept juggling until an apple collapsed on his head. The crowd laughed and pointed at Frank. Looks like his time is up. My turn. Right after Frank left the spotlight, the bright light was on me. The light burned my eyes. At least there’s a net under me. This is my first time walking a tightrope. I set my foot down lightly, tiptoeing across the rope. I don’t know why I’m so scared. I fantasized this day my whole life. I’m determined. I’m brave. I can do this. I continue walking against the tight rope. The crowd is fascinated that I didn’t fall yet. “One more step and I’m done,” I thought.
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Thanksgiving by Julie, 9 My favorite Thanksgiving food is mashed potatoes because I like potatoes because they’re delicious. I only eat Thanksgiving potatoes on Thanksgiving. Eating mashed potatoes is a family tradition.
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The Unknown Scary Night: Parts III and IV by Roger, 12 Part 3 When Lisa and her friends found blood on the floor and the creepy doll in the basement, Lisa and her friends ran upstairs in a rush because they were too scared. When they got upstairs, they were thinking about what to do. Lisa thought she should call the cops but her friends thought the cops were no use. Lisa tried to open the door but it was locked and the key was inside and it was snapped off. Lisa went crazy; she started punching and kicking the door until her knuckles bled. After that, Lisa had an idea, but first they went to eat. When they had eaten, they started to plan out what to do. It was nighttime. Lisa and her friends got some material and went to put cameras all around the house. When they finished, they checked on the computers if anything was wrong. Then, Lisa’s friend saw something weird.... Part 4 The camera was static. They went to get a flashlight. After, Lisa and her friends crept into the basement like soldiers. The basement was cold and had cobwebs. Lisa was getting creeped out because her basement is all clean and warm. Her body stopped. Then, Lisa’s heart stopped beating. The flashlight suddenly
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went off. The girls froze and then saw red eyes and heard a little girl’s laugh. All of Lisa’s friends screamed! Lisa and her friends ran upstairs but they were too late. The door had shut in their faces. When the door shut, one of Lisa’s friends smelled something like burning newspaper. After, they all smelled smoke. Then, they all saw FIRE! No one could do anything but they banged on the door. When the fire reached to the top, no one survived.
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Life as a Dog by Neika, 12 Hello! My name is Bella. I am a dog that lives in D.C. At home there is a cat named Mouse and Mouse has three kittens. There is also a fish named Barno. Here is a day in the life of me. Most days, my family, Neika and Solomon, go away. They say they go to a place called school. When they are gone, I like to daydream about what school might be. In the morning, Neika takes me for a walk before school. Sometimes I get to walk to school and then go to the park! Other days, Neika and Solomon stay home and play with me. On those days, I get extra walks. Those days are the days I like to spend time with my family. Meow! My name is Mouse. I am a cat and a mother of three kittens. When I am at home, I spend my time watching the kittens and sleeping. My people, Neika and Sol, feed me, clean my litter box, and let me outside. Sol feeds me and cleans my litter box every two days. Neika lets me in and out and keeps an eye on the kittens when I am out. When I am out, I like to go with other cats and roam the alley. Being outside is the best part of the day. Blub! I am Barno. I am a fish. I live in a bowl. My roommate is Bob, a turtle. Every week our bowl is cleaned. Every three days, I get fed. I get six fish balls and a fish treat. In my bowl, me and Bob like to talk about what’s outside the bowl. We like to pretend we are people in the books Neika leaves out. Other things I like to do are swim and sleep. I have always wanted to explore the world but until then, I love my bowl and spending time with Bob.
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Dangerous Animals by Eric, 11
Animals can be very dangerous. Some animals are furry. Some animals are not. Here are all the animals I know: cheetah, lion, tiger, cat, dog, elephant, and a bear. Those are all the animals I know. You can find these animals in Africa. I’ve never been to Africa but I watch a lot of movies.
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My Family and Me Going to the Beach by Julie, 11 School was over and it was so hot outside and nice. I told my mom and dad, I said, “Let’s go to the pool.” They said yes, and my sister said to go change if I wanted to go. I went to change fast and, when I came back downstairs, they were all ready to go. We went outside to get in the car. We were all ready but the line was too long to go. Instead, we went to the beach. When we got there I was the first one to get out and started running to the water but my sister said I had to help. After I helped, we ate food. Then, my family and I went for a ride!
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The Last Day of School by Gustavo, 11 It’s the last day of school and I can’t wait for it to end. I’ve been planning this for years and it is time for this to happen. Don’t forget that I’m rich, if you start wondering how. So here I go, it is now I am free. I’m in right with all my friends and all of my family members. They want to go on a trip, so get on my jet that goes at the speed of lightning. We are here. We are at the new Six Flags. I bet everyone remembered to bring their swimming trunks and goggles and straws and extra clothes. So people remember have fun and that I am the manager here having fun, too. After a few hours, we were hungry. Some people got pizzas, some hotdogs or hamburgers. After we ate, we got right back to the games and fun and when it was time to leave, we trashed the place and I hired people to clean up for the next year. I pay $25 per second.
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Mitten by Samuel Luckily for Merle, Lloyd was still searching for Eugene. He had not given up; he had been searching for one month and twenty-one days by now. He had grown accustomed to waking up in the morning, searching for Eugene, and going to bed without finding him. Despite not finding Eugene, he had found a lost mitten. It was a quality mitten, made from wool, possibly even homemade. A zig-zag stripe pattern had been woven into it. The stripes were black; the rest of the mitten was yellow. It was the type of mitten you would put on for a day like the one Lloyd had found it on—about fifteen degrees Fahrenheit, with winds reaching almost twenty miles per hour, when you needed a mitten that you could trust, not some flimsy store bought mitten that was liable to let the cold in. What bothered Lloyd about the mitten was that there was only one. “Someone out there is missing a mitten,” thought Lloyd, worried about how they would keep their hands warm. There was no sign as to where the mitten had come from. It had been in the middle of the road. Perhaps it had fallen from the sky. He had seen it sitting in the middle of the road while driving past in his car without any person or mitten to accompany it. He had immediately pulled his car over to the side of the road and got out to investigate. The road was almost empty. He had only passed one or two cars in the last half an hour of driving. Not even bothering to pull on his own
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mittens, he had rushed over and picked up the mitten from its spot in the middle of the road. He carefully brought it back to the car. It did not look like it had been there for very long. It was still in excellent condition, despite a few loose strands of frayed mitten on the side. Upon returning to his car, which was parked on the edge of the empty road next to the small forest that ran adjacent to the road, he placed the mitten in his glove compartment, where it would be safe until he could locate its owner. Finding Eugene would have to wait; this was of utmost importance at the moment. Lloyd began his search for the owner of the mitten by hanging up signs all over the area. He had grown bored of searching for Eugene for so long, so it was nice to be doing something different for a change. Plus, he still did not really know where he should be looking for Eugene. At least he knew how to begin his search for the owner of the lost mitten. Lloyd knew several important things about the owner of the mitten. He knew that they had been in the area where he had found the mitten. He knew that they were missing a mitten. And he knew that they would most likely have the other mitten in the pair, which would most likely match the mitten he had found. He also vaguely knew the size of their hands, based on the size of the mitten. He snapped a quick picture of the mitten with his disposable camera and went to the nearest Kodak store in order to get the film developed. The nearest Kodak store open was about a four hour drive from where he was, near the Canadian border, possibly even close enough to smell the maple syrup if you had a keen sense of smell. It was a remote area, and it seemed just as likely that Lloyd would run into a moose as a person. The drive to the Kodak store
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went very smoothly. Lloyd shared the road with only a few other cars, and once he got there, they told him they would have his film developed in three to five business days. It was a Friday when Lloyd turned in the film, and the following Monday was President’s day, which did not count as a business day. So Lloyd had about one week to wait before he could expect his film to be developed. Lloyd’s photo was now developed. It had taken the employees of the Kodak store five business days to develop the film. They handed him the photos, showing different angles of the lost mitten that Lloyd had found. Now that he had the photos, he glued them on to signs, describing how he had found a lost mitten and was looking to return it to its rightful owner. He posted them all around the area where he had originally found the mitten laying in the middle of the road with no one to claim it. He hung the signs on street lamps, on telephone poles, or stapled them onto trees when there were neither street lamps nor telephone poles in the vicinity. It was not a very populated area. There were no towns for almost four miles in any direction. Cars drove past without even noticing Lloyd’s carefully placed signs. None of them appeared to be worried about the possibility of someone having lost a mitten. Most of them were annoyed because someone had foolishly parked a mail truck in the middle of the road, blocking most of the incoming traffic. They were not in a mood to stop and help reunite a lost mitten with its owner. Eugene himself, who had been the one to lose the mitten and coincidentally was also who Lloyd had been searching for before he had taken up the search for the owner of the lost mitten, was walking by. He knew he had
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misplaced his mitten in this general area, and he intended to search for it here. He was pleased and surprised to notice his mitten stapled to a tree. He pulled out his staple remover and walked over to the tree, intending to rescue it. Much to Eugene’s disappointment as he got closer, it was clear that it only was picture of his mitten, not his actual mitten. At first, Eugene was puzzled as to what a picture of his mitten was doing stapled to a tree near the Canadian border. Looking closer, he noticed handwriting underneath the photograph of his lost wool mitten. It was written very small, and was hard to read, especially for Eugene who did not have particularly exceptional eyesight. “Please call this phone number if you lost a mitten like this. I may have found your mitten.�
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Night at the Haunted House Edwin, 11
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Candy Art Island Sydney, 6 One day, I was reading in my room just relaxing,when I heard Samba music in my backyard! I went to the back and found Sydney, Brendan, Ciahna, and our relatives. They said they found a magical island called “Candy Art Island.” We went to the island and dropped off our suitcases in our gingerbread apartments. We went to a restaurant called “Le Candy.” After that, we went on a gummy bear safari and found a purple gummy bear named Pearl. Then, we went to “Lemonade Beach” where the water is actually lemonade! We all drank lemonade. After that, we dug for gummy worms so we could go fishing, but it started hailing snow cones so we had to go inside. We watched a show about “How to Train a Gummy Bear 2.” The hailing stopped pretty soon, so we swam with sea turtles. We did tons of stuff at Candy Art Island, but, sadly, fifteen weeks later, we had to go back home.
Au revoir, Candy Art Island!
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826DC IS A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION DEDICATED TO SUPPORTING STUDENTS AGES 6-18 WITH THEIR CREATIVE AND EXPOSITORY WRITING SKILLS, AND TO HELPING TEACHERS INSPIRE THEIR STUDENTS TO WRITE. OUR SERVICES ARE STRUCTURED AROUND OUR UNDERSTANDING THAT GREAT LEAPS IN LEARNING CAN HAPPEN WITH ONE-ON-ONE ATTENTION AND THAT STRONG WRITING SKILLS ARE FUNDAMENTAL TO FUTURE SUCCESS. WITH THIS IN MIND, WE PROVIDE DROP-IN AFTERSCHOOL TUTORING, FIELD TRIPS, AFTER-SCHOOL TUTORING, IN-SCHOOL WORKSHOPS, HELP FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS, AND ASSISTANCE WITH STUDENT PUBLICATIONS. ALL OF OUR PROGRAMS ARE CHALLENGING AND ENJOYABLE, AND ULTIMATELY STRENGTHEN EACH STUDENTS’ POWER TO EXPRESS IDEAS EFFECTIVELY, CREATIVELY, CONFIDENTLY, AND IN HIS OR HER INDIVIDUAL VOICE.
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