The Good Side of the Universe

This book was written by the students of After-School Tutoring in Spring 2022.

The views expressed in this book are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect those of 826LA. We support student publishing and are thrilled you picked up this book.

Las opiniones expresadas en este libro son las de los autores y no reflejan necesariamente las de 826LA. Apoyamos la publicación de jóvenes autores y estamos felices que haya recogido este libro.

This chapbook was made possible in part by support from the Green Foundation, International Paper, the Joan Leidy Foundation, and the Skylight Foundation, a legacy of the Gary E. Milgard Family Foundation.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Editors:

Monica Arellano

Edward Sabalburo

Yaret Leon

Maricruz Pool-Chan

Cover Artwork and Book Design: Puicón-Pérez for 826LA

Illustrations:

Eagle Talon by Christos Georghiou (on cover) Doodles by gohsantosa2 via Freepik.com (on cover & throughout)

Park 1714 W. Sunset Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90026

Mar Vista 12515 Venice Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90066

Echo

The Good Side of the Universe

Introduction

In the land of 826LA, fantasy takes us on a journey of selfdiscovery where chosen ones triumph over writer’s block and create magical worlds alongside their whimsical companions. Straight from our student’s imagination, their characters traverse through adventure lands of mythical dimensions. In their stories, majestic animals come to the aid of their protagonists and their friendship becomes the power that unlocks worlds where anything is possible. Talking animals, robots, witches and different planets all make an appearance, and figments of our student’s imaginations come alive. Follow us into this portal and enter new universes where fantastical tales jump from the page and into your heart.

—The Editors

SECTION ONE:

Wondering Lands

LA Ocean Pop Out

Yael H.

“Hi, our names are Oceanpig and Capcut but hey, don’t judge me! Yeah, I’m a pig, you think you’re so great? Can you control water and mud? Didn’t think so,” Oceanpig blurted out. Oceanpig and Capcut live in the LA ocean in an underwater pool house. They are watching TV and eating sand-flavored ice cream sandwiches before the fight. A bad person, who is looking for gold treasures, lands on them. The bad person smells like cat poop. The bad person’s dragon eels appear from nowhere. A big dragon eel, who’s attacking, slips on a rock but Capcut can’t stop the underwater fight. Under the ocean, it sounds like a cat and dog playing and barking and meowing. Oceanpig stops the fight by spraying mud and water with his mouth. Then the bad person had more respect for the ocean pig.

So the next day, there was nobody else living in the ocean but them. It was funny because it turned out that the bad person was Oceanpig’s and Capcut’s cousin. After the fight, they looked at each other and noticed they all looked alike and realized they were cousins!

I-Land

Nathalie C.

The villagers chased after the cat in their village and tried to get the berries back, but before they could find her, she disappeared.

Jake came back from buying berries and ice cream and saw a cat on the sidewalk. She looked different from other cats he’d seen before. Jake was new to town so he didn’t know that cats were hated there. Jake said to the cat, “I’m taking you home!” The cat got scared and hissed because she was used to being hated and yelled at. Jake picked up the cat with no fear and said, “I’m going to name you Marie!”

Jake took the cat home and left the house again to find some items for the cat, but couldn’t find any. He asked someone who lived nearby where to find cat toys and cat food, but that person told him they hated cats. Jake asked why they hated cats. The villager yelled, “They rob! Why did you ask for cat toys and cat food?” Jake responded with, “I saw some cats nearby and didn’t know they were hated.”

Jake went back home and couldn’t find Marie. He called

Marie’s name then he heard something fall in his room. He yelled, “Who are you?!” She responded with, “Marie… I guess.”

He asked what happened and Marie explained that all cats have powers and that they are all different from one another. Jake then asked, “Why do you steal?” Marie answered, “Uh, I don’t?”

“But the villagers said you steal,” Jake told her.

“I don’t steal!” screamed Marie. “I only get berries from bushes and take them to my grandma.”

“So it’s a misunderstanding?” asked Jake.

“Yes,” answered Marie.

“We should go to town and convince the villagers that cats are good creatures! I’ll help too because in my world cats are very calm and sweet. I’ll convince them with you,” said Jake.

“No, that’s too scary. I don’t want you doing that to yourself,” said Marie while Jake stood in silence. “Say something!” yelled Marie.

“I’m trying to help you, yet you don’t want to help me?!” asked Jake.

“No,” said Marie. “I’m too scared to try.”

“Just turn yourself into your human form,” Jake suggested. Marie looked scared and worried but agreed.

Jake and Marie walked out of their house and went straight to the town’s most crowded place and walked to the main square. Everyone crowded around them quickly whispering, “That girl has cat ears,” “Eww,” “Throw things at her!” Marie felt even more anxious and started fidgeting with her fingers.

Jake spoke first, “You guys hate cats right?” The crowd yelled as if they were cheering, “Yes!” Marie started shivering from fear. Jake started speaking again, “Well, you shouldn’t. Cats are very sweet. They don’t steal, they get berries for their relatives and friends because they are sick and hungry, berries are nutritious for them. They are trying to help themselves live!” The crowd

murmured but stayed pretty quiet.

“I’m a cat… and as a cat, it’s true we try to help our family live just a bit longer. My grandma got sick and I took some berries so she could get a bit better. On my way to get them, I got attacked and ran into a bush to hide. I got away and I found my friend Jake along the way. We talked and he said we should treat cats better and tell the village that cats don’t steal.”

Someone in the crowd yelled, “How are you human? I have never heard of a human-cat!” Marie replied, “All cats have different powers.’’

“Yes, every cat has different powers, but they have never hurt any humans. Can you all accept cats?” Jake asked. The crowd nodded and they all said yes.

The next day Marie went back to her real home and told her family they could get out of their house and get berries without fear. Her mom asked, “Are you being threatened to tell us this?” “No,” replied Marie. “I’m being serious.”

The word spread among the cats and they went to town and got berries, some people even gave them food from their hands. Marie and Jake were outside and Marie was in her cat form. In I-land there are jellyfish-like creatures called Jelly. Jelly feel like the slime of a snail. Marie saw one and playfully hit it with her paws. Jake and Marie laughed. “I’m so happy cats are accepted now,” said Jake.

“Yeah,” said Marie.

Frost Village

Sofia G.A.

Hi! My name is Brianna. I am going to tell you a story of how I got to meet a phoenix. My story begins with me hiking up a snowy mountain. I stumbled upon a small village and I asked a lady, “Where am I?”

She said, “You are in Frost Village,” she then asked, “are you visiting?’’

“Yes I am.’’

The kind lady told me to follow her, so I did. She took me to a hotel. She said she was the owner of the place so she let me stay for free. “It is going to be snowing a lot today,’’ said the old lady. I thanked her for the warning and went into my room and put my stuff down. Then, I went outside to explore the village before it snowed. When I was walking around, there was a man telling a story about a phoenix.

“Legend has it that a long time ago in this village, the people who lived here would make the phoenix ride them to the main town. They would do this because they didn’t want to walk all the way down and back up the mountain. If the phoenix

disagreed, the villagers would get one of its eggs and sell it. When the phoenix did not want to follow the rules of the villagers, she disappeared because she felt disappointed in herself. The phoenix’s name is Frost. This phoenix still lives today,” said the man.

Some random person said, “ How do you know that this phoenix is still alive!?”

“The villagers hear it roar at night,” said the man.

I asked him, “Where can I meet the phoenix?”

“Go to the back of the village. The phoenix lives in the second cave in the mountain,’’ said the man.

Then, I saw a man running around the village saying, “It will be snowing very hard soon! Please go to your hotels or homes as soon as possible!”

Everyone was scared and started running to their homes or hotels. I also ran to my hotel. I was kind of sad because I planned on going to meet the phoenix right then, but it was going to snow so I was not taking any chances.

The next day, I walked all the way to the back of the village and started going up the mountain. The mountain that the man talked about looked rocky, but that did not stop me. As I started to walk up, it got more rocky that I almost fell but that still didn’t stop me. The cave the man talked about was not that high up. Once I was in front, the cave rocks started flying at me. I got a little closer and I smelled fish, but as I got closer I saw the phoenix. It looked mad. I told the phoenix, “I am not here for your eggs or for a ride to the main town.”

I was not sure if it could understand me but it looked at me like it understood what I said. The phoenix sat down and looked at me. I told the phoenix that I just wanted to be friends with it. The phoenix turned around and looked at the wall. I guessed the phoenix didn’t trust me. I went back down to the village and

got some beef jerky for the phoenix. When I went back to give the phoenix its food, it was still looking at the wall. I put the food down and said, “I will be back.” I went back down to the village and got blankets. I went back up and gave the phoenix the blankets. “These are for your eggs for when it gets too cold.” The phoenix looked at me confused.

I was about to exit the phoenix’s cave, but it was snowing and I couldn’t see anything. Little did I know I was about to get hit by a tree branch. The only thing I saw once I took a look outside was the phoenix covering me. I saw the tree branch slide off the phoenix’s wing.

“Are you hurt?” said a female voice.

“I am ok. Who are you?”

“Turn around and see for yourself,” said the voice.

I turned around and saw the phoenix. Surprised, I said “are you the phoenix?”

“Yes,” said the phoenix.

I was so happy that I jumped up with joy, almost falling.

“Thank you for saving me,” I said.

“Your welcome,” said the phoenix.

“Why did you save me?” I asked.

“You are not like the other humans. You are nice, caring and friendly,” said the phoenix, “call me Frost.”

“My name is Brianna, but you can call me Bri,” I said.

Frost told me I could stay the night in her cave because it was snowing. In the morning, it stopped snowing. I thanked the phoenix and went back down to the village. I went back to the hotel and got my stuff. I thanked the lady, who let me stay for free.

“I don’t know if we are friends now, but I hope so. See you soon Frost.”

A Dragon that Laughed at Another Dragon and Got Very Rude

Natalia V.

There once was a silly town that smelled like fresh water with salt, fresh air, and silly people and dragons lived there. There was one dragon that looked a little girly, weird, a little girly, silly, and was named Bob.

The other one was me. I can transform into anything and my name is Ellie.

There was another dragon that felt very bumpy and could be very silly and very weird. Ellie and Bob were close friends, and they lived on Silly Beach.

That town of the Silly Beach got so silly that everyone laughed when a dragon asked a question and the laughter sounded very mean and very rude to the dragon. Bob felt very mad that a very angry dragon was laughing at them. The dragon that asked the question got very mad, and I was trying to fix it.

I told the one who laughed at them to not laugh at them because it made them super mad. They stopped laughing, and the dragon forgave them. And they lived happily ever after…

The End

The Strange Life of Noodle

Wendy J.S.

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful city named L.A. The city was filled with people that possessed different kinds of powers and also big noses. Among these people was a girl named Noodle. She has a nice smile, she is smart, eats vegetables and fruits and has black hair.

There were three bullies named Isabella (Isa) The Boss and the two assistants, Chloe and Evelyn. The bullies are scary, grumpy and treat you badly. The problem was the bullies were bullying Noodle. The bullies laughed at Noodle, at how she looks and called her names. Noodle wants to solve the problem by being friends with the bullies. Noodle was sad at how the bullies treated her. Noodle had her old friends from second grade named Hanna and Tina. Hanna’s power is communicating with animals. She loves animals, and she’s kind and playful. Then there is Tina. Tina’s power is a water sprayer. She loves drinking water, and she’s funny and always thirsty. Noodle did not have any power

because she was not a hero–yet.

Noodle was walking by herself in the forest and found a big cave while walking by. She went down the stairs and saw a lot of creatures. Sofia, who takes care of animals and creatures, tells Noodle all the dragons’ names. Noodle looked around and saw a dragon that Sofia forgot to call the name of: the last dragon. The last dragon was called Jake. Jake’s power is ice, and he likes icey food, but dislikes hot food and he’s friendly. Noodle chose Jake to be her partner. Noodle gives money to Sofia and goes to Isabella’s house.

When Noodle and Jake found Isabella’s house, Noodle knocked at the door, shaking.

Isabella opened the door and said, “What are you doing here!” Chloe and Evelyn came to the door and said at the same time “Noodle!? Who is that dragon creature?” “I need to talk to you guys,” Noodle said. “Fine.” Isabella said.

Noodle and Jake went inside Isa’s house. Noodle, Chloe, Isa and Evelyn sat on the chairs. Noodle talked to them about why they are being mean to Noodle, Tina and Hanna. The bullies did not want to tell Noodle why. Noodle got super mad and stood up and put her hands up and put her hands down really hard. The bullies got so sad about what Noodle did. So they started to get angry, but she did not mean to cause that. Isa, Chloe and Evelyn got tornado powers and it was a… big problem! Isa’s house was all ruined by the tornado. Noodle and Jake ran out of Isa’s house. Noodle was trying to stop but they were really strong, but then Tina and Hanna came to the rescue of Noodle and Jake. Hanna used her animals to scare the bullies and Tina used her water spray from her hands, but they could not stop the bullies and they got stronger.

While Tina and Hanna tried to stop them, Noodle thought of an idea to solve the problem. Then the people from the city came

to help. Everyone helped, but they could not save the world. So Noodle saw that everyone was so tired and they couldn’t do it anymore. Noodle thought and then she got an awesome idea!

She asked Jake, “Could you make three stones to give to them?” Jake made three stones really fast so the bullies won’t get worse. When Jake was done, he gave them to Noodle. Then Noodle gave them to her cousin Alice. Alice’s power is turning stuff into statues. Alice finished the heart stones and gave them to Noodle.

Noodle went and gave them to Isabella, Evelyn and Chloe. Noodle talked to them and said, “Please stop being mad.” The bullies still got mad at Noodle and Noodle asked them, “ Why are you the bullies?” Isa said, “I always have a bad day.” Evelyn said “It is because no one gives me presents,” and Chloe said, “I got bullied by other kids in second grade.” Noodle felt really sorry for what she just heard. So Noodle gave the bullies the presents and said, “Surprise!” to them. The bullies felt so happy and hugged Noodle really tight.

Noodle felt so happy, but then Noodle got her new powers. Noodle’s power is… everything! Noodle was so proud to have new powers and her friends were proud of her. Then Hanna and Tina hugged Noodle.

Hanna went to Jake and said, “Hello, cutie.” Jake said back, “Hello, Hanna.” Noodle and her friends, and also the bullies, were surprised that Jake talked and then they went home and rebuilt Isa’s house and the city. The End.

The Beginning of the War

Sofia A.

Priscilla and her flying gold cat, Lily, were reading in their peaceful library when they heard a loud BANG! of thunder. It started to rain outside. It started raining black, frightening coal instead of bright crystal rain. When Priscilla took a close look at the window, she noticed that every time the rain touched the grass or the flowers they collapsed and died. If the black rain touched the ground, it also turned black.

The Cold Day “What is going on, Lily?” Priscilla asked.

“It’s those coal people, it looks like they are coming,” said Lily in a panicked voice.

“Let’s go tell my mom. She is the queen, she knows what to do,” said Priscilla. They went running in the castle until they reached her mom’s room, but she was not there. “She is gone!”

Priscilla thought, but when she went outside she saw her mom unconscious on the floor.

When the rain touched her mom she started to turn black. When Priscilla turned around, all of the other people had turned black and were frozen like statues. She knew what she had to do. Her mother said if something ever goes wrong go to Melissa, Jade, and Allyson’s houses. So she ran to the castle, got her coat, and got some food for Lily. Priscilla could drive, so she went in the car, drove to each house to pick up each of her friends, and went to the secret underground cave. It was very cold that day.

“Look, we have a problem here,” said Priscilla. “We need to save the city. We all know that out of everyone in the city, only we have magic, and with that, we have to save our people.”

“I know we have powers and magical animals, but how are we going to save the city? We are just teenagers,” Jade said.

“We need to do this! We have to save the world, and the first thing to do is to fly to the Dark City,” said Priscilla.

The First War

The girls got some food for themselves and their animals. ”Let’s do this!’ said Jade.

The girls went on their animals’ backs and flew through the forest, ate, and flew again until they reached the Dark City. They got off and climbed up the mountain and saw Lava. The girls screamed, “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” But what was even more terrifying were the monsters!

“Come on, guys, we have to fly over there so we can get a better look!“ said Allyson, so they flew across the monsters to the Black Castle. Then, there they were in the Black Castle and entering when they heard a loud, “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” coming from a

door. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” they screamed back.

“What was that noise and why did I have to come?” Allyson said with regret.

“Come on guys, we have a mission to accomplish, and that is to get the crystal back,” Priscilla said. So they walked through the hallways until they saw something suspicious, and then something happened: they saw smoke. What they saw there that day would never leave their minds. They started walking towards it, an underground world that led to spooky nightmares. There was lava and spooky red clouds. They went down the stairs until they reached the floor. They walked straight for a long time until they saw a door. It was red and had a goblin face carved into it.

When they opened the door they saw the Queen of the Dark Crystal Empire. She looked evil: tall with red boots, pale white skin, red gloves, and a red skirt and her hair long and red, with a stripe of orange in her bangs. Her shirt was red with gold bracelets on her sleeve, and a red medallion on her chest. She had an evil grin, and she said, “I’ve been expecting you for a long time, girls. I hope you have a good time here while I destroy your city! And I hope you like it here because you are going to be here for a long time.”

“Hey, we don’t want to stay here,” yelled Melissa. “We just want our crystal back, to get our family back to normal.”

Everyone started fighting because they didn’t want to stay there. They fought hard until the Queen released smoke that put them all to sleep instantly. This was to make it easier to put them in her dungeon.

The next day when they woke up, it was still the same: dark clouds, no happiness, and dead trees all around them. They got up and got the swords from their bags and started unlocking the door with them. They went outside and saw a lot of people crying. All of a sudden, a bomb exploded near them. Priscilla

recognized the bomb. It came from the Dark Crystal Empire. “It’s time for war,” she said in her head. She got the sword from her backpack and aimed it at one of the people. Of course, the war started. Then the Queen came in with a sword in her hand. “What are you doing to my village? You are supposed to be in the dungeon!” she shrieked.

Jade got her sword out and started fighting with the Queen. The other friends fought with the village people, and some people must have passed out. The War lasted about a week, and there was no water or food. In the end, only the Queen survived, along with twenty of her villagers.

Two of Priscila’s friends were hurt, Jade and Melissa, but Priscilla’s cat, Lily, healed them both with her magical abilities. Then Priscilla wanted to get rid of all of the Dark Queen’s people, so they could go back to their village and unite their kingdom again. Jade and Melissa went to go fight the twenty villagers, and Priscilla and Allyson went to fight the Dark Queen for the last time.

Two days passed, and the twenty villagers were gone. The four friends fought the Queen, until after two weeks of fighting, with just a little food and water, the four friends defeated the Queen!

They went back to their land with the Magic Crystal. The people who had turned black from the rain came back to life, and Priscilla’s mother got better too. They lived happily ever after.

STACEY in Wonderland

Adamaris G.

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Stacey. She was tall, 15 years old, and had powers to make portals. She could open them when she wanted to.

One time, she opened a portal and went into a forest, and she saw a sweet and colorful Flower. She was a joyful Flower. Flower’s powers were that she could change color based on her mood. When she is mad, she changes to red, and when she is sad, she is blue, and when she is happy, she turns all the colors like the rainbow. And Stacey was happy to see a nice Flower, so Stacey took it home. But the Flower said, “Do not take me because next time we come to this forest, the queen will take your powers,” but Stacey did not listen, and Stacey took the flower.

The next day, she opened the portal and went back to the same forest that she was in yesterday with Flower. It took Stacey ten minutes to pass because the queen knew that Stacey was coming back to the same forest. Because the queen knew she

was coming back to the forest, her powers were weak. She was looking for another flower because she wanted a friend for Flower, but could not find one, so she wanted to go home. She was going back home, but then she could not open the portal. She remembered that Flower told her not to take her because the queen would take her powers. Stacey said, “We need to go find the queen.”

Thankfully, she was in the middle of the forest and there was a big hole with a thin side and a big step. If Stacey and the Flower were teleported at the start of the forest, they would see a big wall, and Flower and Stacey would have to figure out a way to get across the wall, but it would be hard for them. The big step was like a lily pad, and the other side was thin, like a piece of string. Flower and Stacey were going on the side that had the big step to get to the queen’s castle.

Then they got to the queen’s castle, which looked like Rapunzel’s castle. The flying ant was there, and the ant said, “Give me a reason so you can go into the queen’s castle.” Stacey told the flying ant the reason why they should see the queen: to get her powers back. They went to the queen, and now they had to give the queen a reason for Stacy to get her powers back.

Stacey said to the queen, “because I need to go back home to my family.”

“It’s disrespectful to take things that are not yours,” replied The Queen.

Stacey said, “Sorry for taking the flower that is not mine.”

Queen replied to Stacey, “It’s ok. Just don’t do it again.”

Stacey said to the Queen, “I promise. I won’t do it again.”

The Queen replied, “Ok, then I will see you the next time you come to this forest.”

Stacey replied, “I will be back in two months.”

The Queen replied, “Why are you going to be back in two

months?”

Stacey replied, “I will be away to visit some family members, so I can’t be here sooner.”

The Queen replied, “Ok, I will see you in two months. Bye, Stacey and Flower.”

Stacey replied, “Bye. See you in two months.”

Then, the Queen waved her magic wand and gave Stacey back her powers. The Queen gave Stacey permission to keep Flower. Stacey went home with Flower.

Stacey felt happy to be home, and her parents were so happy that she was back. So, that was the last time Stacey and Flower went back to the Forest. The End

Me and Dob

Savanna S.

Hi, my name is Molly and this morning at school I found a magical gem. As I was walking back to class, it started to glow. As soon as I got to class I hid it in my backpack so nobody could see. As soon as school was over, I checked my backpack to see if it was okay but it was gone! I went running around looking for it. I looked in the restroom, classroom, field, and play area. Then I found the gem at the office, it had purple legs sticking out of the gem. The gem grew bigger and bigger, as the monster came out of it. When it came out, it was the size of a bird. I told it to come back inside my backpack, but instead, it jumped into my arms. Soon instead of calling the gem It, I began calling it Dob. I put Dob in my backpack and went home. The next Saturday morning I heard my mom screaming and then she said, “What is that thing!” I said, “Mom, calm down. It’s just a green gem from school.” Then my mom said, “Where did the gem go?”

After a few days, she got used to him and thought he was cute. He started acting like a baby so we got him a pacifier and bottles and he had to use my old crib. At night he would always snore loudly and mimic me. When I told him to stop, he would just mimic me louder and louder. Then as the days went by I got used to it and felt like I had a little brother. But sadly as the days and weeks went by he started to get homesick. But a few days later his mom came out of nowhere. She took him but left me a reward of 5,000 dollars so I gave the money to my mom. I waved goodbye to Dob and he waved back and said bye.

The Unknown And Ruffles

Gio S.

Have you ever wanted to hear about two mighty souls saving the world (or do they) by saving poor souls corrupted by an ink demon commanded by Rob, the sinister ink demon? Well then, continue reading.

One sunny day in the Enchanted Forest, the Unknown woke up to a Dogan, a mystical creature that is mixed with a dog and a dragon. He got up quickly from his bed confused and asked the Dogan, “Wha… who… What are you?’’ Dogan replied, “What even are you?’’ The Unknown got his bow and aimed it at the Dogan. Dogan says with fear, “Hey, hey, hey calm down.’’ He dropped his bow because when he saw the Dogan’s eyes he saw peace in him. He saw that there were ink guards sent by Rob the leader to capture the Unknown. He got an invisible cloak and covered his hut.

Dogan asked the Unknown, “What’s happening?’’ but the Unknown shushed the Dogan.

“I heard something near this area, but where?” an ink guard

said to the other ones.

The Unknown got a smoke bomb and threw it at the guards and rushed to the Dogan to escape. A guard spotted them escaping and shouted, “Hey they’re escaping! Shoot them.”

They got their arrows and shot at them, but they dodged them and the Unknown flew away on the Dogan. They stopped at a cave to rest. The Unknown named the Dogan, “Ruffles.” They both planned how they are going to uncorrupt the ink demons. The Unknown found a recipe to create a potion to uncorrupt the ink demons.

He got dragon nails from a trader that came to the cave, then they went to a magical river and got a fish and its scales and frog breath from nearby. Then he got a purple liquid and mixed it all together. A fog came out and a foggy skull came out. It smelled strong, then they got arrows and dipped it inside and the rest in smoke bombs. “Time to uncorrupt all ink demons,” The Unknown and Ruffles said.

The Unknown got on Ruffles and they both flew to the city. They got out the bombs and arrows and threw it all around the city until it was flooding with ink. They got the people that were uncorrupted. Some ink demons got the head leader Rob and hid him in a cave. The Unknown thought he got all of them, but Rob still survived.

He said, “HA, HA, HA fools. One day I shall get my revenge on you and your new friend with an army of ink demons but not now. HA, HA, HA, HA, HA.”

To be continued… wait!

Sorry I forgot. Uh hum… Ruffles became friends with the Unknown and they saved many more lives across the world. Now, to be continued…

The Aqua Crystal

Roxana G.C.

Have you ever seen floating islands when you look out to see the world? These massive floating islands have wonderful waterfalls at their edges.

One inhabitant of this land was Jade, a modern and extraordinary princess. Jade was not the typical princess we have come to know from fairy tale movies. She never really acted like a princess. She wanted to go on adventures, enjoy the beach, and not wear puffy and extravagant dresses.

Jade lived on a massive floating island in an unknown universe. One day she was at a river, so she shapeshifted into a mermaid. She then swam to the deep end of the bottom of the river. After a while, she turned back into a human and couldn’t breathe.

Carrot, a rabbit, was also losing his powers.Then, an earthquake hit and everything started shaking. Carrot accidentally lost his balance and fell into the river. Jade was drowning but Carrot saved her.

Carrot was a tiny, fluffy, gray, rabbit and a prince of a

different dimension. Carrot asked her, “Why are you drowning? You were a mermaid a second ago.” Jade replied, “I don’t know, I think I’m losing my powers.”

Then Carrot remembered the aqua crystal gave everyone and everything powers and said, “The aqua crystal!”

“Oh yeah,” Jade said, “The aqua crystal came from the end of the beginning of time. It became so powerful because the crystal was the beginning of time and helped the universe become the universe. It looks like a crystal made of the Hope Diamond and a piece of a star. It can prevent people from getting powerful and is cursed by the star, and the curse can never be taken away from it. It is located in the castle domain in a parallel universe. It can only be broken if it is put near lava, but it will cause many disasters if it is broken.¨

So they both went to the magical aqua crystal to get their powers back. After two harsh days of getting to the place where the portal was then 14 hours of getting past the guards, they reached the place. They almost fell into a void, but they finally reached the crystal.

They started getting attacked by strong, loud lightning and, as they got closer, their powers started to fade. They realized the crystal was taking their powers away. Then they got a rock. After they got the crystal under the rock, they threw it onto the crystal.

“BOOM!”

The crystal exploded as dusty, gray, fog filled the air.

The gray fog made them blind. They tripped, and Carrot and Jade said “Ahh!” as they fell into the tsunami.

They disintegrated into thin air, never to be seen again.

Now you know never to go near a tsunami.

Bird Dragon Cause it looks like a Bird

Anthony A.

FADE IN:

INT. LIN’S HOUSE - DAY

Lin (18, White, tall, kind of skinny, brown hair, wearing a green sweater) sits alone on his couch. He’s bored… very bored.

NARRATOR

So there was a boy whose name was Lin, who was very, very, very, very lonely, so he decided to adopt a pet instead of a child. It seems like a lot of work anyway.

(Lin gets up from the couch.)

CUT TO:

INT. PET SHOP

We’re in a pet shop where the Pet Shop Owner (a kid disguised as a 20 year old adult) stands behind the register.

NARRATOR

Lin went to a pet store, which the owner is definitely not the creator of this story. Anyway, he entered the pet store and was looking for someone to adopt. For one day, are you sure one day? Then the owner, who is definitely not wearing a fake mustache, said

PET SHOP OWNER:

I got a new pet that is up for adoption, but just don’t tell the government.

LIN:

Why no—

Just don’t

PET SHOP OWNER:

LIN: (Frightened)

Okay. Where is–

PET SHOP OWNER: In the basement, c’mon let’s go.

(Lin and the Pet Shop Owner head down to the Basement.)

NARRATOR:

The owner showed Lin a dragon.

A Dragon (three feet tall, is standing in a cage.) Lin walks right up to the dragon.

PET SHOP OWNER:

Wait, how come you aren’t scared?

LIN: Honestly, he’s only three feet tall.

PET SHOP OWNER: So, you’re gonna adopt him?

LIN: Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, sure.

NARRATOR:

Lin took the dragon home. Then suddenly BOOM! They were trapped in another world, a whole new world (Aladin music playing in the background). This was a world full of magic users. Basically, wizards and creatures that are rare to find there except a phoenix. Lin saw that it’s full of nature such as plants, trees and animals, even crystals. They’re trying to find out how to get back home.

EXT ALCOR

LIN:

Wait, can’t you teleport us back?

NARRATOR:

Until they forgot the logic in this story. Then, a mysterious figure popped out from a bush and said,

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE:

If you want to go back home you need to do three quests to go home. First quest, the land of Zombie teddy bears, weird right? But anyway, your second quest is to go to the temple of lost souls, and last but not least heaven cause you might disappear, but that’s if you do. You have to get me a crystal from a zombie teddy bear and something that doesn’t belong in the temple.

LIN:

Uhhhh… alright we accept but is this a trick?

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE:

No, no this is not a trick you can trust me.

LIN:

So we’re going to the land of zombie teddy bears first, but where is it though?

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE:

Here take this map, it’ssssssss right here.

LIN: (To the Dragon)

Okay, wait can you fly uhhhhhh… dragon? Hmmmm… you need a name. Oh, what about Xen? Sorry, I’m not good at naming like at all, so Xen can you fly or not?

(The Dragon looked confused.)

LIN:

Oh right, you’re still small. I always forget that you’re only

five feet tall!? Huh, it seems like you must be growing pretty fast. How will we get there? Hmmm… Oh, over there a phoenix. Hey you phoenix, can you get me to the land of zombie teddy bears?

RANDOM PHOENIX: (Phoenix noise)

NARRATOR:

That thing needs to be on a leash.

LIN:

I’m gonna take that as a yes. Let’s g- owwwww! Right you’re on fire, hmmm…

NARRATOR:

After countless hours of pain, the journey continues.

LIN:

Are we there yet? Owwww, yes we are he- owwww! Hurry and land already, ugh my clothes are burnt. Let’s just go! Wait over there, a zombie teddy bear. Wait, this seems easier than we thou- What is that! It’s a pack of zombie teddy bears! Hurry, run to the…

(Lin turns to the Random Phoenix.)

LIN:

Oh he’s gone… uh, there in that cave they won’t find us in there.

(Lin and Xen quickly run toward the cave, then the zombie bears pass them.)

INT. CAVE

LIN:

They are gone. Phew, I thought we were gonna run more, but all’s well that ends well. At least, I think that’s how you say it.

LIN: (growling)

Xen please tell me that’s you. Wait, you can’t talk.

(Lin looks behind him.)

LIN:

Wow! What are the odds? A CRYSTAL BEAR. Wait, is everything here just about crystals? No time, gotta run man! That phoenix had to leave us!

(A net from the sky captures the bear.)

LIN: Huh… I think I will just leave it…

(Crystal Bear does puppy eyes.)

LIN:

Oh, don’t look at me like that. You are lucky to be born with puppy eyes.

(Lin frees the Crystal Bear. Crystal Bear runs away.)

LIN:

Now time to…

(A bright light comes at Lin.)

LIN:

Oh, what is it now? Can’t I have a break once in a while? If it’s another animal, I swear to god I will… Oh, it’s a town?! Wow, it’s really bright. They must have a lot of lights or maybe it’s the sun. Wait, aren’t those wizards and there is a sign that says, “No Dragons Allowed,” what unlucky business is left?

(POOF! The Creator appears out of nowhere.)

CREATOR:

Well you see, the town might be evil or destroy animals habitats you never know.

LIN:

Wait, who are you and why do you look like the person who sold me dragon?

CREATOR:

Well, do I have a mustache not to be exact.

LIN:

Well, I have a question: what is your game here?

CREATOR:

Oh uhh… okay, listen you lost your question so bye.

(The CREATOR disappears.)

LIN:

Wait! Ugh! The world just has to do this to me. Well, I think this is a world? I mean this can’t be some story, right? Well, they mostly are happy and I am not happy. Actually, I think that at the end of the book, but maybe this town is nice. But right, Xen cannot come into the town. Hmmmmm… right! Disguises, but where can I get them? Right there! A costume shop looks like luck is heading toward me.

(Spoiler alert it’s not.)

LIN:

Let’s see… a dragon costume. Well, I can lie and say it’s a costume. Yeah, maybe not. Lets see… aha a phoenix costume! Considering they are common to find, this will work. I will buy this wait… $100. Jeez! Wait, I always keep spare money. Aha $100! Here! I want to buy this phoenix costume, extra large.

EXT COSTUME SHOP

(Lin walks out with nothing in his hand.)

LIN:

I just don’t get it Xen. Their money is jewels, which is the

same as crystals… kinda… huh?

(Creator comes in.)

CREATOR:

Okay, here an extra large phoenix costume. Considering that I felt bad.

LIN: Did you steal this?

CREATOR: Maybe?

(Alarm in background.)

CREATOR:

But that does not matter! At least you can now go into town. Well, bye!

(As the Creator disappeared.)

LIN:

Well, that was really weird. Well, here Xen considering you’re now 100 feet tall.

(Lin puts the costume on Xen.)

LIN:

Well, now we can head into the town. Let’s go!

GUARD:

Whoa, whoa hold up! Your phoenix needs to be on a leash to enter this town.

LIN:

Ugh! Okay! Also, where can I find a crystal from a zombie teddy bear?

GUARD: Well, right over there.

(The guard points to a fence with a bunch of crystals in them.)

LIN: Can we take them?

GUARD:

Well, go on ahead nobody wants them anyway.

LIN:

Thank you.

GUARD:

Wait! Your phoenix… ugh! You know what? Why do I even try? Maybe, I should just quit!

LIN:

Lets see! The figure said they wanted ten of them, so we will grab ten and…

(Lin and Xen suddenly teleport to a random place.)

EXT FOREST

LIN:

Ugh!I landed on a big rock! My back hurts now!

MYSTERIES FIGURE:

Why, hello? Did you bring me my crystals?

LIN:

Yes, here you go! When you try to teleport me, teleport me on the grass. Also, where is the temple of lost souls?

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE:

Right here, on top of this mountain.

LIN:

On Mount Rockmore and it says the most dangerous mountain and no one can survive? Why is everything so dangerous? Ugh, so how will I get there? Oh wait, we’re here? Well, whatever we did seems like it was the right way. I just realized we don’t know where to go. Why do I never ask for more details! Lets just look everywhere for it. Oh wait, it’s right there! Well, let’s go in. It seems kinda suspicious though, but I got a dragon by my side and… he is gone. Let’s see… just a bunch of ghosts. I mean it’s in the name, so of course there are ghosts, but they can’t hurt me.

(Ghost jumpscare.)

LIN:

But they can scare me. Let’s see… How can I cross without the ghost seeing me? Hmmmm… Wait, salt! But where can I get salt?

(Salt appears out of nowhere.)

LIN: Is everything just appearing in here?

(Lin uses the salt on all the ghosts he sees, but after ten hours Lin found nothing that didn’t belong there. Then the mysterious figure called him by a crystal that he did not remember taking.)

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE: So did you find anything?

LIN:

No, I found the temple and salt to get rid of spirits, that’s all.

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE: Wait, where did the salt come from?

LIN:

Oh, it just appeared right in front of me.

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE: Wait, that is not supposed to happen.

LIN:

Wait, it’s not?

(Then everything in the temple started falling apart. Lin quickly got out of there. Then Xen appears.)

LIN:

Oh, fancy meeting you here. Why did you leave me Xen?

(Then the temple got destroyed and something was in the middle of the destruction: a glowing ball. Lin grabbed it and teleported right in the middle of the forest and saw the mysterious figure. Lin gave the ball to him.)

EXT FOREST

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE:

Thank you for all your help. Looks like I won’t be needing you anymore or seeing you ever again because you’re not going home.

LIN:

Wait, what!?

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE:

You actually trust me! Huh, you are a fool of course I would never help you!

LIN:

Oh, so that quest was just a waste of time. Also, I should’ve known that because I always was wondering

how you were gonna get me back home. You betrayed me!

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE:

Of course! Why wouldn’t I! Also, these items were to make me king of the kingdom.

LIN: Wait, kingdom?

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE: Wait, you never saw the kingdom!?

LIN: No, I haven’t, but I will stop you!

MYSTERIOUS FIGURE:

Ha! You think you can stop me? With these items, it will make me powerful enough to take over Alcor and earth and I will overthrow my brother especially, and me, Enuff Gen, will take the throne!

LIN:

So your name is Enuff? Huh, and you have a brother?

ENUFF:

Of course I do! Now enough talking it’s time for you to be trapped in my dungeon in my kingdom!

(Then Lin suddenly fainted and woke up in a dungeon.)

LIN:

Huh, I’m in a dungeon. Wait, where’s Xen? Man, my head hurts, but how will I get out of here?

(Lin noticed a poster and behind it was a way out. Lin got out. As soon as he was walking up trying to find the exit, he saw a bunch of dragons locked up.)

LIN:

Huh, dragons! Maybe I can find Xen, but I need to set all of them free. Hey all of you guys and girls, don’t you prefer to be out there roaming in the forest and want peace? Well, I think you all do… but do you?

(All dragons then roar.)

LIN:

I’m gonna take that as yes, but are you with me!

(All dragons roar again.)

LIN: Wow, I feel like I’m going crazy because I’m talking to dragons.

(Lin sets all of them free, but they still have other problems.)

ALCOMOR:

Huh brother, what are you doing here?

ENUFF:

I’m here to take the throne!

ALCOMOR:

But why?

ENUFF:

Well, you have made fun of me for the last time and now it’s time to take my revenge!

ALCOMOR:

Guards, seize him!

ENUFF:

You think they can stop me!

(Enuff fought all of the guards, but the guards lost to him.)

ENUFF:

Just give up brother! You will never win. You made fun of me for years. You did not let me even live in our kingdom. After all of this, I will never forgive you.

(Then they both heard a loud sound from the dungeon. The door came out crashing down and they both saw a bunch of dragons charging at Enuff. Enuff then shouted.)

ENUFF:

What happened? What are they doing? How did this happen?

(Enuff then heard a voice.)

LIN:

By me! Whoa, Xen! Be careful! Anyways, it’s your doom Enuff! Surrender now or every dragon will use their power including Xen.

ENUFF:

Okay fine, I give up!

LIN: Uhh… should we put him in the dungeon?

ALCOMOR:

Yes and its Alcomor. Thank you for saving my life. But you’re right. Let’s put him in the dungeon where he belongs, and also I should change the law.

(Alcomor then gave a speech about changing the law that dragons should be allowed in the kingdom.)

LIN:

Great speech Alcomor, but why are dragons not allowed anyway?

ALCOMOR:

Because they destroyed our kingdom many years ago and I think you should go home.

LIN:

Oh you’re right! Well, I want to say bye and make sure Enuff will never escape.

ALCOMOR:

I know.

LIN:

Well, let’s go Xen.

(They go back to earth and Lin decides to keep Xen.)

INT HOME

LIN:

That fresh air. It’s good to be home now, but kinda weird now that I have a dragon as a pet and that is 100 feet tall. Of course, it’s gonna be hard hiding it from the government. Hmm…

NARRATOR:

But it’s not over. A voice that was never heard before speaks! ???:

So, they think they could trap our leader? Well, this is only the beginning!

NARRATOR:

Just what we wanted! A part two coming soon! :) # the end #

Chopstix Meets the President

Rigo H.

One day there was a boy named Chopstix, he was rich and wanted to make the world a better place. People suggested that Chopstix send the President a letter so he did. What he wrote was: “Can you please take feedback from the community.” Chopstix then realized that the President does not take feedback, so he wanted to do something about it.

The next thing he learned that the President lived somewhere in Maryland, and Washington DC was actually near Maryland! Chopstix researched and tried to find where the White House was located and found out he lived near the White House. He went on social media and spread awareness about the fact the President does not take feedback and surprisingly a lot of people agreed with Chopstix. Chopstix decided to go to the White House but he couldn’t since he didn’t have the transportation to get there. The next thing you know something pops out right in front of him. It’s like some square thing with a slit in the middle. He tried to move it away but he failed. Chopstix was confused; he wondered how and where this thing came from, but

then suddenly it started to move. It started to move in a certain direction, and Chopstix wondered where it would go. He tried to stop himself, but suddenly it stopped and started talking.

In a deep voice, it said, “I will help you become president and make the world a better place by allowing feedback to be heard from the people.”

Chopstix was shocked and freaked out but he was a little excited because he had another supporter in him. “Why should I trust you? Where did you come from?” Chopstix asked.

“Well, when I worked for the president he ignored me and didn’t listen to my suggestions,” the strange box said. “He made my life miserable and now it’s time for him to face the consequences.”

“I’m sick of him being selfish and he only cares about himself,” Chopstix added. At the same time, they both said, “I want him to listen to the community!” They both looked at each other and they both knew they wanted to seek revenge. They wanted to take revenge on the president, so they planned a revenge party. They both believed that they should go to the White House so that they could talk face to face with the President and talk about the problem.

But there is a problem with the problem; they didn’t know how to get there. Chopstix was worried because if they can’t get there then they can’t talk to the president. The weird box started to talk again and said, “Don’t worry. I can shapeshift and turn into anything. I can try to turn into a car and drive us to the White House.”

“OMG thanks so much!” says Chopstix. And off they go to the White House.

Once they arrived at the White House, a guard approached Chopstix and the weird box.

“Hey, do you have an ID?” one of the guards asked.

Chopstix and the weird box stare at each other and they both thought to themselves, “Whyyyyyy!” After some time, they realized they didn’t care if they had IDs. Instead of giving the guard the ID, they ran inside of the White House wishing for the best, hoping they outrun the guard chasing after them. Thankfully, they outran the guard and came face to face with the president.

“Hey! What are you doing here?” the president asked.

“I am here so that you can finally take feedback from the community!” Chopstix and the weird box respond together.

The President didn’t want to hear their nonsense and tried to make them go away.

Chopstix suddenly said, “Stop, don’t take us away, we want to talk to you!”

The President stopped pushing them away and wanted to listen to what they had to say even if it would be boring. Chopstix talked about why the President should listen to at least some feedback.

The president disagreed and said, “Well, if I do listen to the feedback wouldn’t the USA be crazy?”

“Just listen to the people that don’t have dumb reasons about wanting change,” Chopstix replied.

The president thought about it for a second and said, “Well I guess you have a point well made. Maybe I will respond but for now, I will keep things the way they are.”

After a few days, the President finally responded and announced that he will be taking feedback from the people. After he said he would take feedback, he added, “Don’t put any dumb stuff on the feedback list, or else I will never respond to you.”

Just then Chopstix came out of nowhere and said to the President, “I am proud of you. I will re-elect you to be president.”

Dolphins Like Sea Animals

Diego G.

If you like dolphins, keep reading this story. This story is about a dolphin. Now let’s go, you better read this story! The dolphin is swimming then he spots a shrimp he goes to and he eats it. Then he ends up with a security guard. Another time he sees a shark, what does he do? You guessed it, he eats it. Then he sees fish. What does he do? You guessed it again, he eats it. Then he gets another security guard. Afterwards, he sees a turtle. Do you know what I’m about to say? Yes, you do. He eats it after. He adds it up to four, dolphins like to eat.

Magic

Nube F.

Hello people! This is the story of Soli and Fluf. Soli and Fluf are in their small cottage. They were relaxing and watching TV then they heard a knock on the door. Soli went to open it, when she saw her mom. Her mom gave her an address. She asked her mom “What is it?” but her mom didn’t say anything.

Fluf teleported them to the forest. They got there with no mom, but so many trees and one of the trees had a metal door like the doors in the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas. Fluf licked Soli, and a wand appeared in Soli’s shoe. She grabbed it and she unlocked the door with her magical wand and the creature came out. The creature wants Solis’ magic. “I want your magic,” said the creature. It wanted her magic because it is special. Soli casted a spell on the creature so it can stay frozen until spring.

Soli and Fluf kept it a secret after they went home. Until next Spring.

Friendship

Camila R.G.

This land is in the clouds and has magical forests. Lily is beautiful. Lilly is a unicorn. Lilly can make people happy. Lilly can also fly. Cloud the dog can help people and loves to make cloud friends. He cannot fly or talk.

Cloud was walking backwards in the clouds when he fell off the cloud. He was sad that he was no longer in his home. Lilly saw him alone after he fell from the cloud. Cloud barked for help. Lilly said, “I can help you.” Lilly can understand other animals by listening very, very closely. He went “Woof.” He has never had friends outside of the cloud. He only had cloud friends but then he met Lilly. Lilly helped him get back to the cloud by using her magical powers of flying.

Cloud asked Lily, “Do you want to be my friend?”

She said,”Yes.”

The other cloud friends came alive because of their friendship.

A Crazy Life Time

Emily T.

Once upon a time, a guy named Crazy Dude and his daughter Grace lived in the forest. He had a black cape and was a scientist. She was good, but her dad was the opposite. He felt lonely and Grace was the only person he had and that’s why he was the way he was. Grace’s mom disappeared when Grace was like a little baby. Grace was strong, smart, nice and kind.

Grace went to the rainforest and met Jerry, who had magic, a nice rainbow fur, and fire.

Grace said, “Hi, what’s your name?”

“My name is Jerry, and what’s yours?” Jerry replied.

“My name is Grace,” Grace said.

“Do you want to go to my village?” Jerry asked.

“Yes, but I have to tell my dad but he is at work, ok? So bye,” Grace replied to his question.

Grace skipped home to tell her dad about Jerry. “Dad! I got a new friend,” Grace said happily. “Okay, what is your friend’s name?” Crazy Dude asked.

Grace, very excitedly said “Jerry!”

“Ok,” Crazy Dude said seriously. “Dad,” Grace said seriously.

“Yes?” Crazy Dude said.

“Can I go to his village?” Grace asked.

“Yes, but you have to tell him that I am going too ok! ” Crazy Dude said seriously.

But Crazy Dude was jealous of Jerry because Grace was best friends with him and spent more time with Jerry and not as much time with her dad. Crazy Dude said, “Why are you spending more time with Jerry?”

“I am helping Jerry with the village,” Grace said.

“No, you are having fun with him,” Crazy Dude said, a little mad.

“Fine, I will spend some more time with you,” Grace said, a little annoyed.

“Okay, but stay with me for five days,” Crazy Dude said seriously.

One day Crazy Dude came to visit Grace in Jerry’s magical village. Crazy Dude said, “Let’s go to the lake.” “Okay,” Jerry and Grace said excitedly.

The next day at the lake Crazy Dude said, ”Can you help me get some food and water?”

“Okay,” said Jerry. Crazy dude pushed Jerry in the lake! Jerry screamed, “Help! I can’t swim.”

Grace looked out at the lake and ran because she saw Jerry. She jumped in, grabbed Jerry, and said “Did you do that? He can’t swim.” “I am sorry. I will go,” Crazy Dude said sadly because he was a little out of control. Grace took Jerry home and did not see Crazy Dude.

Two months later, they got a call from a therapy place telling them that Crazy Dude had joined therapy.

Mochi Mischief

Galilea F.

BOOM.

“What was that noise?” An unfamiliar voice said.

“Ahhhh!” someone said.

“I’m Mochi,” Mochi said.

“Why do you have pointy ears?” I asked “Because I’m a witch,” she said. “I’m Lea.”

“Can I come with you?” I asked.

“Sure, where are we going? And when was the last time you showered?” Mochi asked.

“Nine months ago… ” Mochi said.

“Cool broom. Wow. This is my school,” said Lea.

“Hey loser—OMG, Mochi,” said Charlotte.

“OMG Charlotte?! First I went to homeroom and the rest of the time we went with Blair. We wanted to go somewhere to eat,” we all said.

My sister is Lea and she has been missing for four months. She was a rebel and cool. Anyway, we decided to go to a coffee shop and I asked my sis to hold my hand like old times. Like once my teacher called me a name and my sis stood up for me. This actually happened. We held hands and there was a sweet smell of candy and then we were home …..with Lea.

Last time I checked, Mom had two eyes not four.

The Adventures of Jack and Spirit

Zachary H.J.

Jack is a kid who lives on a planet called Earth. He is 12 and lives with his mom. He has a normal, everyday life, until he meets something that will change his life forever. Earth is a beautiful place full of nice or mean people that go along with their everyday lives. Earth has many unique things that people can do and enjoy. Jack is cool, funny, strong, brave, fast, handsome, nice, smart, and most of all, friendly. Jack has many friends, and his best friends are Lizzy, Zoe, and Leo. Leo is really funny and is the jokester of the class, and Zoe is the pretty, popular girl that hangs out with Jack a lot. Lizzy is a silent kid but is really fun to be around when you know her because she is the really crazy one, a daredevil. All of them always hang out by the old tree after school and have fun. One of the days they were eating some food at a tree and there was a giant ball of fire in the sky going towards the forest.

Lizzy yelled, “C’mon let’s go explore!” They all ran towards

the landing site while dodging trees. They finally got to the huge crater in the ground and stood right in the middle of it.

“Guys… What is that?!” Zoe exclaimed.

“Looks like an alien spaceship… let’s spray paint it,” said Leo half laughing.

“Cut it out Leo,” Jack said in a stern voice,“this is serious.”

“Let’s go check it out,” said Jack, moving forward.

“Be careful,” said Zoe,” looking a little scared.

All of a sudden, a loud hiss of air came out. They all jumped as a door popped open. They all didn’t move, just waited for something to happen, but nothing did. After several seconds passed by, Jack crept closer slowly to see who was inside. For a second, he thought he saw a dragon inside. He actually laughed at himself for thinking that. Then all of a sudden he saw a dragon. The dragon had shades of blue for its scales, had massive teeth, and had some sort of crystal in its head, like a crown.

“Guys… do you hear that?” said Jack. They crept closer to get a good look of it.

They all reacted at once as Lizzy said, “Wow that’s awesome!”

Leo said, “Looks like a big, blue dog.”

Then Zoe said, “We should tell someone about this!”

After a minute of excited talking and scrambling, Jack quited them down and told them what they’re going to do.

“One, we will not tell anyone because they’ll tell the police, then police will do some weird stuff to it. Two, we won’t do anything that will hurt it. Three, we -” Jack stopped talking because he saw the dragon was hurt, “three, we will tend to its injury.”

Before his friends could say anything, Jack was already going towards it, but the dragon backed up, obviously scared. Jack put his hands to show he meant no harm. The dragon was still

frightened, but didn’t back away. Jack saw that the dragon’s foot was cut open badly, so Jack took off his jacket and wrapped it around the cut. “We’ll hide it in my garage and I’ll make sure my parents or brother don’t find out,” said Jack. “Ok cya,” said Leo walking away.They all walked their separate ways, but little did any of them know, their adventure was about to begin.

After several days, Jack and his friends learned the dragon’s name, Spirit, and she can talk, and gained her trust. Spirit told them how and why she came to Earth. Her planet was under attack by aliens, so her parents sent Spirit by ship to Earth to be safe.

After a normal day of school, Jack’s mom called him and said no meeting with friends and to come straight home. So Jack walked back home. When he walked through the door, he saw his mom crying on the couch with Jack’s dad trying to comfort her. He rushed to the couch to see what happened. After waiting for his mom to calm down, she finally answered saying how Jacob, Jack’s brother, ran away saying he’s going to take over the world. Then the crying started again. Jack was hit with a wave of total shock. He went up to his room and stayed there for the rest of the day. The days following, he didn’t talk to his friends, and when he got home from school, he went straight to his room. When he ate at the dinner table, no one talked to each other. After Jack felt well enough to go back to school, he told his mom and she said that she was happy to hear that.

The next morning he got all his school supplies and got dressed, then went to Spirit to see if she’s ok. After he got everything he needed, his mom drove him to Wolf Lodge Elementary, Jack’s middle school. Almost immediately as he stepped into the school, everyone swarmed him trying to see what happened. Jack just ignored them pushing his way through the crowd. He didn’t see any of his good friends until he stepped

into his homeroom. Right as they got up trying to come talk to him, the teacher walked in telling the class to sit down and stop talking, but his friends were so desperate to talk to him, they kept walking. “You there, if you don’t sit, I will need to go and tell the principal,” the teacher said. They walked back to their seats, but never stopped looking at him. When it was time to go to their next class, Lizzy, Leo, and Zoe made a rush towards Jack. He tried to make a move away, but they got to him before he could.

“Where were you?!” shouted Zoe, looking very worried. Before any of his friends could speak again, Jack said, “Jacob left saying he is going to take over the world.”

Then he left quickly to go to the next class. Jack got a quick glance before going into the swarm of people. Their faces were frozen with shock. Their school day went slowly, but finally the day ended and Jack started to walk home, but his friends caught up to him.

“You need to tell us what happened,” said Leo.

“Like now,” agreed Lizzy.

So Jack told them all about it without excluding one detail. They were all hungry by the time he finished talking, and Jack looked at his watch. It was 4:30!

“Guys, Spirit needs food!” exclaimed Jack. They all sprinted towards Jack’s house. They got there all panting as Jack opened his garage. They stood there waiting for it to open fully. When it finished opening, none of them could believe their eyes. Spirit was….. Gone!

The Magmorthians

Sebastian O.

Hey you! Do you want to hear a story full of craziness, humor, drama, and action? Well if you do then this is the perfect story!

“Archerimos get up!”

“Get up now!”

“Time to help the civilians!”

Archerimos got up with a grumpy attitude. He got out of his home and saw a lot of new heroes.

Archerimos said, “Who are they?”

“New heroes,” said Stemosas, “Let’s get to work.”

While they were helping, a black mist approached the city. As it got closer to the wall, it carried with it an evil army called the Magmorthians.

Their leader approached the wall, and shouted “Take Estormiosis!” as they broke through the wall and began hurting civilians. The shielders battled many enemy soldiers but had to fall back.

They were defeated. They were all upset, wounded, and sad.

All hope was lost.

As they hid in a cave, they saw many unknown creatures.

“The myths are real…” said Mertios.

“We are no myth, child.”

“Help us, we were attacked!”

“Very well…, but why shall we help you?”

“We will lose if you don’t!”

“Fine, but what is your enemy?”

“Magmorthians,” said Archerimos.

“I shall help… It will be a challenge but we shall try…”

As they walked out of the cave, they saw all the Magmorthians.

The leader came out and said, “I am Chromisor, you are done!”

“Really?” said Archerimos.

“We have something that can defeat you,” said Stemosas.

The army charged but was blocked by the allies.

“Charge!” said the allies.

The fierce army striked and pushed them all the way to the enemy’s last stand! They prepared to blow the outpost and… BOOM!

The outpost blew up!

“Karma!” said the team. They won!

Then they all regained their population and became the strongest in the whole galaxy!

“What lies ahead is unknown… That’s why you never give up.”

The Tale of Pakun and Jone

Deemar G.

It was one morning in the village in the trees and Jone smelled pickles. He was scared so he hid for a couple of minutes but then he followed the smell. He found Pakin eating a sandwich with pickles when Jone asked “Is that a sandwich with pickles?” Pakun said “Yes” then Jone said “Nooooo.” Jone put it in a box and lit it on fire and said, “safe for another year.” Jone does not like pickles because it makes them tired.

Jone was a creature that was born under dragons in a cave. He was the size of a tree sprouting. Pakun was also born under dragons in a cave. They are related, but at the time don’t know it and won’t ever know it. They became friends for a long time. One day, the tie-kage, who is the president of the village, has to choose between Pakun and Jone for who’s next. When they were eating tacos and chips for dinner, Pakun said: “If I don’t get picked, I’m going to leave the village.” When they left Jone was thinking of what Pakun said. Jone then said: “What if Pakun

does leave the village?”

Five days later, Pakun is in exams to get a vest of honor. When an ambush happens in the village, he sees fire, water, dirt and lightning. Big animals from the other village arrive. During the ambush, the tie-kage dies after fighting against the enemies. Two days later, another tie-kage was announced but it’s not Pakun or Jone because they were too young.

After they rebuild the village over three years, the current tie-kage retires because he is old. Jone then leaves mysteriously, after the old tie-kage, before leaving, picks him to be a part of the Secret Trees. The Secret Trees is a group of ninjas who go on secret missions for the tie-kage. Pakun and Jones’s friendship then becomes distant but Pakun doesn’t notice that his friend is gone. In time, a new, evil tie-kage is announced and he starts a war over land. This new tie-kage thought that the land that the village had was not enough and wanted more. Everyone in the village revolts against the evil tie-kage, making him lose the war and he gets captured by all the villages.

When Pakun was at the age to be a tie-kage, the council picked him. A couple months later, Jone and Pakun meetup. Jone tells him “Congrats!” Pakun replies. “Thank you, but where did you go?” Jone tells him that he had been working for the Secret Trees. Pakun was shocked, “How could someone like you be in the Secret Trees?” Jone says “ What’s that supposed to mean?” Pakun replies, “Nothing. See you later.”

I Will Come Back, I Promise

Daniela V.

Once upon a time there was a girl watching TV in her room. Her name was Sasha. She heard something downstairs and saw her dad crying.

She asked her dad, “What happened?”

Her dad replied, “I miss your mom. She disappeared long ago.”

Sasha was looking out the window down at York seeing how beautiful it was.

Sash told her dad, “I’m going to find mom and bring her back to you so you are happy.”

Sasha grabbed her backpack and started to put things in that she needed like water, food, and clothes.

Her dad said, “No stay or I will lose you too.”

Sasha said, “I will come back I promise.”

So Sasha went out the door and said goodbye to her dad. Sasha was on her way to find her mom.

The first stop she had was in a magical forest. She put down her backpack to get water out, when suddenly a banana hit her. She turned around and saw a monkey up a tree. The monkey made a weird sound so loud that Sasha covered her ears.

When the monkey was done, more monkeys started to appear. Sasha stared at the monkeys. When Sasha turned around, the monkeys started to hit her with the bananas. She grabbed everything and ran with everything in her hands.

It was heavy. Stuff started to fall on the ground so she went back to grab all of the things on the ground. She did not feel any bananas thrown by the monkeys so she turned around, and a tiger was standing in front of her.

The tiger said, “Are you done?”

Sasha said, “Yes.”

She closed her eyes, and they were in a different part of the forest. Sasha was scared that the tiger was going to eat her.

When she opened her eyes, she asked the tiger, “How did we get here this fast, and what is your name?”

The tiger said, “My name is Mimi, and I can teleport. What were you doing in the forest?”

Sasha told Mimi the whole story of what happened so Mimi said, “I have seen a woman pass by and that all of the animals were with her even the monkeys.”

Sasha was surprised that the monkeys were with that woman, and she thought that the woman Mimi was talking about was her mom. Sasha and Mimi walked through the forest.

Sasha and Mimi traveled around the world to find Sasha’s mom. They were in a forest that looked edible. When they were walking they found a magical apple so Sasha ate the apple because she didn’t have food in her backpack, but when she took a bite of the apple she felt different. Sasha looked at her amulet. It had a beam sticking out of it so Sasha and Mimi followed it.

Mimi asked, “Why was there a beam of light out of your amulet?”

Sasha said, ”I do not know why, but my dad told me that my mom had one just like it.”

They traveled, and when they stopped to take a break they saw the back of a woman with many animals and the monkeys that hit Sasha with the bananas. Mimi and Sasha walked towards the woman, and Sasha wondered why there was a woman sitting with animals.

Sasha tapped on the woman’s shoulder, and the woman turned around.

Sasha ran to the woman and said, “Mom I love you, do not leave ever again!” Sasha’s mom was so happy that they both cried of joy.

“You found me!” her mother said.

“What do you mean?” asked Sasha.

“I left to find my friends, and I sent Mimi to take care of you. I wanted to find my animal friends I made when I was little,” her mom said.

Sasha and her mother went back to the edible forest to find a magical fairy. The fairy gave Mimi the golden apple that can teleport them home. Mimi ate the apple and teleported them back home to her dad.

They were finally reunited and cried tears of joy, happy they were all together again. They hugged and didn’t want to let go.

Untitled Meggan M.

Oh hi, didn’t see you there! If you could live in a magical world and have powers, what would you have done? I am going to tell you a fairytale about a girl named Isabella and how she got her magical powers at the age of 15.

There is a young girl named Isabella, who is about to turn 15 years old. She didn’t know something magical would happen when she turned 15 and that there would be a magical animal helping her on this journey to find her magical power. They live in a small little village named the Flower Village. In the village, there are a lot of flowers, ponds, animals and nature.

One day on a nice, spring morning, it was about to be Isabella’s birthday! Her mother gave her a beautiful necklace. It was a little purple crystal that had been passed on for many years, but Isabella didn’t know why. It was getting late so Isabella started getting ready for bed.

The next day, Isabella decided to go out and hangout with her friends at the park. Fifteen minutes later, they met up with her two friends named Chloe and Maddie. They were hanging

out by the swing, but out of nowhere Isabellas’ necklace started to glow! Her friends said, “Isabella, your necklace is glowing, do you know why?” Isabella responded, “No!” In shock, she threw the necklace and watched it change into a magical animal. “OMG, it’s so cute!” It was a little magical animal that was full of water colors like purple, blue, light green etc. Isabella said “Hello, what’s your name?”

Chloe and Maddie couldn’t understand the magical animal, but somehow Isabella did. The magical animal’s name was Snowflake. She was an ice animal. Snowflake explained that Isabella has a power, but has to find it and use it for good or else it will be taken away. Isabella thinks this is so unexpected and a lot of pressure. She always tries her best and tries to be perfect. Sometimes she is so hard on herself and her friends know that and always find a way to help. Isabella had to discover where to find her power. Snowflake told her she can find it only if she asks for help and when she needs it. Isabella was nervous about it, but she gave in. Snowflake said, “You can find your power in the forest, where the river is and lots of animals like bunnies, deers, ducks, butterflies, ladybugs etc.”

Her friends went along with her on the mission to find her power. An hour later, they finally made it to the forest, and it looked normal to them, but something seemed off about this one particular flower. It was a purple and blue one. It was glowing…

To be continued…

The Endless Unknown Sea

Pedro S.

“Hey, can I get some help here?”

He ran with a turtle and dropped something on the floor. Something like a hole appeared on the floor, and he and the turtle fell in.

He opened his eyes, and he saw that he was falling from the sky. He eventually fell on an island. After he landed, he saw the turtle. It had fallen too. He also saw that there was a tree in his back, and he did not eat.

He saw fruits on the turtle’s back. He ate one. There were people around him. One came running, and he punched him. His head stretched out and came flying back and hit the person that hit him in the face.

Afterwards, some people came and said that they wanted to join his crew.

“What crew?” he asked.

They said that they were part of a crew, but their captain died. He said, “Yes,” then he asked for their positions.

There was the first mate Arrow, commander Gossip, Vismo as the cook, and Franky as the mechanic. Then, they showed the ship, and it was humongous! it had all different types of sections. There was a kitchen, upper deck, and lower deck.

They got on the boat, and they set sail on the endless unknown sea.

The Story of a Girl who meets an Animal in a Forest

Ashley M.

One morning, Destiny was in her room. It was a nice, sunny day, until her dad walked in and told her that they’re moving, and Destiny got upset. She didn’t want to move, since she didn’t want to lose all her friends. She got really upset, took off running, and ended in a really pretty forest.

Destiny realized that she was in the middle of a forest. It was a nice, calm day in the forest. She took a look around and it was beautiful. It was filled with trees and flowers and animals. She explored more until she hit her head with a tree and fell onto the grass. After some time passed by, she woke up and saw something moving in the bushes, she took a closer look and she took a few steps back. Then something popped out and she screamed! Then she saw a big fluffy gryff named Lance, who could hear her and could speak to her.

Lance said, “What’s your name?”

Destiny was so shocked that she didn’t speak for a moment. Afterwards, she decided to speak and she said, “My name is Destiny… Destiny Martinez.”

Lance said, “Nice name.”

Then she said, “I need to go home. See you later,” so she went home and she saw her dad.

Her dad said, “Where were you? I was worried about you.”

She responded, “I’m fine and how come I can talk to animals?’’

Then the dad responded with “There’s something I haven’t told you.”

She said “What is it?”

So the dad told Destiny that she’s a witch.

Destiny said, “What I’m a witch how come you never told me dad.”

The dad said, “Well, your mom was a witch and I’m a wizard and I knew you would be one too, but I wanted to tell you but didn’t know when would be the best timing, so I decided not to tell you.”

Destiny said, “That’s why I can move things without touching them. That explains it all.”

The dad said, “Yes and you can also do other amazing things, but use it wisely.” Then her dad explained, “Your mother named you after her Destiny and that you would find your own destiny when you were older.”

Destiny was surprised since she didn’t know much about her mother, who died giving birth to her. Since Destiny never got a chance to see her mom, she grew up with her dad and she bonded with him her whole life. Ever since her mom died, Destiny always was positive, had courage and bravery. Her dad always told her that her courage and bravery came from her mother.

The Next Day – March 2,2022

It was a nice sunny day. The sun was out and it was beautiful. Destiny went down stairs to eat breakfast and then she realized her dad wasn’t there, so she went outside to get some fresh air and that’s when she remembered that she talked to Lance yesterday. She went back to the beautiful forest again.

As Destiny walked, she saw something moving and she got closer. Lance came out. Destiny got scared, but then realized that it was Lance…Lance Martinez, so she said, “Hi, I’m sorry I left yesterday.”

Then he said, “It’s fine.”

She said, “I found out that I’m a witch.”

Then he said, “Congrats, I know you will be a great witch.”

She said, “ I have a question for you, do you have friends and family? Where are they?”

Lance replied, “I do have family, but they’re not here at the moment, and I also miss my brother Angel too. I also don’t have friends because I don’t like to fly, and that’s also a reason why I don’t visit my family too.”

Then she said, “Where do you come from since you’re a magical creature?”

“Well, I come from a magical place no one knows of except you and my family,” Lance said.

Then she said “Look, it’s a fluffy gryff.”

Lance looked back and saw his brother. Lance screamed, “Hi it’s nice to see you again!”

The brother named Angel replied, “I’m good.” Then he looked at Destiny and said,“Oh by the way, my name is Angel. What about you?” he asked. “Destiny,” she said, “Are you Lance’s brother?”

Angel said, “Yes.” Then Angel took out an envelope from his

pocket, and said, “Here Lance, this is from Wandwars Magical Castle, where you learn how to use magic and not use it for bad.”

Lance said, “I finally got one! I’ve been waiting to get one and I got one.” Destiny said, “Congratulations Lance! But it’s getting late, so I will see you tomorrow, bye.”

Lance said, “Bye.”

Angel said, “Bye.”

March 3, 2022

Destiny woke up and got dressed, then she saw her dad. Her dad said, “I want to talk to you, come sit.” Destiny walked and sat in the kitchen. Her dad said, “I have some good news. We’re not moving!” Destiny gets really excited.

Afterwards, she went to the forest and Lance had a surprise for her. Lance said, “You have been accepted to go to Wandwars Magical Castle and we’re both going together!’’ Destiny got excited and said, “But when are we going there though?” He responded with, “Tomorrow.” She said, “Tomorrow? But I haven’t packed yet and I also have to tell my dad.” Then Lance said, “You don’t have to worry about that. All your stuff is already packed.” She said, “But how did you do that?” She then remembered that he has powers and then she went home to tell her dad. Then she told her dad all about what Lance told her and her dad was happy for her, but sad at the same time, so he said “You can go, but be safe. Bye.”

After, she left with Lance and they were off to Wanderwars Magical School.

Welcome Home!

Amanda A.

Tucker is golden, and he is rough, and he is energetic. He is cute and fluffy, and he can talk. He wanted to go on a walk, but his owner, Linda, said, “No.” But he kept begging, and she said, “No.”

Linda has black and yellow hair. She wears pjs and is happy with her dog Tucker. He kept begging and then she said, “Okay, let’s go on a walk.”

Then a couple weeks later, he asked for a walk again. Linda was eating popcorn and watching a movie, and she said, “No. Because you’re going to get your paws all wet with the snow.” He kept begging, and she said, “Okay, fine, let’s go.” They then went on a walk.

Then, months later, Tucker’s son Tod was going to come home for the first time. Linda put a dog plushie in the cage for him to know what was happening.

The next day, his son came in a basket, and Tucker was so excited he started jumping and trying to get him and put him on the floor. Tod didn’t know who Tucker was. After he smelled him, he recognized him, and they started playing. He started biting his dad’s tail.

Tucker said, “Welcome home!”

Leaders

Jaqueline O.

It was a stormy, rainy day on top of a cliff and there was a little wolf named Emily and she can shape shift. That night, the leaders of the world were getting ready to chase.

Emily said “Can I rest for one hour?”

“If you eat chicken, I will let you rest,” said mom.

“Ok, mom,” sighed Emily.

When she fell asleep, the leaders came ready and her mom quickly grabbed her daughter and her phone. She went to the house of Emily’s friends, knocked and came in fast. Then she called Ely. “Ely, there’s another situation. Go now!” said mom. Ely quickly rushed into the house of Emily’s friends. Ely asked “What do you want, the healing power or the one where the leaders get their own medicine?”

“The healing one please,” said mom. “Ok your wish is granted,” and she faded away. But the mom made a mistake. She didn’t know that the power would only protect her and not her daughter.

As she rested, someone knocked on the door. She thought

it was another animal. She opened the door to find a leader. The leader was about to get the mother, but she ran too fast. She ran down the stairs and at the last step, she fell into a hole between the grass. She fell and then stood up and bumped her head on a red button that shuts the hole with a door. As the leaders were running, they heard a thump. She quickly backed up and the leaders continued running. They tried to open and they forgot the hole had a password. They started stomping on the hole. The mother got scared and started digging as fast as she could, but she was too tired because her daughter was too heavy. So the mother started sleeping, but then the daughter woke up and she saw the leaders. To be continued…

Cat

Omar S.

Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Omar and he had a nice big brother named Pedro. One day, Omar and Pedro went to their grandma’s house to meet their grandma and grandpa’s cat named Kitty Kitty. Kitty Kitty runs away and hides. He hides under the car, behind the pots, and under the table.

Kitty Kitty is fat because he loves to eat so much food. Kitty

Kitty looks cute but if you dare touch Kitty Kitty’s tail, Kitty Kitty will use his claws to hurt you. Kitty Kitty’s fur is very soft.

Kitty Kitty loves to play so much. Kitty Kitty loves me because I smell like fish. Pedro also loves the cat because he thinks he is cute and loves his fur. After all, it is soft. Kitty Kitty loves to hide so much. Sometimes Kitty Kitty is very hungry. Sometimes cats are cute, but sometimes cats can get very angry. Cats like to play all the time. They also liked to play with other cats.

SECTION TWO:

Through the Universes

Jupiter: Long Way From Home

Ethan M.S.

People don’t realize how weird things are on Jupiter. I found out the hard way when I was standing in a parking lot at school one day and a rocket crashed down and a green alien named SuperSan landed on me. He smelled like mint.

Actually, the planet Jupiter is spiky with volcanoes, but most of the planet is just green water. The guy who landed on me was the last person on the planet.

He said “My mom and dad are dead, but they launched me in a rocket right before they died.” He sounded emotional. His parents were mushy green aliens.

On Jupiter, no one is in charge and there are no laws, but the aliens there can do magic and create things. The guy who landed on me, SuperSan, said to me, “I can create stuff by just putting my wrists together.” But he just keeps creating Fortnite llamas because he doesn’t know what else you need. The llamas are medium height but skinny and they like to play–a lot. They like

to eat rice and ice cream and drink green water. Every single year the llamas change colors. In 2022, they all changed to yellow and red. By the time SuperSan landed on me, the llamas had eaten all the chicken nuggies on the chicken nuggie trees from Jupiter. The nuggies tasted like McDonald’s chicken nuggets.

As SuperSan was talking to me, he remembered he had super powers. He can fly like Iron Man and he can shoot atomic breath from his mouth. He used his superpower to fly me to my house. But then he realized we could go to Jupiter together, but I needed a space helmet to breathe in space.

We realized we wanted to go explore Jupiter.

“Good-bye, Earth,” I yelled as we flew off.

Mia Meets Humans

Jayla M.

Once upon a time, there was a planet named Zorbo. Zorbo had lots of animals like a Miger, a monkey mixed with a tiger, and a Cog, a cat mixed with a dog.

There was a sea lion named Mia. Mia loved going on adventures, she had a best friend snail and his name was Bob. Mia and Bob loved eating ice cream and pizza. One day planet Zorbo got invaded by Obroz, their worst enemy. Luckily, Bob and Mia made it out alive but got split up along the way. Mia saw Bob and she got in a Zorblah, a car in Zorba, they saw the Enemy and they got mad and fought the Obroz.

Mia used her powers and Bob helped her fight. The tiny Migers, Cogs, and other animals helped too. Together they fought the Enemy but there was one problem, they had nowhere to live. The Obrozs came and let them stay until planet Zorbo got rebuilt and then the rulers came back and everything was great. Obroz came back one day and they invaded again and Obroz lost this time.

Kassie, one of Mia and Bob’s friends, saw a human!! Kassie

saw one, two, three, and four! A Human one said, “Hi, I’m Stacy and this is Lacey.”

Stacy then said, “I’ll go first.” Stacy and Lacey began to fight. “Stop!” yelled Kassie. “Look, OMG.”

Stacey and Lacey ran into a big monster that got on the ship with them. Mia transformed into a human and Bob didn’t make it on the ship. Mia’s new name is Zadie. She was an Alien all along. Her Alien age is 20. She met new people and lived happily ever after.

TV is the Best Jordan P.

My name is Barny and this is my story. I forgot that my show starts at 7:00 PM. “I think I’m not going to make it,” I thought. Wait, if you’re confused how all this happened let me go back.

First, this is the story of how I met Ghast. So I got out of the park and heard something in the bushes and I saw a light coming from the sky. I Iooked up, but there was nothing in the sky. I saw something come out of the bushes and I saw Ghast. He was an animal. He looks like Dobby, a little elf from Harry Potter. I saved Ghast. That’s how we met.

Ok let’s go back. So I had to pretend to be sick to get out at 6:58 PM, but it didn’t work. My show starts in two minutes so my friend Ghast helped me because he transformed into me to make it, but it was already 7:00 PM and there was no traffic.

So I went home and so much, like so much crazy stuff happened. I started to imagine that I was in the TV with Ghast. Channels kept changing and changing until I dropped the control. Ghast finally came home and he thought I was sleeping, but I was stuck in the TV.

Then the next day, I was still stuck in the TV. Ghast thought I was sleeping and he looked at the TV and he saw me in the TV because my hair is green.

And Ghast pinched me and I woke up and I ran to work. Thanks for reading my story bye.

Epilogue

Wait, the story is not over. I found another Ghast. This one time, he traveled here from the multiverse. I showed Ghast and he freaked out, but he calmed down. Whenever Ghast moves, Ghast Two moves like Ghast.

I got scared and I almost passed out. Then I remembered I am on the weekend so we can chill. Finally, I don’t have work.

From all these years, this is the day I don’t need to work. I’m so happy. Finally!!! (Quiet down.) Sorry. Finally, Ghast leaves but the wrong one leaves. Nooooooooooo.

I have to get him back, but I don’t know how to make a portal. Wait!

“Ghast Two, do you know how to make a portal?”

“I don’t have the things to make a portal,” said Ghast Two.

“Maybe we have the things you need.”

“But I don’t think you have the stuff,” said Ghast Two.

“We have everything.”

“You sure?” asked Ghast Two.

“Yeah I’m sure.”

“Ok, I’ll tell you,” responded Ghast Two.

He tells me, “We have that. Good, let’s get it.”

“OK, let’s get Ghast back.”

One hour later.

“That was so long. We got the stuff. Now let’s get Ghast back. Ok wait, how long is this going to take?”

“Five minutes ok,” Ghast Two responded.

Five minutes later the portal opens.

“It’s open! Ghast!”

“Barny,” shouted Ghast.

“Your back”

“Yeah, I’m happy to be back,” responded Ghast.

“Me too. Let’s go home.”

The

End

Monbirds to the Rescue!

Annallia D.

Have you ever seen a monkey and a bird combined? It’s called a Monbird. It has a bird’s body and a monkey’s tail. If you haven’t seen one, you need to find an alien named Eight. Eight can change anything into a Monbird with magic. He only has to turn his hand as if turning a doorknob and whoosh!

One day Eight, the Monbird, and the President named GooGoo, had a terrible fight. Each one wanted its planet. Eight wanted his planet because he loved his name and President GooGoo wanted to rule both planets.

Suddenly, the branch they were sitting on broke, and Eight fell out of his planet and almost ran into a girl named Lia who was a human. Lia and Eight have something in common. They both love animals, especially monkeys and birds. Eight’s planet was yellow and made of real gold. President GooGoo’s planet was made of thousands of jewels. They fought all the time.

Lia wanted to be friends with Eight but Eight did not trust her yet. Eight asked, “Do you want to be a superhero?”

“Yes, there is a robber right now behind you at the bank. Let’s go!” said Lia.

“Uh, oh,” said Eight. “We’ve got to protect the gold and the jewels!”

Lia and Eight used their monkey tails and bird feathers to catch the robbers! All the robbers were jealous of Eight and Lia. They wanted to be Monbirds, too!

“We’ll use my magic doorknob turning hand and transform them into Monbirds,” Eight shouted. Eight and Lia slowly backed away from them, and then WHOOSH they were Monbirds!

“Do you like being Monbirds?” the robbers asked them.

Lia and Eight sighed and smiled sweetly, “It’s a delight!”

Everybody cleaned up the gold and the jewels and then flew to the Isle of GooGoo where they lived happily with all the other Monbirds.

Cubes vs Circles

Joaquin P.

The mayors of Imposter town started a war over a game of rock, paper, scissors. If you ask me, it’s kinda dumb.

They fight all the time because they are different, one is a square and one is a circle. That’s probably why they hate one another. Well, I am on the square side for the war and the square mayor told me to go to this guy who could help me find an ultra rare cube sidekick. Then the guy told me to find the sidekick in the forest high up in the tree. When I got there, I looked around and then saw it. I caught it and named it Cube Dude. He was nice unless you hurt him, but once I caught him a bunch of circle henchmen came and attacked us. Me and the Cube Dude destroyed them. The fight lasted five to ten minutes. The battle was so epic and of course we won. Then we went to train for our next fight.

After we trained, the circle mayor came with a giant army and attacked me and cube dude. Then we fought in the circle. The mayor and I saw a giant army and cube dude used shadow clones. Shadow Clones happen when Cube Dude does a specific hand sign and clones of him are made that can help fight. They are easy to eliminate, but help a lot. The battle lasted one to two hours, it was so epic. We pulled out a bunch of ninja moves and won an epic victory. The square ruled over the town. The end..or is it? No, just joking, it’s the end.

The War Between Good and Bad

Rosie L.

Glass shattering, items falling, people screaming, and the ground cracking—a massive earthquake. E.g wakes up on the Bad side of the universe. Outside his apartment, E.g sees people destroying nature and unusual creatures walking around. Suddenly, E.g sees the Big Hairy Spider crawl across the window and into his apartment. E.g goes outside and is confused by the dinosaurs and other magical creatures. He realizes he has red and orange eyes like the spider that came in. He can communicate with them and control them. E.g stresses out and is anxious and angry because he does not know what to do. The creatures immediately get angry and out of control because they feel what E.g feels. When both E.g and the creatures get crazy they cause natural disasters while the Good side of the universe used to have flowers, fresh grass, sunny skies, butterflies, and helpful bees, but now it’s dark, dangerous, and depressing. The Good people get injured and some die.

Scientists on the Good side started investigating and found out about the Bad universe and wish to stop E.g before it gets worse but it was too late. By this point E.g feels powerful. As a kid he never had control of his life because his parents never cared about him. That’s why he is taking advantage of this control over the creatures now.

E.g finds out that the Good side wants to start war, he sends the spiders, the most powerful creatures to the Good side. The

spiders have venom in their eyes that paralyze the Good people. E.g decides to meet up with the Good side of the universe with all the animals, spiders, bees, and other creepy creatures. Fighting on the Good side are humans and scientists, who will be using arrows and a special potion that will turn E.g into a good person. While fighting, the scientists are trying to find a way to stop this problem, “Today is the day we are going to stop this,” the scientists said. The Good side of the universe stopped the Bad side of the universe by shooting the arrows to paralyze them except the spider. The Good side of the universe felt like giving up so they tried to leave. As they were trying to leave, the scientist trips and the potion falls on the ground and hits the spider. Soon they found out the potion worked on the spider and E.g and turned them into good creatures. E.g wakes up sometime later and no longer has power. He realizes he does not need that power and reunites with his family. All the creatures get Good powers to fix the natural disasters. The creatures worked together to create a big earthquake that made the world better and nice again.

Never Be Scared of Robots

Milli-On F.

(Warning: This story contains funny images that I can’t spell.)

“Eeeee! I love this song,” said the robot who is as big as a mosquito (and he bites like a mosquito, too!”) The Bad guy is Grandpa Joe from Hong Kong. The robot is one year old and lives in China. He eats noodles and does Karate with his pet dog, ZooZoo. He lives in a house with a couch, a bed, a TV, and a small kitchen appliance. He loves his happy life. “I hope I will always be happy,” he said.

One day the Mean Guys steal Grandpa Joe’s ice cream. “Oh my,” said the robot. “You ate 3 cartons of strawberry ice cream!” he yelled.

Grandpa Joe then jumps on the Mean Guy’s back and suddenly they all disappeared. (Grandpa Joe, or as we call GJ. But here’s the thing: there’s no more ice cream.)

“Wahhh,” cried GJ.

By mistake, GJ with the power of a strike of lightning, accidentally killed his beloved pet Woof Woof. That was very sad. The Mean Guys and ZooZoo the bat, joined GJ and celebrated Woof Woof on September 26.

The Mean Guys brought some more bad news; “Someone filled the ocean with strawberry ice cream.” Everybody dove into the ocean and ate as much as possible.

That night GJ felt something crawl across his face. “Aaah!” he screamed. It was a great big hairy spider! He grabbed this scary creature and swallowed it in one gulp! “Yum, the best spider I ever ate!” said GJ.

Take Over

Adan J.

The heroes Reptar, Lizzy, and Ego are all a family of reptiles. Reptar is the oldest brother, Ego is the middle, and Lizzy is the youngest child. They were all born from a dragon, but their parents died. When all of this happened, Ego and Lizzy hatched. Reptar was born in 2020, but Ego and Lizzy’s eggs were delayed by thousands of years. When they found out that they were both lizards, they started building greater, bigger things due to their minds. Ego built a metal suit for his body, and this exoskeleton became a part of him. This skeleton changed him, with the only part that could be taken off being his mask.

The year is 3031. Ego and his sister Lizzy are hanging out at their house and throwing a party as they are playing video games like normal siblings. An alien lands next to the house. When they go outside to see the Alien, the alien shoots them with a blaster. Ego dodges by activating his exoskeleton suit, causing the dragon creature to grow in size and protect himself. All of Ego’s body becomes much more powerful. He tries to grip the Alien and throw him into the sky, but the Alien flies back with a jetpack.

The Alien’s jetpack locks onto the friends. Ego quickly locks Lizzy inside the house, to fight back at the Alien. Ego looks at the Alien dead in the eye. The Alien is afraid, and quickly hits the fly button on his suit. Ego sees the button, goes to his leg, and gets something out. He puts the thing over his chest and clicks, and his armor becomes bigger. A blast then happens. As the smoke clears out, he sees something that looks like a mothership. His guesses were right. The other aliens are there to defeat him, blasting out of the mothership in his direction. Ego then sees a big meteor going near the beach and plummeting into the sea. He then makes his way over just to see a big light. Thinking it’s a bomb, he goes into the water and gets smacked by a mechanical tentacle.

Back at the lab, Reptar is being worked on by XL-38, Ego and Lizzy’s robot, and when XL is running diagnostics, Reptar wakes up, Reptar then gets out and runs to Ego. Reptar reveals his tech suit. When all that happens, Ego is taken by eight mechanical tentacles. He then sees a grappling hook hit the Kraken and unplug its core power off. The Kraken is still on and it tries to shoot a big laser beam at Reptar. Lizzy uses her jetpack shield to block the beam and fires at the Kraken, “hey you couldn’t save the glory for us?,” Ego says. ”Hey, you do know that we still have to destroy that ship, right?” Reptar says. Ego uses his tentacles to examine the Kraken. Lizzy flips off her lizard, and she tells Reptar, “How have you mastered the lizard?” Reptar replies, “A lot of practice little sis.” “Hey check it out guys! Found a weird device…” Ego says. “Drop it!” Reptar says “Drop it!” kaboom it turns out that the device was a bomb.

The three wake up in a big room then an alien shows up in the room, and tells them, “Welcome, evil creatures.” Ego reaches for his exoskeleton’s power on button. The alien then grabs Ego’s arm and tells him, “You think it was that easy?” Reptar replies,

“Yeah, I guess it was,” he then flips his lizard over and they escape the alien. “Were you trying, purple man?” Reptar says, “Hey guys, catch!” Reptar cuts the handcuffs for Lizzy and Ego “Thanks, we gotta make a plan like right now,” Ego says. Ego tells his siblings, “Lizzy, rescue the people, Reptar, take down the alien forces and hit the power line.” “Hey guys, what do we do after?¨ Lizzy asked. ¨Meet up at the hangar for exile,” Ego said. “Who’s picking us up?” Lizzy asked. “XL-38 of course!” Ego replied. “Come on! Those people are waiting on us man!¨ Reptar said.

To be continued…

Stikman and Catdog

Christian O.

Stikman created Catdog but no one likes cats or dogs.

Stikman kept Catdog, but Catdog almost blew up the planet. Stikman saved Catdog and took care of them.

Catdog said, “Sorry.”

Stickman said, “It is okay.”

Stikman took Catdog to a button and told them to NOT PRESS THE BUTTON!

A few days later, Stickman’s evil clone Stikguy tried to blow up the planet and frame Stickman. Stickman tried to prove he was innocent and some people think he was, but others didn’t.

Stikguy got mad because some people thought he was.So Stikguy tried to attack Stikman with a gun.

BAM!

BAM!

Stikman dodged the bullets. Stickman escaped with Catdog and Stikguy escaped too.

Catdog saved the planet by trapping Stikguy in the evacuation pod. Catdog broke the control panel, but they had to lure Stikguy.

They went to Stikman and tell the plan to Stikman.

Stikman said, “NO!”

Catdog put water on the ground and went to find Stikguy. Stikguy started to chase Catdog, but Stikguy slipped on the water and slid into the evacuation pod.

Catdog closed the evacuation pod.

BOOM!

Stikman found Stikguy and Catdog. Stikguy said, “I’ll find you Stickman and Catdog!”

Untitled Manuel J.

Day One:

Okay hello people, my name is Zack and I live on Planet Doom with my little buddy Gojo. We are in World Seven, and me and Gojo don’t get along… well sometimes, but we’re cool. Me and Gojo are looking forward to the intense tournament. Yea! If we lose, we disappear. We lose our world! Yes, very scary, but we really don’t need to worry. We are very strong compared to World Two and we have the two of the strongest people.

Only two people from each world can join this “Tournament.” How crazy it sounds? Yea, they really need to work on their names for these tournaments. Oh yea, the tournament has a cool name… no not really in my opinion. I can make a better name like… uhh like… yea, I don’t know yet, but don’t make fun of me. I didn’t have time to think, okay? Okay, but yea that tournament starts like tomorrow!? What the- I thought it was in three days. Might as well train with Gojo then, see you later bye.

Day Two:

Okay, we’re back from training and dang we’ve gotten stronger. Our energy power can destroy a whole planet and galaxy and we have increased power when we rage. Right now our power level is 421,000,000. When Gojo and I rage, our power is increased by 50 times, which is very strong, and I have anger issues, so I’m technically just overpowered. Just call us the winner of this tournament then. Well, we’re gonna start heading down to the tournament. I’ll see you guys when I’m there, bye.

Day of Tournament:

Okay I’m here, I’m pumped! We’re gonna go against World Five. Wish us luck, We’ll be right back.

After First Round:

Okay, I’m back. Dang, that was easy! I’m too unstoppable, but World Two will be kind of tough though. World Two just destroyed World Six. Yea, I’ma have a fun time with them. Oh god! Well, come here World Nine.

After Second Round:

Dang we are too good! World Three just defeated World Eight. Well, World Two and World Three good luck, because wow that didn’t even last five minutes. Okay you ready, Gojo?

“RAWR!” Okay, that’s a yes to me.

At Tournament Field:

Zack: C’mon bring it all World Two!

Broly: HAA.

Jiro: Get ready to witness true power.

Announcer: World Two and Seven, fight.

Zack: Here it comes! Energy power… HA

Jiro: hmph… pathetic come here.

Zack: What are you taking over me? This isn’t possible! Okay, body power by 50 times! Eat these moves! Hmph… c’mon Gojo like we practiced!

Announcer: Final moves!

Jiro: Defeat both of them quick, energy power!

Zack: HA

Jiro: No, impossible! We’ll meet next time ahh!

After the Tournament:

Wow, we did it Gojo! Come here buddy! Huh, what’s the gold for, huh… Oh yea, any wish umm… ultimate power! Yes, there.

Thank you everyone for coming along with me on this journey. I came from no transformation power to ultra transformation instincts, so yea thank you I will see you later. Bye.

Experiment 8735

Grace T.

“Alissa!” my dad yelled. I ran down the stairs to the living room.

As I stood in front of my mom and dad, my mom told me, “Since your birthday was yesterday and you turned 13,”—my dad continued the rest— ‘’We thought that you should get a pet!!”

“When!?” I screamed.

“Today,” they both answered.

I put my shoes on and my parents took me to the pet store to get a pet, but when we entered the store I saw an animal that stood out from the rest. The animal was not a dog nor a cat, it was like a bunch of animals combined into one. I decided to adopt that one.

“Mom! Dad! Can I get that animal?” I asked. They tried to convince me to get something else, but I did not give up so they agreed and let me get the animal I wanted. Up in my room, I tried to make up a name for him. ‘‘Dave… Max… Biox… Minks!!’’ The animal seemed to like the name Minks. “So Minks, why do you have antlers? Who am I kidding, you’re an animal and you can’t talk—”

“Or can I?” Minks interrupted.

“Wait, what!?” I continued. “How can you talk? Plus, do I know you? You seem or feel familiar to me,’’ I finished.

“Oh! You don’t remember, do you? Does this sound familiar to you? Experiment 8735?” Minks asked.

“How? Are you one of the people or animals that I helped escape from the lab?” I asked.

“Yes, I’m Experiment 8735, ‘’ said Minks.

“Okay…” I said. After that, I felt calmer knowing that Minks was an old friend.

Silence started to fill the room when we finished talking, it was really loud and awkward but then I broke the silence.

“So how is the lab? Did they rebuild it or something?”

“Yeah, they rebuilt it but it was just finished three or four weeks ago. I think they’re still learning how the place works. It would be a good time to attack and do some damage or just end it,” Minks said.

“Sure, but do you know how to use your powers or abilities?” I asked.

“No…” Minks said embarrassedly.

“Oh, well I can help you if you want. But it’ll take a while to practice and master the abilities…. I think it will take about two or three months,’’ I said.

“Ok. As long as we can attack them…” Minks said a bit worriedly.

Two months later we were ready. We both went to the lab and brought some equipment just in case we needed it.

Inside the lab, I whispered, “Wow! This place is a lot different than before!”

While Minks went to the computer room to hack their system and let the other experiments free so they can help us. But Minks could not hack it, he needed a password so he looked around the room so he could find it. “Found it!” said Minks when he found a

note that said the password. He went to the computer and hacked it.

“Ugh, why are you taking so long?” I said aloud because I had waited for 5 minutes for Minks, but then all of the doors fell and a lot of experiments came running, and were scared or confused. ‘‘Hush!’’ I told them.

After a while of claiming them down I told them the plan, we all ran to the office where the lab boss was so we could stop him. In the plan, Minks and I are supposed to meet up in front of the office while half of the experiments distract the workers and the other half comes with us. And because the experiments were good at distracting the workers, we were able to meet up with Minks sometime later. We all entered the room where the lab boss hid by breaking the door down.

“Sir, can we talk for a second?” I said.

“Hmm, sure,” the boss said.

We had a long conversation talking about the lab boss’s motives.

“But I still don’t understand why you want to take over the world and want power?” I asked him.

“Ehh why not, it’s fun, entertaining. I love seeing people do what I want.” said the boss.

“Fine, if we can’t convince you then we have to stop you once and for all!” I told him. “Come on! Everyone attack him!”

But then the boss said, “Oh, Alissa, you thought I didn’t know it was you and Minks? Well, that’s funny.” He took a controller that had the ability to shock all of the experiments with the collar still on. That meant only me and Minks were safe and could stop him.

With my powers, I turned into a goat. Minks and I ran to him and tried to bite, kick, and scratch him, but we were struggling because he was strong. The good part is that we were able to

cause some damage to him.

“I’m sorry Jack,” Minks said. “You did not deserve to be treated like that. Just stop this, stop hurting people!’’ Then the boss named Jack froze. We didn’t expect him to stop but we trapped him.

“Do you wanna take him to prison?” I asked.

“No, the workers will continue to experiment… I think we should burn this place to the ground!” Minks said.

“Sure, I’ll call the cops so they can take Jack and the workers,” I said in agreement.

I went to the speaker that Jack had in his room.

“Everyone go outside so you can be safe. I repeat. Everyone go outside!’ I said through the speaker.”

When I left the building I saw everyone outside but I turned to Minks and said, “Can you go back inside and check if anyone is still in there please?”

“Ok, Ok,’’ said Minks and then left.

After a while, he came back and told me that the place was clear. All we had to do was blow the place up! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM There were big and loud explosions which were kinda fun to watch.

We helped the experiments and removed the collars, helped them hide their physical futures, and put on a disguise for safety. About 30 minutes later the police came and we told them to arrest the workers and especially Jack. We also told them to take all of the people and animals known as experiments to an adoption center so that they could find loving homes.

As Minks and I got back home to rest, all of the scientists went to jail and finally got what they deserved for experimenting on us and other animals and people.

I hope they learned to never mess with me and Minks ever again. >:)

The Mystery of Cloud Bread

Fatima G.

“Walk the plank, Gerald! You know the rules, Gerald, of Cloud Bread. We only eat floofy bread, and you know you have to pay for it, ” said the Royal Guard. Cloud Bread is an island in the sky shaped like a cloud. It was a rare event for anyone to get kicked out of Cloud Bread.

Gerald murmured, “It wasn’t me that took the bread.” He looked around. “It was the dog!” he shouted. “A Galaxy Dog took it and ate it!”

The crowd thought he was crazy. “We only have Floofy dogs. What the heck is a Galaxy Dog?” a person in the crowd asked.

Nikki, the Angel, and Lulu, a small person who could turn into a mouse, were friends since kindergarten. As everyone else looked at the plank in the square, Nikki and Lulu instead walked to the mini-market stalls. Something moved, and they heard a sound.

Nikki looked at Lulu. “What was that?!” she asked. Before

she responded, Lulu turned herself into a mouse and ran under the stalls. She saw something that made her squeak as loud as a mouse could. She ran back to Nikki.

“Gerald was right,” she squeaked. “It is a Galaxy Dog! It had a piece of Floofy bread in its mouth!” Nikki giggled in disbelief but saw that Lulu was serious.

A couple of days later Lulu and Nikki came back to the minimarket stalls with a trap, to catch the Galaxy Dog and interrogate it. They used a big piece of Floofy bread as the bait, so the Galaxy Dog could not resist taking it. The Galaxy Dog seemed to take only the biggest pieces, said Lulu.

After not much waiting, they heard a loud SNAP! They had caught a Floofy Dog instead of the Galaxy Dog! It was a diversion. The Galaxy Dog already knew that it was a trap, and sent a Floofy dog in its place. Since Floofy Dogs only think about strawberries and Floofy bread, they could not interrogate it.

The next day Lulu and Nikki returned and put a trap under each mini-market stall. Nikki flew above the market, circling with her angel wings, and Lulu turned into a mouse again, running beneath the stalls. They were determined to catch the Galaxy Dog.

After a couple of hours they heard another SNAP! Lulu immediately ran towards the sound. She saw Galaxy Dog escaping. Here’s a little context about the Galaxy Dog. Galaxy Dogs can travel through any solid material. If you touch him, your hands will go right through. If you frighten him, he will summon a portal, and you will get sucked into the Milky Way. Lulu panicked and called Nikki. Nikki dove down to Lulu. As they looked at him, the Galaxy Dog summoned a portal and jumped through it. It closed right behind him, and left a scent of bubblegum. The piece of Floofy Bread was left on the ground, because it couldn’t go through the portal with the Galaxy Dog.

The portal closed with a smack! And SMACK went the book as the storyteller closed it. The children hearing the story were startled by the sound. And that’s the Mystery of Cloud Bread.

Pokemon Betrayal: A Pokemon Fan Fiction Tale

Von H.

There was a lab in Pokemon Paradise with three starter Pokemon: Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle. One day a trainer entered the lab to get their first Pokemon. “Pick me!” cheered Charmander. “Three choices; Squirtle is just going to squirt water, this plant named Bulbasaur, or me, the walking flamethrower!” “I pick Squirtle”, answered the trainer. “Seriously?!” groaned Charmander. “Bye bye suckers!” laughed Squirtle.

“I have a plan,” said Charmander. “We can escape and get Squirtle!” “Are you sure?” questioned Bulbasaur. “Of course I am! We just blow down the wall!” assured Charmander. “You do that, I am going to exit through the door,” Bulbasaur commanded. “There’s a caterpie that we can get to help us evolve!”

After a few minutes, Bulbasaur and Charmander were able to successfully escape from the lab. “That was hard,” said Charmander. “Geez, it’s been so long!” yelled Bulbasaur. “Let’s get going!” said Charmander. “Oh look, that’s Squirtle!” said Bulbasaur. “Well I’m still mad at them,” said Charmander to the trainer. “I will attack your other Pokemon if you don’t give me back Squirtle!”

The trainer released Squirtle. “That was easy,” said Charmander. “I’m free!” said Squirtle. “That is what you think,” said Charmander. “I’m your trainer now!” “Oh no!” said Squirtle. For the rest of the day, Squirtle, Charmander, and Bulbasaur wandered Pokemon Paradise looking for food.

“I’m hungry,” said Charmander. “Yay, I caught a bird!” “I’m going to get berries,” said Squirtle. While catching the bird, Charmander was then captured by a caterpie army. “No!” said Caterpie. “Oh no, please don’t hurt me!” said Charmander. “No!” said the caterpie army. “Oh thanks, someone finally shut up,” groaned Bulbasaur.

Charmander and Bulbasaur were trapped in the caterpie web, while Squirtle was off finding berries. “Go get Squirtle!” said Charmander. “You know we are hung up in the tree right?” said Bulbasaur. “Oh yeah…”, said Charmander.

The caterpie then went searching for and found Squirtle. “Let’s get the other Pokemon!” yelled the caterpie leader. “There he is!” “Gees, what are those? Green bugs??” muttered Squirtle, “Ahh! Run!”

Squirtle then awoke in the caterpie base. “Huh, where am I?” said Squirtle. “We will rule your life!” yelled the caterpies. “We will call you…hmmm…blue turtle!” “Seriously? Why?” said Squirtle.

Meanwhile, Charmander was able to break free from his web at the caterpie base. “Finally I got out of these webs,” said

Charmander. “Where’s Squirtle and Bulbasaur?” “I’m here! Down here!” yelled Bulbasaur. “Okay, coming!” yelled Charmander. “Where are we?” said Charmander. “Get them!” said the caterpies. “Send Squirtle!”

“After what you did to me, the caterpies were right,” said Squirtle. “I’m going to have to battle you.” “Challenge accepted,” said Charmander. Charmander had thought he could easily beat Squirtle in a battle, but Squirtle was too strong for Charmander. “Ahh, I’m sorry please!” yelled Charmander. “Well too bad, I will go after you now…” The End

The City of Starburst

Damian M.

2021: One minute ago, a boy named Sky ran through the city of Starburst to get to his team’s mansion because he received a text that said they were in trouble.

As you can see, Sky is a caring boy. He doesn’t have any powers like those of his teammates and doesn’t get much support from the city. When he got to the mansion, he saw a whole crowd wanting to see the team.

Once Sky found the whole team, they all decided to go out. The whole city said thanks to the team except to Sky (of course). The reason they were congratulating the team was for once again saving the city, but that happened a while ago.

Sky felt left out so he ran out of there and went to the desert of Starburst which is the deadliest part of the city. The desert of Starburst is deadly because people go missing, there are deadly people, deadly animals, and “The Mythical”.

Far in the desert, there was a villain named Nightblood creating souls. While Sky ran he ran into a dragon. At first, he was

scared, but he took out his sword which made a loud sound and the dragon turned around and looked at Sky with evil eyes. Sky got ready to defend himself against the dragon but the dragon put his hands up just in time. This showed that he was innocent and that’s when they both realized they were both team good… long story short they became best friends.

Once they left the desert it started to rain so hard they had to find shelter somewhere. They saw a cave. Sky and the dragon decided to go into the cave and once they entered the cave, it shut closed and a scary voice started saying, “Thank you for choosing death! Then blood started dripping and the room got dark. The boys fell unconscious and were knocked out.

The next day Sky was reported missing. The team was worried about him, but the city wasn’t. What they didn’t know was that there was trouble in the cave. Sky woke up and realized he was chained up and when he looked forward he saw a tall guy with a dead face, a top hat, was shirtless, and wore black pants. He was Nightblood! With lots of weapons.

“Why am I chained up?” asked Sky angrily.

“I need you for an experiment,” replied Nightblood.

“Why?” asked Sky.

Night Blood looked at Sky with evil eyes then he threw his sword at Sky which missed. “I need your soul,” says Night Blood in an evil way. Then out of nowhere a blue ball came and hit Night Blood. It’s Sonic who sets Sky free and also the dragon. They all ran to the exit.

“You #$@! I will get you guys!” Nightblood yelled.

Back in Starburst, Sky, Sonic, and the dragon arrived and the team was happy to see Sky back.

“Where were you?” Alice asked.

“I had explosive diarrhea,” said Sky sarcastically. Then there was a big shake. “An earthquake?” said Sky. 158

“A volcano eruption?” said Sonic.

“Is Sky having explosive diarrhea again?” asked Jeff, Sky’s twin. Then there was silence… BOOM! The Illuminati song played and the Illuminati appeared and blood started dripping from the night sky.

“Nightblood,” said Sky, looking towards the sky. Nightblood appeared before them. “I told you I would come back!” yelled Night Blood.

“Who is he?” asked Crystal.

“Your worst nightmare,” responded Nightblood.

“No, it’s your worst mom,” said Sky.

Sky got hurt by Nightblood.

“You remember that if you mess with me you will regret it,” Night Blood warned.

“No,” said Sky.

“Well, silent fool, it’s time for you to sleep… permanently!” said Night Blood.

Nightblood hurt Sky and he fell and was knocked out on the floor.

“Team, attack!” said Jeff.

Sonic slapped Nightblood with his ball form, Steve threw TNT, Blue threw a punch, Banana tried to grab Nightblood with his tongue and the whole team attacked. But still, Nightblood was too powerful. Explosive burrito, (Banana’s best friend), went into the scene but Banana had grown close with Burrito and he did not want Burrito to explode and die. Banana grabbed Burrito but then Nightblood got his sword out and went on attacking everyone but everyone had great defiance. When Sky was not looking, Night Blood moved like he was going to hurt him again, but missed and headed towards Jeff.

“Someone call the hospital, while I finish this fish!” said Sky. Sky hopped on the dragon and they both started charging at Nightblood

then things happened and Night Blood became eviler and made a black hole. The black hole sucked Sky and the dragon in.

“You! What did you do to my brother?” asked Sky.

“I did it. To distract your team!” said Nightblood. “And look at them, they are such fools!”

“Don’t say that about them!” said Sky charging a sword at Night Blood. His sword then connected to the morph which released a Big Scary Dragon who roared and started attacking.

To make this story shorter, I’m just going to say there was more action in this part. Back to the story…

The Big Scary Dragon became a morph to get rest.

“Are you serious!!” said Nightblood.

“Yes, “ said Sky. “And I will make you sleep… permanently!”

Sky’s sword started powering up with blue flames. “Wow! Wait, how do you work this?” asked Sky. His sword got so charged up that… BOOM! A huge explosion occurred and caused Sky to be at rest because he tried to save his team.

Meanwhile, in Starburst, the city is so damaged that the citizens and team had to move somewhere else.

2022: In the desert, where a city known as Starburst used to reign, the place is now plain, buildings were damaged, there was a morph that opened again, the Big Scary Dragon awakened and now is on the loose looking for Starbursts’ new land. Little did the Big Scary Night Form Dragon know that a hero known as Sky has also awoken.

“Oh no, he’s on the loose!” Sky said while he walked to the team mansion. He looked for a computer and when he found it he typed “Starburst” on Google Maps. “Yes, I found them. Are you ready, Water Day Form Dragon?” asked Sky. The dragon nodded and they headed off into the desert.

… To be continued in my dreams.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

826LA would like to thank to following for their support in making this chapbook possible:

Our 826LA Families / Nuestras Familias de 826LA

Mira V.

Susan H.

Cristina N.

Jenny T.

Nikhil K.

Amara K.

Dana R.

Justin V.

Kimaya C.

Christi C.

Melanie H.

Gwyn K.

Andy A.

Karen V.K.

Talia M.

Jake G.

Benji C.

Fadi A.

Marie P.

Stefania A.

Josie B.

Jessica W.

Brooke J.

Katie D.

Mark G.

Jack H.

Nick B.

Avi V.

Belinda T.

Michelle G.

Danbi S.

Edward Sabalburo

826LA Intern

Yaret Leon

826LA Intern

Mike Dunbar

826LA Program & Operations Manager

Pedro Estrada

826LA Program & Operations Manager

Grace Kim

826LA Volunteer Coordinator

Ashley Love-Smith

826LA Senior Volunteer Manager

Jennie Najarro

826LA Senior Volunteer Coordinator

Puicón-Pérez

826LA Design Manager

About

Tutoring

From Monday to Thursday, students attend 826LA for free individual tutoring in all subjects. Once homework is completed, students read books from 826LA’s library and write stories based on a monthly theme. Students submit their writing for inclusion in chapbooks, which 826LA publishes throughout the year. To celebrate students’ hard work, 826LA unveils these chapbooks at book release parties, where students read their work to thunderous applause from their volunteers, families, and peers.

In-Schools

Because not all students can come to us, 826LA brings specially trained volunteer tutors into under-resourced public schools. There, volunteers provide one-on-one or small group assistance with writing projects. 826LA works with teachers to craft all projects, which are designed to engage students while targeting curricular issues. In addition to visiting twenty schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District each year, 826LA has additional sites within Manual Arts High School (South Los Angeles) and Roosevelt High School (Boyle Heights), called The 826LA Writers’ Rooms.

826LA

Workshops

826LA’s workshops bring students together with artists, writers, and professionals for creative collaboration. Whether the subject is journalism or preparing for the zombie apocalypse, our workshops foster creativity while strengthening writing skills. This includes two long running workshops, our reading development workshop Barnacle’s Bookworms, and our Journalism workshop.

Field Trips

During the week, 826LA invites public school teachers and their students to our writing labs to participate in a morning of collaboration, creativity, and writing. Whether Storytelling & Bookmaking, Choose Your Own Adventure, Memoir, or Personal Statements, field trips at 826LA support teacher curriculum and student learning by offering a safe space for students to be their most imaginative and to work on their writing skills. In a few short hours, students brainstorm, write, edit their work, and leave with something tangible—a bound book or a revised essay—as well as a renewed confidence in their ability to tell their stories.

Jaime Balboa Executive Director

Diego Quevedo Chief of Staff

Shani Foster Director of Education

Shawn Silver Director of Advancement & Events

Cheryl Klein Senior Communications Manager

Pedro Estrada Programs & Operations Manager, Echo Park

Mike Dunbar Programs & Operations Manager, Mar Vista

LaTesha Knighten In-Schools Program Manager

Melissa Long Institutional Giving Manager

Alma Carrillo Development Manager

Carinne Mangold Store Manager

Puicón-Pérez Design Manager

Jennie Najarro Senior Volunteer Coordinator, Mar Vista

Angelica ButiuCoronado

Program Coordinator, Writers’ Room Roosevelt High School

Cecilia Gamiño

Program Coordinator, Workshops, Mar Vista

Maricruz Pool-Chan Program Coordinator, Tutoring, Echo Park

Monica Arellano Program Coordinator, Tutoring, Mar Vista

Maddie Silva Program Coordinator, Field Trips, Mar Vista

Mari Zerbe

Program Coordinator, Field Trips, Echo Park

Ariana Ponce Evening Tutoring Programs Associate

Marina Aguayo

Marketing & Communications Coordinator

Wilson Swain

Echo Park Time Travel

Mart Staff

Larry Hansen

Mar Vista Time Travel

Mart Staff

Marco Beltran

Echo Park Time Travel

Mart Staff

Board of Directors

Susan Ko President

Sarah Rosenwald Varet Vice President

Nancy Yang Treasurer

Chad DePue Secretary

Andy Alcaraz

Ben Au

Adriana Centeno

Matthew Cherniss

Dave Eggers, Emeritus

Jodie Evans, Emeritus

Scott A. Ginsburg

Eileen Shields

Belinda Tan

Holly A. Thomas

Advisory Board

J.J. Abrams

Judd Apatow

Miguel Arteta

Mac Barnett

Steve Barr

Joshuah Bearman

Amy Brooks

Father Greg Boyle, SJ

Stefan G. Bucher

Mark Flanagan

Ben Goldhirsh

Rebecca Goldman

Ellen Goldsmith-Vein

DeAnna Gravillis

Spike Jonze

Miranda July

Catherine Keener

Keith Knight

Al Madrigal

Krystyn Madrigal

Tara Roth

Katie McGrath

R. Scott Mitchell

Lani Monos

B.J. Novak

Miwa Okumura

Jane Patterson

Keri Putnam

Sylvie Rabineau

Sonja Rasula

Luis J. Rodriguez

Terri Hernandez

Rosales

Brad Simpson

J. Ryan Stradal

Natalie Tran

Sarah Vowell

Sally Willcox