Fall into the Land of Dreams: Volume 1

LAND OF DREAMS LAND OF DREAMS

VOLUME 1

Illustration

by Yuna Choi

Wonderful writing from 826michigan’s after-school programs

Hello Writers!

Thank you for this wonderful body of work! You created stories that have made us laugh, ponder the world, and jump with excitement. We hope you are proud of your work as you continue to create so many stories in the future.

Sincerely, your fans at 826michigan

826michigan Staff

Megan Shuchman, Executive Director

Kinyel Friday, Operations Director

Denise Ervin, Program Manager

Megan Gilson, Program Manager

Kayla Chenault, Volunteer & Program Coordinator

Eli Sparkman, Volunteer & Program Coordinator

Shai Rao, Partnership Specialist

Amy Sumerton, Communications Liaison

Paige Bennett, Teaching Artist

826michigan Board of Directors

Maria Montoya, President & Secretary

Holly Hunt, Treasurer

Christopher Ankney

Abby Fanelli

James A. Hiller

Danté Richmond

Phil Weiss

826michigan gratefully recognizes the incredible generosity of its Board, individual funders, and foundation and corporate partners that make its work possible in providing free quality writing programs to the students of southeastern Michigan. In particular, we wish to acknowledge the supporters of our Washtenaw County based work: the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, the Hawkins Project, the Kiwanis Club of Ann Arbor Foundation, The United Way of Washtenaw County, The Rotary Club of Ann Arbor, Michigan Humanities, EOTECH, the May Family Foundation, Domino’s, Warby Parker, Zingerman’s Mail Order, and Flagstar Foundation.

Copyright © 2023 by 826michigan and Blotch Books.

All rights reserved by 826michigan, the many whims of Drs. T & G Blotch, the illustrators, and the authors.

The views expressed in this book are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect those of 826michigan. We believe in the power of youth voice and are thrilled that you picked up this book. No part of this book may be reproduced without express written permission from the publisher, except for small excerpts for the purposes of review or scholarly study.

Design by Darren Cools

Copyedited by Aaron Stone

By purchasing this book, you are helping 826michigan continue to offer free student programs. For more information, please visit: 826michigan.org

Also Published by 826michigan

Young Authors Book Project:

Atomic: Earth’s Final Fight with & against the Strange Glimpses of Magic

The Book of Many Wisdoms

Because No One Else Could Do It

In Our Defense

In the Clouds Over Ypsilanti

A Moment to Remember

Rare Air / Aire raro

A Lantern of Fireflies

Tell Me How It Was

Where Is It Coming From?

Enjoy! Recipes for Building Community

All I Could Do Was Look Up: Anatomy of a Middle School

What to Call the Place I Call Home: Voices of 26 Ypsilanti Middle School Students

The Moons Were Jealous

2020: Visions of the [Near] Future

Don’t Stay Up So Late

How to Rise Or, I Put My Heart into the Close

Tall Tales & True Stories

Suddenly My Heart Stopped for Just a Small Portion of Time: Defining Moments

OMNIBUS:

826michigan OMNIBUS I

826michigan OMNIBUS II

826michigan OMNIBUS III

826michigan OMNIBUS IV

826michigan OMNIBUS V

826michigan OMNIBUS VI

826michigan OMNIBUS VII

826michigan OMNIBUS VIII

826michigan OMNIBUS IX

826michigan OMNIBUS X

826michigan OMNIBUS 11

826michigan OMNIBUS 12

Selected Chapbooks:

And I Did My Best

The Big Mess-Up and Other Stories

Bon Temps Roulez!

Carrying Ourselves Across: The Art of Self-Translation

The Clouds Spell Detroit

Colors Came Out

Cuando los robots atacan

The Distance Between Two Sides of a Color

Even the Stars are Robotic

Everything You Fight For And Gain

The Fog Was Geemy

Hello Sandwich

I Am Thankful for the Moon So I Can See in the Dark

I Hope You Consider What I’ve Said: Kids’ Letters to President Trump

I Rode My Yak to School

Hello Sandwich

I Use This Pencil To Write

It Tasted Like the Sun

Let’s Make a Bridge

Maybe I Was Born to be One of the Big Creatures

My Heart Felt Sad for the Bird

Talking Back, Giving Thanks, and Why You Should Never Drink the Haterade

The Ultimate Tacocat

When the Whales Celebrate

Where Everything is Written

Zomb, the Formalist

Student Introduction

Hi! My name is Rowan, and I am fifteen years old. I have been working with 826michigwan for about two years. In that time I have learned so many things and have been able to explore so many different topics. When I was approached to write this, I felt lost; I was unsure where to go with it or even how long to make it.

From the volunteers who consistently supported me and encouraged me to write down my ideas even if I wasn’t quite sure where I was going with them yet and the leaders of the program for your endless patience and support to each and every writer in this book, I hope all of you are happy and proud of yourselves to see your writing in this book, because you deserve to be!

Finally, to everyone reading this book (even if you skipped this), I hope you all walk away from reading any part of this, even if it’s just a singular story, with a new way of seeing the spaces around you and the magic that is in everything, even the mundane. I wish you each the best, and thank you for supporting 826!

While I’ve been writing this, I’ve realized it honestly feels as if I’m writing a thank-you letter to this program.

Dear Reader, Fall into the Land of Dreams is the culmination of the hard work of this fantastic community of writers. Over the course of twelve weeks, they brainstormed, characterized, wrote, peer reviewed, revised, and created the dreamscape that leaps off of the page in vivid detail. I had the absolute joy of witnessing these stories start as idea seedlings and blossom with hard-work and dedication. These writers used their creativity to write in every genre from slice of life to dystopian science fiction to choose your own adventure.

This volume of Fall into the Land of Dreams includes writing by writers ages 7–9 that teaches us how to be patient, how to properly pronounce cupcake, how to survive, and how to face our destiny.

Thank you, dear reader, for supporting these writers. Please enjoy the journey through these pages as you fall into the land of dreams.

Onward Robots,

Kayla Chenault Volunteer & Program Coordinator

Baconwad, the Wad of Bacon

Once upon a meat factory! The Meatlantis Meat Factory with its three chimneys, two mailboxes, and painting of Mario on its perfectly square roof is made of steak, burgers, pork chops, and sausages. All pretty typical. However, the company freezer held magical meat with otherworldly abilities. On February 34th, 3253, the meat factory hired a new employee, Bob. On his first day of work, Bob passed by a box on top of the freezer labeled DANGER. However, Bob couldn’t read. He accidentally used the magical meat from outer space to make Baconwad. Baconwad looked like he came out of a cartoon: he was two feet tall, always smiling, with skinny arms and legs coming out of his crispy midsection. The new employee saw Baconwad and was thrilled. He chased Baconwad with a sock, but his plan did not work because Bob was too slow and Baconwad was too fast. Baconwad turned into a meat igloo (yes, Baconwad can turn into a meat igloo). The meat factory boss, Meatguy Bossypants, saw his new employee and the meat igloo and was angry and surprised at the same time. He fired the new guy instantly. Baconwad flew out of the meat factory, unnoticed.

Beep Boop Beep Bop

A giant green gorilla named Headband and his brother, Wednesday, are playing a game. They are shooting ketchup guns at each other. Their house is up in the tree, and no one can see them. Then the robots come. Headband and Wednesday hold the robots on the top of their heads, and then they break the bots. After destroying the bots, they shoot them at the moon.

The gorillas go to the store to buy more ketchup because they run out. The store is six hundred thousand miles away. It takes them one hundred hours, one hundred minutes, and one hundred seconds to get to the store. It takes them so long to get to the store, and Headband and Wednesday are so hungry that they eat everything in the store.

Mama Robot comes to the store and says, “Beep bop boop keeee coooo peeee boto yoooo da bodie.” (Translation: “I have come for you because you destroyed my robot children.”) Mama Robot is one hundred feet tall with lasers on her hands and spikes on her feet.

Pow! She has a fierce fight with the gorillas.

Someone comes and yells, “Stop!” and the gorillas run away.

“Eeeee! Eeeee!” Mama Robot screams in victory. “Sppspnpota!”

The Poisonous Snake and the Girl

I was walking in the forest. I was dressed in a black Gucci jacket with a white Gucci shirt underneath and puffy Louis Vuitton pants. Maybe not the best outfit for the forest. There were lots of trees and benches lining the path. I was feeling scared that a bear might pop out of the dark forest and chase me. There is nothing scarier in the forest than a bear, right? Suddenly, I heard a branch snap! I froze in place and searched all around me.

Maybe it was just a bunny or chipmunk. Nothing to be scared of. Unless . . . it was a bear! No, it couldn’t be. This is a peaceful forest.

Just as I started to convince myself there was nothing to fear, I suddenly heard another noise, Hissssss. Now it was clear what this noise was coming from. A snake! A shiny black snake began to slither out in front of my feet. I knew exactly what type of snake this was. This was a short black mamba. The black mamba began to get closer and closer to me and began to hiss even louder. At that moment, I knew there was only one thing left to do: run! Before I knew it, I had broken out of my frozen fear, and my legs were moving faster than ever before. I looked back and saw the snake slithering after me at lightning speed. Wait! I knew what to do! I started running in a zigzag pattern in order to escape the snake. I was getting out of breath, and sweat was beading on my forehead. The hissing continued to get louder and louder, and I was scared to look back. Ouch! The snake snuck his fangs into my leg! So I used the thing that I learned when I was young from my parents who are wildlife experts. I tied over the part where I got a scar from the snake and put the part where I got a scar lower than my heart, because if I put it over my heart, then the poison was going to go to my heart faster. Good thing I was wearing my puffy Louis Vuitton pants because the snake’s fangs didn’t sink too far into my skin. Then I called a doctor as fast as I could, and now I’m thinking that I’m lucky that I learned that. * * *

A few years later.

“Hey, you’re just kidding that you got bitten by a snake!” my student said. “Right . . . ?”

“Why, are you thinking that the teacher’s lying to you?” asked another student.

“Yes. I’m not lying. It happened four years ago,” I said.

“Hey! I told you she’s not lying!” said the second student.

“Wait, so that was real!?” the first student said.

Best Birthday Ever

This is a true story, but it didn’t happen like this . . .

Day One

Mom and Dad were doing absolutely nothing, although me and my sister could hear them talking. Lilia didn’t pay much attention to what they were saying. I, however, was trying to listen. I only heard the best part . . . we were getting a puppy for my birthday!

Day Two

My birthday was two days away. I was excited about my birthday now. We went to school. I learned nothing from almost all the subjects, except for art. I was failing everything too, except for art. I was thinking this day couldn’t get any worse.

In basketball, I won my game. No one could beat me.

Then I went home and got ready for bed. When I fell asleep, I had a weird dream. It was about me on a playground with other kids, kind of like at school.

Day Three

When I woke up, I got dressed in my uniform. When I came downstairs to our living room, I found Dad, Mom, Lilia, and Audrey already there. I was surprised, because it was only 6:45am. They were talking, and it seemed suspicious. I went on with my day. When I got home from school, I heard them whispering again just like that first morning. I was curious about what they might be saying, because it was the day before my birthday. I still thought we might be getting a puppy, but nothing yet!

Then my mom said, “Time for bed!”

I was mad because I wasn’t tired, but I relented.

Day Four

Well, the big day was here. It was my birthday! I woke up early and ran downstairs. When it’s your birthday at our school, you don’t have to go to school! Unless you really wanted to. So, I stayed home.

When I came downstairs, I saw a giant box. I was wondering what might be inside it, but no one was there for my party, so I couldn’t open it yet. A couple hours later, everyone arrived. I was so excited to open all of my presents but especially the giant box in the middle of the living room. Mom made me save that one for last, so I opened everything else. Finally, it was time to open the box. When I did, there was nothing inside, except a note. It read, Happy Birthday! There’s something waiting for you in our backyard!

I immediately ran outside, and there jumped the most adorable puppy ever!

Best birthday ever!

TERRY JUN . . . age 9

Soccer

Students go to a middle school, and there is a student who is smart, so his name is Smartie. Smartie and Smartie’s friend named Rapport like to play soccer, so they play on a pro soccer team called Tigers. Rapport and Smartie have brown and black hair. Rapport has a short nose, Smartie has a little bit of a big nose, and they have the same short mouths. Smartie’s friend is a great striker and passes well, so his team has won many trophies. Smartie became friends with Rapport because they played many soccer games on the soccer field together and were very good.

Smartie always has a plan because he is smart, so he creates plans and his team always follows the plans well. One example of Smartie’s plans to trick the other teams is that Smartie tries to shoot, but he passes to his teammate and then the teammate scores.

Rapport goes to the same middle school, so in PE, they play soccer together and they play soccer well. Smartie and Rapport have other best friends that are pro soccer players too.

One day they played solos. The game rules were to kick the soccer ball against a wall, and then if someone touched it two times, then that person lost. Rapport kicked first, then Smartie kicked, but he slipped, so he fell and he lost.

Rapport then said, “Short game,” so they ended the game. They went to the soccer field to practice soccer after school.

Today, Smartie is the kicker and Rapport is the goalie. Rapport and Smartie are challenging each other about who is better at soccer. They battle about soccer, and then Rapport tries to steal the ball from Smartie, but Smartie sees his foot coming to steal it. As a result, Smartie jumps with the ball in the air, but Smartie doesn’t think Rapport is going to tackle him, so Rapport scores! Rapport has the ball now. He dribbles the ball. Smartie tries to block it but is unsuccessful. Smartie jumps to block the ball from scoring, but Rapport fakes him and puts the ball in the air. He heads to score, winning 2–0.

They go to their middle school, so they also play soccer the next day during recess with friends. During recess, they play soccer tournaments to see what team is going to win. Smartie plays for team Argentina and Rapport plays for team Brazil, and they both score, making the score 2–2. Smartie and Rapport want to win the tiebreaker, so the team passes to Rapport, then Smartie’s team steals the ball. Smartie’s team tries to shoot, but the goalie blocks the ball and passes it to Rapport. Rapport zigzags his pass to his teammate, making the other team dizzy. Then his teammate passes the ball back to Rapport and he shoots. The goalie tries to block the pass, but it hits a crossbar and bounces twice, creating a score!

Rapport and Smartie say, “Good game,” then they agree that Brazil will win and are happy for each other. At the end of the day, they have fun, and Rapport and Smartie are on the same pro soccer team. They play soccer together and are best friends.

Sunny, Athena, and the Bulgaria Stone

Once upon a time in the beautiful land of Florida, there was a village tucked away in the forest where no human could go. There were plants living in that village. They had lives of their own, and they were happy.

One day the unthinkable happened: it snowed. Many plants died, so the village decided to have a meeting.

“What should we do?” cried a palm tree. “All my coconut babies are dying!”

“I’m browning all over!” cried a magnolia.

“I have an idea,” said the great longleaf pine tree. “We can send volunteers to figure out how to stop the snow. We should send them to Norway. There is a lot of snow there and they are still surviving.”

“Great idea!” said all the other plants. “But who shall we send?” they asked.

“I might know of someone,” said a mushroom. “I have a cousin who is a lion’s mane. She is wise, smart, strong, and patient. She might be willing to go on this quest.”

“I am willing!” said a quiet but triumphant voice from the back. “My name is Athena, and I would love to help!”

The whole village started whispering with uncertainty.

“But she can’t go alone!” yelled someone in the crowd.

“I can go with her,” said a trumpet daffodil. “My name is Sunny, and I am bright and bring joy to everything. I will be good company on a very long journey.”

“But what about your bulb?” asked a palm tree.

“I can just pack it in a backpack,” said Sunny. “That’s what I always do.”

“It is decided, then,” said the great longleaf pine. “We will send the two of you off tomorrow. Get good rest tonight.”

The next day Sunny and Athena woke up early to start their quest. The village had convinced a sandhill crane to fly them to Norway, so they packed their things, got on the giant bird, and flew away. After days and nights of cold winds and views of endless waters, the two adventurers finally arrived in Norway.

“Thank you!” said Athena, as they parted with the crane.

“I’m always happy to help,” said the bird.

Sunny and Athena walked into a little village along the seashore and asked a local bush, “We need your help. We came all the way from Florida because it is snowing there, and we need to know how to get rid of it.”

“I think the Shell of Wisdom might know,” said the bush. “You can find him at the rocky beach. He is very shiny. You won’t miss him.”

“Thank you,” they said and set off toward the rocky beach.

It didn’t take them long to find the Shell of Wisdom, as it was indeed very shiny. They walked over to him.

“Hello,” said the shell. “How can I help you? You look very tired. Would you like a cup of tea?”

“That sounds wonderful,” said Athena. “We have come here all the way from Florida, because something horrible happened there. It is snowing and we need your help to get rid of the snow. Can you help us?”

“Of course I can!” said the shell with confidence. “All you need to do is find the Bulgaria Stone, deep in the Rila Mountain. It is magical and can help you get rid of the snow.”

“How can we get there?” asked Sunny.

“I know a stork that can get you there,” said the shell. “She is going on vacation there anyway. Her name is Sally, and you will get along well. How do you like the tea?” asked the shell, trying to change the conversation.

“It’s very good,” said Sunny. “Thank you for your help!”

The very next day, they met Sally and started their trip to Bulgaria. This time the trip was cozier and shorter than the last one. Since the Rila Mountain is very high, they had no trouble finding it at all. They parted with the stork and continued on foot. They crossed creeks, encountered turtles, and escaped from a group of wild boars. After a while, they found a little cave in the mountain. Inside the cave was an emerald green gem.

“I think this is the Bulgaria Stone,” said Athena.

“How do you know?” asked Sunny.

“I’ll touch it and see what happens,” she said.

When Athena touched it, it stopped glowing and it was clear to everyone that the stone was just a keychain.

“Probably someone lost it while hiking,” said Sunny. “Humans lose things all the time.”

Discouraged and sad, Athena said, “We did all this traveling for nothing?! Let’s just go home. Nothing here is going to help us.”

Sunny tried to think of something to cheer her up, but even he had lost hope. As they were sitting in the cave, an imperial eagle flew up to them.

“Do you need help, little fellows?” he asked.

“If you could fly us to Florida, that could help,” said Sunny.

“Oh great,” said the Eagle. “I’m going on a business trip there anyway. I can take you.”

On the way back, the two plants mostly slept on the fluffy feathers of the eagle. After a few days over the ocean, Sunny woke up.

“Athena, Athena, wake up!”

“What?” Athena asked, trying to get back to sleep.

“I just had an idea! On our trip we sort of learned how to survive in cold weather. So, we can teach the other plants in the village how to adapt to the cold weather, too!”

“That’s a great idea, Sunny,” said Athena with excitement. “We can’t get rid of the snow, but we can learn how to live with it.”

When they arrived at their village, they taught everyone how to survive the cold weather and lived happily ever after.

The End

A Weird Adventure

CHAPTER ONE

Tasu sighed. He had already done his apprenticeship assessment two times. Now he had done it three times but never passed. He flopped down on the family moss nest. His mother softly curled her fluffy tail around him.

His father stood in the Prey Room and asked, “Do I need to go hunting?”

His mother said, “Sure, but I think we have enough for dinner.” She turned to look at Tasu and said, “We are visiting Grandmother and Grandfather tomorrow.”

Tasu’s eyes widened with joy. Finally, he could have a chance to pass the fourth apprenticeship assessment.

His mom said, “Come on, let’s have dinner!”

Tasu picked a flat, plump thrush and was about to eat it when his sister, SuSu, said, “Tasu, Tamar is here!”

Instantly Tasu got up to his paws and ran to the door.

“Tamar! Let’s share this plump thrush,” Tasu said to his best friend, picking up the thrush he had dropped.

Through a mouth full of feathers he said, “Let’s go to my den!”

Tasu and Tamar padded to his den. One wall of his room was covered in pictures of one of his favorite flostals (crystal flowers), the ruddy crylo. Another wall of the room was covered in pictures of Tamar and Tasu in order from them as babies to now. The last wall was covered in pictures of fernstone and sentences of his prophecy to kill Darkeye. Tasu and Tamar plopped on his nest and ate the thrush until there were just bones left. All of a sudden Minichest, their chestnut-colored dunny—a dog-bunny, and by the name you can guess that he is small—burst into the room, grabbed the bones, and started nagging them. Tamar told Tasu that he could sleep over, so they went to sleep side by side with Mini—short for Minichest—beside them.

CHAPTER TWO

Tasu woke with the sun.

He saw Tamar was already up. “Come on sleepy-pants, your breakfast is ready,” Tamar said.

Indeed, the warm smells of baking butter pudding bread wafted into the air. Tasu jumped up and ran to the Prey Room. Wisha and SuSu were waiting.

“I thought you would never come,” SuSu said.

“I want your pudding bread, please,” Wisha added.

Tasu said, “Sorry, but I’m going to eat it.”

So he grabbed his loaf of bread and sat down to eat it with fresh whipped butter.

Then he walked to the water hole. When Tasu went to the water hole, he hoped that he looked cool, but as usual, he looked like a plain old dog that was beige colored with dark brown-purple paws, green eyes, and a green gem.

Cat and dog unite

Brings dark diamond to doom

Cursed by this prophecy

Kills the Darkeye

And lifts teardrop into the sky

Brings the Return Peace.

How in the world could he defeat a powerful dog like Darkeye? Dramatic music.

To be continued . . .

Beryl’s Story: Cat Chronicle

CHAPTER ONE

“We’re at the Cat Café!” said Pearl enthusiastically.

Beryl smiled. It’ll be fun to meet the new cats at the Cat Café, she thought.

“New cats! Let’s go play with them!” Beryl heard some cats say.

“Hi, other cats! I’m Pearl, and this is Beryl.” Pearl meowed.

“Hi!” said an orange, plump cat. “I am Big Paws, and this is my friend, Furry,” he said, pointing to a white cat with dark gray spots.

“Wanna play?” purred Pearl.

“Yeah!” Big Paws exclaimed, “We got a new toy. Let me show you!”

Big Paws, Pearl, and Furry ran to another room. Beryl ran after them. When the four cats got to the other room, Beryl and Pearl saw a colorful object on the ground.

“We got this new toy,” meowed Furry.

“But we don’t know how to use it,” said Big Paws.

Beryl and Pearl sniffed at the toy. They felt it. The toy had a pink, papery lining with white squishy stuff. On top of the white squishy stuff was a strawberry, and the toy smelled strongly of them. Suddenly, Beryl and Pearl looked at each other then back at the “toy.”

“That’s a cupcake,” said Pearl.

“A coupcake?” said Big Paws.

“A cupcack?” said Furry.

“A cupcake,” Beryl corrected, “A strawberry shortcake cupcake. Not a toy. Food.”

“Food?” said Big Paws, “Ooh, if it’s food, can I have some? Actually, you can have the first bite, because you told me it was food in the first place.”

“Okay,” said Beryl.

“Actually, can I have some too?” said Pearl.

“Sure,” purred Beryl.

“Yay! Sisterhood!” exclaimed Pearl.

Then she stood on her hind legs and did the Macarena. Big Paws gave Pearl a puzzled look.

“Maaacarena!” Pearl meowed.

“Are you guys gonna eat the strawberry shirtcat cupcake or what? I’m getting hungry here!” grumbled Big Paws.

Beryl rolled her eyes.

Pearl facepalmed.

“SHORTCAKE,” they said in unison. Suddenly, Beryl realized something.

The cupcake could have ingredients in it that are fatal for cats. Beryl quickly explained her thought to Pearl. Pearl laughed.

“You act as if it’s stuffed with garlic-chocolate casserole,” she said.

Big Paws wrinkled his nose at the thought of that, and Beryl cringed. With one look at her sister, Beryl took a small bite of the cupcake.

“What does it taste like?” purred Pearl.

“It tastes good. Like strawberry and sugar. At least it doesn’t taste like garlic or chocolate. That’s toxic to us cats.”

“Good! Now I can eat some!” Pearl said. And she wolfed down the entire cupcake.

“Hey, you said I could have some!” Big Paws said, sounding annoyed. But before Pearl could reply, a lavender-colored portal appeared and tried to suck Beryl and Pearl into it.

Help! Beryl thought.

She tried to save herself by unsheathing her claws into the pink rug on the floor, but it was no use. The pull of the portal was simply too strong. In a moment, Beryl, Pearl, and the discarded cupcake wrapper had gone through the portal.

CHAPTER TWO

Visions of a bright, lavender glow danced in Beryl’s head. But in the distance, she saw a dot that looked like an exit.

Good! Beryl thought. Then we can go back to our visit at the Cat Café and this portal nonsense will all be over.

But what happened when she went out the exit? Instead of landing on the cozy pink rug of the Cat Café and making a plomp noise, she landed on . . . stone. And all around her were things that looked like stalagmites.

Stalagmites. Beryl thought. Or is it stalactites? Wait, stalagmites. She took a moment to look at her surroundings. Mostly stone and stalagmites, but when she looked at the sky, she was blown away.

“Wow!” Beryl gasped.

Above her, she saw stars, planets, and galaxies, lit by the dim purple glow of the rest of the sky. Occasionally, a meteor or two flashed by.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” said a voice from behind Beryl.

Beryl shrieked, jumped up, and turned around.

“Beryl! It’s me! Pearl!” said the voice again.

Looking at the cat again, it did look like Pearl.

“Sorry about that,” Beryl said, “It’s hard to know who or what to trust in this . . . weird place.”

“Are we even on Earth any more?” Pearl whispered.

“I really don’t know,” Beryl mumbled. “Maybe we should explore more of our surroundings, so we can get more accustomed to this place—” Beryl broke off as . . . PEW! A laser shot over her ears, leaving a faint red glow above her.

“My old enemy, Catastrophe! Tell the giant ants to leave our city, or else!” said a voice from behind the two cat sisters.

An orange cat with magenta, glowing eyes stood there. Beryl and Pearl turned around.

“Wait . . . you’re not Catastrophe. Apologies.” The female cat dipped her head. “I’m Ariadne.”

Beryl dipped her head in return. “I’m Beryl. This is my sister, Pearl, next to me. I’m sorry, but what are giant ants? Who is Catastrophe? And how come there’s a city here? I didn’t even know there was life here when Pearl meowed.”

“OK. It seems we’re going to need a bit of a flashback” Ariadne said. “First of all, Catastrophe is an orange cat who lives on the World of Villains. That world was built out of pure evil. I have a button that destroys that world on my cat bed. The only reasons I have to not press it are for one, you can’t fight fire with fire, and two, Catastrophe owns the Intergalactical Spaghetti Delivery Department.”

“OK,” Pearl said.

“Next, we do have a city. Or, at least, we used to,” she added, mumbling under her breath.

“What do you mean? And what do you mean by ‘we’?” Beryl asked.

“Me and some other residents of the city.”

“What about the giant ants?” Pearl meowed.

“I’m getting to that part!” Ariadne purred. “Giant ants are like normal ants but bigger. The smallest of them are a little larger than a cat. And those are the smallest. The biggest are about the size of a school bus.”

“Wow, that’s big,” Pearl remarked.

“Usually, the ants live in peace away from us on Planet Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich, but a few days ago, they came to our city, claiming we were plotting to destroy their planet. We weren’t, of course. But somebody manipulated them into thinking that.”

“Do you know who did it?” Beryl asked.

“We have a suspect.” Ariadne said. “Some other galaxy defenders and I investigated. We found Spaghetti Foam perfume on the queen ant, and Spaghetti Foam is only manufactured in the Intergalactical Spaghetti Delivery Department. Obviously the main culprit is Catastrophe. She started this war, and we’re going to finish it. But I don’t know how we’re going to do that.”

“We can fight in the war!” blurted Pearl.

Beryl thought, Is she crazy? We’re house cats, not intergalactic saviors!

“Are you sure? You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Ariadne exclaimed.

“Can Pearl and I talk amongst ourselves?” Beryl asked.

“Of course!” Ariadne replied.

Beryl and Pearl walked a few steps away from Ariadne.

“Do you really think that we should be doing this?” Beryl whispered.

“Come on, we can’t let an entire world die off!” Pearl said.

As dangerous as this is, she has a point, Beryl thought. Then Pearl used a tactic that rendered Beryl completely helpless . . . Puppy-dog eyes!

“Fine,” Beryl sighed, “but remember, you dragged us into this.”

Then she turned around to Ariadne.

“We’re ready,” she said.

CHAPTER THREE

As they walked toward the Big Dipper in the sky, they saw a small village.

“Wow, this place looks nice,” Beryl purred.

“I know. Sometimes other cats expect more from us, like a futuristic utopia, but it truly is a cozy town,” Ariadne purred.

Then Beryl and Pearl started to notice odd things: burnt buildings, broken glass . . . there were masses of destruction in their path. Then Ariadne came to a halt and pointed behind some rocks.

“This is the battlefield,” she said.

Beryl and Pearl stood awestruck, mouths gaping as they stared at cats expertly fighting large, ant-like creatures.

One old, orange-furred male cat said, “Bleh,” and a smaller ant fainted.

“Who is that?” Pearl asked.

“That’s Momo, though his nickname is Blehcat. He speaks only in ‘blehs.’ Giant ants are sensitive to certain sounds.”

“Let’s go!” Pearl yelled.

She pounced on the battlefield, and Beryl had no choice but to follow.

“Wait! How do we fight?” Beryl meowed.

“You can just hit the smallest ants with your claws and dodge their attacks. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.” Ariadne called after her.

“Let’s fight!” Pearl cheered.

Over time, Beryl noticed that her fighting skills were not very good. She noticed that Pearl was also bad at fighting, but it looked like Pearl thought she was good at fighting. Pearl tried to claw an ant, but the ant dodged her.

Then Pearl said, “Yay! I scared away the ant!”

Ariadne, however, was a skillful fighter. She dodged attacks from the ants while blasting other giant ants with her laser eyes. After an hour, though, it looked like everyone was getting tired. Even Ariadne.

“Everybody meet up in the conveniently placed hut!” Ariadne said.

“What hut—” Beryl said and then broke off as she saw a small hut about ten feet away. Beryl ran toward it but stopped in her tracks as she saw a giant—and I mean giant— ant leg coming toward her.

CHAPTER FOUR

Beryl skidded to a halt. Before her was the largest ant on the battlefield with wings and a jeweled crown. It smelled like spaghetti.

The queen ant, Beryl thought. Upon closer inspection, she saw an orange cat on top of the queen ant. The unfamiliar cat looked like Ariadne, but the cat—seemingly a girl— had a mean-looking smirk on her face.

“I’m Catastrophe,” she hissed. Then, as if on cue, the queen ant hit Beryl with her head.

Beryl desperately looked around the battlefield, trying to find something that she could salvage as a weapon, but all she could find was a half-empty bucket of melted Parmesan cheese. Beryl sighed and threw a pawful of melted cheese on Catastrophe. Then she gulped.

I shouldn’t have done that, she thought. But oddly, small bits of fur were falling off Catastrophe. And for some reason, they were becoming . . . liquid? Catastrophe was beginning to yowl in terror.

“Meoww! Meoww! I’m melting! Meltingggggggg!”

That was easier than I expected, Beryl thought. She looked at the queen ant and saw that it was fleeing the battlefield.

“Hooray!” Beryl cheered. She entered the hut.

When she entered, Beryl saw many of the cats who were fighting the giant ants earlier sitting in a circle around the room, eating spaghetti. Beryl decided to sit next to Ariadne.

“Do you want some spaghetti?” Ariadne asked Beryl.

“Sure!” Beryl said. After a few seconds, a plate of spaghetti appeared out of thin air.

“How did you do that?” asked Beryl.

“I have the power to summon spaghetti! I can also summon melted Parmesan cheese when I’m strong.” Ariadne purred. Beryl noticed that Ariadne’s spaghetti had melted cheese on it.

Beryl asked Ariadne, “So all this time, Catastrophe’s weakness was just melted Parmesan cheese?”

“Yup!” Ariadne cheerfully replied. “The ants are also weak to it. Too bad we don’t have any more.”

Suddenly, a thought ran through Beryl’s mind. She shared this thought with the rest of the cats in the hut, and they loved it. Then everybody started to leave the hut.

“Wait!” Pearl said. Everybody turned around and stared at her.

“Put your paws on top of mine, and on the count of three, we’ll lift them in the air and say ‘GO ANT FIGHTERS!’” Everyone did that.

“3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . .”

“GO ANT FIGHTERS!”

CHAPTER FIVE

“OK, let’s go over the battle plan,” Beryl said in a circle of fighting cats. “Team Distraction consists of Pearl. She will sing ‘We Will Rock You’ by Queen while doing the chicken dance. Right, Pearl?” Pearl nodded.

“Team Stun consists of Blehcat. With his supersonic ‘blehs,’ he will temporarily stun the ants,” Beryl meowed. “Lastly, Team Ariadne consists of Ariadne. She knows what to do. We will start the plan on Ariadne’s signal.”

Two red lasers shot through the air.

“It’s time,” Beryl said, “Go, Pearl, go!”

Pearl ran back onto the battlefield, singing and doing the chicken dance.

“We will, we will rock you! Cluck, cluck!”

All of the ants stopped walking around and stared at Pearl, twitching their antennae.

“Go, Blehcat, go!” Beryl said. Her cream-colored fur was standing on end, but her blue eyes shone with excitement.

“Bleh,” said Blehcat, and suddenly, every ant stopped moving.

Beryl sighed. Then she said loudly, “You know what to do, Ariadne.”

Ariadne jumped out behind the hut they were in earlier, and her eyes started to glow. And they were becoming brighter . . . until it rained Parmesan cheese! It began to fall down gradually, like most raindrops. But after a while it was beginning to come down in large melted chunks. Beryl took a look at the battlefield and saw that the ants were fleeing! Everybody cheered.

“All the ants are gone,” Ariadne said. “I can take you home now if you want.”

Beryl looked at Pearl. “Pearl? Do you want to go?”

Pearl nodded a silent yes. Blehcat then brought Ariadne a cupcake nearly identical to the strawberry shortcake cupcake form earlier.

“Take a bite out of the cupcake,” Ariadne instructed. Beryl and Pearl did that. The lavender portal opened up again, but Beryl did not feel any fear. Only happiness and warmth.

CHAPTER SIX

Beryl opened her eyes to see herself in the Cat Café next to the portal. But Pearl was nowhere to be seen, and the lavender portal was slowly shrinking.

Where’s Pearl? Beryl thought as a cold shiver ran down her spine.

She waited a few seconds to see if she would come out of the portal. But there was no sign of Pearl. Beryl was trying to blink back tears welling up in her eyes. It seemed all hope was lost. But then Beryl saw something in the portal. She saw a pair of brown eyes that looked exactly like Pearl’s. And . . . Yes! There was a flash of creamcolored fur! After a second, Pearl popped through the portal as it closed behind her.

“You made it!” Beryl cried.

“The portal was barely big enough to get through,” Pearl replied.

Suddenly Furry and Bigpaws came running up to the two sisters.

“What happened?!” Bigpaws asked.

“Where did you go?” Furry chimed in.

“It’s a long story,” said Beryl.

“Hey, do you want to play?” Bigpaws mewed excitedly.

Pearl purred, “Sure.”

And happily, the four cats ran off to play.

The End

About 826michigan

826michigan inspires school-aged students to write with skill and confidence in collaboration with adult volunteers in their communities.

Our writing and tutoring programs uphold a culture of creativity and imagination and support students in establishing strong habits of mind. Through publication and community engagement, we provide students with an authentic and enthusiastic audience for their writing.

Our programs provide an energizing creative outlet for students and meaningful volunteer opportunities for community members. We believe that with one-onone attention from caring adults, students improve their academic performance, develop a sense of belonging, and discover the unique value of their voices.

We also believe that the more fun a student has, and the more directly we speak to a student’s interests, the more we can help students find the fun in learning. That’s why our programs are more than just extra assignments. All of our programs are challenging and enjoyable, and ultimately strengthen each student’s power to express ideas effectively, creatively, confidently, and in their individual voice.

AFTER-SCHOOL WRITING LAB

In this weekly program, we build a supportive community of writers where students brainstorm, write, revise, and publish a story of their choosing. At the end of the program, students’ writing is published in a book and celebrated with a book release party. Each session includes a mini lesson taught by 826michigan staff and introduction to a new writer’s habit, such as Writers Change their Minds and Writers Make Plans–and Break Them! Students discuss and practice these new habits as they go through the writing process, building their own toolkit of writing practices and preferences.

WORKSHOPS

We offer a number of free writing workshops taught by professional artists, writers, and our talented volunteers. From comic books to screenplays, bookmaking to radio, our wide variety of workshops are perfect for writers of all ages and interests. One of the most popular workshops we offer is our weekly Wee-bots program for elementary-aged writers.

IN-SCHOOL PROJECTS

Our staff and trained volunteers go into local public schools to support teachers with their classroom writing goals. In partnership with the teacher’s writing curriculum, our projects range from writing fairy tales to crafting college essays to exploring poetry. We also partner with schools to hold Family Writing Labs: laughter-filled events in which families come together and participate in an evening of engaging writing activities and community connection.

FIELD TRIPS & ROADSHOWS

Always full of surprises and theatrics (and sometimes a visit from our grumpy editor, Dr. Blotch), our Field Trip program is an experiential writing extravaganza. We welcome teachers to bring their classes in for field trips during the school day or we can bring the party to schools as a field trip roadshow! Students join a group of volunteers, interns, and staff to help solve a problem through writing—whether that is Dr. Blotch’s insomnia, our looming story deadline, a mystery in need of solving, or one of the many others we encounter. Our field trips always end in a finished publication of original writing that students take home. Often the field trip writing is connected to a second leg of the students’ journey, whether a trip to a museum, library, or local record label, thanks to our many incredible community partners.

OUR STORE

Our Robot Supply Co. store is a one-stop shop for robots, robot owners, and enthusiasts alike. It is designed to inspire creativity and bring awareness of our programs to the community. In addition, our online store is always open; visit the Robot Supply Co. at onwardrobots.com . All proceeds from our store directly fund our free student programming.

Onward robots!

826 National was inspired to take a stand on issues of inclusion and diversity in light of the many events that spotlighted social and racial injustices throughout the country. We as educators, volunteers, and caring adults need to be aware of the wide range of issues our students face on a day-to-day basis. We need to support these young people as they navigate through and try to make sense of the world and their own identities.

We need the support and the feedback from our community to ensure 826 is living up to these standards. Through our inclusion statement, our internal diversity and inclusion group, cultural competency resources provided to staff and volunteers, and partnerships with other organizations, we are always working towards being a more inclusive and supportive organization.

We at 826 have the privilege of working with the next generation of scholars, teachers, doctors, artists, lawyers, and writers. It's our job to make sure they are able to take their own stands.

As an organization committed to encouraging youth in their creative expression, personal growth, and academic success, 826 National and its chapters recognize the importance of diversity at all levels and in all aspects of our work. In order to build and maintain the safe, supportive 826 environment in which great leaps in learning happen, we commit ourselves to inclusion: we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, nationality, marital status, English fluency, parental status, military service, or disability.

The 826 National network is committed to encouraging youth to express themselves and to use the written word to effectively do so. We encourage our students to write, take chances, make decisions, and finish what they start. And 826 strives to do this in an environment free from discrimination and exclusion.

by Gerald Richards, CEO

A way to figure things out by ourselves

A way to help us connect to our world

We create a safe place to be ourselves and try new things

We support the ways that writers work (like thinking, sketching, talking)

We study the writing we want to do so we can try it

We learn how to change our writing for genre, audience, and purpose

We work with a group of writers who help and support each other

A way for us to use our power to make changes and build a better world

www.826michigan.org

A way to help us learn who we are and who we will become

Tremendous thanks to

Grace Metcalf and Meg Ward, our outstanding and organized After-school Interns.

Aaron Stone, our detailed and determined editor.

Darren Cools, our terrifically talented publication designer.

With special thanks to Catherine Calabro Cavin , Education Director emeritus.

And To Our After-school Volunteers:

Julie Abarca

Grace Abbud

Rachel Anderson

Eshal Basra

Emma Bogomilsky

Hailey Callan

Chihuiye (Hedy) Chen

Anne Cong-Huyen

Jess Dailey

Caroline Dedyo

Natalie Dziuban

Ahmed Elkhatib

Reilly French

Tyáe Grant

Wenting Guo

Alexa Hamama

Rebecca Hopkins

Victor Jia

Pranav Joshi

Julia Kanter

Ann Kim

Gina Kittleson

Mark Kneisel

Ella Larsen

Anne Leach

Em Liker

Abhiram Machammagari

Ziggy Martin

Eli Miller

Ashley Miller

Kaila Morris

Shrimann Myneni

Max Nelson

Billie Ochberg

Jim Ottaviani

Erin Page

Deepa Ramesh

Rye Roberts

Delanie Schaffer

Tessa Scully

Avi Segaloff

Tanya Shah

Mazen Shahbain

Diamond Sharpe

Ashley Strauss

Dilan Swami

Liem Swanson

Rachel Tucker

Ziyun (Carol) Wang

Pete Westhead

Rod White

Jesse Wilcox

Shanshan Ye

826michigan inspires school-aged students to write with skill and confidence in collaboration with adult volunteers in their communities.

Find out more at 826michigan.org