The Amazing Burrito Story

Poetry and prose by the writers of Arthur C. Butler Elementary School with 916 Ink

The AmAzing Burrito Story

Poetry and prose by the writers of Arthur C. Butler Elementary School with 916 Ink

ISBN: 978-1-952127-52-6

Cover art: Angela Caldwell

AbouT 916 ink

916 Ink is Sacramento’s arts-based creative writing and literacy nonprofit that provides workshops and tutoring to transform Sacramento youth into strong readers, confident communicators, and published authors. Our programs increase literacy skills, improve vocabulary, teach empathy, positively impact social and emotional learning, and expand communication skills. We envision a Sacramento region where every child and teen is given access to a culturally relevant creative writing program that leads them to believe in themselves and to understand the power of the written word.

DISCLAIMER

This is a work of fiction and poetry. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The author and publisher hold exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Copyright 2022.

DeAr reaDer,

What you hold in your hands is the hard work and dedication of a community of youth and adult writers working together to tell stories that inspire, entertain, and heal. At 916 Ink, we teach young people how to write, listen, and support each other in the pursuit of creating literary art. The words in these pages are carefully chosen and crafted to reflect their unique voice.

This book is a celebration of “taking the yes,” which is a motto of 916 Ink students. “Taking the yes” means that students are unafraid to collaborate with each other and themselves. It might sound weird—how does one “collaborate” with his or her own self? By shutting down the inner critics in our head that tell us that we aren’t good enough, our stories don’t matter, or what we might say is stupid or unnecessary. Stories are how we create meaning and make sense of the world. What’s better than to teach young people how to tell stories, create meaning out of their lives, and understand the world?

Creative writing carves a path to a better life. Writers know this, but maybe the rest of the world doesn’t. A writer is someone who truly gets to live twice—once through their senses and once through the page. Everyone needs writers. Favorite television shows? Go thank a writer. News articles? Thank a writer. Education? Writers wrote the curriculum. Business? Can’t happen without writers creating marketing tools and business plans. Writers make the world go around.

By reading this book you’ve supported the growth of a writer. Thanks. Please consider making a donation to this great cause on our website at www.916ink. org if you’d like to further our mission of populating the planet with youth who can “take the yes,” and lead a happy life.

Ink-tastically yours,

The 916 Ink staff, the Board of Dreamers, volunteers, and youth writers

From the WorDslingerS

Dear Reader,

You hold in your hand the epic adventure of the Colorful Friends, whose love of Mexican food would send them across the solar system into danger, surprises, and buffets. But before you learn about them, you should learn about the other friends who wrote the story. The students of Arthur C. Butler Elementary School came together in a quiet little library to pool their wits, wiles, and words together.

Through six weeks, we Wordslingers watched them quietly support each other; sometimes simply encouraging their peers with kind words, building off of ideas, or offering to draw a picture for someone else’s story. By supporting each other’s gifts, each of these friends helped each other find their voice and share their talents. Some stories are told in meter, some in rhyme, others in comic panels and artwork, sometimes with comedy, and always with deep imaginations.

This was also one of the most prolific groups we have worked with. Many of these stories have several chapters and stretch across many pages. Some were never finished and continue to be written. Even our group story had to have sequels. This is certainly a group of writers who wrote for the joy of the journey, and not the destination. And so, we invite you to enjoy the journey of reading through this anthology.

Sincerely,

Team Sara(h):

Sara Knudson & Sarah Potter

AcknoWleDgmentS

Sara Knudson Wordslinger

Sarah Potter Wordslinger

Doua Yang Americorps Inspirator

Dan Barr Americorps Guest Editor

Katie McCleary Founding Executive Director

Michael Spurgeon Founding Board President

Shelley Blanton-Stroud

Dr. JaNay Brown-Wood

Lynn Lizarraga

Tigh Rickman

Chad Carrington

Jennifer Baker

Josue Garcia

Patrick Harbison

Michael Subialka

Concepcion Tadeo

Dr. Beatrice Tetteh

DJ Waldow

Michelle Warshaw

Board of Dreamers, President

Board of Dreamers, Vice President

Board of Dreamers, Secretary

Board of Dreamers, Treasurer

Board of Dreamers

Board of Dreamers

Board of Dreamers

Board of Dreamers

Board of Dreamers

Board of Dreamers

Board of Dreamers

Board of Dreamers

Board of Dreamers

Angela Caldwell Creative Designer

This publication is made possible by the hard work of the dedicated 916 Ink Staff

Special ThAnks to our PuBlisher’s cluB memberS

Jennifer Bacsafra

Jennifer Baker

Chris & Tara Baltzley

Mark Bellows

Julie Bornhoeft

Thadd Blizzard

Dennis Boyd

Patrick Burns

Lynne Cannady

Dixie Chan

Mark Chilton

Lamaia Coleman

Cindy Domasky

Lana Ersch

Chris Espinosa

David Ford

Elfrena Foord

Cheryl Fuller

Michael Geminder

Kathy Goddard

Robert Greenhouse

Jan Haag

Pam Henderson

Janet Jensen

Phil and Barbara Johannes

Nancy Kelly

Jane & Bill Koenig

Edye Kuyper

Austin Lee

Bina Lefkovitz

Kari MacDonald

Katie McCleary

Marilyn McCloskey

Julia & Nigel Moore

Stephanie Paschal-Jividen

Stacey Powell

Leah Ruth-Ferriera

Adele Sakler

Justin Self

Matson Sewell

Michael Smith

Michael Spurgeon

Michael Subialka

The Publisher’s Club is a select group of individuals who provide an ongoing investment in 916 Ink’s work and help to bring books like this one to life.

When you join the Publisher’s Club, you will receive quarterly mailings with limited-edition books, special swag, and event invitations, not to mention the warm, fuzzy feelings of knowing you are making a tangible difference in the lives of thousands of Sacramento youth. Join now, with a monthly recurring donation of at least $25. Email info@916ink.org to find out how or visit www.916ink.org/publishersclub.

grouP Work

BrAWl For The Burritos

Group Story

Garfunkel Debunkel went to a magical school with all his friends in space in the forest Ohio, eating lots of burritos. But he didn’t have any more burritos, so he went to the moon for the Moonstone to get more. Garfunkel read how to get there first, then he went to the moon. He had to dodge super big asteroids. Garfunkel tried to dodge them but got hit by one and went back to school, and his sister said, “I want tacos.”

So Garfunkel went back to the moon, and the Colorful Friends went with him. They went back together this time. Asteroids were not there, but moon protectors were there to protect the Moonstone. They dodged them and got to Alien Boss. They fought him but he was too powerful. So the Colorful Friends tried to flee to a nearby cave. They tried to make up a plan. They wanted to try to sneak by the Alien Boss, but Garfunkel told them to go through the other aliens. But the kid that wanted beans and burritos came and blasted the cave. So now they went through the cave that he blasted and found the Moonstone! But it was surrounded by lasers, and not the ones that make a noise—the real ones!

Garfunkel Debunkel made a plan with the Colorful Friends that he would sneak behind the Alien Boss and hurt him. When they were getting ready, an alien guard came and tried to shoot Garfunkel but missed. Garfunkel hit him back and didn’t miss. Now they all started on their plan. Garfunkel Debunkel went behind the Alien Boss, but Alien Boss spotted him, and the guard and Alien Boss started to fire lasers at Garfunkel Debunkel. Garfunkel called the Colorful Friends for backup. They came and tried to help G.D., but when they started fighting . . . BOOM!

Alien Boss came in and shot the roof with his laser gun, and the cave came down. Moondust filled the air after the cave-in. Suddenly, Mabel (Garfunkel Debunkel’s sister) showed up and yelled, “G.D., where are my tacos? This is taking forever!”

Everyone had a good laugh, and G.D. shouted, “We were kind of busy fighting the universe’s most powerful Alien Boss, Mabel! Sooooo sorry!” Then, Alien Boss shot a laser at their spaceship. The Colorful Friends didn’t have an escape.

They had to fight Alien Boss. The Colorful Friends tried to fight him, but Alien Boss was too powerful to defeat. He had taken over their spaceship! There were aliens all around the ship, so now there was no way to get back home!

With no way to get back home, Garfunkel Debunkel and the Colorful Friends had to split up to defeat the Alien Boss.

The astronaut (whose name is Robert) went inside the broken ship and replaced the engine with a special Moonstone. This would make the ship explode and kill the bad guys. When the Alien Boss noticed that the astronaut was getting the spaceship to work again, he shot a power beam at him. Astronaut Robert shot the beam with his moon gun. The alien boss noticed that Robert broke through his beam and sent more aliens. Robert threw a moonrock and killed some of the aliens, but he still escaped to a weird dwarf planet called Pluto. When he got to Pluto, he brought a telescope and looked;

he noticed the aliens were distracted, so he went back and shot them. He then got the spaceship working! He left to get supplies from multiple planets for the battle and returned with the best supplies.

Meanwhile, the Zombie Alien and Side-Kid, who likes burritos and beans, had an idea for defeating the Alien Boss. While the Zombie Alien went to find the magical sword, SideKid (whose name was Gregory) distracted Alien Boss with his Bean Rush extreme speed and frying pan weapon. The Zombie Alien found the cave and went in and got the magical sword, but he ran into a trap. He knew how to get out—he needed to find the secret stairway. The Zombie Alien got out with the sword. He went back to the Alien Boss but was hesitant to give his friend Garfunkel Debunkel the magical sword because Alien Boss was Zombie Alien’s dad!

Zombie Alien tried to talk his dad into turning good, but Alien Boss hurt Zombie Alien, so Zombie Alien finally gave Garfunkel Debunkel the magic sword while Side-Kid distracted Alien Boss. Garfunkel

Debunkel threw the sword at Alien Boss. It hit him and, as soon as the sword touched Alien Boss, he disappeared. No one knew that he had been teleported to a distant planet, and he was now stranded there.

After the battle, in the cave, Mabel and Fluff healed the Zombie Alien. Zombie Alien told Mabel, “Sorry about my dad.”

Mabel gasped and said, “There is no time to waste, let’s go!” Mabel stuffed her hand in Fluff’s fur and pulled out a taco. “Nope,” she said.

She stuffed her hand in again and pulled out a gem. “Nope,” she repeated.

She pulled out a textbook. “Yes!” she said. She flipped through a couple of pages and went somewhere. After a minute she found the pages that showed how to map

the cave. As Mabel mapped out the cave, she found the Moonstone in the cave dust. It had been in the ceiling of the cave! Mabel used the Moonstone to blast a way out of the cave-in, and she and the rest of the Colorful Friends joined up with Astronaut Robert in their ship.

In the ship, Garfunkel Debunkel and the Colorful Friends used the Moonstone to make all the tacos, burritos, and beans they could want. They hung the Moonstone from the ceiling of their ship like a disco ball, and the Moonstone rained tacos and burritos down into a big bowl for everyone.

By the time the Colorful Friends got back to the forest Ohio in the space dome, their ship was so heavy with burritos, tacos, and beans that the ship crashed because of the weight. But the Colorful Friends were OK and laughed about it. Later, they repaired the ship so they could have more adventures. But they never recovered the magical sword because it broke in two from all the power inside it when it hit Alien Boss.

Alice kendra

The ApPle

Alice Kendra Chapter One

There was a girl named Elizabeth. She loved apples, but not poisoned ones. She thought to herself that she’d go out to pick some apples. She saw some apples.

“Ooh, those look good,” Elizabeth said.

She picked 20 apples and tried one. She felt like she was getting sick. She went home. Her dog Bella came by. She used a good tool to see what was in the apple.

“Oh no, it was a poisonous apple!” she said.

Elizabeth went to bed. A few hours later, she felt better. She went to the other ones. They were not poisoned.

“Oh, thank god,” she said.

The unusual PoTion

Alice Kendra

This unusual potion makes me turn into an unexpected woman that can pull a prank on anyone. I can turn anyone into a frog. I can also play a trick on anyone. I can make anyone drink my potions. I never knew I could play a prank and trick until I tried it.

The FirsT Day of sChool

Alice Kendra

Chapter One

Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Sarah. It was her first day of school.

“I’m so nervous,” Sarah said.

Sarah went to school. Sarah was reading a book silently. Sarah walked home along with two sisters and one brother named Sarah, Charlotte, and Cruz. When they got home, they went to do their work. When they were done, they went to play with their friends at the park. When they went home, they ate some food, got in the shower, and went to bed.

Chapter Two

The next day, Sarah woke up and ate breakfast. Sarah and Charlotte woke up and also ate breakfast. They packed their backpacks and went to school. In school, Sarah, Sarah, Charlotte, and Cruz were doing math. Then, at recess, Sarah, Sarah, Charlotte, and Cruz were playing until three bullies came by.

“Ya’ll look ugly,” the first bully said.

The bullies’ names were Jane, Clara, and Zeena. They were hitting them. When the bullies were done, Sarah, Sarah, Charlotte, and Cruz were hurt. Then the bullies laughed at them. Then they left them on the ground. When they went home, they went to get bandages.

[Something exciting will happen in the middle of Chapter Two.]

To be continued . . .

The eyebAll

Alice Kendra

In the dark spooky forest, a girl named Alice and her brother named Tom were walking along the path. A storm came. Alice and Tom needed shelter. They found a shed. It looked spooky. Alice and Tom didn’t notice there was an eyeball watching them. They saw a crystal; they wanted to get it. Tom tried to get the crystal. Suddenly, the shadow grabbed Tom and took him somewhere dark. It was only Alice left. The shadow was watching Alice. She decided to not get the crystal and started to look for her brother. She found her brother, then they left the shed. They went out of the forest and went home.

StAr bAtTle

Alice Kendra

There was a superhero girl named Senka. She loved battles a lot. She loved to eat healthy. She was the only person who could save the city. Senka was flying in the sky, looking for trouble. Suddenly, BOOM! There was a big crash in the forest. Senka went to see what it was. It was someone from space. It became a battle.

Senka said, “You can’t stop me. I’m too powerful.”

Senka used one of her powers to defeat the monster.

“Aha, it worked,” Senka said.

The battle ended, and the monster went back to the moon. Senka wanted more trouble. Senka was happy that everyone was saved from the monster.

ChArloTte guevArA

The never-enDing recesS

Charlotte Guevara

Chapter One

I opened my eyes after hearing a loud beeping noise. I stared at my phone in shock. I was going to be late! I ran downstairs and grabbed a crunchy piece of toast.

“Where are you going?” my mom asked.

“School,” I answered as I ran out the door.

I ran up to the bus stop.

“NOOO!” I yelled as the speedy bus drove away.

I ran to the school, which was a mile away! I finally made it to my school. I was in sixth grade now, so I tried to get all As on my tests. I walked into my classroom. I sat down. I looked at the clock ticking and my heart filled with joy. There were only three minutes until recess. While the rest of the class was doing math, I was just thinking about what to play.

Hmm, maybe tag? I asked myself.

“Lupe!” my teacher Mrs. Lee yelled out.

“What?” I asked.

“If 477 divided by X equals 53, then what is the value of X?” she asked.

“Umm, 687.”

“No, it’s nine . . . nine! You’ve failed all tests this trimester so far. If you don’t get better soon, you will have to start sixth grade all over again,” she said. I could hear all of the kids snickering and laughing. Just thinking about starting a grade all over again gave me goose bumps. She stood there for a moment and moved on to the next equation. I tried to think about what to do! Every day after school I had to get a book from the library and do homework! I usually wasn’t done until 7:00 p.m., which never gave me enough time to study. I knew I only had one choice, which I wasn’t proud of doing: studying at recess! There were still two minutes until recess, so I knew I should pay attention.

Chapter Two

After studying what 246 divided by X equals 41 equaled, it was recess time. There was Vani, the smartest of us all, and Xielo, the sporty one, and me . . . the snack bringer, aka the food truck. As you guessed, Vani got all As on every single test, Xielo was the fastest and best at soccer, and I was the person that brought things like yellow dolphins and pretzels for snacks.

“Why do you have your math book?” Xielo asked as we headed out for recess.

“Yeah, you always try to avoid studying,” Vani said.

“You heard what she said, I’m completely failing!” I said.

I sat down at a bench and looked at my watch.

“Fifteen minutes to study,” I told myself.

I set a timer on my watch for 14 minutes.

“You guys can go play tag or something,” I said, handing them yellow dolphins.

“You sure you’ll be OK?” they asked.

“I’ll be fine,” I lied.

I studied and studied and never took a break. BEEP BEEP, my watch beeped. I looked around; the yard-duties were leaving! Of course, other kids got hold of this and started to break every rule possible! I put my math book down and went to find Vani and Xielo. After I found them, they were confused too! The school speaker came on.

“First to fifth grade classes get early out. Sixth grade, you’re staying for longer.”

I saw my brother Elijah and tried to give him a hug, but I couldn’t exit.

“Help me, I can’t get out,” I said.

He looked scared and snuck into an empty classroom.

Continued on next page

Chapter Three

My heart was beating really fast. I was scared and frightened. Everyone in the whole school left. It was just us sixth graders. Kids tried escaping but, whenever they did, they bumped into something that seemed like an invisible force field. I was wondering what we could eat. I only had enough snacks for one day. I only had one hope. I would have to eat my snacks and not share them at all! I saw my little brother and his best friend Oleix (Xielo’s little brother).

“PSST,” I said.

“What?” Oleix said.

“Find out what’s going on,” Xielo said.

I opened up a bag from Lucky Donuts and popped a donut hole in my mouth.

“Mm,” Vani said. “We have a bathroom, soft grass for bedding, and a water fountain, but no food,” Vani said.

I hid my Lucky Donuts bag behind me after she said that.

Five Hours Later...

I’d almost run out of snacks already. Everyone was starving and becoming hangry.

“Everyone, I have one donut hole left that I’m donating.”

Everyone came running after me! Even Vani and Xielo. I started to run the track. An airplane passed by. It must have looked like a stampede from up there.

“AHH!” I screamed.

I threw the donut hole into the grass. Guess who got it . . . XIELO. After she ate the donut, everything went black.

Chapter Four

I heard loud screams. Thirty seconds later, food appeared. It was pizza!

“Oh yes,” Vani said, happily.

I’d never seen so much food! We all gobbled it down like wild animals. I knew life would be much better.

One Year Later...

It had been a year living at my school playground. All we ate was pizza and other fancy meals. No one had escaped. We should have been starting middle school. The school was old, messy, and dirty. I had no idea what happened to my brother and Oleix. Until this morning.

“WAKE UP!” said Vani.

“COME ON, IT’S YOUR FRIENDS!” Xielo said.

I woke up. The loudspeaker was on.

“You have all lasted for a long time,” a weird voice claimed. “Just 999 more years to go until—” the voice stopped.

“999 more years until we leave!” Xielo yelled.

Chapter Five

We did not want to be here forever.

“HELLO!!” a voice yelled from the speaker.

“Oleix?” said Xielo.

“Yup,” Oleix said.

“Is Elijah there too?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Elijah said.

“Have you found out a way to set us free?” Vani asked.

“YEAH, OF COURSE!” Oleix said.

“We’re not just here to chit-chat,” Elijah said.

Beep. We heard a button, and the force field disappeared. Everyone ran out, some crying because they were so happy. We ran out and into the office. Me and Xielo hugged our siblings and went to see who had done all of this.

“Where have you been all this time?” Vani asked.

“Oh, they have a video game station with free video games,” Oleix said. We all laughed. We saw a person tied up in a chair wearing a dark black robe and a mask. We pulled off their mask and it was...

“MRS. LEE!” we all said in shock.

She told us about everything and let us go. When we got home, I hugged my parents as tears rolled down my cheeks. I was never so happy in my life. I knew I would never go out to recess again.

Based on a true story . . . kinda

Coraline morgAn

The Day of birTh monSter

Coraline Morgan

Was it te day of birth

Te cakecups were mateilicous

Me ate ate all down

’Twas that, I know, nat then, but soon te day of birth monster twak here!

Ik was gobolicious, horraloo!

Me day of birth was ruinhoo!

Bat that me’s mother was who!

Te day of birth monster!

Bat that I wake down.

Ik twak a dream.

Inspired by Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky”

Cruz esPinoza

game cube

Cruz Espinoza

BeAno’s rush

Cruz Espinoza

BURRITO

my hydra

Cruz Espinoza

The Hydra is my best green, zero feet tall, lives under a ‘tain, and breathes out light. Also, he has heads. They all do the thing. He loves to take walks, but the Earth starts love to eat live ball—that is puny. We play boulders. I have to use a throw it. You might be afraid when you see him, but when you get him, he is the best warned, he will shock you.

Blackout poetry inspired by and created from “My Pet The Hydra” by Omar Hernandez

The eye

Cruz Espinoza

haley Saelee

The mySterieS of an ApPle

Haley Saelee

On a Thursday morning, a little girl named Ruby came and delivered apples to every house in the neighborhood. She gave everyone an ordinary apple but, at the last house she went to, the apple was not ordinary. It was blue and had orange specks. Ruby’s mother had plated all of these apples, but one she had bought food coloring and put it in the bowl. She dropped the apple and poured it all into this pot. She had added toxic ingredients into the apple! Two days later, Karla Robbinson gave an apple to her teacher, her math teacher. When her teacher ate the apple at lunch, her skin turned green. She grew fur on her hands all the way to her ankles. Karla felt so guilty, the teacher had now grown fur on her face. The children laughed. Mrs. Blue started growing blue hair! She rushed home and tried scrubbing, but by the time she knew, it was night! So, she went to bed. When she woke up, it was all a dream, but now she is never eating an apple from her student ever again.

The Alley

Haley Saelee Chapter One

One day a group of friends had walked down an alley way. Their names were Kalia Parkers, McKenzie Miles, Kendall Stevenson, and Madison Leah. Once they had reached the end of the alley, it turned dark!

Kalia Parkers said, “OMG, IT’S DARK!”

Madison said, “I brought a flashlight!”

Kalia Parkers said, “REALLY! TURN IT ON!”

Madison Leah said, “OK, OK. Wait!”

When Madison tried to turn it on, the batteries had run out!

Kendall shouted out, “Wait, I brought some batteries! Hold on, what kind of batteries does it need?”

“It needs double-E batteries,” called Madison.

“Uh-oh . . . I only have triple-E batteries!”

McKenzie said, “Let’s just find a place to sleep.”

“OK,” said Kendall.

When they were trying to find a good place to sleep, they had come across a pack of water bottles, so they grabbed the pack and vanished in the sparkly air. Once they had got out of the mist, Kalia had found a shelter. It was under an oak tree. Once they had found a shelter, Kalia and McKenzie went to look for blankets and food. When they went on the hunt they found an old, rustic car, but behind it there was a whole bunch of food! They had carried the food back to the tree and showed the girls.

McKenzie said, “Madison and Kendall, you guys look for blankets and pillows.”

Kendall and Madison said, “OK!” When they went, they ran into a person.

Kendall said, “Uh, hi?”

“Hello,” said the mysterious man.

“What’s your name?” said Madison.

“Oh, me? I’m Arnold Frank. I’ve been here since 2009.”

“Wait, what?” replied Kendall.

Ten minutes later, they had went back to the oak tree. Two weeks later, two cops found all four of them and took them home.

To be continued . . .

CreaTureS

Haley Saelee

One afternoon, a creature named Merfolk was found near the shore. She lived by the sea and by land. She was between life and death. Merfolk then saw some humans by the shore, so she hurried back in the water and went to an island called Land of Creatures. When she got to the island, she saw her sister, named Marcella, so she went up to her and randomly started yelling at her! Her sister Marcella grabbed one of her tentacles and slapped her across the face.

“OW,” said Merfolk.

“That’s what you get,” said Marcella.

When Merfolk looked up, she saw a ship. The ship was hunting the creatures on the island! All the creatures jumped into the water except one creature. Her name was Athena, princess of the island. She could not jump into the water. If she did, she wouldn’t survive because her parents would send her away to the dungeon if she dared to jump in the water. The ship got closer; Athena had no choice but to jump into the water, but she didn’t know how to swim. She randomly saw her mom. Her mom rushed to save her. When she brought her to shore, her mom did not take her to the dungeon. Her mom, Gertha, surprisingly did not yell at her. She was just so relieved her daughter did not drown.

“Mom! How come you never let me go anywhere?” asked Athena.

“It’s dangerous in the real world—those humans don’t like us monsters,” said Gertha.

“OK,” said Athena.

They then hugged and Athena promised to never jump into the water again.

kailAni Sky

The eye of neWT

Kailani Sky

The mystery of the Eye of Newt. The Eye of Newt is a mysterious eye that was discovered in 1985. There have been stories of how, if you touch or bring harm to it, in retaliation it will curse you and one through four of your family’s generations. So for centuries, no one has gone to the crystal cave where it is stored. People are very cautious of where their children wander off to. But someone, a nonbeliever of this curse, went to the cave because they thought nothing would happen. But, in doing so, he stole the Eye of Newt and ran back to the village not knowing that there was a goblin who guarded the eye. So the goblin followed the man after he stole the eye. The goblin caught him before he got out of the forest, but. . . .

To be continued . . .

my a and b sides

Kailani Sky

My A-side is my mom expects me to remember to wash dishes and clean my room when I want to go to my friend/neighbor’s house, but sometimes I forget, so she gets mad at me, and I can’t go. Now my B-side is so I take revenge and decide not to do my chores and not talk to her. My sister sees this and makes it her mission to make me more mad, so I yell at her. She gets mad and tells my mom.

you Bring ouT The BeSt in me:

inSpired by my mom

Kailani Sky

You bring out the best in me. You make me laugh when I’m sad. You make me happy when I’m mad. When I feel I can’t get up, you help me have the strength to get up. When I’m sick, I think of you and feel I can fight it. When you’re around, you bring out my laughter and happiness. When I’m sad and I see you, I instantly feel as happy as a clam, and you bring out the best in me.

Sincerely, your daughter

Kailani Inspired by, and dedicated to, my mom

The liFe oF AuTumn

Kailani Sky

Autumn was a 15-year-old girl. She had a twin brother, Winter, but she was three minutes older, though she never abused her power as normal older siblings would. Autumn was a helpful, kind, and sweet sister, and helped Winter with homework and his social life. That resulted in Autumn and Winter having an amazing relationship as very close siblings, though they did fight and argue, but that is common among siblings. In my personal opinion, I think it would be hard to fight with someone who looks exactly like me.

Winter wasn’t the only person in Autumn’s life. Her best friend since kindergarten was Summer, who had been by her side since forever. Summer was two months older than Autumn, but that didn’t matter or affect their relationship. Winter had a crush on Summer since he was in kindergarten. Little did he know Summer also had a crush on him. Autumn, Winter, and Summer started sophomore year, and Winter confessed his crush on Summer at their lunch. Summer’s reaction to his confession was jumping up and down while smiling. Then she calmed down and said yes.

One year passed and Summer’s sister joined their school and became part of the group. Her name was Spring. She was a lovely person and soon became the girlfriend of the most popular boy in school, Jack. Spring became popular herself, and she and Jack were the power couple in school. Though she didn’t always love the attention, Jack would comfort Spring and sometimes take her on picnics. It would help Spring’s mind because the breeze, trees, and grass would calm her and take her mind off the attention she got at school. It also made her feel good. This strengthened their relationship and, fun fact, Spring got to skip a grade and became student body president. So she would study with Jack and help him learn Spanish because she was fluent in Spanish and English. The only one in the group who was not in a relationship was Autumn, and Summer would try to set her up with people who didn’t like her but pretended to. One day in senior year she was at a café and noticed the waiter looking her up and down while taking someone else’s order.

He went to the back and came out. He came to her table and wrote his number on a napkin then gave her the tea she ordered and the napkin and said, “Have a good day.”

Autumn told Summer, and she was so happy and made her text the waiter. Turns out he thought she was pretty, and his name was Brian. They started hanging out. Four months later, he asked Autumn to be his girlfriend, and she said yes. And then he became part of the group.

kier art

A Sequel to “Brawl for the Burritos”

Kier Art

Chapter One: Bored to the Core

Once there was a man, and his name was Garfunkel Debunkel, and one day he set out to find a new place to live. The town in the forest of Ohio with a burrito shop was getting boring for G.D., so he packed his stuff and set off to find a new home.

Chapter Two: A Friend to Help

As G.D. went deeper in space, he began to see a lot of cool stuff like the Burger Way and Hula Planet, but soon he was being pulled in by a red space blob! G.D. had to think fast, but it was too late: he was about to get blobbed. His new friend Joe came out of nowhere and saved his life—

[Now, you see that blob there, you? Yes, good, now remember that. Now back to the story.]

G.D. was so glad that his friend Joe saved him.

Joe said, “You know very well that I’m coming with you, and good thing that I did, too, or who knows what,” he said with a smug look on his face.

G.D. said back, “Oh yes, my god/savior, how ever can I thank you?” in a sarcastic voice.

And so, they got back to finding a new home. But little did they know an old villain from the past had a new name, and look, and he is! Oh, went in the back. Murmur, oh murmur, got it, coming back in hearing range, so I found out that the V.I. is secret, so . . . moving on!

Chapter Three: A Tall Man and Big Trouble

They were running low on supplies, so they stopped at Supplies Planet and went out to get some gas and food for Joe but not G.D. because he had the Moonstone, so he was set for life. I mean LIFE. But on the way back, they had a feeling they were being watched by someone.

“Hey, do you get the feeling that someone is watching us?” Joe said.

“No, but if we were being stalked, the guy is a big weirdo,” G.D. replied.

/Day Two/ They were tired, so they stayed in the hotel and shopped more and met a man. He was tall and looked at Joe, then ran over and punched Joe.

So G.D. said, “What the heck, man.”

The tall man replied to G.D., “I am a bounty hunter, and he has a bounty on him,” he said in a deep voice.

G.D. said, “Heck nah, bro,” and slid under him, pulled out a cage bomb, threw it at him, and got him, but the bounty hunter got out with his laser arm.

Then the man chuckled, “No one had ever bested me.”

But as he said it, another voice shouted, “Is that so?”

Then a man jumped off a building and he was . . . Astronaut!

Astronaut said, “Don’t worry, guys. I got this.”

Chapter Four: Old Friend

“Astronaut?” G.D. said confused.

But A.T. said, “All will be answered after I win,” then lunged at the man, but the man swung his arm.

Thankfully, A.T. slid under his arm and it turned out A.T. had a robot arm and rockets came out of his arm. The rockets packed a hard punch, and the man went flying (knock out!), as you can tell. He was out. (And for this part, everyone’s first letter of their name is who they are.) So, A.T., G.D., and Joe snuck out of there as fast as they could. When they got back to the ship, G.D. asked a lot of questions. So, to sum up, his ship got hit by a big rock, so they got talking.

Chapter Five: The Last Trip

They had landed on Grass Planet and G.D. said, “This will be good ho—” he said as he got cut off, and who cut him off was Alien Boss, or now Alien Manager. A.T. shot at him—BOOM!

Aaaaa! . . . Um, it appears, um, he broke the fourth wall and my wall a-and I can see them in real life; wait, is that the blob falling out of Alien Manager’s pocket? [Back to the story, people.]

G.D. said, “Um, is he with Alien B—your manager?”

“No,” Alien Manager said.

Cluchink! A noise echoed throughout the planet. All of the sudden, Alien Manager yelled, “HELP!”

The blob had been set off but, before anyone was about to help him, Alien Manager got sucked up back to the planet he was stuck on, and they knew because a tag said it and I fixed my wall.

G.D., A.T., and Joe were befuddled but still started to build a new house and G.D. asked Joe how he knew where he was and Joe said, “Oh, you fell asleep at his house and said his whole plan.”

After that, Joe called his ship over, said goodbye, and promised to call twice a week. Ow, man, the microwave.

miya gomez

The gem

Miya Gomez

One day a girl named Layla went to a mall. While she was walking around, Layla saw this strange store. It looked magical, so she thought she might like it. A woman was at the front desk.

The old woman said, “Welcome,” in a creepy voice.

Layla walked away and started looking around. She saw witch stuff, like potions that were in tiny bottles, old spell books, and a magic pot. Layla ended up in the back of the store, where she found a door. The woman appeared in the back of Layla.

She told her, “You may enter if you dare.”

Layla just thought it was a break room for employees. The woman opened the door and shut it closed, locking Layla in. Layla saw something that she didn’t want to see. There, sitting on a small table, was an eyeball. She picked up the eyeball, it felt slimy and cold. In the dark appeared another woman wearing a black long dress with a big hat. She said, “I see you have found my missing eyeball.”

Layla saw that one of her eyes was missing. She gave it back to her. Layla ran and kicked the door open. She went home. She never wanted to go to the mall ever again.

A year later, Layla’s friends called. They asked if she wanted to go to the mall. Layla said yes, never remembering what happened. Her friends’ names were Katie and Sasha. While they were looking around, they all saw the magical store. Layla started to remember what happened. Her friends wanted to go in. Layla shouted “no!” but they went in anyway. Layla felt scared and thought they were going to see the creepy witch. The creepy old woman that Layla saw last time was there. She said, in her old creepy voice, “Welcome.” Sasha said, “Hello,” and thought nothing about her. Layla was so scared that she wanted to get out of the store and run home like she did last time. She knew what was going to happen. She went with her friends because she was worried that her

friends were going to get hurt. They all were looking around and saw what Layla saw last time: tiny bottles of sparkly potions, magic spell books, and a huge black pot. They saw a door, and Layla was going to pass out because she was scared.

Chapter Two

Sasha and Katie thought that this was a Halloween store. They moved away from the door. Layla was about to walk out of the store.

The creepy woman said, “Where do you think you’re going? You will stay here for as long as you live.”

Sasha thought it was a joke and started to get hungry. She made her way to the door. Out of nowhere, the woman blasted lightning out of her old finger, and the door shut closed. Something started to glow in her hand, and she pointed it at them. They were in the back room. It was so dark; the only light there was a huge black pot. The top of the pot was glowing. The creepy witch appeared with dark potions instead of colorful ones.

The witch said, “Hello, Katie, Layla, and Sasha.”

Katie was getting scared, just like Layla. They connected their arms, and Sasha didn’t know what they were doing because she was confused. The witch’s eye was gone; it was on the table with her potions. When she was done putting all the potions in the pot, she put her eyeball. The witch told them to drink, they drank it not knowing to say no because they were scared. They passed out in seconds. When they woke up they were in a huge forest. There were fruits, a beautiful waterfall, and lots more. They kept on walking until they saw a little girl. Layla said she looked like her mom. Katie thought the witch brought them back in time.

The little girl looked at them in a fierce look. “Why did you come here?”

Sasha was scared and was all over the place. Katie and Layla let her go until she passed out.

Katie asked the little girl, “Who are you?”

The little girl said, “My name is Faith.”

Layla thought to herself, That is her mom. Faith welcomed them to her village. Her village was no old, normal village. They saw tons of fruit, rock climbing, and swimming pools with a waterfall.

Faith said, “You have to go through all the obstacle courses.”

Faith’s dad came over.

He said, “I see you made friends.”

Layla thought about Faith’s dad. She started to think that was not her mom.

Faith said, “You may begin,” not even giving us any direction where to go.

Layla, Sasha, and Katie went to the rock climbing. They had never rock-climbed before. A sign said “Rock Climb the Cliff. When you get to the top, jump off the cliff, swim through the water, and get the gem.” They just wanted to go home, so they started to climb. They got to the top. They were so scared, they held hands and jumped. There in the water, a gem was glowing. Layla grabbed it and walked out of the water. Faith was standing by the water.

She said, “Thank you, no one ever wanted to jump.”

They all disappeared. They ran home and never wanted to go to the mall.

The magiC PoTion

Miya Gomez

I would take the potion, but I wouldn’t want to take it by myself, so a friend would do it with me. I would want to turn into a butterfly. I just like all their colors, and I would want to turn into colors. But I also think it’s a trick, because what if it doesn’t turn me into what I want? Life is full of surprises. It might even turn me and my friend into frogs. Me and my friends took it, since we thought something good was going to happen. I guess I was wrong; the beautiful sparkly potion turned us into lovely butterflies. We started to fly out of the house. We went to the forest. We were flying around so happy, but one hour later, we magically turned back into humans. We were really sad. We went home.

My mom asked, “Where were you?”

PoisonouS ApPles

Miya Gomez

One day at a farm, a strange man appeared.

The farmer asked, “What are you doing here?”

The strange man told him, “I am here to make a deal. The deal is you give me ten gallons of your food and I’ll give you these magical seeds that grow apples.”

The farmer told him yes because he loved apples. The next day, he started to plant the apples. In just an hour, there it was: a huge, tall apple tree. The farmer wasn’t concerned. He wanted to make an apple pie. He told his wife to make it. She was concerned that the tree grew in an hour but still did it. When the sun set, his whole family came and had dinner. His wife told them that the pie was ready. They all had a big slice. Everyone started like they wanted to pass out. They fell asleep and never woke up.

The moonStone

A Sequel to “Brawl for the Burritos” Miya Gomez

When G.D. and the Colorful Friends got home, they wanted to celebrate and have a party. They went to school and told everyone to come to G.D.’s house. On Saturday, kids from school came. When people stepped in, they saw a whole plate of tacos, burritos, and beans. Everyone was so hungry. So, they started to eat. All the food was gone. G.D. remembered that he left the Moonstone in his room. He went to his room. THE MOONSTONE WASN’T THERE!

He went to Mabel and asked, “Where’s the Moonstone?”

Mabel said, “I don’t know.”

They walked to the other Colorful Friends. They didn’t know either. Everyone started to leave because the food was gone. G.D. and the Colorful Friends went back on the ship; they started going around planets. Mabel looked out the window at the planet Pluto. She saw the Alien Boss standing with the Moonstone right next to him. She started freaking out and told G.D. They went to Pluto. They started to remember that the Moonstone belonged to the Alien Boss so it can magically teleport to who it belongs. They went to Pluto. When they started to land, they got out of the ship. Alien Boss took out a special gem; he pointed it at them. They quickly disappeared. They were in a black room.

To be continued . . .

olekSandra PaSternak

The laSt survivor

Oleksandra Pasternak

A place in California called “Quiet Place” at the moment will be in that story. At first this place was called “Vibes of Party.” That was a loud place, until a bad thing happened. Next to the loud place was a laboratory. People who were working in the laboratory had a crazy love for experiments. They had a friend, he was testing everything that his friends gave him, but they didn’t need to worry about him; everything was always good. People who were working in the laboratory made a liquid that, if you drank it, you will never be sick again. But something bad happened. He tried it and fell down. People who were working in the laboratory (I will call them lab friends) were scared. In one hour, he became a zombie. He jumped on one of the lab friends and started eating him, but he didn’t die; he became a zombie too, but it’s strange—he became a zombie in three minutes, not hours. Anyways, the lab friends ran out of the laboratory with loud screams.

“Hey Katie, there is a zombie moving to our way!”

“Michael, not a funny joke . . . What the heck?!”

“See?!”

“Oh no, a siren!!”

The siren got louder and louder. People ran out of the place. Zombies were going to the neighborhood. Two girls were sitting at home and eating popcorn. They saw that zombies were getting closer and closer. They ran to the weapon shop. The girls loved Sanrio and pink colors, so they bought only pink weapons and guns.

“Hey Rosie, we have an underground place, remember?”

“Yes, of course!”

“Let us go there!”

“Sure, but let’s pack everything we had first.”

“Oh!”

They packed everything they needed and went to their base. (Just kidding,

they don’t really love Sanrio and pink color. They don’t really care about colors but pink . . . ) Anyways, everything was the same, but without Sanrio and pink color. They sat in the base now and drank water.

“Uh, the siren again.”

It was the siren again. The siren was too loud. A few hours later, and zombies were already in other places. They could do everything, Kate thought, but. . . .

To be continued . . .

rhea oTero

Rhea Otero

A newt is my exotic pet. He has been my friend since I was a kid. He is black with a greenish back with bumps. He lives in a swirly log near my house. He also has a cousin. He’s a cockroach. He can be very mean if you try to pet him. He also can go at extreme speeds. You might be disgusted by their horrifying looks but, when you get to know them, you’ll learn they can be great exotic pets! But beware, their bites can be poisonous.

The high sChool ghosT

Rhea Otero

Hello, my name is Yumi. I am an average student at my local high school. My high school is filled with rich and popular kids, but I don’t seem to fit in. Well, I used to. Until one of my classmates had uncovered my dark secret. I am actually a ghost that roams the school halls. I usually eat human souls, but my favorite thing to eat is dead deer. I can also go to other places, but I call this school my forever home. There are many ghosts like me. However, they like to be couch potatoes and never move. They always tell me to hunt for them, but I never accept. They are also part of the popular group. I always wonder, How did these people get famous?

The PresenT

Rhea Otero

Once, at my 18th birthday, my mom gave me a bottle. It was covered in dust and bugs. In the front, I saw an eyeball. I jumped and screamed. When my mom took one look at it, her eyes widened. As I was looking at the eyeball, it looked straight at me. I asked my mom about who used to own the bottle. My mom gave me a worried look. She said it used to be owned by my greatgrandfather. I looked back at the bottle. It wasn’t looking at me anymore, it was looking at my mom. My mom was terrified. She said that I had to look after it. She then ran toward her room and locked it. I glanced back down at the bottle. It still had some juice in it. I decided to try it. I wanted to know the taste of this juice. I decided to be risky today. I lifted the bottle, shaking. I then poured the juice into my mouth. I then gulped it down. I felt sick. However, it didn’t do anything to me. I just felt weird after drinking a juice coming out of an old bottle, and somehow, I felt like I was being watched.

To be continued . . .

roné JuliAnne alera BlAnDo

roné’s life

Roné Julianne Alera Blando

Chapter One

Hi everyone, you’re probably wondering on how to pronounce my name. You pronounce it Row-nay. I have a unique name. Every new teacher I have calls Roné with a long e. It is sometimes annoying.

So now you know my name, let’s start at the very beginning when I was born. I was born November 12, 2011, 12:00 a.m. in Manila, Philippines. Now you know where I was born.

So, let’s talk about what I like and love. I love Jesus, God, family, and friends. I like basketball, Japanese, art, and more! I’m very happy about writing this book.

Chapter Two

Dear Diary,

Today I’m writing a story, and at school we had a pretty big schedule today. We read Lightning Thief! We are finishing up the group story at 916 Ink. It’s working out great. The sad thing is Coraline is leaving me today. She’s going to homeschool now. She said she’s starting on Thursday since she can’t be here tomorrow or Wednesday. I gave her my bracelet. I will miss her, but I didn’t cry because I just couldn’t show emotion. She was a really nice friend. I got to work with some of my best friends. Me, Chloe, and Saraj made a poster of our constellation we had. I don’t really remember the constellation’s name, hehe. . . . Now I’m here writing at 916 Ink.

That’s it for Chapter Two. Have a good rest of your day or night!

Image by Rhea Otero

Chapter Three Dear Diary,

I’m very nervous because I have a big project coming up soon. It’s due next Tuesday. I’m really scared. But good news, I went to Daiso. It’s a Japanese store. I met up with Coraline at the park yesterday. I gave her a gift and took a picture with her. I miss her already. We have to draw a minotaur without using a picture. This week we have a book fair on Thursday. Our time to go is during school time, but we can still go on Friday for Fall Festival. I made a poster for the Fall Festival. I’m so excited for people to see my poster! Well, cya, Diary!

Image by Rhea Otero

The Silver Writer

The unluCky man

The Silver Writer

Thon thon

PoTion prank gone Wrong

Thon Thon Chapter One

Me and my friends were going to prank Jully.

My friend Cally said, “Yeah we should, this prank is going to be funny.”

After that, we went to the potion shop and got a shape-shifting potion and put it in grape juice.

We gave her the drink and said, “Here’s a drink.”

When she drank it, she said, “It tastes bitter.”

She became a blue jay, which is her favorite animal.

But when Cally went to read the back of the potion, she said, “Guys . . .”

We said, “What?”

“It lasts for two weeks.”

Me and Jully said, “What!?!? Really?”

Cally said, “Yeah.”

Jully said, “But my parents are coming tomorrow.”

The giAnT eye

Thon Thon

One time a girl with her little brother were walking on the sidewalk because they came back from a sleepover. They were walking home because they only live two houses away. When they start walking, they feel like they are getting watched. When they felt that way, they looked back.

Her little brother said, “Sis, I feel like we are getting watched.”

She said, “Me too, we should hurry.”

When they started running, they now felt like they were getting followed. After that, they went home. They went to say hi to their mom, but when they did her eyes were missing. They shook their heads in disbelief, then her eyes were back.

WordSlingers

my litTle AnArChisT

Sarah Potter

She brings out the anarchy in me—

The chaos that swirls and twirls in me, Like a ballerina in a leather jacket

She sends out the madness in me

The inferno of unseen, unacted upon things in me

Like a tornado in a dusty bottle

She pulls out the truth of me—

The little moments of quiet dishonesty in me undone, Like a stuck-on bloody bandage being soaked off

But then,

She brings in the joy for me—

The blinding bright moments I can’t find for myself

Like the sun filling in the cracks of a cave

And then,

I can remember the best of me

The AcCiDentAl dragon

Sara Knudson

“One drop,” the old woman said, tapping her walking stick against the ground. “Only one or it will last an entire day!”

I didn’t want to be a dragon for more than an hour, just to scare off my betrothed. I’m too clumsy to be a dragon for any longer!

“Got it,” I said and rushed off to a secluded part of the forest.

I had to go to the river so that, when I grew large, I wouldn’t get trapped and stuck under all the trees. But as I tilted the bottle back, my foot slipped on the mossy rock I stood on and a huge mouthful of the stuff waterfalled down my throat. It tasted like grape medicine and cinnamon and ashes.

I grew right away, wings sprouting out of my shoulder blades. My fingernails thickened and grew. A heat boiled up in my belly and climbed up my throat until I burped a fire ball. I was a giant purple dragon!

The good news is I never had to get married. Bad news? I never will. Unless that silver dragon in the west likes me. But he’s way more into his treasure than other dragons.

And honestly? So am I.

THIS BOOK WAS PRODUCED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

THE AMAZING BURRITO STORY