Stories and Poems - 2013-2014

OUR STORIES AND POEMS ACS Elementary School 2013-2014

Junior Kindergarteners tell us the story of their pictures

The Princess House Ally Mersiowsky

Front Cover: Flowers Kindergarten through Fifth Grade Students Back Cover: Community Kindergarten and First Grade Students

The Rabbit Gregory Sietis

The Birds and Me Giorgos Tselentis

We Played with the Hearts Mariam Zafar

Daddy, Mommy and Me Sofia Zorsou

The Egg and Me Adam Kwale

My Family Caoimhe Lorge

Egg Hunting Dimitri Manioudakis

My Family Elena Nikou

The Really Big Flower Paris Diamandis

Myrto Karagiorgis

Kindergarteners draw a picture and write a story

Planting Seeds Eva Diamandis

The Tooth Fairy Lucas Font Le

My Friend Platon Georgopoulos

Grandma’s Easter Tree Ellie Papatassos

The Ice Cream Store Alexandros Michas

Swimmy’s Party Matilde Barreiros

The Meat Market Vangelis Paraskevopoulos

Swimmy and the Boat Zakelina Nasiakou

Eleanna Kapolis

First Graders write and illustrate a story

My Horse Saturday Danae Barbalia

Decorating for Christmas Purin Hempian

A Healthy Dog Marlena Kokosioulis

My Helicopter Reece Mersiowsky

A Brown Dog Darine Sabbagh

A Ship in a Storm Collin Wilkinson

Blackjack Nana Jing

My Friend Lost his Family Evan Paneras

Captain Chip ate an Egg Karen Doh

The Time Tunnel Ioanna Pantazis

Julia Lintu

Second Graders write and illustrate their Stories and Poems

Fruits Themis Soukakou

Fruits Stella Kourtaki

Over Spring Break I would like to go to Estonia because it’s cold and my old friends are there. I would jump on the trampoline. Later on, I would go to hunting for mushrooms because in Estonia I live in a forest. Later that same day I would play soccer with my friends and basketball. Then I would go to my friend’s house because my friends have lots of games. After I would go home to play Monopoly with my brother because I like Monopoly.

Vegetables Kosta Chatziantoniou

Estonia on Spring Break Henrik Raidal

Students should be tested on the subjects they learn. I think students should be tested because the teachers have to see how much students have learned.

Students have to remember the subject. Also because we learn it but we need a challenge to know it. And students rally need to exercise their brains. I think these things will help the class succeed.

Student Testing Victor Jorgenson Vernicos

A Funny Tale Fouad Haddad

My Dream Janet Disman

The Art Enes Uygur

Bat Poem Kyveli Hartzler

Dog Poem Maria Chilani

I was Scared!?

Eirini Aimiliani Psaronikolaki

Gabriella Colledan

Third Graders Write and Illustrate their Stories and Poems

One day I became very small One day, when I wake up and I ate a fruit. Then I became really really smaller.

Then I went to the school, but no one could see me and my backpack was much bigger than me because I’m really small now. I became really small such as a bug.

At recces we were playing tag, but they couldn’t see me when I hide somewhere. So, they couldn’t catch me.

When the school finished, I was strolling down the street for back to home. But I was really scared because the car drivers couldn’t see me.

When I went to home, I tried to do my homework, but I couldn’t do it because the pencil was too big for me. So , I couldn’t write anything.

Finally I became normal, not so small was the next day. I slept during one night, and I woke up, I was normal.

From that day, I thought that I’ll not eat the fruit.

If I ate the fruit again.

Yoshinori Maejima

Viking Ages

Romylos Dokos

Mom

Alexandra Pavlidis

The Secret Garden Angelica Petropoulos

Annie’s Science Club Lydia Paraskevopoulos

Celia Nestora

Sun

Laura Rubow

Talent Show

Katerina Demetroulis

The D.N.B.A. Liam Sagiv

Alien

One day I strolled to the mall. I noticed an amazing store with many games and there was a giant U.F.O. I wanted to buy it but it was 20.000 euro.

I was walking out of the store and something touched me. I looked behind me and there were two aliens. I was going to run but it was too late. They put me in the U.F.O. and we went to Mars.

Their house (castle) was awesome. I didn’t want to leave, but I had to leave , so I tried to trick them that someone was stealing gold, but they wouldn’t believe me because if that happened the alarm would go on.

I also tried to do something else. I asked “Can I go to the bathroom?” They threw me in the bathroom and I opened the window. I risked my life as I jumped off. I fell and I landed very nicely because it had candy bars called mars.

I found a space ship and flew back home.

I was, excited and I drank hot chocolate. The next day I really wanted to go again because they had became good. At the afternoon many people were giving me money because I was the first person to go to Mars, I had 500.000 euro, so I bought it and went again and again.

Amaryllis Antonopoulou

Eleonora Dtinopoulou

Fourth Graders write Poems and Stories

Ariel You might think you know Ariel’s story, But you’re wrong. The real one has much more glory.

First of all, there’s no octopus-lady, I mean, really, when would 8 hands come in handy?

Second of all, that prince guy ain’t that pretty, (seriously when it comes to looks for him I feel pity.)

But luckily I’m here to tell, the whole sad, sorry, tale.

Please note that Ariel’s hair was green, and that she was ugly as could have been.

Awful was her terrifying voice, when she tried to sing she just made noise.

When she swam she couldn’t swim straight, and for her classes she was always late.

Up on land, the prince was not better.

Every week he would get a letter, sayin’ that he was too ugly to be the one to pick his fiancée.

‘Cause every women who saw this prince-guy ran away screaming before he said hi.

As you might have thought they found each other and soon became father and mother.

And because octopus women wasn’t mentioned in the story she was given extra glory and soon became Ariel’s sister! (and I think she might have even lost a blister!)

Live Teige Larsen

Ready to Fly

I sat down at my desk and dreamt of a million other things I’d rather do when suddenly Mr. Dalion asked me, “What is 100 ÷ 6 + 52 ?” “Um, well 24?” I answered. “F is all I have to say” he screamed.

I closed my eyes and wished hard, very hard. I dreamt of a beautiful, grassy meadow filled with butterflies and birds. Then I felt something on my nose! I opened my eyes and saw…wait what was that? I heard a beep that was as loud as an ambulance siren.

Then I suddenly jumped up and bumped my head on the back of my bed. “Oww,” I cried as I turned to look at my alarm clock and it read 7:30. “Oh my gosh,” I screamed, “I have to get ready.” I grabbed a pair of denim skinny jeans and a pink sparkly top.

I raced out the room but then realized the whole flying, transporting, butterfly, bird thing was a dream! Oh great! I felt like dropping to the floor but I knew it was almost time for school. So I raced to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, pulled my hair into a pony tail and ran to the kitchen and grabbed a banana for breakfast. I shouted “bye” and my mom replied, “Bye sweety.”

I ran outside and saw the bus leaving and sprinted while she shouted “No!” “Don’t leave!” “I’m Olivia” and “Wait!” I stared panting really, really hard. I stopped running and had no idea how I was going to get to school.

But then I had an idea. I started running to the next house the bus stopped at. But it had already left. “What am I going to do?” I thought.

Then I thought of something. If I wished hard, could I fly? I closed my eyes and thought of the beautiful, blue sky. Then I felt a gust of wind that blew my eyes open. I realized I was flying! I was wondering how I was in the air. I mean the last time I checked, flying was impossible for humans.

Anyways, I needed to focus on how to get to school. I weaved through birds and made my way to school. Then I saw a big, brick building with a sign that read “SANGSTER ROCKS” that I had designed last year. Then I knew it was my school.

But there was one problem. I had no idea how to get down. “Helllp” I screamed but then I knew that would only get me into more trouble. So I closed my eyes and thought of the room where my first class was.

I heard Mrs. Marissa’s voice saying “Olivia, Olivia, open your eyes.” So I opened them and realized it was not Mrs. Marissa, the science teacher, it was the nurse, Mrs. Hannah! I was lying down on a snow, white cotton cot in the Nurse’s office.

Then Mrs. Hannah mumbled, “I’m calling your mom to come pick you up!” “What?” I exclaimed.

“Well, Mrs. Marissa was talking to you and you didn’t reply or open your eyes and think you need to go home,” she answered. “I’m fine,” I replied quickly. Then Nurse Hannah pulled out her phone and started dialing my mom’s number. I started to panic and I was about to scream, “No” but I had a better idea.

I closed my eyes and thought of my sister, Savannah’s classroom. Seconds after, I felt a grimy hand touching my forehead and opened my eyes. It was Savannah. I started talking to her but she just pushed me under her desk and she raised her hand.

I waited for five minutes, but it felt like twenty-five minutes for the teacher to call on Savannah.

When the teacher did, she asked, “Can I go to the bathroom?” The teacher replied, “Sure, but hurry!”

Then Savannah immediately jumped out of her seat, pushed me in front of her and kind of waddled over to a door that was as red as a cherry with a silver door knob. First she kind of stood by the door then opened it. She pushed me into the big room and I almost fell to the floor. Then I quickly caught myself and sat down on a chair that was there. My sister slammed the door behind her and her face made it look like she was very angry.

Immediately she asked me “How on earth did you get her?” Well, it’s a long story,” I replied. “And we’ve got all day” she hissed. “Okay, okay.” I answered. Then I started telling her about the dream, being late, and the nurse. When I finished, she started laughing. When she caught her breath, she replied,

Why do you believe in all this baby stuff?” “I, I, I,” I muttered but she cut me off and continued talking “I mean the fairies, mermaids, and now flying. Are you out of your mind or something?”

“Well…I don’t know but would you just listen?”

“No, I won’t listen to you,” she replied. “You need to listen to me,” she answered. “The flying is not real. I think you bumped you head or something and I’m going to bring you to the nurse.”

“No” I shouted.

“Ok, but you’ll have to promise that you’ll stop believing in flying.”

“Fine,” I hissed. I stomped out of the classroom and checked the time. It was already 1:00. Wow!

I wasn’t sure what I should do but then I saw the nurse and she was with my mom. “Oh great!” I though. I knew when my mom gave me a weird look that I was going home when we were driving home.

I did not talk to my mom but I thought about saying a speech so I could raise money for the nature preserve. It only I had enough courage!

When we got home, I went to my room and sat down on my bean bag chair. I closed my eyes and thought of a beautiful, grassy meadow. I opened them and saw (take a wild guess) the meadow! That had been the most amazing moment of my life.

Then I saw a moving figure and walked over to it. I saw it clearly. It was a girl. I was going to walk over to her but I was too shy. So I sat down on a rock and started to pinch myself to see if it was a dream.

As I was hitting, pinching, and even biting myself, the mysterious girl walked over to me and said, “Hi”. And immediately stopped and though about how ridiculous I probably looked. Then I mumbled, “Hi,” very quickly. “My name is Madison. What is your name?” Madison asked. “A a a, Olivia,” I replied.

“Nice to meet you,” Madison declared. That was when I didn’t feel so shy and asked, “How did you get here?” I asked. “Well, you might not believe me,” Madison replied. “Trust me, I’ll believe anything!” I exclaimed. ‘Okay, so I had a dream and in the dream, I could fly and transport myself so I tried it and it worked!” Madison explained. “Wow, that’s the same thing that happened t me!” I answered.

Then Madison closed her eyes and seconds later, she was in the air. So I did the same thing. Then we were both in the air laughing, playing, and dancing. We had the best time. So she told me what was going on in her life and I told her my biggest dreams. Then she had some ideas to help me get over my shyness and told me to meet her at the meadow tomorrow.

It had been a long day so when I got home, I had dinner and went to bed. The next day, I met her at the meadow and she had all these ideas. First, I talked to myself in a mirror, filled out worksheets and sat in front of stuffed animals. Then we did our homework together and we met the next day.

We met millions of times and today she thought I was ready so we wrote a speech together to say at my school.

“Hello, my name is Olivia and this is like my biggest nightmare come true. I think it is very important to protect the environment because it protects our tress, gives us oxygen, bees pollinate our beautiful flowers, and I could go on forever. I tried really hard to help the environment. Only if you give me 5 dollars each it will help save the world. Thank you for listening.”

“Did I do it okay? Did you think it was good? Would you donate money?” I asked. “Calm down, silly. You were great!” laughed Madison. “Do you think I’m ready?” I asked. “Of course,” Madison replied.

“Okay,” I shivered. “Now, I have to go. Good luck for tomorrow.” Madison groaned. “Bye,” I shouted. Seconds later, the meadow was quiet and I was at my house.

When I went to bed, I had a bad dream about totally messing up the speech at school but I still did it. The moment had come. It was time for my speech I. I recited my words one by one and seconds later, I was done.

“I’m definitely donating money,” Sara whispered to Anna. “Me too” Anna replied. “Amazing, I shouldn’t have doubted her.” The science teacher thought out loud.

I felt so happy and proud. I overcame my fears, raised $300 and made a new best friend. Wow, what an amazing day! I thought.

Kaitlyn MersiowTLZ

THE MAGIC RING Ninety years ago, a little boy about nine or ten, was with his friend who was the same age. They were sitting next to the Grand Canal. The boy’s name was Jeremy and his friend’s name was Goliath. They both lived in Venice with their parents. Jeremy’s mom was American and his dad was Greek. His mom was a poet and his dad was a newsman. Sitting next to the Grand Canal was normal for Jeremy and Goliath. Jeremy liked looking at all the different kind of boats. His favorite boats were the new steam ships that came down the canals. Jeremy had a magic ring that only Goliath and he knew about.

It could grant three wishes. The ring was made out of emeralds.

Sitting by the Canal that misty night, they started to see a faint form of a ship. The ship came closer, then a ghost figure popped-out and few ghosts came out behind the first. Then the ones that were behind the first, came out and grabbed Jeremy and Goliath. His eyes slowly closed. He woke up and it was morning and the sun was blazing hot! He saw the figure of a man. It was Venice’s best captain. But he was dead! He died in 1353 by an exploding cannon ball that destroyed three cannons and damaged a fourth, killed five men and injured another. The huge hole sunk the ship as fast as a cannon can shoot. Only twenty men came back alive. Jeremy leaned over the ghost ship and saw the letters A-TT-A-CK. “Attack” he whispered. He went to Goliath and told him to talk to the dead captain. The boys walked up bravely. Jeremy spoke as his mouth shivered and he said “take us back home”. He wanted to go home to his family. Two men came and grabbed them and threw them in the dark jail at the bottom of the ship. The cages were rusty iron and smelled like salt and hundreds of years old. But it smelled like it had gone underwater. Then suddenly the water burst out wildly. The ocean splashed against the ship, the windows smashed and the lanterns blew out. Then suddenly quiet and darkness came near. No wind was howling.

The ship hit against a rock and docked. It smelled like chaos, it smelled like terror, it smelled like so many bad and terrible things. You couldn’t imagine how bad it was. Noises filled the air, like growls and hisses and all sorts of noises. The hisses made Jeremy shiver because he remembered when he went to America and he had seen a rattlesnake. There were two ways he was scared of rattlesnakes.

One was because they are poisonous and the second was because of the noise the rattle makes. There were also little critters everywhere and the worst of this was the dark crystal king who lived in the lowest bits of Tartarus. It was filled with witches everywhere and ogres the size of ballrooms. There were spiders and snakes roaming the darkest bits. Jeremy thought of the rattlesnakes again. There was also a river but it was redder than fresh blood. The trolls roamed the bridges and the sea serpents ruled the red water. Jeremy felt like all of the thirsty, blood monsters were after him. He felt like a Thompson’s gazelle surrounded for the kill. Jeremy knew a lot about Africa because he had read a few books about African animals. His favorites were the cheetah and the Thompson’s gazelle.

Jeremy had not even noticed, but two guards were right behind them and were heading them to the tallest and deadliest looking door Jeremy had ever seen. It had fangs that looked like they were dropping roses but actually they were dropping blood and it had these sculptures that looked like those

gargoyles you see on the oldest buildings and churches of Venice. Then the door started to creak open. He got to see a glimpse behind it and he saw lava. He wondered why there hadn’t been any lava in front of the door, but he thought it was because Hades liked to see the glowing, steaming hot stuff. He also had it served as a soup and a spicy sauce. The boys were taken through the door and saw Hade’s throne. His throne was as black as black dirty coal. It had these skulls on the legs of this thirty meter long throne. Then surprisingly the skulls started talking. Jeremy was just shocked and was pretty sure Goliath was just as shocked as him. Then he saw Hades looking over at his hand and then he looked harder. He saw Hades wasn’t looking at his hand, he was looking at his fingerwhere his ring was. He said something in Ancient Greek that Jeremy could not understand. But then out of a trap door, in the middle of the room three devils came out holding a cage. Then the red devils just put the cage down and came right for the boys. Two of them grabbed Jeremy’s arm and threw him in one cage. Then another cage came out. One came for Goliath, which was a very big mistake because Goliath was a pretty big and strong kid. The devils went straight for him and Goliath just threw one about 15m away. He was totally knocked out. Another came. Goliath threw him about one meter away and the third pulled him into the cage but Goliath managed to throw him too. The second devil came back for him and then the third came too to join the second and slammed Goliath into the cage. The first devil was taken to the underworld hospital. Then two other devils came out. The devils must have been strong because they picked up Goliath who was 72 kilos.

They left the room, passing the red hot lava again. Jeremy had no idea where they were going. The devils went to a shop. Jeremy kept on thinking to get out and wished that he and Goliath were home, but the ring could only help you with objects. Jeremy wanted to be home so that he could be playing chess with his parents. Then two devils came out and put on four wheels on each cage. The two devils that were pulling him in the air, stopped and sat. The same thing happened on Goliath’s right behind Jeremy’s. The cage started rolling faster and faster. They must have been going at least 100mph! Then they slowed down at a door that said “Hade’s Private Room”. The door creaked open on its own. The devils placed the cages on a table. Then Hades gave a sign and the devils disappeared through the doorway. Hades leaned down and said “Give me the ring”. Jeremy kept on saying “no” but Hades kept on asking and ordered them to stay for the night.

The devils came back in and in an instant took the boys out a different way. The cages were shaking.

Jeremy saw a loose piece of wood right under him, and he gently turned the screws and put them in his pocket. He removed them and slipped through the hole. He gave a signal to Goliath and Goliath opened his hands and made them into a cup. Jeremy reached into his pocket and threw one of the three screws. Goliath started to cut the wood and to unscrew his own screws. Then Goliath slipped out but the wood started to crack and Goliath fell right onto a spike. Jeremy thought “oh oh” when Goliath screamed. The devils turned and their red, hot, glowing eyes were staring into his. Jeremy jumped into a hole with Goliath! Then Jeremy felt a cold thing all around his body. It was water and Jeremy jumped out. Luckily, a rock was next to him. He saw Goliath crawl on a stone beach.

Jeremy decided to make a wish for a dragon. A figure started to form. First it shaped up and then two blue eyes appeared, then white skin. Jeremy jumped on his back and so did Goliath. Jeremy stopped; he thought for a moment and said “I will call him Alkin”. Then Alkin flew higher and higher and he got out of the whirl pool and started flying higher. Then the boys saw Venice! They landed and walked home. His mother looked very worried when he got home. When she took a peak at Jeremy, she tucked her head back into her hands, as if she couldn’t believe he was in the middle of the doorway. She looked again. She ran and hugged Jeremy. Jeremy felt warm and felt like he was home. Alkin came with Jeremy and Goliath and Jeremy asked his mother’s permission if he could keep Alkin, who had saved him from the underworld. His mother said yes and Jeremy and Goliath would ride around on Alkin every day, for all the years to come.

Jason Psaropoulos

All Star Bob had a dream, the same dream over and over again. The crowd was going crazy. The crowd was saying his name and the next thing he knew he and his mom got ready for school. Bob was devastated because it was a dream and he would never make the team. People said that he would never make the team because he was black.

Bob was waiting for the school bus. He huffed and puffed. The bus was late again! He finally reached school and got the ball and went to the three pointer and shot a rainbow and swish, the net was hanging off the rim. A kid named Kendel West demanded “get me my ball!” Bob gave him his ball and Bob rolled his eyes. Bob hated Kendel, because he would always pick on him. Suddenly, he heard the whistle and it was as loud as thunder. It was time for class.

He opened the door and he saw the strictest teacher in the universe. It was Mr. Strickin. Bob was struggling to go in the classroom. Bob wished that he was outside playing basketball. Bob sat down, took out his book, and started daydreaming. Bob imagined he was on the school’s basketball team. “Bob! Bob! You’ll get an F if you don’t answer this question!” Bob took a quick peek at Mr. Strickin and ignored him. Mr. Strickin roared “I’m done with this. Go to the principal’s office!”

Bob walked down the hall thinking why he got sent to the principal’s office. He was fed up because everybody was mean to him, calling him names, and telling him “you’ll never get on the basketball team”.

He opened the door and saw the principal looking at him surprised. The principal remarked, “I’ve never seen you here before. What happened?” Bob explained, “I was daydreaming in class. Mr. Strickin was yelling a question and saying you’ll get an F if you don’t answer this question.

Principal Shaner inquired, “What were you imaging about?”

Bob responded, “I was dreaming about playing basketball, but the basketball players wouldn’t let me play and I cannot afford the uniform even if I made the team.”

Principal Shaner rejoiced “You’ll try out for the team! If you make it, I’ll pay for your uniform!”

Bob smiled and cheered “Thank you, thank you so much. I won’t let you down” yelled Bob. Bob stayed after school and told his parents he was going to study in the library. He put on his special basketball shoes and wished he would make the team. He went to the basketball court and saw the team practicing. He approached Coach John West and asked, “Could I try out for the team?” Coach John saw Principal Shaner crossing her arms. Coach John smiled.

Coach John asked, “How good are you in three pointers?” Bob whispered, “I’m pretty good.” Bob got the ball and went to the three pointer line and breathed deeply. Bob shot the ball and swish! He though Coach John would be impressed.

Coach John laughed. “Great job!”

Bob muttered, “Did I make the team?”

Coach John stated, “You can’t make a team that fast.”

Kendel West asked, “When are we going to start practicing dad?”

Bob was shocked that he heard that. Bob asked, “That’s your son?”

“Yes,” replied Coach John. “Let’s start practice.” shouted Coach John. “Get on the baseline!”

They started doing suicide. After that, they did a scrimmage. Bob was running up and down the court waiting for someone to pass the ball. Bob demanded “Come on, pass me the ball. I can do this.” Finally, he got the ball at the three pointer and shot it off the backboard. In his head, he said “Yes!” Coach John smirked, ‘Well done. I will tell you if you make the team or not Bob.” So the next day, Bob woke up and had a happy morning. He went to class with a huge smile on his face.

Everybody was looking at him like he was crazy. Bob sat down on his chair. He listened to the whole class and got an A+ on his history test. After that, Bob put on his basketball shoes and saw Coach John.

Bob asked, “Did I make the team?”

Coach John replied, “You made the team.”

Bob rejoiced about making the team. He was waiting for this dream to happen. After that, he lived happily ever after.

Ivan Galindo

Wishing On Stars

Suzy a 12-year old girl sat on her bed. Sad thoughts floating around in her head. Her pillow covered with a sea of hair. Suzy’s glasses were on her desk. “No friends. No gut. Hate life,” floated around in her head. Her Brazilian tanned skin boiled in the heat.

“Suzy, are you ready yet?” called Suzy’s mom, Amanda.

“Not yet,” answered Suzy.

“Hurry up! You’re going to be late for school,” called Amanda.

Suzy got up and got changed. She slipped into a shirt that was powder blue and had the brand across the top. Next she slipped on grey shorts. Lastly she put on a pair of sandals.

Suzy rushed down to the kitchen and gulped down a glass of milk.

“Bye Mum,” Suzy groaned hugging Amanda.

Bye Suey. Remember it’s Friday,” Amanda said back, kissing Suzy on the cheek. Suzy ran outside and jumped into the bus.

Suzy stumbled to her locker.

“What ya wearing today, Suzy Loosey?” Lilly sneered.

“N-n-n none of your business, Lilly,” Suzy stuttered.

“Oh, what a fashion disaster. Looking at you makes me want to throw up,” One of Lilly friends, Sofia, said with a sly smile.

“What?” Suzy quaked.

“Ha! Blue and grey,” another one of Lilly’s henchgirls smirked.

“Blue shirt and grey shorts. The universe really wasn’t nice to you,” Lilly giggled.

“You’re such a dork,” Sofia added. Everyone in the hall looked at Suzy. They were giggling and whispering to one another. Suzy dashed to the bathroom, tears flying down her face. She locked herself in a stall. She sobbed and sobbed. Then the bell rang. She wiped her eyes and went to class.

Two hours dragged by. At recess, Suzy went out to the soccer field. Not to play soccer but to pass the soccer field and walk to the library.

“ Here comes the nerdy dork,” Jason smiled slyly. Just like Lilly. Jason was Lilly’s boyfriend. I guess you could say they’ve been going out for two months.

“Where are you going, Suey Pooy,” Jason asked. Jason and his gang started to head toward Suzy.

“Just heading to the library,” Suzy stammered.

“Then you better hurry up,” Jason warned.

“Oh, give her a brake,” a voice called.

“It’s Friday. Just leave her along,” the voice shouted out again. Suzy stopped running and turned around. She sat her eyes on Ellie.

Ellie was a normal kid. She was not a bully but she didn’t get bullied either.

As the boys were talking to Ellie she gave Suzy a wink, then shoed Suzy away. Suzy ran and ran.

Once Suzy reached the library, she plonked herself in a chair and puffed.

“That was close,” Suzy thought.

“I owe Ellie one,” Suzy thought again. Suzy took of her glasses and rubbed her cherry red face.

She seeped of her sweat, put her glasses back on and stood up.

“ Hi Ms.Benett,” Suzy said with a smile. Ms.Bennet was a librarian. She was old but very sweet and wonderful. Ms.Benett was average sized [average for an old lady]. She had black hair, glasses, and wrinkles.

“Hi, Suzy,” Ms.Benett replied.

“Um… what was I gonna, oh yeah, may I check out another book please?”

“Of course, love.”

“Thanks.”

“So, what are you doing this weekend?”

“Nothing.”

“Oh, well I heard a lot of your classmates, aren’t doing anything, maybe you could play or, ‘hangout’ as you youngsters say.”

Suzy giggled at how Ms.Benett said hangout and youngsters.

“Maybe,” Suzy replied, sighing. Suzy walked of looking at shelves of books. She already had three books from the library but she knew it would be safe and quiet in the library.

Recess finished and Suzy went back to class. The next recesses were spent in the library.

As school finished, Suzy ran on to the bus before Lilly found her. Pff pff. The bus was off. Down Cathedral Avenue. Stop! Joe got off.

A few streets later the bus rod down Drakensberg Lane, there it stopped and Suzy got off. She ran inside and sat down at the living room coffee table.

“Hey, baby. How was school,” Amanda asked.

“ Fine,” Suzy lied. Suzy finished her homework quickly.”

“Done already, pumpkin?” Amanda asked Suzy as Suzy walked outside.

“Yes,” Suzy said. Amanda followed Suzy outside. They sat on the grass.

“Mum,” Suzy began.

“ Yes,” Amanda answered.

“Have ever wished life could change?”

“Um, well, yes. Why?”

“I don’t know. Just wondering.”

“Oh, okay. Well, I have to go cook dinner. Dad will be home in a little bit.”

“Okay Mum.” Suzy replied and sat outside for the rest of the day. When Suzy’s dad, Bob, arrived Suzy was snoring loudly. Bob closed the gate softly and went inside. When the house door shut Suzy woke up. It was now dark.

Suzy ate dinner then showered and went to sleep. All next day and Sunday Suzy spent out in her garden. She could her classmates run up and down the streets. Time dragged along and it was soon dark again.

“Hi Suzy,” Amanda said.

“ Hay Mom,” Suzy answered.

“ Dinner will soon be ready,” Amanda said.

“Kay,” Suzy replied. Soon after Amanda left, Suzy lay down on the grass. She looked up at the stars. Then she saw a star that out shone the rest.

Suzy starred at the bright, bright star and whispered,

“Please, I hate my life, please. I wish I could be popular and I wear nice clothes, and I don’t wear glasses, and I wish I was loved by all.” Suzy closed her eyes and breathed.

“Dinner!” Amanda called.

Just like the night before, Suzy ate dinner, showered, and went to sleep.

“Wake up Suzy,” Amanda called from the kitchen. Suzy stretched her arms and got out of bed.

Suzy looked for her glasses. She couldn’t find them.

“Mom have you seen my glasses?!” Suzy shouted down to her mom.

“Aren’t they on the desk next to your bed?!” Amanda answered.

“Of course,” Suzy thought.

“Thanks mom,” Suzy called down.

“No problem,” Amanda called back. Suzy felt around on her desk. Suzy was surprised when, instead of finding her glasses, she found a contact case! Suzy couldn’t believe it. Then, Suzy remembered the wish she made. Suzy remembered that she wished she didn’t wear.

After Suzy finally put on her contacts, she opened her cupboard only to be more surprised. All of Suzy’s normal everyday clothes were gone. Inside her cupboard, Suzy found long, flowing dresses, short, tight dresses, jeans, tops, flat shoes, and high heels.

“Suzy, hurry up!” Bob called.

“Coming. Just hold on,” Suzy called. Suzy was worried.

“What if Mom hates what I’m wearing?” Suzy thought.

Suzy thought again. Suzy put on what she thought was all right for school. Suzy slipped into a pair of skinny jeans and a pink shirt. Then, she wore pink flats.

Hay, cupcake,” Amanda chirped. Suzy thought “phew!”

Suzy sat down at the kitchen table. Amanda turned around.

“Here’s breakfast. Eat up, Paddy’s driving you to school.” Amanda said quickly. Suzy ate quickly.

Suzy said goodbye to Amanda and got in her dad’s (Bob’s) car.

“Nice shirt,” Bob said.

“Thanks.” Suzy replied.

“Dad,” Suzy began,” Why are you driving me to school?”

“Because, cool kids like you don’t take the bus to school,” Bob said.

“Oh,” Suzy replied. Suzy got out of the car and walked to her locker.

“Cute shoes,” Ellie said winking with a smile.

“Nice hair,” Alisha said. Suzy wasn’t sure what to say or do. Lilly and her group came up to Suzy.

“Hey, bestie. Cute shirt,” Lillie said twirling her hair.

This amazed Suzy. Lilly was always bullying Suzy.

“Hey, Suzy ,nice clothes.” Someone said.

“You have beautiful eyes,” a boy chimed.

“Cool hair,” someone else said.

“Hey, Suzy, did you know, Alisha only likes you because you you’re popular?” Lilly said loudly.

Everyone turned to look at Alisha, who was right now staring at Lilly.

“That’s not true,” Alisha said firmly.

“Really, because a little blue bird told me something else,” Lilly replied.

“And, who is this little birdy?” Alisha asked.

“Your diary. Oh, and Josh will never like you,” Lilly laughed. Alisha ran. Suzy thought Lilly liked Alisha.

“Don’t you like Alisha?” Suzy whispered to Lilly as the teacher came through the door.

“Of course I do. Ally is my best friend,” Lilly exclaimed.

“Then why did,” Suzy began.

“Girls. Quiet.” The teacher insisted.

The rest the day continued the same and then at the last class, when everyone was crowded around Suzy, Lilly said,

“Alisha wrote, “Every night I sit under the stars and wish that I was popular and wish that Josh would like me.””

Everyone laughed and Josh blushed. Suzy ran after Alisha. When Alisha and Suzy reached the bathroom Suzy grabbed Alisha’s arm.

“Alisha, I wished the same thing. To be popular. And it worked. But honestly, I hate it. I hate the attention and I hate the clothes and I don’t know how to walk and twirl my hair. I wish things would be normal. I’ve learnt that life’s not perfect but that’s what makes it worth getting up in the morning,” Suzy said. Alisha smiled and wiped her eyes. Suzy opened her arms and the girls hugged.

That night, Suzy wished, on the same star. She said the same thing she told Alisha. She wished for things to go back to normal.

When Suzy woke up things were normal, Except Lilly wasn’t bullying Suzy. At lunch Suzy sat next to Alisha.

“Hey, Lilly stopped being mean, ”Suzy told Alisha.

“Yeah, everyone stood up for themselves after Math class.” Alisha replied.

“That’s great!” Suzy cheered.

And everything after that went great too!

Madeleine Economou

Evil Take a cup of madness Put it in with angriness In a barrel Mix with a big wooden spoon Until you see sadness coming up Pour fire Fry in a devil At really hot temperature until a lot of smoke comes You can tell it’s done until the ingredients turn red Let cool until you see hate coming up Sprinkle tiny little teeth Chop the whole thing up and serve Tastes really hot and spicy Results: we have an evil person sitting on the table Asimina Kyriakousi

MYKONOS ‘’ Bye grandma, I love you’’ Agnes said with a tear running down her cheek, ’’ We’ll call you when we get there, bye’’.

Agnes slowly walked onto the boat. She couldn’t wait to get to Mykonos with her family and dog Bruno. At last she got on the boat and sat in the front where the captains were. Agnes was shaking; she looked out the window at the denim blue waves and closed her eyes so she wouldn’t get seasick for a couple of minutes.

Soon enough the boat embarked for its voyage. Hours passed, Agnes couldn’t keep her eyes opened. Her father put her in his warm hug and kissed her goodnight and put her to bed.

The waves were splashing on the side of the boat like there was a tsunami outside. Agnes woke up scared. She was trembling. She got out of her bed, but couldn’t see her parents anywhere.

Bruno and Agnes walked outside of the room and she noticed she was hearing voices, she quickly ran to see what was happening.

The captain said to everybody “There is a storm; we are going to have to stop in the middle of the ocean.” Everyone was starting to worry.

The boat stopped in the middle of the ocean for two whole days. On October 4th, the boat finally began traveling to Mykonos again.

It was Sunday afternoon, Agnes and her family were having spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, one of Agnes’ favorite foods, and for dessert chocolate cupcakes. Everyone said goodnight and went to bed. In the middle of the night, Agnes couldn’t go to sleep so she went to her parents’ room with Bruno.

“Weeooo, Weeooo”, sirens went off. “Boom!” the boat crashed, “Passengers, please get into a life saving boat, I repeat, please get into a life saving boat.”

Agnes’ dad picked her up and her mom got Bruno. They ran and got in a life saving boat.

Her parents started rowing the boat. Agnes looked behind her, she couldn’t find Bruno. Agnes yelled “Bruno, Bruno, where are you?” She cried for hours and then fell asleep.

“Boom” Agnes woke up, she was on land she couldn’t believe her eyes. She quickly hugged her parents, but then remembered that Bruno wasn’t there, so Agnes sobbed slowly. Agnes finally stood up and thought where could they be; in Tinos, Delos, Andros or Naxos? Agnes heard something. She squinted her eyes as much as she could. She saw people and she ran to them with her parents.

Agnes’ parents asked “Where are we?”

They replied “You are in Delos, the land of plants, where are you headed?”

Agnes answered “We are trying to go to Mykonos, the land of winds.” We have travelled all the way from America and our boat crashed in the middle of the ocean.

“Oh my” they said. “Can you help us get to Mykonos?”

“Sure, why not, you need to get on your boat and go straight, you will be there in fifteen minutes” they responded.

“Thank you so much for giving us directions” Agnes’ mom said.

The whole Roosevelt family got on the life saving boat and went straight like the man told them, for the first time Agnes didn’t get seasick.

“We are here!” Agnes said excited. She got out of the boat and stepped into the sand, she could feel the water under her feet. Agnes heard a familiar bark and looked to her left and saw Bruno. Agnes hugged him so tight and said to her parents “Can we stay here the whole summer, please?”

Both of them said “Yes” at the same time. Agnes was the happiest girl in the world that day!

Francesca Kouroupos

The Metallic Sense from Marsh

Max sat staring at the cat. It was just there, wandering in circles. The cat looked back at him, and ran away. Max loved animals, and enjoyed watching them. He believed strongly that he could be taught many things by them, especially how to survive dangerous situations. A cat was always ready to sense danger, and escape.

Max called himself a survivalist. Survivalists are always ready to find a way to save themselves and others from life threatening danger. That’s why he always carried a backpack, containing these important items: a pocket knife, a flashlight, a protective helmet, a water bottle, a compass, and his favorite nutritious granola bar with marshmallows.

Now, someone would wonder what kind of danger a 10-year-old boy of Frankfurt International School would face. Max knew that no one believed him, but he was certain, and absolutely sure that evil robots from Mars were about to attack Earth in the near future. To be honest, Max hadn’t seen them too, but he had sensed them. Since he could remember of himself, he was able to sense things that others around him couldn’t, for example, when playing with friends, he could sense a bee approaching to sting, before it was flying or buzzing around, especially when he knew that someone was allergic to them.

One day, he was watching his favorite cartoon in his jet black TV, when suddenly a creepy feeling crept in his mind of what sounded like a plan. It was as mysterious as a ninja, as it crept in his thoughtful brain. “We are going to conquer Earth” a robot-like voice hissed angrily…

By now, weird things were happening, for example, there was a message that sounded like a robot, and nightmares Max had about a cherry red robot damaging him, but then something happened to him that made him sure they were coming.

This time, he was reading a science fiction book with a pearl cover. Suddenly the book started rumbling and shiny particles rose up into the air. Max scratched his chestnut brown hair in confusion. Could he trust his eyes? The particles had melted together and formed a hologram of the strong looking cherry red robot he’d dreamt of. The hologram turned, and bellowed “Don’t even bother to stop us! We know you are the only one who can sense us, but you’ll never decrease our supernatural powers! It’s decided.” And it disappeared leaving behind an ivory shine. A shiver run down Max’s spine, making his neck hair stand on end.

Max knew what he had to do. “Act like a true survivalist” he repeated to himself. “Gather your thoughts, and find out about their deadly plan.” If only he could convince Jen, his trustworthy member he knew since he was a baby. She would surely know what to do. Jen’s little sister, Annie, could be helpful too.

Max sensed that Annie was different. She could possibly help him convince Jen. Did I mention that the three of them had made a “Secret Agent Club”? Max grabbed his walkie-talkie and called Jen. “We have a mission to complete.” He whispered.”Meet me at the park. Bring Annie.” “We’re on our way” she replied.

Max sat waiting at the park for a long time. After they finally came, Jen inquired “What’s the problem?

Info please.” Max explained everything about the hologram, the robots, and the threat, stopping every now and then to stare at her rosy cheeks, chocolate brown hair, and charcoal eyes. “Beautiful” he thought every time. “Interesting” she responded, ending the silent situation between them. Giggling, she started to go, when Max turned around abruptly. “Look” he added, showing her the ivory shine the hologram left on the book cover. “It’s still vibrating,”

The next morning Jen and Max walked to school, talking about ways to defeat the evil robots. Many strange things were happening. During class, more than half of it were called to the principal’s office and never came back! After school, they started off walking, but slowly started speeding up their pace. Suddenly, they felt huge metallic hands starting to wrap around themselves around their shoulders. Their braveness started decreasing while they turned around. Their whole body froze. They were staring at an enormous, pitch black creature: a robot.

Before they could say something, an indigo whirlpool burst out of the robot’s mouth, and sucked them inside… They woke up, and found themselves locked up tightly on three wiry chairs. They looked up.

“Jamie, Maria, Jules, Christopher …” they stammered uncontrollably. As they turned to the robots, they noticed that they were slowly taking their robot costumes off, revealing creepy alien bodies. Max demanded, “Why are you taking us to Mars?” “You mean Marsh!” the aliens thundered. “After we conquer Earth, all human beans will flavor the best marshmallows for us to eat! We trapped you kids, because you have

especially good taste! So we can’t wait to eat the best marshmallows ever made!” Jen snapped “But “beans”?

You have gone too far!” She lunged at them, but the sturdy chains held her back. “Stupid chains…” she mumbled.

When they peered outside, they gasped. This wasn’t the red planet they imagined. This was Marsh.

It was made out marshmallows, and they could even observe aliens mining them out; but these unlike the marshmallows back home, these seemed shriveled and crusty!

The aliens quickly stuck some gooey, mechanical devices on their faces. “We don’t want dead Earthlings” they hissed, throwing them in a big cage with some pencils and paper. The kids stared around. This was a creepy, charcoal room they were locked in, but Max, looking at the writing tools, got an idea. “Listen up!” he whispered. “We aren’t going to list the best tastes; we are going to include the worst!” The others got the idea, and got to work…” Let’s conclude that with a vegetable, brussel sprouts!” shouted Annie, who had already finished, before Max thought of that wonderful idea. He smiled at her. She smirked sneakily back.

When they finally finished, Max handed the list to the alien with one hand, and grabbed the key with the other. He unlocked the cage, and quietly got away with Annie and Jen. As soon as they stepped out, a little alien looked at them in horror, so it whispered to them “Follow me, before you get caught” and they did. They rushed to his house, and reached his room. He put a pill in each one’s mouth, so that they could breathe easily, and took off their machines. The little alien was cute, green, and about Annie’s height. “My name is Mike and I’m from planet Jell-O! Nice to meet you! The Marshians have kidnapped me too, and I’m forced to serve them day and night, until I give them the secret formula of my people. Let’s get out of here together!” they followed him to a secret room full of weapons. He gave 3 weapons, a laser spear, a glowing sword, and zapping nunchucks to Annie, who passed them down to Jen and Max.”Now follow me.” he whispered, and they did. “These will surely-“he cut short staring at a huge locked door.

Max knew this was a job for his multi- purpose special pocket knife he carried in his backpack. In no time, Max managed to turn the handle and open the door. “Smart!” Jen exclaimed, making him blush. They entered a dark room. Max used his flashlight to search for the switch. Once he opened the lights, the group of three gulped anxiously. “Holy raspberries!” in front of them was the greatest laboratory they had ever seen. “This is the place where all the flavors are made!” Mike explained. “The only things they don’t have are flavoring substances. They need you and your planet to give them taste!” What made them freeze though was a huge lit map, under a glass container of the Milky Way. Each planet was marked as a different sweet, except Earth. The blue planet was noted with all the flavors and tastes you could imagine.

Max froze, sensing once again the Marshians coming, and when he snapped out of it, boomed “They are approaching! We have to hide and get the others!”Jen grabbed them by the hand, and they all hid behind the huge container. Mike switched off the lights, and pretended that he just came in. Three Marshians burst in, asking Mike about the Earthlings, but he managed to get them out. As soon as they closed the door, Annie borrowed Max’s protective helmet, and using the laser spear, managed to break the glass so that they had evidence and proof that Max was right about the danger Earth was facing. Max felt the cage keys in his pocket. “Now back to the others.” Jen quavered “How? They are too many!” “We have to!” Max announced.

“Of course we have to!” Mike agreed.”Because look what I got!” he continued, showing them a bunch of discs. They were as thin as CDs, and as light as diapers. “These are teleporters. That’s how we will escape! He beamed. “Let’s get the others and Aloha Marsh!” The four of them went all the way back to the charcoal room containing their friends. Max peeked inside like a mouse, to see that the guard had left. He handed the key to Annie, to open the cage, while he tried to keep them calm from surprising them for being back with an alien.

Mike’s smile convinced them that he was a friend and allowed him to start explaining about the teleporters. “All you have to do is type your destination on the touch screen” he explained “and sitting close together, you will immediately be transported back home! Let me demonstrate” He typed in “Jello”, and disappeared waving to them. The astonished children started typing and getting close to each other, but at the very moment, the Marshians burst into the room growling. Max had already sensed them, and had taken his granola bar out of his backpack and threw it to them. The greedy Marshians forgot everything and lunged for it. The relieved children finished typing, and disappeared, before the Marshians’ very eyes

The group of friends opened their eyes in disbelieve, and realized they were surrounded by familiar objects. They were standing in front of the school gate. Happy as winning the Olympics, they hugged each other, but suddenly Max felt it again. He counted his friends, and quavered “Guys, where is Jules?”…

Anna Nefeli Balaska

The Secret Garden

One day, I almost became invisible; it all began after school. I was playing princesses with my friend, when suddenly I saw a red sparkle. I went closer and I found a golden necklace with a shiny ruby in the middle, lying in the grass.

After that moment, I looked at the garden and it was empty. Looking again at the necklace, I remembered that I had seen a shape like that by a dome in the garden. I looked around but nothing was in sight.

I went near the dome and placed the necklace inside the shape. It started to change colors. First blue, then pink, then orange and finally back to red. Now I knew that it was a wishing necklace and the dome opened into a cave. When I finally forced myself to enter, the door closed behind me.

I walked deeper into the cave, and the deeper I went, the more the cave changed. Flowers and plants appeared in the walls when finally it came to an opening. The view of the opening was so beautiful; I couldn’t find words to describe it. There were trees, flowers, birds, and everything you can imagine. In the middle was a rose bush with roses that were full of different colors.

I walked to the middle and stared at the roses. My hand leaned toward the rose bush; I wanted to take one of them home when suddenly I heard a voice yell “DON’T TOUCH IT!”

Surprised, I lost my balance and fell on the roses.

When I stood up, I saw a blue creature in front of me. He was cute with sparkly brown eyes. “I am sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you” he said politely. “It’s okay,” I replied. “Why did you scream, ‘Don’t touch it?’” I asked.

The blue creature answered “Whoever gets a prick from the thorns of those rose bushes will become completely invisible in three hours.”

I checked my body for rose thorns and when I turned my right hand I found a dark green thorn stuck in my hand. “Oh no!

We have three hours until you become invisible”, the creature said in panic.

“There must be a way to fix this.” I said.

“They say that there are plants here that will make an antidote to stop this. You need the Tiger seed, the Pegasus flower and the Lilly of Destiny”.

“Okay and how are we going to find them?” I asked. The creature responded “First we need to go to the Magic Waterfalls; the Lilly of Destiny is growing in a cave nearby.

Before I could take my first step, something passed us with a speed that was as quick as a sports car. We looked up in the sky where a witch with charcoal colored clothes stared down at us.

“Oh no, it’s Cassandra, the meanest witch in the world”, the blue creature gulped. “She likes to make problems worse!”

The evil witch laughed. “So you are trying to stop becoming invisible. Well you can stop now because I will destroy those plants”, she said and left.

“We have to find them first”, I said full of worry.

When we arrived at the Magic Waterfalls, we looked for the cave when suddenly, a tinkling sound reached my ear. I looked at the waterfall and fairy dust slowly moved the rocks and made a path. We followed it until we reached the waterfall. Suddenly, a

shadow appeared behind us. IT WAS THE WITCH! We burst through the waterfall and came to the other side, where there was a cave. The first thing we saw was the witch holding the Lilly of Destiny.

My blue friend pushed her and the Lilly of Destiny flew from her hands and landed in the water. I stretched my arm to catch it but it was too far. Then I remembered the necklace. I wished for a net and the fairy dust formed a net in my hands. I quickly grabbed the Lilly of Destiny and my blue friend and I ran away from the cave as fast as we could until we were safe. Leaving out a breath and full of relief, we started looking for the second plant, the Pegasus Flower.

This time, we decided to go to the Flower Mountain. On the way I looked down at my feet and I let out a scream. My legs were invisible. That meant we only had two hours left! I panicked, with a lot of worry.

As we reached the mountain, it was full of flowers: red, orange, yellow, green and more colors. “How are we going to find the Pegasus Flower here? It’s full of flowers!” ‘Don’t worry” said my blue friend, “I know where it is.”

He walked and touched the tree, its trunk opened and stairs came out of the wood which led deeper into the tree. I stepped in slowly and the first stair became a slide. “Aaah” I screamed with fear. Soon it came to an end. Inside I saw a shiny blue tulip with wings. We grabbed the flower and started on our way back.

When the vines reached to catch us, they tried to catch me but my legs were invisible, so they couldn’t. I only wished they could catch my friend as well. He was tied up by the legs and could not get away. I got the necklace and wished for a knife. I cut the vines and we ran away.

“Great! We have the second plant” We giggled in joy. “Now for the last plant” I said. We have to find the Tiger Seed. I looked down and my body had vanished. I looked like a flying head. I tried to stay calm, but I couldn’t. There was only one hour left.

We were running to the last plant. It was near the burning volcano. This time it would be really hard to get the seed, we climbed the volcano and at the top, there was a dangerous lava plant. The volcano had a lava lake in the middle and skeletons at the beginning and end. The only way to pass was a little narrow bridge; we walked slowly so the bridge wouldn’t break. At the other end, a snake was sleeping. I looked closer, and in the middle was the Tiger Seed. We tiptoed and carefully took the plant. We made it. I was safe. I wanted to scream and jump for joy, but I knew it was not the time. So I calmed myself and started going back to cross the bridge.

Suddenly, Cassandra appeared and with a zap from her hand, she broke the bridge into three pieces. I jumped and made it to the other side but my friend and the plant were still in danger. Who should I save? My friend who helped me or the plant that will save me? Not a lot of time passed until I made my decision. “Grab me” I yelled. My blue friend grabbed the rope I gave him and landed at the other end. Then I held the necklace I wish I had an elastic hand. The necklace sparkled, and I knew what that meant. I stretched and caught the flower. Knowing all of us were safe, I looked at the witch, and then I looked at the necklace.

I threw the necklace in the air; it hit the witch enough to make her lose her balance. She fell into the lava, screaming for help. She was dead, so we ran back from where we stared and mixed together the ingredients.

“Quick we don’t have time” only my eyes were still visible. I knew I was doomed, so I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t see what was happening.

Something splashed on my face; I swallowed and opened my eyes. I looked down at my body. I wasn’t invisible anymore! I jumped and laughed. “Why did you splash the potion on me?” “Because I couldn’t see your mouth” he giggled.

It was time for me to leave. Tears slowly came from my eyes and now that I destroyed the necklace, I could never come back. I hugged my blue friend and went back home.

Myrto Pachoundakis

"ΒΟΟ" “Oh, why do we need to go to the hotel called ‘Boo’? Can't we go somewhere else?” asked Ann-Marie. Ann-Marie and her brother John both hated hotels. Once they had heard that the hotel called ‘Boo’ was haunted, especially the rooms with the numbers 103 through 106. That's why they hated hotels and they especially hated the hotel ‘Boo’.

“We have to go,” explained Ann Marie's mom while they were packing their suitcases, “because we already have the tickets and we have booked a room.” “Yeah, she is right,” stated their dad. “We have the tickets, they are right here,” he responded and waved the tickets showing them to Ann-Marie and John. “Also, our room has the number ...”John crossed his fingers, saying to himself "Please, not 103, 104, 105, or 106.” “... 103,”said his dad.

“Oh noooooo!” screamed John, grabbing his sister and pulling her to their room. “Remember the numbers of the room that are the most haunted? We are staying in one of them, 103”. “Oh my God!” said Ann-Marie. We will have the worst vacation ever. “Oh yes, we will,” said John. “What are we going to do?”

“I can't go to a haunted hotel,” said Ann-Marie. “Oh, I know what we can do; we can try to make the hotel normal.” “Mmmm, ok, but how?” asked Ann-Marie.

“I don't know, we can try, but we need to keep this a secret from our parents.”

“Yes, you are right,” agreed John. “But what if it has ghosts or vampires or both, then what happens?” “It's Ok, you will be with me, and so you won’t be afraid.”

“John, Ann-Marie, come get your backpacks, we are leaving,” called their parents. “Ok, we are coming,” the kids replied.

The family locked up the house and left for their vacation. On the way, in the car, the kids took out their IPods and IPads and started talking through emails, so their parents would not hear them, about the hotel and how they would make the hotel normal. “We first need to find out if this hotel is really haunted,” wrote Ann-Marie. “Yeah, you are right! I will search on the internet while we still have wifi,” John answered. After a while, John rejoiced, “I found something!”

The hotel Boo has a secret book. Whoever finds the book, reads the directions from the book and follows them, he will make the hotel normal again. The book is hidden in one of the most haunted rooms, in the hotel, 103-106. John wanted to read more but there was no wifi anymore and he couldn't.

“Ok, when we get there, we need to ask if one of the rooms has a bookcase, then we can go there and look for the book.” That would have been a good plan if only one room had a bookcase, but John and Ann-Marie were worried that the book may be in another of the haunted rooms, and not necessarily in theirs. They decided that they will come up with an excuse to get into each of the haunted rooms and look for a bookcase.

One hour later, the family arrived at the dark, quiet hotel. When they entered, they heard knockings on the door and on the walls. They also heard a noise like “Oooh", and "Iiii wiiill eeeaaat yyyouououououou". Then a lady came, gave them their keys and said "Your room is number 103" and then she disappeared. Things were already starting to get weird and creepy. Just then, they heard bones falling and a

scream "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah". After the scream, the kids started screaming "Aaaaaaaaaah". Their parents tried to make them stop screaming, and the family ran to their room. The children immediately noticed that their room didn't have any bookcases but only some books on a small table. They ran to the table and looked at the books for a while, they read the titles. They needed to find the book called "The Mysterious Hotel". Instead, they found "The Mysterious Pool", "The Mysterious Puppet", "The Mysterious Book" and "The Mysterious Room,” but not "The Mysterious Hotel".

The children realized that they would have to wait two or more days for the excuse to enter the other rooms because their parents were always with them. After two horrible days, the kids started setting up their plan. In the morning, they went to the beach. When they came back, John said "My notebook fell in the hallway and Ann-Marie kicked it by accident under the door of room 104, 105 or 106, I can't remember" said John. Their parents decided that they should go to the reception to ask what they should do. The family explained their problem to the lady behind the desk. She gave them all of the keys and said "No one is in the rooms so when you finish, just leave the keys here.”

The parents told their children that they were going downstairs to drink some coffee and that they can go alone. This was just the luck that they were hoping for. The kids quickly went to their room, got a notebook, a pen, a pencil and an eraser, locked their room again and left.

They first tried number 104 but when they got in, they saw only two books. One was called “The Mysterious Fireplace” and the other one was called “The Mysterious Girl”. In room 105 they saw two little kids playing with bones and a dog. In room 106, they were hoping to find the book, but instead saw a family playing a game and screaming “Aaaa” and “Oooohhh” and then they heard knockings on the wall and on the doors, but realized it was only from the wind.

Now there was only one thing to figure out. What did the website say about those things they heard and saw in the hotel? Then the kids wrote in their notebook: Screams = people playing, bones falling=kids playing with bones and a dog, “I will eat you” scream = people eating dinner, knockings on the wall = wind.

They took the keys and went to the reception. There, the kids saw that there was free wi-fi. They asked for the password and put it in. Then they went to the same website as before and saw who had developed it and why. They found that the person who had made it, had made it just to play a joke. “Oh, so the hotel wasn’t really haunted,” said John.

Now the kids were as calm as a grandpa sitting on a sunny day. When they finished telling the story to their parents, their parents told them that they knew it. That’s why they had chosen number 103. They had told the people to make noises and the lady at reception to say that no one was in the rooms and that was also why they let them go in the rooms by themselves.

“Oh my, you scared us,” said the children. “We just wanted you to have fun, sorry!” “And now I am not afraid of ghosts or vampires anymore!” said Ann-Marie.

“This has been a super vacation!” they all said together.

Anna Kefala

John Loses a Friend but Finds Another

Once upon a time there was a kid named John. He lived in Colorado. He had a big brother, who was named Jack. John was a calm jubilant boy, but Jack was a very unruly morose boy. John and Jack always fought each other.

One day they went to the forest for a picnic.

A few hours later, they went to sleep. When they woke up, they found a bear right in front of them. John felt frightened, but Jack kept his calmness. He ran towards the bear and the bear suddenly snatched Jack and he got eaten up.

“Jack!!!!!!” screamed John. But it was too late. John realized that he should’ve been nice to his brother.

After the bear had eaten Jack, it ran towards a baby wolf. The bear attacked the baby wolf. It was seriously injured. However, the bear thought the baby wolf was boring so it just left it alone.

When it was safe, John approached the injured animal. He decided to take the baby wolf to his house. This way he would not be alone and lonely. John nursed the baby wolf. The baby wolf grew and grew until it became a brave wolf.

From then on the wolf and John became best friends and lived happily ever after.

Seung-min Lee

Tiger in the Wild It was a rainy day. I was being taken to the vet.

As Olivia was walking hastily towards the vet with me in a gray, bolted cage I was thinking desperately how to get free. “I’m going to get free from this cage.’’ I accidentally thought aloud.

Olivia must have detected some evil scheming in my voice because she said,’’ It’ll be fun,’’ but I knew it was a lie. My fur was tingling and no escape plan was arriving into my furry head. As I noticed the bolt was loose on the cage door I fiercely tugged with my front claw until, snap! The cage door gave way and I was free!

I sprinted onto the grass beside the pavement like I was a furry bullet. As I entered the famous seafood restaurant that was opposite the vet’s office, I quickly ordered a plate of sardines. But just as I was about to eat my lunch I felt a sharp pain in my tail like five knives had been stuck into it. “No!” I mewed frantically as I looked behind my adorable brown ear to see an ugly black thing dragging me by the tail into the forest, further and further from my plate of sardines.

I WAS FURIOUS! I pressed my nose against a damp wall to try and block out the filthy smell of wolf while my body was recovering from being tossed across the cave. My furiousness gave strength as I hauled myself to my paws in the dark, black cave. “I refuse to stand prisoner in this musty cave knowing that my sardines might be being eaten by some useless stray!” I said my boldness rising just as fast as my sardines are probably being eaten. I struggled, kicked, squirmed and bit that wolf ferociously without further hesitation. The wolf was huge but I was as fast as a cheetah so I fought into vulnerable spots and after a while the wolf collapsed.

As I looked for a place to spend the night I found a tumbled down shack, which wasn’t the best choice I had, but still it looked warm so I made myself comfortable.

In the middle of the night I awoke with a jump and noticed all my tabby fur was standing on end, something was drizzling in the place where the roof was supposed to be. I crept closer to get a better look and sure enough there was rain dripping down into this worthless shelter. I was miserably cold so I exited the shack tredding in squelching mud for at least a mile, until finally my tired eyes caught sight of the glowing seafood restaurant sign and my heart gave a happy leap for joy.

I entered and quickly sat down in the warm restaurant with a menu on my lap. I ordered a large sardine platter, again, and lay waiting for it to arrive. I glanced around, my fur still very damp but getting drier, and a horrible sight met my eyesthe vet was walking at a swift pace towards my table though not seeing me.

It was a tough decision between if I should stay and eat my sardines and risk being taken to the deathdefying vet’s office or dashing out the door without being seen. I dashed! And before I could say my favourite word-NO-I was back in my old cage. Where were you? It was only a worm tablet!!”

Back home guess what we had for dinner? Sardines-with an unfortunate side of worm tablets.

Olivia Lintu

The Atrant Chronicles Book I Daphne Stamou

Chapter One: Suspicions Not again! I thought as I grumpily sat at my desk.

“What’s up?” Andrew asked me.

He was one of my close friends and sat at my table along with Lucy and Michael.

“I had another argument with Ms. Rakkala,” I replied.

“Seriously Jess,” Lucy told me, “you think you’re the only one with that problem?”

“We were all put on the same team,” Michael explained. “According to Ms. Rakkala, I made three fouls, Lucy threw the ball out twice and Andrew ‘had’ to switch ten times!”

“One thing’s for sure,” I replied, “Ms. Rakkala can’t be a human or an ordinary teacher!”

There was a long pause.

“Maybe she’s a monster!”

Andrew joked.

“Hey table three!” our teacher, Ms. Johnson shouted angrily, “You’re supposed to be working on those math sheets I gave you.”

I got to work, like my friends, and when we were almost done, I passed a note to Michael:

Meet me at recess.

Show this to Lucy and Andrew please.

Chapter Two: The Meeting

Ms. Johnson was about to give us more work, when she noticed that the clock read 10:40.

“Alright,” she announced, “It’s recess time. Line up at the door with your snacks.”

“I got paper and pencils to write down clues.” I told them.

“Well, for a start, Ms. Rakkala has a short temper.” Michael suggested.

I wrote that down: • Short Temper.

“She has strange habits.” Lucy added.

• Weird Habits `“Everyone likes her except for us.” Andrew concluded.

• Everyone likes her.

Not us.

We spent all the recesses of today writing down clues and reviewed them one by one.

“Tomorrow,” I told them, “We should investigate.”

“Cool!” Andrew cried, “Can we spy on her?!”

“I suppose yes!” I answered happily.

It was decided. Tomorrow we would find out what was happening, once and for all.

Chapter Three: Spying

The next day we met at lunch behind the bushes.

“I ‘ve got binoculars, a magnifying glass and a book of excuses,” Michael informed us.

“Book of excuses?” Lucy asked surprised, “Really?”

“Yep,” Michael answered showing it to us. “We could get into trouble!”

I slipped our list out of my pocket; we were ready.

“Let’s split up,” Andrew suggested.

“Wait,” I said handing them walkie-talkies. “We ‘ll use these.”

We split up and since Ms. Rakkala was having her class outside, I dashed over to the swings, Andrew climbed the slide, Lucy went over to the tables and Michael ran to the jungle gym.

“I can’t see her, over,” I spoke into my walkie-talkie.

“She has entered the building, over,” Michael reported.

“I think she is in the PE storage room, over,” Lucy added.

“Let’s go there, over,” Andrew suggested.

We all went to the PE storage room’s windows and peeked inside.

Ms. Rakkala was inside; She glared at us and pulled down the curtains.

“We need to find another way in,” Lucy concluded.

“So, let’s get to work,” Michael began thinking of the map in their classroom, which showed the entire school.

Chapter Four: The Truth

Andrew checked his watch.

“We have ten minutes of recess left,” He reported.

“Hmm,” Lucy thought, “What if we secretly enter the building, go though the hall and look through those windows, since not many people go there!”

“Good plan,” Michael complimented, “Let’s try it out!”

We sneaked into the building and looked through the other windows. I almost had a heart attack. What we saw was a real monster! It was a cross between a monkey and a bear but much, much more like the bear! At nine feet tall it easily reached the celling. It had pitch black fur and red eyes. It looked strong and almost undefeatable.

Once it turned its head towards us. We quickly ducked and it luckily looked away. Then it took something strange from a secret opening in the wall, behind the

baseball bats. It looked like a small disk. The creature pushed a button at its side and a sinister voice started talking:

“The master has concluded that the four heites (heh-EI-tes) are in this building. They stay in sector 5J. Call on your clonetineys (clone-tih-nees) on emergencies. You aren’t allowed to kill them, but bring them to Lord Maleitant (Mah-LEi-tant). Your mission is clear; find them and bring the four heites to us.”

The device crackled and then stopped. ‘Ms. Rakkala’ turned it off and took her normal form.

I spoke up, “Err, do you think that by four heites, they mean us?”

Chapter Five: Now What?

“It’s possible,” Andrew said as we walked over to the line.

“True,” Lucy agreed. “Sector 5J is our class: Fifth Grade, Ms. Johnson’s Class, so they could be us.”

“But what did she mean by ‘clonetineys’?” Michael asked.

“And most importantly, who is Lord Maleitant, what does he want from us and what should we do about Ms. Rakkala?” I concluded.

“What is Ms. Rakkala?” Andrew wondered aloud.

“I think she’s a...” Michael began.

“Shh!”, I nudged Michael and we stopped talking.

We had reached the line and we stepped in next to each other.

“Ms. Kate’s class, go up!”, the recess aid snapped. “Now Mr. Dimitri’s class and last Ms. Johnson’s.”

“What do you think she is?” Lucy inquired as we walked up the steps.

“A kalkara,” Michael responded. “I read about them in a book. They are legendary animals that were extremely dangerous.

Ms. Rakkala’s new form seems to fit their description.”

“What is their description?”

I asked.

“Red eyes, bear and monkey-like features, none to ten feet tall, black fur, short temper and strange habits,” Michael recited.

“She definitely fits the description!”, Andrew laughed.

We were near the top of the stairs.

“Do we fit the description of the four heites?” I asked.

“Let’s find out!”, Andrew replied. “I think we should visit the PE storage room.”

Chapter Six: Further Information

The next day, at recess we went to the PE storage room.

“I’d like to see that device again,” Michael told us.

He took it from the place it was hidden and pressed the button Ms. Rakkala had pressed. The voice repeated what it had said yesterday, the text appearing on the screen.

“I wonder...” Lucy walked over to Michael and pressed the screen where the words ‘four heites’ were; a definition popped up on the screen.

“The rightful heirs to the kingdom of Atrant. There can only be four in the world at a time. They are the ones you must stop from taking over the throne.”

“Try pressing the arrow and then the word ‘clonetineys,’” I suggested.

Lucy did as I asked and more text appeared.

“The soldiers of Lord Maleitant. He clones himself, the clone turns into a legendary monster and then the monster makes clonetineys. They are identical to the monster and each other but are one third of the monster’s size.”

“Let’s try ‘Lord Maleitant’ now!”, Andrew exclaimed.

“OK,” Lucy agreed.

The text appeared.

“The ruler of Atrant. The one the four heites are trying to destroy. He took Atrant with magic and a large army of clonetineys. He has a son, Lord Caleton, who will be king after him unless Lord Maleitant and Lord Caleton are destroyed.”

“We know everything,” Michael announced. “Now we just need to stop Lord Maleitant and Lord Caleton...”

Suddenly, we heard a shuffle and a clang as one of the tennis rackets was knocked down...

Chapter Seven” Negei

We quickly turned around and saw a cloud of blue mist take the shape of a human.

“Who are you?,” It asked suspiciously, “friend or foe?”

“That depends on two things”, I quickly replied, “ If we are the four heites and if you are with Lord Maleitant or not; but who are you?”

“I am Negei, the genie created to serve the four heites!” Negei proudly announced, “Now it’s your turn; Who are you?”

“I’m Andrew, this is Lucy, Michael and Jess. We go to this school ad by the way can you tell us if we are the four heites or not?” Andrew answered.

“Why of course you are!” Negei laughed.

“Will you help us defeat Ms. Rakkala, Lord Maleitant and Lord Caleton?”

Michael asked.

“Yes, of course I will!”, Negei happily walked to the door.

Lucy stopped him. “Maybe tomorrow or on Monday because recess is almost over and we ‘ll have to go back to class.”

“Oh,” Negei turned around, “Then tomorrow we ‘ll get them!

And take these by the way,” he added, handing us each cube shaped device.

“What do they do?” I inquired.

“If you press this button,” Negei explained, “You ‘call’ me.” This is the sound level. This is what you press to see me. And this is how you change it so that you can keep it in your pockets and instead of ringing, the device ‘ll vibrate and ‘ll know that I am calling and everyone else won’t.”

“Wow! Thanks!” Andrew exclaimed. “We ‘ll call you when we ‘re ready.”

Chapter Eight: Into the Training Center

The next day, Friday, I felt a pulse in my back pocket as the last class before lunch recess ended. I raced to the girls’ bathroom and turned it on, pressing the button which allowed me to see Negei.

“Hello!” Negei greeted me, “Ready to begin your training?”

“Training?” I asked, “You never said anything about that!”

“Well,” he replied, “Being of the four heites is a hard job. You and your friends also must learn to fight monsters which Maleitant could turn into.”

“Okay” I replied, pacing in one of the rooms.

“At your so-called ‘recess’ come to the place we first met at. I will teleport myself and you to the training center. I am telling this to your friends as well,” Negei explained.

“All right,” I stepped outside, “I ‘ll be ready.”

“When we were dismissed I ran after my friends who headed to the PE storage room.

“Did Negei send you a message?” I asked.

“Yep,” Michael answered me.

We slipped inside the room and found Negei waiting in there for us.

“Good morning!”, he exclaimed.

“Ready for some training?”

“Pretty much yes,” Lucy replied.

“Then let’s get started!”, Negei flew over to us.

Then he muttered something we didn’t understand. We were surrounded in blue mist and the PE room vanished leaving us standing on soft green mats. We were in a room with pure white marble walls and training equipment was all around. There also was a door labeled ‘Four Heites’ with a symbol can consisted of four Hs. I guessed that was where we would stay.

Wow, I thought, we had started to actually train!

Chapter Nine: Training Begins

“Here,” Negei announced, pointing to the door, “is the place where you shall stay. One of your so called ‘minutes’ is a day here!”

That’s why we need rooms,” Andrew understood.

“Alright,” Nagei gestured to the piles of equipment, “let’s start with a simple test. I’ll point to a monster on this board and you tell me what weapon you think is needed to kill it.”

Negei began the test by pointing to the first monster which was a kalkara.

We all looked at the weapons around us.

“A sword?” Andrew suggested.

“A lance?” Lucy wondered.

“A shield?” Michael asked.

“Fire?” I guessed.

“Correct!” Negei complimented, “Fire is a kalkara’s weakness; and the only thing it is afraid of.”

“Wouldn’t all legendary monsters be afraid of fire?” Andrew inquired.

“No! Not at all!” Negei cried, “Fire even heals some!”

We spent an ‘hour’ doing this test. Next, Negei briefly taught us how to use all the weapons. For a whole month, we went and trained every recess and by the time it was over, we had begun to master the skills needed by the four heites.

“This is so hard!” Lucy panted one day.

“Yes, I know,” Negei replied, “but the four heites are made so that they can do it. Normally, others aren’t able to do this!”

“Do you think we’ll be able to defeat Ms. Rakkala, Lord Maleitant and Lord Caleton?” I asked.

“Maybe,” Michael replied, “if we train hard enough!”

Chapter Ten:Ambushed!

A month later, I was sitting next to my three friends in our classroom. Ms. Johnson had finished with our grammar lesson and she dismissed us. Like all the previous days, we headed to the PE Storage Room. Once again, we found Negei waiting for us. We were again surrounded with mist and he teleported us to the training center.

“How do you teleport?” Lucy asked him.

“Ah,” Negei answered, “you simply utter the words ‘Zemper Mishtalen’ which means ‘take me too’ and in whatever language you want, say your desired destination.”

“Zemper Mishtalen Training Center,” Michael whispered and the mist took us there.

I began to go to the track and field to jog because that’s what we did in the beginning of every lesson.

“Jess,” Negei called, “not today. We’ll be doing a different type of training. We shall battle Ms. Rakkala’s clonetineys when we find them!”

“Wow!” Michael whispered.

“ Can I try teleporting now?” Lucy asked.

“Why of course you can!”

Negei laughed, “Only, touch us because you can only teleport people and items if you are doing so.”

“Zemper Mishtalen ACS Athens,” Lucy muttered and we appeared in the PE Storage Room.

“Yes! It worked!” Lucy exclaimed.

That’s when out of their hiding places from behind the PE equipment came about a dozen clonetineys. Ms. Rakkala’s clonetineys! We needed to find a way to make fire, and fast! The clonetineys began to close in on us. We were trapped!

Oh no, I thought, we’re dead!

Chapter Eleven: Clonetineys Defeated: Check!

“Let’s teleport away now!” Andrew shouted, “Zemper Mish-”

“Don’t try,” Negei stopped him, “the teleporting doesn’t work when you’re enemies are close!”

“We need to find a or make fire!” Lucy cried.

I scanned the room, looking for something we can use.

“There,” Michael shouted, “There could be matches inside the ‘Birthday Drawer’!”

“Oww!” Andrew had been scratched on the knee by one of the clonetineys.

He began to look in the eyes of the mini-kalkara.

“NO!” I shouted pulling him back; Negei had taught us never to look in a kalkara’s eyes because if you did, you’d be paralyzed with fear.

“There might be matches in that drawer!” Michel reached inside and turned around.

When he faced us he threw flaming matches at the clonetineys which screeched and ran around until all that remained of them was ashes.

“Zemper Mishtalen Training center,” Andrew weakly whispered.

We copied him and the mist took us there.

“You better go to the first aid room,” Negei pointed and Andrew limped to the door and locked it.

“Let’s go back and get the ashes in case someone finds them,” I suggested and we did so.

When we go back, though, there were two problems. First, we only had one minute of recess left and second Ms. Rakkala, in her monster form, was there standing on the floor in front of us.

Chapter Twelve: Ms. Rakkala Attacks

The kalkara roared and smashed a hole through the floor and we all fell in to a circular, damp and smelly underground maze. ‘Ms. Rakkala’ jumped in after us.

“RUN!!” Lucy screamed.

We dashed trough the tunnels, the kalkara close behind us.

“We need to kill it as well!” Michael panted.

“I think I have an idea,” I cried, “just let me think about it!”

This is what I had in mind: I’ll call Andrew through the device in my pocket, telling him to come help us. I’d say: Wait till she passes under the hole then drop something extremely heavy on her head!

“Perfect!” I reached in my pocket, took out the device and called Andrew.

“Can you hear me?” I spoke.

“Yep,” he answered.

“You need to help us! We’re stuck in this underground maze and Ms. Rakkala is chasing us!!” I explained, “We will lead her to the hole in the floor and then, as she passes, drop something on her head, okay?”

“I’ll try,” Andrew replied, turning his device off.

In the circular maze, I took a turn, gesturing for the others to follow me. We dashed across the hole and nodding to my companions to copy me, stopped. The kalkara grunted and slowly made its way towards us. It made the mistake of passing under the hole. Something big and white fell on its head.

Chapter Thirteen: Congratulations

“A sink!!” I burst out laughing.

“Yeah…” Andrew turned crimson as he peeked down.

“Where did you get a sink?” Lucy smiled.

“Well,” Andrew explained, “I grabbed a metal training pole and whacked it.

Then I loaded it on a cart and dumped it on her!”

“Good idea,” Michael complimented Andrew.

“WE WON!!!” I suddenly shouted.

“Quite correct,” Negei agreed, “We have defeated Ms. Rakkala.”

“PARTAAAY!!!” Lucy cried excitedly.

“Um,” Michael inquired, “Can we get up please?”

In reply, Andrew threw a rope down and we climbed up, but Ms. Rakkala in the maze.

“Let’s celebrate!” Negei suggested happily.

We all agreed and he called in people who had helped Negei train us. We had so much fun! Everyone ate the snacks that were put on a table. We laughed and played all day long. I was very happy!

Although, in Lord Caleton and Maleitant’s fortress, thing weren’t so good.

“So,” Maleitant sneered, “they have defeated the kalkara and all her clonetineys.”

“Father,” Lord Caleton began, “We could try again.”

“Explain yourself,” Lord Maleitant commanded.

“We’ll do the same thing as now,” Lord Caleton explained, “Only with a stronger monster!”

Lord Maleitant smiled cruelly. Soon the four heites would be captured!

Mike Chatziantoniou

Fifth Graders Write Stories

The Great Theseus

Once upon a time in the island of Crete, there was a king. This king’s name was Minos. In Crete there lived a great and terrible man. This man’s name was The Great Inventor Daedalus. Daedalus was being held in Crete. Daedalus had built the Labyrinth. But, before we talk about the Life of Theseus we must go back in time.

Once there was a petty quarrel between Artemis and Aphrodite. One of Artemis’s hand maidens went astray and fell in love with a man. Each hand maiden in Artemis’s band of hunters are supposed to swear off men, to never fall in love, to stay a maiden forever. Artemis accused Aphrodite because she is the goddess of love. She had "nothing" to do with it. Aphrodite got mad and she had Eros shoot the girl and she fell in love with a bull and she gave birth to the Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull. The Minotaur was immediately captured, subdued, and brought to Minos. On the spot, Minos told the guards to deliver the Minotaur to the Labyrinth. So they knocked out the Minotaur and sent him into the Labyrinth.

When Minotaur awoke he was very confused. He roared so loud he shook the city. To keep the Minotaur from destroying the city and the great palace that Daedalus built for Minos, the guards forced Athens to fork over 14 tributes a month 7 boys and 7 girls every month for years. When Theseus heard this while he was visiting Athens he announced,” I shall find this beast and slay him with my mighty strength!” When Ariadnae, who was not standing very far away, heard that she thought, “He couldn’t go it alone, for he would get lost in the Labyrinth's winding tunnels.” So she went home and got her prized string. Then, she sought out Theseus and told him when he got into the Labyrinth, to unravel the string behind him. For this, he promised her hand in marriage.

His father told him to sail off with black sails and within 2 days length return with white sails. When he got to the island of Crete, it was dusk. He decided he would get a good-night’s sleep before he saved Athens from having to send Crete their men and women to the terrible Minotaur.

In the morning he woke up and had a bowl of olives. Then, he packed a knapsack, grabbed his best sword and shield, and went out to the Labyrinth to slay the mighty Minotaur. It was high noon when he arrived to the Labyrinth. Inside he could only see as far as his lantern's beam of light let him. It was dark and dusty and the funk of over 100 years worth of death and injustice tainted the air. Theseus was here to put an end to that injustice. As he walked on he could feel himself growing more afraid by the minute and the deeper he went, the more unsure of himself he felt. “No”, he told himself,” I must be brave for Ariadnae. She’d want me to come back alive and not torn to bits by a giant man-eating monster.” He started unraveling the string. Soon he heard a faint grunt and light footsteps. Then, he heard, and felt, a loud thump. He slowly crept up to the corner, braced himself for what he might see, and then peeked. He saw the Minotaur laying down with his back to Theseus. He wiped his brow and started creeping up. Then, suddenly the Minotaur rolled over and grunted. Theseus froze in his tracks. Luckily, the Minotaur had his eyes closed. Theseus stepped over the Minotaur fearing that if he made one false step he could wake the Minotaur. He made it to the other side without trouble and took a quick glance around the corridor. There were old bones in one pile, and new ones littered the floor. By the looks of it, the Minotaur had just eaten another tribute. He stalked over and came up behind the Minotaur. Very carefully, Theseus pulled his sword out of its sheath and brought down the blade over the Minotaur’s body. The Minotaur was dead.

Theseus followed the string back to the Cretan entrance. When he broke out into the overland, he was blinded by the sunlight. As his eyes adjusted he noticed the crowd that had gathered. He looked, in confusion, and they started cheering. They hoisted him up on their shoulders and paraded him through town. He saw that King Minos and his men were not there.

Back in the palace, Minos was pacing the width of the room in fury. "First, Theseus arrived and demanded a pass to the Labyrinth. Next, I refused and my guards failed to capture him. As a result Theseus snuck into the Labyrinth, slew my Minotaur monstrosity, and came back alive with the help of the string that Ariadnae will be punished for, and was paraded through my city!" He screamed a scream that could be heard throughout the city.

The trip back to Athens was disaster after disaster. First, they got caught in a terrible storm. Then, a band of sea monsters attacked. Next, Theseus received a vision from Dionysus telling him to dump Ariadnae at the next island. The next island they came across, they pretended to keep sailing, but were completely still. They watched Ariadnae until she fell asleep. Then, took her off the ship and left her. As the ship pulled awayTheseus heard her shouting threats. Dionysus found her there crying her eyes out wishing there was someone there with her. Finally, Theseus forgot to raise white sails and his father threw himself off a palace roof in despair. When Theseus heard the bad news, he drowned himself.

Alex Brown

The Magic Clock

Once upon a normal day, lived a girl named Suzzie. Suzzie was a 10 year old girl who had dark brown hair and brown eyes. Her style was very casual not like a girly girl and not like a tomboy just casual, get my point?!

One day, Suzzie was out on the porch at exactly 5:00 and no it was not time for supper! Suzzie was out looking at the sunset when suddenly she saw a clock falling from the sky and into the bushes. So, of course, she ran to her neighbor’s bushes to see why the clock fell from the sky!

“Nutella on waffles, what kind of clock is that?!” exclaimed Suzzie.

“Excuse me what are you doing?” asked the neighbor’s niece Tamara.

“Didn’t you see that clock that fell from the sky?” asked Suzzie.

“Of course that is why I came out and don’t worry I won’t tell my uncle that you walked on his grass.”

“Umm……ok but let’s start over my name is Suzzie!” blurted Suzzie.

“Hi Suzzie, my name is Tamara AKA Tammy .Nice to meet you!

I am Mr. Francisco‘s niece.” replied Tammy.

“Cool, how long are you in town?” asked Suzzie.

“Well my mom and dad are going through a rough time so they sent me here.” explained Tammy while a tear drop fell.

“Please don’t cry .You can hang out with me!” replied Suzzie trying to brighten up Tammy’s spirits.

There was an awkward moment of silence. Tammy was now literally bursting her tear drops out while Suzzie was totally confused.

“I think we should think about the clock now because it is glowing!” exclaimed Suzzie not knowing what to say.

“Yeah good point!” replied Tammy.

So Suzzie started running and of course Tammy followed to see where she went. Then Tammy saw Suzzie pull out a small device that looked like a cell phone .Tammy was wondering who she was calling when suddenly Suzzie screamed.

“COME HERE NOW!!!!!!” yelled Suzzie.

“What happened?” replied confused Tammy.

I called your Uncle and my mom and I told them we will come back tomorrow. They said ok so I want to show you something, “Come.”

After ten minutes of walking Suzzie finally explained to Tammy where they were going . Tammy couldn’t believe her eyes. Suzzie had a secret tree house that was on a really old oak tree that no one knew about. Tammy was speechless it was like someone had stolen her mouth and throat.

Then suddenly she mumbled, “It’s beautiful!”

“I know! My dad made it before he passed away because me and my mom lost our closeness so yeah that’s the story!” explained Suzzie.

“Come lets go in.” suggested Tammy.

So that’s what they did. It took them about three minutes to climb. Suzzie went first and on her way followed Tammy. When they got up, Tammy finally found the guts and asked how Suzzie’s dad died.

“Heart attack. I always wished I could go back to when he was born so I could warn him,” explained Suzzie .

Then suddenly they both fell down head first and when they woke up they were in 1960 ! They were in her dad’s birthplace! They were in a hospital when Suzzie saw her grandparents. Then she realized Tammy was holding the magic clock, it was a time machine.

Alexandra Gregoriou

The Big Trip I was getting ready to go outside when the telephone rang. I picked it up and declared, “Hello who is it”.

“Hey what’s up dude, it’s me Jason, are you ready?”

“Ready for what?” I questioned.

“Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that I booked us for an adventure all over the world. We are going to go to Antarctica, Paris, England, China, Russia, Greece, Brazil and many more.”

By the time he was done I was stunned. I was only 20 and I was going to see the whole world.

“Well, where did you find the money?” I asked.

“No fret about that,” he told me. “I have that under control.”

“What are we waiting for let’s go! See you at the airport.”

When I arrived I scanned the area to find my friend. I caught a glimpse of him in a cluster of people. I darted towards him. By the time I was beside him we were running late. We galloped like horses to the airplane and started the trip of our lives. As we were sitting on our seats I asked, “Where are we going first?”

“To Russia,” he replied.

When we landed in Moscow it was freezing and from all the seasons we chose winter to go to such an icy place. It was breathtaking The first time in my life I had been to another country. After we went to the ….. The End of Part 1.

Dimitrios Athanasopoulos

Is it Okay to Lie?

Do you think it is okay to lie? To me, it depends. I think a good lie is when you don’t tell the truth so you don’t make the other person feel bad. For example, another person says your shoes are nice, but in their mind they don’t like them. I think that’s nice. Don’t you?

But most of the time, I think, lies are very bad. For example a bully at my school punches somebody. When the teacher questions him, he says he didn’t do it, even, though he did. I’ve always hated that. That makes me feel terrible.

That is why; I think it is okay and not okay to lie. Do you agree with me?

Jackson Bradshaw

My Success Story

“Go faster mom!’’ I said to my mom.’’ We need to get there fast!’’. I was almost jumping on my seat. I was so excited. ‘’I need to get those colorful roller skates!’’. I said. When my mom, finally, parked the car, I went into my store. I searched with my eyes. When I saw the woman that I saw last time, I jumped on her. ‘’Where are they?” I exclaimed. “Relax Caroline!” she said with a calm voice. “Your roller skates are okay!”

She showed them to me.

I grabbed them and held them near my face. I could smell the detergent. “OMG! I love them! I just fell in love with the colors and the surface that was smooth and hard at the same time.

Before I knew it my mom was walking, so she could get back to the car. “Mom!” I screamed “I‘ve got to try them!”

My mom looked at me, “Are you serious?” she asked angrily.

I nodded to her. The only thing she could do was to come and see me trying on the fantastic roller skates. I put them on and stood up. I roller skated all over the store.

When my mom got me, she forced me to wear my shoes. We thanked the woman for my amazing roller-skates.

As, we walked out of the store’s door, I looked at my new roller-skates. From this day on, I knew I was going to…

LOVE THEM! I was right: I do love them.

Carolina Vlahakou

My Success Story

When I was 10 years old I did horse riding and I jumped with the horse. Trust me, it was scary. I was in a closed area with other riders. I went for training. I was in my car and laughed. My trainer said, “get out of the car”.

I whimpered “nooo”.

Then he tried to open the door. I rushed to lock it. Then he finally left. Later I got bored and I left the car to find him.

Then I found him, he was far away so I screamed, “I want to ride”.

“Go to Baktavar,” Mr. Illias ordered.

“Ok”, I said. I ran to Baktavar and he got the horse. One, two, three and I was on the horse. I was walking the horse.

Then I trotted. Up, down. I did a sitting trot. It is a trot but not up, down. Later I made the horse gallop. I begged, “later can I jump an obstacle please?”

Mr. Illias said, “You will jump now”.

So I jumped an X. Then I jumped over it. I was about to fall but Ms. Elleni said, “stay on” and I didn’t fall. Next I had to jump more.

I kicked the horse so it could run like the wind. Then I jumped over the next obstacle. “OMG” ,I whispered. Then I jumped over the next one and I said “Op…OPA!”

Then Mr. Illias screamed, “don’t say op”. The next obstacle was a double.

The last obstacle, “ohhhh” I said. I accidently moved the horse to the side and I fell. Mr. Illias told me to get back on the horse.

I cried, “No, no and no. N-O”, but I got back on. Later Mr. Ilias said that the others had fallen off twice their first time.

When I was going home my mom showed me the video.

Christopher Danalis

When my Sisters came Home

My mom had a big belly for a while now. I knew something special was in it because she kept rubbing it gently and telling me I would soon have company to play with. She told me two little girls were coming soon.

One day, I woke up early and saw my mom preparing to leave for the hospital. I got excited as I realized my twin sisters were ready to come out! My dad was helping my mom get ready and he told me he would go with her for support. I was happy and worried that my mom would return home safely. I was also so excited and eager to finally meet my sisters. Soon, my grandparents came over so they could watch me until my parents returned. I kissed my mom and dad goodbye and shut the door.

My grandparent played with me and kept me company. We watched TV, talked, and even drew pictures to decorate my sisters’ room with them. I was anxious as I felt my parents were taking a real long to call us and tell us all was well. Finally, the phone rang and I ran to pick it up, along with my grandmother. My dad was on the other line, and he told us all had gone well and my sisters and mom were safe. I was so happy. Dad told us they would come the next day. I told him I love him and to kiss mommy and the babies for me.

The next morning, I got up quickly. My grandma dressed me with a real nice dress, and she combed my hair into two pigtails. I wanted to look my best when my sisters came home. I cleaned up all my toys, ate breakfast, and sat on the couch to wait for them. I felt like time was dragging by. I kept asking my grandparents when my family would come, and my grandma kept hugging me and telling me soon.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang! I didn’t know what to do! I ran back and forth from the main door to the bell while jumping up and down! The time had finally come! My grandma opened the door, and I waited for my family to come up the stairs. When I saw my parents holding my two sweet, cute sisters, I was shocked! I didn’t know what to say! My sisters were so little! I continued to jump up and down with joy, and when they crossed the door, my mom handed me two presents. One from each of my sisters.

WHAT?! They brought ME presents? Having two baby sisters come home to me was enough of a present for me! I took and opened them and I discovered a life-size baby with all its supplies. So, I also became a mommy!

For the next few hours, we were all busy getting the twins settled into their room. I kept looking at my mom and how she handled the babies. She never excluded me though. When she changed their diapers, she told me to also change my life-size baby doll’s diaper too. When she gave the babies milk, I, too, fed my baby doll. We did everything together and I was proud that I was a mommy as well. This way, I never got jealous. We all had babies! These were “our” babies!

Soon, it was time for my twin sisters to take a nap. I was tired too! I had a long day filled with excitement.

My mommy put the babies in their crib, and she put me on my bed. She kissed me and told me how proud she was of me and all the help I gave her. I thanked her for bringing me two cute sisters.

After a little while, I woke up so I could see my sisters again and play with them. The house was very quiet. Everyone was still lying down. Suddenly, I heard someone crying. Oh, Oh! No one else got up.

I tiptoed into my sisters’ room, and I stepped on my toes and peeked into their crib. Sure enough, one of my baby sisters was crying while the other one was just lying there with her eyes open. I looked around.

No one had come in yet. I felt bad for her. She continued to cry, so I decided to take some action! I took a stool, stepped on it, and reached over the crib. I rubbed my sister’s tummy very gently and kissed her on the cheek. I used my other hand and rubbed my other sister’s tummy too. I smiled down on them, and soon, there was no more crying! I did it! I had actually calmed them down! My mom came into the room then, and scooped me up in her arms and twirled me around. I believe she was watching me the whole time. I was so proud of myself, and my mom was so proud of me too.

From then on, my sisters and I are inseparable. I love them and they love me. I could not have asked for a more precious present than getting two sisters! Like my mom says: “You are the charmed sisterhood!”

Nina Kalliamvakos