The Watch (Hattie P., Grade 3

As we got in, an old man named Henry came up to us and said, “Don’t go to the 3rd floor, a little girl disappeared there.” He finished just as the doors closed. As the elevator started going up, I kept watch on the numbers, ticking higher each time. All of a sudden, the elevator jerked to a stop. Me and Abby screamed. “What's going on?!?!” she screamed. “I don’t know!!!!” I screamed back. Suddenly the elevator dinged and the doors opened. We stood in the doorway, shocked. As we slowly started walking down the hallway, I was unaware of the giant, beady eye staring at us from beyond the glass window. As we unlocked the door to our room, just like when we came into the hotel, our mouths fell open. The whole room had claw marks all over it. The mattress was flipped off the bed and the desk and floor lamp were both on their sides. We started looking around the room. All of a sudden we heard a scratching sound coming from behind us. We slowly turned around only to see a huge raptor standing right in front of us! Abby tried to scream but I covered her mouth. I told her to slowly back towards the closet, but she screamed anyway. My first instinct was to run to the closet and hide, so I did. Just before the raptor jumped on her, I grabbed her and pulled her out of the way. I kicked the raptor, it screeched, and ran away. It hasn’t tried to bother us since. Well, that's basically my whole story. I guess that we went back in time through the elevator.

Please w/b, Tanya Dear Tanya, I have the first key. October 13, 2003

From, Henry

2nd Place: Hattie P., Grade 3 The Watch

Amber surreptitiously slipped her dad’s watch off his wrist. Then, the curly-haired nine-year-old slipped away to explore the airport. Sidling over to a bookstore display, Amber swiped a book about dinosaurs and found an empty corner of the terminal to read. “Last call for Gate A6 to Miami!” blared a voice from the airport rafters. Amber snapped from her reverie, returning the borrowed item to the bookstore as she sprinted toward her family. “Where have you been? Never EVER run away like that!" Amber’s mother shouted. Her father placed a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “Please. Let’s just try to have a relaxing trip.”

“Relaxing! Our daughter went missing in a busy airport!” the irate mother turned to Amber. “NEVER disappear like that again. Are we clear?” Amber’s heart ached with burning guilt. “We’re clear.” Amber shamefully hugged her concerned mother. Then she hugged her father … and slipped his wristwatch into his back pocket. With only three seats per row, one member of the family had to sit alone. “I will!” Amber and her big sister, Margaret, cried in unison. “I don’t even care. Probably better if you’re away from Mom so she doesn’t kill you.” Margaret teased. “But we have to switch seats halfway through.” Amber plopped down a few rows behind her family, yawned, closed her eyes, and sunk into the seat. She cracked open an eyelid to see a distraught man with white hair and a youthful face stagger into the seat next to her. A dozen watches adorned his wrists. He wore a purple robe. With white knuckles, the wide-eyed man clutched a pocket watch as if it was his lifeline. The man placed his precious watch into his robe. Amber feigned sleep as she glided her hand into his pocket. When the unfasten seat belt sign dinged and the eccentric man left his seat, Amber began fiddling with the knobs on the pocket watch she had lifted. Suddenly the world turned black and Amber felt herself free falling into an abyss. Amber tried to scream but no sound came out. In a flash Amber awoke in a world of deep green meadows lined with majestic boulders. Ruby red and carrot orange flowers covered the ground. When a pterodactyl soared overhead, Amber knew from her book that this was the Jurassic Era. She had learned the bright green eyes staring at her were those of a Cryolophosaurus. Amber admired the self-confidence and calmness radiating from the dinosaur. Amber, however, did not share that composure, and she ran for her life. Her feet barely touched the ground as she flew through the shrubs and ferns. The moment she slowed to glance over her shoulder, a green tail the size of an airplane wing connected and lifted her off her feet. Airborne, Amber slammed into a tree so leafy no bark was visible. Through the canopy Amber saw the tail swinging blindly. Amber glanced down and was surprised to see that behind her clenched white knuckles she still held the pocket watch. Desperately, she began turning every knob. Before Amber could contemplate screaming, she was free falling again. “Please fasten your seatbelts. We are experiencing some turbulence.” Amber sat up straight and re-buckled. Forced back to his seat, the man with many watches stopped pacing the aisle and began searching feverishly on the floor around his seat. Still pretending to be asleep, Amber slipped the pocket watch back into the purple robe. When the turbulence subsided, Amber slipped from her seat and up to Margaret’s. “Your turn solo!” After the family disembarked the plane in Miami, Amber nonchalantly asked Margaret, “So, did you talk to the man sitting next to you with all the watches?” “What on earth are you talking about, weirdo?” Margaret replied. At that moment, it dawned on Amber that it must all have been a dream. Sleepy and remorseful, Amber hugged her mother and muttered, “I’m sorry for sneaking away and stealing watches.” “Thank you, sweetie,” Amber’s mother replied as she stroked her daughter’s wild curls. “But – wait just a minute, young lady – what’s this about stealing watches?! And why do you have all these leaves in your hair?”