SEVENTH GRADE

60 SEVENTH GRADE 7 Yoyo Li Owen Majit Charlotte Jordan Andrew Niccol

Yoyo Li

Jackson Bryden

V O C A B U L A R Y E N E R G I Z E R S T O R Y : T H E P I G S ’ PERSPECTIVE Jack Cudzil

Once upon a farce, there were three little pigs. The first pig built his house out of straw for a small pittance. The wolf blew it down with one blow.

The pig yelled, “You always were a gadfly!”

The pigs came from quite an impressive pedigree, and the second built his house out of sticks. The wolf thought of this as preposterous and, again, blew it down with one blow. With only one house left, the wolf was spartan and determined, and he spurned giving up. The last pig built his house out of bricks. All three pigs huddled inside, listening to the wolf’s terrifying bombast. The pigs nervously waited for the macabre moment when the wolf would blow down the house. The wolf tried and failed three times to blow the house down, then he climbed up the fireplace and jumped inside where he burned to death. The pigs decided to frame a picture of the wolf as an homage to his courageous but useless efforts.

V O C A B U L A R Y E N E R G I Z E R S T O R Y : T H E B I G B A D WOLF’S PERSPECTIVE Andrew Niccol

When it comes to fairy tales, I’ve been considered a pariah. But now it is my turn to tell the story and clear the air.

It was quite serendipitous that I happened to be in the same area of the woods where the three little pigs resided. I was also hungry. I decided bacon would be best for the day’s menu. So I strolled up to the first house. It was quite cheap, so I assumed this pig was rather impecunious. He refused to leave his home, so I used my trusty mnemonic device that has always helped me remember how to blow down a house: H, P, B (huff, puff, blow). Not to brag, but it was an incredibly stentorian blow. The pale-faced little piggy escaped my grasp and ran into the next house. In pecuniary terms, this house was a bit nicer, made of sticks. I kindly asked them to come out, and they responded with something about their hairy chins. I sighed. H, P, B! I blew away the house of sticks, and the two pigs scurried into the final, tawdry house—made of brick, no less! That’s when I discovered my Achilles’ Heel. I couldn’t blow down a brick house. It was hard for me to even fathom the thought of no bacon for lunch that day. So, instead, I called a desultory meeting with all my fellow wolves, and we all agreed to simply go to Chipotle.

THE UNSTOPPABLE Nicole Thorp

I am nearly unstoppable except for one obstacle. I am stopped, right by my favorite food, only because of her height. She towers over me. Firstly, my humans named me Bailey, but my favorite human, Nicole, calls me Dingo. Basically, I go by both Bailey and Dingo. The aroma causes an extreme distraction for me, but I really need to finish my introduction. My humans tell other humans that I am an eleven-month-old boy Yellow Lab, whatever that means. I also love to chew on anything I can, but most of all, I have an addiction to peanut butter.

I have waited too long (a total of two seconds have gone by) and this does not fit my standards. I realize that my human tells me to sit as the clock ticks three more seconds. Due to the simplicity of this command, I immediately know what to do: I sit. I get very happy when I think that I will get the peanut butter, but no, Nicole doesn’t give it to me. Nothing in the entire, great, big world will stop me from getting even an eighth of a teaspoon of peanut butter.

Ten more seconds pass, as my patience slowly slips away. Before I can realize it, my front paws start to come up. After that, I start to use all of my strength in my hind legs to jump. By now, I have made a huge mistake. When I reach the perfect height of my jump, my human moves her finger out of the way a millisecond before I can get a little taste! I can no longer reach the ooeygooey, peanut butter slathered finger. When I land back on the cool tile floor, Nicole opens her mouth, and I now know that I will get “the talk.” So much for doing “good boy.” Oh no, here it comes. “Bailey, no jumping!” I saw that egregious moment coming from a billion miles away.

After that, she takes a step away from me, and I know that I will not receive the peanut butter at this moment, so I start to quietly cry. She pulls a dish out of a sliding box built into the counter, and she wipes the silky peanut butter into it. Sadly, I think it will take three minutes full of waiting, until I get to eat my peanut butter, which really pushes my limits. Luckily, she is a softie for my cute face, so it might take less than three minutes.

Only one minute and six seconds pass when I hear the dish hitting the counter, which makes me wag my tail faster than ever. After hearing this happiness, I slowly walk over to her. Yes! She has the peanut butter back on her finger! “Dingo, do you want some peanut butter? Sit!” she says tauntingly. I just want the peanut butter right now. I can’t blow it now.

“Bark! Bark!” I can’t wait for a second more for my peanut butter. “Ruff! Ruff! Ruff! Bark! Bark!” After a few more seconds go by. I hear, “Bailey, sit!”

This probably won’t end well. I forgot “sit!” No, this cannot happen! Think, Dingo. Think harder. Think, think, think. I plop on the floor.

“Good boy!” Nicole says enthusiastically, as if she had already given me the peanut butter. My level of joy rises as her finger lowers very close to my mouth. I can’t believe this is happening. She says something to me, but that can’t be important at a time like this. When the peanut butter reaches the length of a tongue away, my tongue shoots out of my mouth. I devour every last lick. The sensation is unexplainable. I would never survive without my peanut butter. I now qualify as unstoppable. I have learned through this tremendous peanut butter journey that when the right time comes, it comes with joy and happiness.

I am nearly unstoppable except for one obstacle. I am stopped, right by my favorite food, only because of her height. She towers over me.

Claire Casey

Maya Fischbein

Megan Bartz

Daniel Liang

Adam Mead

Ethan White

THE ALMIGHTY ROSHI Rodin Zarrabi

Once upon a time, there was a girl in a small town in Iran, and her name was Little Roshi. She loved nature and admired it greatly. Her fondness for her family was endless, and she would do anything for them. She never gave up, and she always fought back for what she wanted. Let us finally begin the story.

Little Roshi skipped along the hall toward the kitchen and picked up the zereshk polo (chicken and rice).

“Deer naya khooneh!” (Don’t come home late!), her mother said.

“Bashe!” (Okay!), Roshi said, as she bolted out of the door.

Skipping through the woods, she heard the birds singing and the crickets cricketing. Little Roshi stopped in the middle of the woods to admire the beauty of nature. She looked at the looming trees and the crisp creek as the rainbow trout swam along. Roshi grabbed her notebook from her messenger bag and did a good deal of sketching. Finally continuing the skip after many erase marks and illustrations, she arrived at her grandmother’s house, screeching to a stop.

“Enjam!” (I’m here!), she squealed with excitement.

“O-open the door…” said her grandmother in an eerie and unusually raspy voice.

With a creak signaling the opening of a door, Little Roshi skipped into the little home of her grandmother.

“Bee-esar zer-es-hk pollo peshe tacktam…” (Put the chicken and rice next to my bed…).

Strolling towards her grandmother’s bedroom, she heard a few muffled shouts of distress. Although Roshi was quite confused, she continued on as she sauntered along the halls. Finally arriving at her grandmother’s bedroom, she placed the food on her bed rest.

“Cheetori?” (How are you doing?), Roshi asked.

“Khoobham,” (I’m good), her grandmother fizzled.

What’s that muffled noise? Little Roshi thought to herself.

“I’ll be back in a second,” Roshi spoke. As the wood floor creaked, Little Roshi walked to the kitchen, where the noise was coming from. Looking at the wooden cabinet, she tip-toed towards it. Little Roshi opened it quickly, finding her grandmother all tied up!

“Cheeshood enja?” (What happened?), Roshi mumbled in a worried voice.

“That Persian leopard tied me all up and attempted to take you from me!” her grandmother said in a fearful voice.

“We must fight this beastly animal! I will not give up!” Roshi said in a determined voice.

Untying up her grandmother steadily, she walked over to the stove and grabbed a pot and a frying pan. She walked on the tip of her toes to her grandmother’s bedroom. The leopard was now on all of its paws, ready to attack the grandmother and Little Roshi. Roshi signaled for her grandmother to stay back, and Grandmother obeyed.

“You fools believe you can beat me?” A devilish grin formed on the leopard’s face as it snarled.

“Medoonam meetonam tooro beyaram paine!” (I know I can bring you down!), Roshi said with a determined voice, ready to attack the leopard.

All at once, Little Roshi charged forward towards the leopard without a warning. She quickly placed the pot on the leopard’s head, not allowing it to see. The frightening creature sprang into action, clawing Little Roshi on the stomach. I will not give up… Roshi thought to herself.

“GAAAA!” Roshi cried as she charged at the leopard.

She whacked the leopard in the back with the frying pan, making a loud BONK!

“I knew I could do it!” Roshi said proudly. She ran to her grandmother for a big hug.

“Of course you could, you never give up, and that is all that matters!” her grandmother said.

“I may have thought to give up at the start, but I fought back and won!”

Since then, Little Roshi has been saving all in need, from a cat stuck up in a tree to another human being attacked by a wild creature. She has lived happily ever after.