Young Southern Student Writers Winners 2016 by Joe Wilferth

Young Southern Student Writers Elementary School Winners, 2016 Sponsored by

[ A Quick Word ] First, what a joy it's been to chair this year's YSSW contestâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;from interacting with our region's outstanding teachers and facilitating judging at UTC to assembling this collection of our winning submissions. All is done with an eye toward promoting the literary arts and the creative energy of young authors. Reading the submissions this year, in my experience as a judge and in reports from other readers/judges, has been an exercise in both humility and hilarity. The submissions, especially the winning submissions that follow, demonstrate good writing and provide a glimpse into the wild imagination of young minds. So, I thank this year's young writers and their teachers! You've given me much to laugh about, much to enjoy, and much to appreciate. Many thanks, too, to the Board of Directors and staff of the Southern Lit Alliance, particularly Darcy Welch (Executive Director), Rhett Reeves (Director of Programs), and Ann Johnson (Director of Operations). This group and these individuals deserve our thanks for their generosity and for their support of this area's outstanding young writers. Their leadership at the Southern Lit Alliance and the partnership with UTC's Department of English combine to lift up and celebrate the literary arts in our region. I am grateful for the Southern Lit Alliance as a partner in this contest. I also thank this region's dedicated teachers, K-12, who work tirelessly to instill in young minds and hearts the value of literature and creative writing. I am grateful for their efforts as they teach young authors to enjoy the craft of writing. Without our elementary, middle grades, and high school English/Language Arts teachers, along with parents and guardians, we would not have such fine work from these young people. I am also grateful to this year's readers and contest judges. It is true that every submission is read by a faculty member of UTC's Department of English. Our faculty serve in this capacity with pleasure. In fact, it's not uncommon to hear our teachers sharing with one another submissions that are especially funny, creative, or inspiring. It's another way in which we contribute to this wonderful city and this region. I appreciate the time and care with which my colleagues read every submission. It is worth noting that more than 4,000 students from schools in the Chattanooga area submitted entries this year, so it's no easy task to manage, but our judges did so this year once again with grace and enthusiasm. Likewise, I thank Emily Selleck, who provides administrative support for UTC's College of Arts and Sciences. Emily spent countless hours managing the contest and collecting the winning entries for this publication. She was dedicated and tireless in her efforts. Now, read and enjoy! Joe Wilferth, UTC English Professor and YSSW Contest Chair

[ Table of Contents ] Kindergarten Poetry & Prose ………………………………………… 4 Grade 1 Poetry ……………………………………………………….. 8 Grade 1 Prose ……………………………………………………….. 13 Grade 2 Poetry ……………………………………………………….. 20 Grade 2 Prose ……………………………………………………….. 22 Grade 3 Poetry ……………………………………………………….. 32 Grade 3 Prose ……………………………………………………….. 47 Grade 4 Poetry ……………………………………………………….. 61 Grade 4 Prose ……………………………………………………….. 70 Grade 5 Poetry ………………………………………………………. 103 Grade 5 Prose ………………………………………………………. 116 Winning submissions are arranged in what follows by grade, category, and alphabetically according to the authors' last names. Use the search feature at the bottom of this website to find individual authors.

[ Kindergarten Poetry and Prose ] China In China there are dragons. Houses have pointy roofs. Luke Boike Kindergarten Normal Park Museum Magnet School Jessica Evans

Kenya In Kenya there are zebras. Some houses are hut shaped. Trent Borghi Kindergarten Normal Park Museum Magnet School Jessica Evans

Canada Canada day is when the people celebrate Canada. The only people that celebrate are from Canada. Lenore Dunn Kindergarten Normal Park Museum Magnet School Marah Smith

Canada Canadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s smarties are filled with chocolate. They are round. Eda Ertoklar Kindergarten Normal Park Museum Magnet School Marah Smith

Indian Celebrations In India they have diyas to put out for celebrations. Diwali is when they use them. They put candles in the diyas. Stella Fahey Kindergarten Normal Park Museum Magnet School Sharon Wilsie

Italy Italy rides in gondola in water. Italy houses are close to the cliff, if you fall off you will die. Harlan Gorrell Kindergarten Normal Park Museum Magnet School Kerri Heslin 5

I Wish My Family Could Be Together I wish my family could be together. I wish I could play with my friends. I wish that Santa didn’t have trouble delivering presents. I wish the world was a better place. I wish the elves weren’t tired. Gage Mahaffey Kindergarten Boyd Buchanan School Mrs. Zumbrun The Little Kid Making New Friends One time a little kid was asking me if I wanted to play and that little kid was sad because I wouldn’t play with him. He ran away from me. That little boy was dressed up like a little, little baby boy. When he was dressed up like that he thought of when he was a little baby. And when he thought about it he was going to ask if he could play babies. When he played he wanted to ask some more friends because he had no friends. And when he had no friends he decided he could make some friends like imaginary friends. So he went on and made some friends and they said “Yes I will be your friend.” So they went on playing with the little boy and they wouldn’t stop playing with him. So they would never stop being the Circle of Friends. McKenna Mason Kindergarten Boyd-Buchanan School Monica Tompkins Canada I like Canada because it has friends. I love Canada because it has maple syrup and pancakes. Madelyn Norris Kindergarten Normal Park Museum Magnet School Kerri Heslin

The Bear Got Into the Car One time at the cabin where my grandparents were, a bear got into their car and ripped pieces off the handle of the door. He ate popcorn that was in a can. He opened the handle of the door. He was on the deck eating butter in a cup. My grandparents saw him and took his picture. He opened the gate that goes to the car. So now my grandparents have to get new things for their car. Adelyn Simpson Kindergarten Boyd-Buchanan School Monica Tompkins Celebrations in India In India elephants are very important to India. I like elephants so I like studying it. In India they have diyas for Diwali. In India they paint elephants. Annie Williamson Kindergarten Normal Park Museum Magnet School Sharon Wilsie

[ Grade 1 Poetry ] A hole I found a hole in a wall. I fell inside. Ouch! It actually is a jail. Help! I am sad and scared. I miss my Mom. I got in by falling so I try falling out. It worked! I am free! Maia Atkinson Grade 1 Normal Park Museum Magnet Mrs. Jennifer Zeigler Big Sky by: Lexi Skye Bertin The sun comes up, and the sun goes down. The clouds floating by are fluffy and white. The moon comes up, and the moon ors down. The star glitter bright in the dark night sky. The rain sprinkles down slowly to the ground. The wind blows the clouds, but the rain has sound. Anything can happen in the great big sky. Lexi Bertin 1st Grade Silverdale Baptist Academy Mrs. Steele 8

Turquoise Crashing waves on a beach Sparkling jewels in a dark cave Seeing the sky on a bright sunny day Turquoise Reese Creekmore 1st Grade Nolan Elementary Mrs. Hogue

Night of the Living Pants The night of the living pants was a terrible night. My pants came to life and made me fight. My pants went crazy-they made me dance! They made me kick and prance. They made me to go to school after I jumped in my pool. On the way they made me stomp on flowers. Oh, those pants had terrible powers! When I got to school, they made me act like a fool! My pants made me run in the halls. They even made me kick dodgeballs! That day was terrible. Those pants were unbearable. I was ashamed. I thought for sure Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be blamed. They would not stop even though I called the cops. If I had the chance I would not have worn those pants. Sawyer Hazlewood Grade 1 Thrasher Elementary Mrs. Bailey

Sly as a Fox Fox Sneaky, Furry Running, Chasing, Jumping Sharp-toothed mammal Fox Aubrey Henderson 1st Grade Boyd-Buchanan School Amy Hunter Moms are the best Once upon a time, I threw up on my Mom. It made her throw up too. It was funny to me. My mom changed her clothes. My mom is the best ever. Naomi Krehl Grade 1 Normal Park Museum Magnet Mrs. Jennifer Zeigler Musical Notes Notes and sounds moving all around Music is like a beautiful butterfly floating up and down Fluttering and turning with high notes and low The sound gets higher and higher then softly, slowly, slow Audrey Liang 1st Grade Nolan Elementary Mrs. Hogue

Once upon a time three little girls went off to a forest. They saw a wolf. They ran off. Snow began to fall. They got cold. They borrowed the wolfâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fur coat. The three girls shared the fur coat. McKenna Manning Kindergarten Boyd-Buchanan School Cow Cow Large, skittish Grazing, mooing, chewing Likes to eat a lot Cow Mark Massey Grade 1 Boyd-Buchanan School Mrs. Butcher Winter Winter is the best time of my life. In winter, snow comes and I love snow. Nothing is better than winter. Tiny snow drops from the sky. Every year snow comes. Race you! Emma McQuagge Grade 1 Boyd-Buchanan Elementary Mrs. Kayla Halstead 11

Cats Are So Silly!

At my house, there are three cats. Their names are Patches, Mittens, and Pepper. Some days, we let them go out on the back porch. When the cats come back inside, they sometimes bring in dead bugs. We do not like when they do that. The cats sometimes hide when people come over. I love to get my flashlight out so that the cats will chase after it. When we get the Christmas tree out, they get in it. We have to spray them with a spray bottle. When we have a sleepover downstairs, the cats cuddle with each other. I love that we have three cats! Keaton Smith Kindergarten Silverdale Baptist Academy Mrs. Lusardo Once upon a time I got a cat. The cat drives my Mommy crazy. She gets in her way. After she feeds her she eats again. She leaves and goes to sleep in the tree. She starts to play with her friends. She plays with the cat ball. The ball jingles. She started going somewhere with it. Then she goes back to play. She goes to eat again. Then she plays again. Mackenzie Wood Kindergarten Boyd-Buchanan School

[ Grade 1 Prose ] A Letter to Santa Dear Santa, My name is Wyatt. I am 7 years old. I live in Georgia. I have a pet named Cash. My hair is reddish. And my eyes are brown. My mom’s name is Becky. My dad’s name is Vincent. My last name is Beasley. I go to Boyd Buchanan. My favorite holiday is Christmas! And I don’t have siblings. Santa, I’ve been thinking, how do you fit up the chimney? And I’m curious, how do your reindeer fly? And I’ve been wondering, how fast are your reindeer? And what do you do in your spare time when it’s not close to Christmas? And does your belly hurt after you eat all those cookies and glasses of milk? And I’ve always been wondering, how does Rudolph’s nose glow? And where did the elves come from? When is your birthday? Do your elves do as much mischief as at my house? Santa, I would really like some Qixels. And can I please have a giant candy cane! And it would be nice if you could give me a bag of Dum Dum’s. And after you’ve given me all that stuff, I would like to say… Thank you!!! And here’s some stuff for other people. It would be nice if you gave all the people who don’t have toys. And people who don’t have a house, please give them one. And please give the poor money. And especially for the people that have shot other people, please make them think again. Santa, I just wanted to warn you about the alarm that we have, so don’t open the door! And don’t forget, I have that dog named Cash, so try not to smell like anything, ok? And our house is pretty creaky, especially the floor. Now, I will wish you well. First, Merry Christmas! And a Happy New Year! Love, Wyatt Wyatt Beasley Grade 1 Boyd-Buchanan Elementary Mrs. Kayla Halstead

Turkey’s Escape It was the night before Thanksgiving. Turkey was very scared because Mr. Moe wanted to eat him. Turkey asked the animals for ideas to escape. He asked Cow, “Do you have an idea?” Cow said, “Yes, you can run across the bridge like a ghost!” So Turkey ran across the bridge. Then he stole some candy to eat. Then he found a house. He went inside. He saw a bed, so he climbed in it. While Turkey was sleeping, Mr. Moe was calling Turkey’s name because he couldn’t find him. Mr. Moe said, “I will have to eat pig instead.” While Mr. Moe went to find pig, Turkey woke up. He saw an old lady. She said, “You’re lovely! I won’t eat you. Would you like some cupcakes?” “Of course,” said Turkey. So he became friends with the old lady. He was happy because he was never cooked for Thanksgiving. THE END Bhuvan Bhadra Grade 1 St. Nicholas School Stephanie Marshall Fire Drill One time the fire alarm went off. It scared me. We heard it. The lights were flashing. Then we lined up and we opened the door. I felt better. We lined up beside the aquarium. Ms. McCoy got in the front. We walked down the hall. We went down the stairs. We walked and walked. It went beep, beep, beep! We opened the door. We went beside Mrs. Levine and checked if everybody was there. We wanted to go back inside. It was a false alarm. Nathan Campbell Grade 1

Circus Tiger Once there was a little tabby kitten, and his name was Tiger. Since his name was Tiger, he thought he WAS a tiger. All day he would play and slink through the grass to pounce on his toy that he thought was his prey. One day, he saw the circus truck go by with a tiger jumping through a fiery hoop painted on its side. The little tabby kitten thought, “That’s what I want to do when I grow up! I want to be a circus tiger!” As the little tabby kitten grew, he would look for hoops to practice his jumping. He found a tire swing in the backyard that he used to practice. At first, the little tabby kitten couldn't reach. But, as he kept growing, he kept trying. One day, when he was older, he finally made it through the tire swing. He was so excited! He knew it was time for him to join the circus. The next day, he went to find the circus ringmaster to tell him that he was ready to become a circus tiger and jump through a fiery hoop. But, the circus ringmaster said, “You are not a tiger.” When the ringmaster said that, it broke his heart. The little tabby kitten replied, “But, my name is Tiger. So, I must be a tiger.” The ringmaster said, “You are too small to be a real tiger.” The little tabby kitten said, “But, I am orange, and I have stripes.” The ringmaster replied, “Tigers have round ears and yours are pointed, and tigers have black stripes, and you do not.” “But, I’ve been waiting all my life to be a circus tiger,” said the little tabby kitten. “Well, then,” said the ringmaster, “I guess you can dress like a circus tiger and be in the circus and jump through a fiery hoop.” The little tabby kitten shouted, “Woo hoo!” and hugged the ringmaster and said, “I won’t let you down!” And, the little tabby kitten kept his promise and was the best circus tiger there ever was. Lily Kate Coughlin 1st Grade Silverdale Baptist Academy Mrs. Emily Fernandes Lake Winnie First, I got on the rollercoaster. The rollercoaster made me sick! Lake Winnie is horrible. I never want to go there again. Finally, I rode the river boat ride. It made me feel better. But, I still do not like Lake Winnie. Savannah Dukes Grade 1 Normal Park Museum Magnet Megan Methvin

The Tasty Thing Once upon a time there was an Octopus named Oley. When he went swimming he saw something strange. It was a light brown circle with black dots on it. And then Oley saw Phil Fish swim by. Oley chased him. When he caught up to Phil , he told him about the thing he found. So Oley showed him about the thing he found. Oley showed Phil to it and asked what is this? Hmmmm… Phil thought for a long time. And then Phil had it and then he told Oley. One time I was helping someone off a hook. I heard the fisherman say this is a good….. Looked! You looked! And there was something like that in his hand. Can I taste it? asked Phil. Yes responded Oley. Mmmmm… said Phil. The End! What was the tasty thing? A. cake B. Hot dog C. Cookie D. Pizza Will Hammontree Grade 1 Thrasher Elementary Mrs. Michelle Bailey Monkey Grass I was sitting in a patch of monkey grass. It was soft. Then, I tried laying in it. I liked it. Next, I showed my mom. She liked it. Finally, I hung out in it for a long time. Liam Keown Grade 1 Normal Park Museum Magnet Megan Methvin

The Girl Who Took Her Dog to Paris Once upon a time there was a little girl who wanted to go to Paris. She told her mommy all the time how bad she wanted to go to see the Eiffel Tower. Her mommy kept telling her that we do not have enough money to go to Paris but that answer was not good enough. The little girl ran into her bedroom and started telling her dog Bella how they were going to Paris. Katelyn took Bella and climbed out the window but realized she thought Paris would be too far to walk so she went back inside and decided to get out her piggy bank and count her money. She took all her money out and thought she had ten dollars. Katelyn decided to go to the airport with all her money and her dog, when she got there she hopped on a plane that would take her to Paris. Katelyn landed at the airport in Paris and knew she had to get to the Eiffel Tower. She saw a limo driver and she asked him Mr. could you please take me to the Eiffel Tower and he said yes. Once they arrived she got out of the car with Bella and got on the elevator that would take her to the very top. She looked out at the big buildings and thought it was magical but then it was time for the ride down. She walked the streets trying to figure out what to do so she went into a hotel lobby and asked for a room. They gave her the keys and she and her dog went upstairs where they ordered room service and watched cartoons and her and her dog got to stay up as late as they wanted. She kept telling her dog Bella that she sure could get use to this. Then she heard her mommy saying Katelyn wake up wake up it is time to go to school. She said mommy I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t go to school Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m in Paris she said no Katelyn you are dreaming!!! Katelyn Kitchings 1st Grade Silverdale Baptist Academy Mrs. Emily Fernandes

Cow Bull and the Villagers One day a boy was born. When he got older and older he got lost. When he was lost he bought a boat. He bought the boat so he could travel around the lakes and rivers so he could find land to live on. After he found his land, he planted crops and built huts. The boy that found the land turned into an Indian. He wore feathers on his head. He wore brown wool pants. He wore brown and black lines under his eyes. He also wore brown wool boots. One day some villagers found his land. The villagers were lost like him. The boy taught the villagers how to plant crops. The villagers named the boy Cow Bull. Cow Bull named the three villagers. Their names were Willy, Billy and Philly. Cow Bull and the three villagers became best friends. Cow Bull, Willy, Billy and Philly decided to go look for gold on their land. They took Cow Bull’s boat to look for the gold. They found a cave. Inside the cave they didn’t find gold. They found diamonds!! They gathered as many diamonds as they could and took them back to their village. They built a chest to keep the diamonds in. They took Cow Bull’s boat to another village to find more food and tools. They took some of the diamonds to trade for the food and tools. They went back to their village and had a feast with their crops and the food they bought. They used the rest of their diamonds to get jobs. Willy opened a pet adoption center because he loves animals. Billy opened a grocery store and sold the crops they grew. Philly has his own hardware store to sell the tools they bought with the diamonds. And Cow Bull lived happily ever after. Jake McGhee 1st Grade Silverdale Baptist Academy Steffey Snowball fight On a cold winter night I was eating dinner. I love going out in the snow and I wanted to go out that second. I said to my dad, “Can we have a snowball fight?” “Ok”, yelled my dad from the kitchen. So we got on our winter gear. First I got on my coat. Next, I got on my hat. Then I found my scarf. I looked for my mittens but I couldn’t find them. So I ask my mom and she said I think they are by the door. I looked by the door and there they were. So me and my dad went out the door. “Chinka, Chinka,” dad unlocked the door and locked it back again. We started to build our forts. I wasn’t so good at it. Dad said, “Libby are you ok?” “Yeah I slipped,” said Libby. My dad helped me up. We had the snowball fight. “Splat!” It was a long night. We played and played and played. Libby Setlich, 1st grade Normal Park Museum Magnet Lafferty

A great cat for me and McKenzie My mom and dad got a cat for my birthday present. It was an early birthday present. I loved it. We were so sad and then so happy. I was trying to hold it in the correct way. I was turning 3 when it happened. We got him when he was 0. Now he is 2 and about to turn 3. I was in pre-k when it happened. My cat is nice. I love him. Molly Sharpe 1st grade Normal Park Museum Magnet Lafferty The best thing to do on a snow day is to make snowmen. Because it is fun and sometimes it turns out good. Noah Walthour Grade 1 Grace Baptist Academy Sherri Russell On the Brooklyn Bridge One day I was visiting the Brooklyn Bridge. We were waiting in line. I saw something in the water. Then the line moved. But I didn’t. I said, “Mom, there is something in the water.” There was no answer. I looked where she was last but she was not there. I thought I was not going to find my family again so I started to cry. A woman saw me crying. She asked me what was wrong. I told her I had lost my family. Then one of my mom’s friends was pushing backwards through the line. She had found me! The woman that found me crying asked if she was my mom. I said she was my mom’s friend. I was so happy to find my family! Margo Windemuller Grade 1 Normal Park Museum Magnet Beth McCoy 19

[ Grade 2 Poetry ] My Walking Stick My walking Stick is important to me. My Granddad made it. We hiked a mountain together with it when I was 5 and he was 85. Timmy Andrews Grade Normal Park Museum Magnet Heather Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien Stars Stars give us light to share together. Stars give us navigation to help us find our way. Rotating with the sun, Shimmering in the night. Molly Kate Lewis Grade 2 Boyd-Buchanan School Mrs. Carol Littlejohn The Light That Hit the Spider The light hit the spider. It gave me such a clatter. The light was so bright. The spider was under the light. Then, boom! The light fell down. The spider was killed, And I fell down. Ouch! Zachary Moses, Grade 2 Boyd Buchanan School, Melanie Schonhoff 20

The Way Fruit Grows Fruit is very tasty. I can surely tell. But do you know where it comes from? Well, if you do not know, I will tell you. Fruit is a plant. It grows on trees, bushes and vines. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very interesting to watch fruit grow. And while youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re waiting for your plant to grow, You can watch the sprouts grow into a strong plant. Sydney Twitchell, Grade 2 Boyd Buchanan School, Melanie Schonhoff Write Working hard to think Right or wrong Imagination traveling Tough sometimes Expanding your memory Ethan Wagner, Grade 2 Boyd-Buchanan School Mrs. Carol Littlejohn My Teacher Thank you for checking a lot of writing. You have to read a lot. Your job is hard to do. I am going to be just like you. Drake Young Grade 2 Soddy Elementary School Mrs. Tonia Mercer

[ Grade 2 Prose ] Me Lily and Loucifer It was a dark and stormy night I was scared but all of the sudden a scary shadow leaped on me, it was soft. I turned on the light and it was a very big huskey. I looked in the closet my toy huskey was gone! I looked at the real huskey and it looked just like my toy one. I thingk it’s my toy! I said to myself, “I went down stairs to tell my mom but just then the storm hit!” Good thing everyone was down stairs. My dad and I were tring to figuer out how to make him back in to a toy but we couldn’t it was too cute. My mom and dad were fine with me keeping it. I named her Lily. We played and played until the sun went down. There was a smile on my face. It was to go to bed. The next morning me and Lily raced down stairs! I gave Lily her dog food. I got my cereal. After we went outside for Lily’s walk. It was geting dark. Lily is afraid of the dark! Lily raced into the forest I chased after her but she was too fast. I went in to the forest anyway. I found her I said! But it was a wolf. It was a nice wolf So he led me to Lily. Then, the wolf helped Lily and me out of the forest. Apparently the wolf didn’t have a home. So, I brought the wolf home and on the way I was trying to make up a name for the wolf I named him Loucifer. Luella Bragdon 2nd Grade Normal Park Museum Magnet Ms. Jessica Bagwell Elf Once there was an elf named Frankle. It was a cold winter day. I was Christmas day. That’s when Frankle works with Santa. He goes house to house and drops presents under there tree. Frankle caused so much trouble one year so he decided to go to a house and that’s where he stayed for the rest of his life. His parents looked for him. They could not find him. He was happy where he lived. He had so much fun and he got big every day and had not been that tall before. He was so scared. So, he went home. He was so happy he was home. Then he threw toilet paper over the lights and his parents laughed. Next winter he visited his friends in Hawaii and he was glad to see them. The end. Sean Brune 2nd Grade Normal Park Museum Magnet Ms. Jessica Bagwell

There was a Bird that Crossed the USA Once upon a time, there was bird that had a nest. That bird laid on its to keep them warm until the bird heard a crack. The bird said, "My eggs!" 20 years later all of the birds crossed the USA. They landed on a hunting ground. One little birdie met a little turkey. They played and played and played until they heard a gun shot. They all ran. When the gun shots were gone one of the birds said he had a bullet in his leg. They called the bird doctor and the bird doctor got the gun bullet out of the bird's leg. Samuel Caballero, Grade 2 Boyd Buchanan School Katelyn Statom Bring Me home I live in a snow globe left in a classroom. I look at kids. They look so happy. I think that some day someone will bring me home. Blaine Campbell, Grade 2 Grace Baptist Academy Hillary Waters The Cupcake Queen! Once upon a time there was a Cupcake Queen and she loved pink. So one day she wanted to pick some pink flowers, but when she opened the kingdom doors she realized nothing was pink. The Queen said, “What happened here? Nothings pink!” “Oh I know who did this! The Lickarush king!” So the Cupcake Queen decided to go to king Lickarush’s castle so she could get her color. But on the way the Cupcake Queen realized that her dress turned black. When she got there it was really dark so she could not see. But than a tiny light came to her so now she could see. She grabbed the light! She looked down. The Lickarush king was under her. The Cupcake Queen said, “Give me my color back now.” “Ok” the Lickarush king said. So the Cupcake Queen grabbed her color and went back to her kingdom. When she got to her kingdom she threw the color in the air and it spred all around the kingdom. The Cupcake Queen said, “Pink cupcakes for everyone!” Olivia Center, Grade 2 Normal Park Museum Magnet Amy Long 23

Untitled One night my dog was laying down. It was a stuffed animal. But I think something is wrong with him every time I go to sleep he comes to life, that’s why I never go to sleep. But one night I fell asleep. My mom was doing the dishes my brother brought his friends over to my house. I asked Elliott’s friends “Do you want to help me kill a stuffed animal?” They said, “Sure let’s go!” Then the dog heard and ran upstairs. My friend kicked him all the way down the stairs. He got mad at my friend and threw a pencil at him. It did nothing to Elliott’s friend. Then I heard a door shut. I ran down stairs. The door was shut the basement. I was scared so I ran outside. It was dark. I called 911 to go to the basement. When they got here I ran outside and said come in.” They ran in and I said go into the basement. They jumped down to the basement. Then the police went with a pistol. They shot a lot of times but the dog was up stairs. Then I said to go up stairs and they did. Then the dog bumped into the policeman and the dog got shot in the head but he was still a life he got all of stuffing and ran it all was falling out then he died. Pierce Essex Grade 2 Normal Park Museum Magnet Leigh Grady The bad ball Hi! My name is Will and it’s Friday. PE day awesome! Let’s go to school. Noooo PE is canceled! School is out and we can’t wait till Monday. I am going to start a club called PE every day. I will be housed in my back yard we will play scatter ball, casper friendly ghost, and swamp. So I ask my mom. She say I can’t! So I ask my friend Bob. His mom Bobet also said no. So instead we ask Fred. His mom said yes! We go to the store and buy 1000 $ worth of PE stuff and so we buy this bouncy ball. Wait I’m going to bed…Good morning! We named the ball Dud. So, we went to Fred’s mom and said we threw all the stuff except one thing. Ok wait what she said. Noooo we are grounded for a year! Will Goodyear Grade 2 Normal Park Museum Magnet Amy Long

Bad Day at the Zoo Hello my name is Lucy. My job is to be a zookeeper at the Nashville zoo. Last week something bad happened and I will tell you all about it. I was just about to put the open sign up, when the monkeys escaped! The monkeys grabbed my key’s and they started to let all the animals free and run around in the zoo. Oh no, this was going to be the worst day ever, I screamed “No”. But then I had an idea, I would use my other set of keys to put the animals back in the cages. But every time I put an animal in its cage the monkeys would release it. I got really, really mad. Then I screamed, “those monkeys are rude, mean, and sneaky!!” When the monkeys heard me scream they charged at me with vines in their hands. I was worried but I was also wondering what the monkeys were going to do with me. As the monkeys got closer, I had a better view of them and I figured out what they were going to do with me. But as they got closer all of the spinning, swinging, and twisting made me dizzy. It made me so dizzy that I fell off of my feet and went to sleep. While I was sleeping the monkeys grabbed me and tied me in a very tall tree. The monkeys tied my hands to two different branches and my feet to two different branches. When I woke up I was really surprised. Then the monkeys started to whisper something. But one whispered it a little too loud and I heard what they were going to do to me! They were going to throw watermelons at me until the vines broke and I would fall from the tree and bust my head open. After hearing this frightening plan, I had to think of a way to talk them out of it. I said, “please don’t do that!” But by the time I finished saying that the monkeys had gone to get the watermelons! When the monkeys came back, I told them that I was sooo sorry for what I had said. Then I said that sometimes people make mistakes by what they say. Then the monkeys scratched their heads and said they were sorry too. They untied me and put all the animals back into their cages. Now I have learned my lesson, don’t say what you don’t mean and do NOT joke around with a group of monkeys!! Marley Sophia Harper Grade 2 Thrasher Elementary Karen Simpson

A bad day for Emma First, one hot African day Emma the gazelle was eating grass on the Savanna. Next, a cheetah ran after her then she got an idea I will lose it in the tall grass. Then boom! a hunter shot his only bowlit it missed so she escaped in the tall grass I am having a bad day when night came she was happy she dreamed of a rainbow so she had a good night Gabrielle Harvey Grade 2 Normal Park Museum Magnet Mrs. Lauren Odum The Secrets of London The leaves were blowing in London. It was a dark and stormy night. A girl named Katherine went out into the dark night. She said, “how about I find a mystery on this night?” She found a string on the floor, so she lifted the string up, and she found a secret passageway. She said, “this has to be a mystery.” She closed the secret door back up, and she left it until pitch dark. When darkness came, she opened the hatch back up, and she jumped into the hatch, and it transformed her to a different place. She got out of the hatch, and she saw all kinds of flowers and animals and lots and lots and lots of houses. It seemed to her like it was a village. She saw a pointy thing in the air, so she thought there was a castle somewhere out there. When she walked up to the village, a bus

came to get her. When she walked in the bus, there were a lot of kids and parents who were going back to the village. All the people who were on the bus wanted to see her. When they were half way to the village, one person came up to her and asked, “where are you from?” She said, “I am Katherine, and I am from London.” Katherine asked, “what is your name?” The little girl said, “my name is Elizabeth.” Katherine asked, “what is this village called?” Elizabeth said, “it is called the Grassy Green.” Katherine and Elizabeth were best of friends by the time they got to the village. When they got to the village, Elizabeth showed Katherine her house and introduced Katherine to her mom. When they were on the front porch, there were a lot and a lot of people waiting there to see Katherine. Some of the people thought that Katherine was famous because she came out of nowhere, but other people thought she wanted to hurt the village. She told the people the story of jumping into the hatch and it transformed her into the village, but the people thought she was making up the story. She said, “it was true, because you know how I came out of nowhere, that’s the secret hatch that transformed me to the village.” So, some of the people started to leave because she kept telling the story over and over, but some of the people believed her. The people that believed her asked her, “do you need help going home?” She said, “no, I want to find out more about this village, but if I need more help, I will ask you.” They said, “ok.” Elizabeth and Katherine ran back inside the house, and Elizabeth asked her mom, “can I go out with Katherine?” Her mom said, “yes.” So, they were off. Katherine asked Elizabeth if they have a castle in this village, and Elizabeth said, “yes.” Katherine asked, “can you take me to the castle?” Elizabeth said, “yes.” So, they went to the castle. When they got to the front door of the castle, first Katherine asked Elizabeth if she had any family members who lived in the castle. Elizabeth said, “yes, my grandmother is the queen.” Katherine asked, “is that all?” Elizabeth said there is one more person in my family who lives in the castle; it is my cousin, and her name is Kelly. Katherine asked, “how old is she?” Elizabeth said, “she is 14. She is the princess. Do you want to go meet her?” Katherine said, “yes, I do.” So they went into the castle together, and Katherine met the queen and the princess. The princess and the queen were very good friends with Katherine by the end of the day. When Katherine and Elizabeth left the castle, Katherine said goodbye to all of her friends and asked the bus to take her back to where she started the day. She jumped back into hatch, and when she got out, she was back home. Then she had a long, long, long sleep. The End Addie Rose Hendrix Grade 2 Silverdale Baptist Academy Heather Beaver

The Adventures of Firuy Chapter 1 This is Firuy, a 19 year old teenager. He is about to be 20. His birthday is on April 30th. He loves videogames, like Mario Bros., Attack of the Zombies, Party Attack, and Donkey Kong. He loves adventures and exploring. One day Firuy took a trip to India. He was very, very excited to go to India because he had never gone to such a place. He had heard about the place. He saw it on TV: the jewels and beautiful buildings. Chapter 2 Firuy decided to ask his dad if he could go hiking. His dad said, “Yes,” so they packed up and went hiking to India’s best mountains, the Himalayas. Firuy and his dad hiked up a huge mountain. His dad murmured, “This if fun.” Firuy kind of agreed with his dad. Suddenly two snow wolves appeared, attracted by the food in their backpacks. They screamed and ran away. His dad said, “I’m going to call the police.” Then they heard a siren, and knew that the police were coming to save them. The police came and a police officer got out of the police car and went to the snow wolves with two cages. He put the cages over the wolves and Firuy and his dad were saved. The snow wolves howled. “A-Whoo A-Whoo!” Chapter 3 Firuy decided to ask his dad if he could explore because it was April 27th, and he had not seen Pakistan or Agra, so he asked, “Can I explore India?” His dad said “Yes,” so he went on his way. He wanted to go to Pakistan, because it was in the country. He walked farther and farther away from home. Suddenly Firuy noticed nothing looked familiar to him. His head started hurting. He shivered and shook; his teeth chattered like crazy! Firuy ran around in circles like a wild boar. Then he spotted a police man. He slowly went up to him and asked, “Can you help me?” The officer murmured, “Yes.” Firuy told him his address, and the police took him home. When he opened the door he yelled “Dad” and his dad yelled “Son!” Firuy ran and hugged his dad so hard that he fell down. Chapter 4 In Agra, Firuy saw the Taj Mahal. It was made of white marble and had designs carved in it. It was huge— 561 (171 meters) feet high. Firuy didn’t like how crowded it was. The cool part was that it was all for a king’s wife.

In Mumbai (Bombay) there were so many cool stores and lights. There were different weddings every day. On his third day people set off fireworks so it was almost impossible to sleep! Also it was sooo hot! In Delhi, Firuy stayed with his relatives. It was so cold. His relatives kept the windows and doors open in the middle of the winter. He went to the Red Fort in Old Delhi. There was a monkey. Firuy was standing there eating lunch when a monkey jumped and stole his sandwich and fruit! Chapter 5 Today was April 30th, Firuy’s birthday. He jumped up and yelled, “Yay!” He asked his dad, “Can I have a dog?” His dad yelled, “Yes!!” Then his dad searched the internet to look for a dog that had to love Firuy, have floppy ears and big eyes. They went to a pet shop and then a dog with floppy ears, big eyes and a squishy nose ran to Firuy and never left him. Firuy picked up the dog and dog licked him like crazy. Firuy named him Fire and they were thrilled. Chapter 6 One day Firuy took Fire for a walk outside so he could see India. Suddenly Fire saw a cat and started to bark, “Wough Wough.” That startled Firuy and he let go of the leash and Fire chased the cat till he was out of sight. Firuy found Fire near a tree howling, “Howo Howo” because he saw a black widow coming closer and closer and…. Whesh!! Firuy leaped and grabbed Fire and they rolled down the meadow safely. They lay on the grass. Firuy cried, “Yes!” and Fire licked him till his face was so wet you couldn’t see his eyes. Chapter 7 One day Firuy took Fire for a walk to a university. He talked to the boss. He was Punjabi and then the boss murmured, “You can be a teacher!” Firuy jumped in the air and threw Fire up in the air and yelled, “Yes!” So he went to a 5th grade classroom and started the lesson. The kids were there. When he finished his lesson with his class, he went on his way home and he saw a beautiful lady. She had on a golden dress, golden earrings and a golden bracelet and he fell in love with her at first sight. He opened a tiny box and asked, “Will you marry me?” “Yes!” she exclaimed in astonishment. Then she announced, “The wedding day will be tomorrow!”

So it was. All her relatives were there, and so were Firuy’s relatives. After the marriage Firuy asked, “What is your name?” “Vijay” she cried. Then she asked “What is your name?” “Firuy” he said. Vijay loved Firuy and Firuy loved Vijay. Chapter 8 One day Firuy asked Vijay, “Can we have a baby?” Vijay exclaimed, “Yes!” She went to learn about how to take care of a baby. She also learned to be patient with a baby. She went to the hospital and she got surgery, then suddenly POP!! A baby came out. Firuy came into the room and saw the baby and cried, “Yes!” They named him Naveen. Firuy exclaimed, “Naveen will love Fire a lot.” Suddenly Naveen came crawling in and saw Fire and cried “Va goo.” Then Fire came up to him and Naveen hugged and hugged him. Naveen Jestice Grade 2 Battle Academy Angie Hodges The Evil Horse One glorious day, Milo and Luke went to the Hunter Museum. “I always liked that horse”, Luke said as he looked at the wooden horse standing next to the Hunter Museum. Just then, Luke saw an odd looking rock. But when he picked it up, rocks caved in to form a cave next to the horse. Luke and Milo explored the cave until CABBOOM!!!! They fell in a trap. Suddenly, they hear a clomp, clomp, clomp noise coming their way. It was the horse. “Ha, Ha, Ha”, the horse said. “You can’t save the world when you’re locked up.” Then the horse walked away. Just then, Luke saw another weird looking rock. When he lifted it, there was a chainsaw. He broke the bars with the chainsaw. They escaped and landed in a river. Milo felt something weird in the water. It was a bomb! They found the horse in the museum throwing some TNT at some people. We threw the bomb at the horse and it blew up. Luke Pfiester 2nd Grade Normal Park Museum Magnet Stephanie Higgs

The Monsters Got Their Doom Once upon a time there was a castle of monsters. The ruler of them was cold Agmis. One day some men came and killed some of them. Agmis got the best builders to build a wall so they did. The men could not get in they banged and banged. At night they had a party but it did not end well and they died. Ian Rogers, Grade 2 Normal Park Museum Magnet, Mrs. Lauren Odum Untitled At the Hunter Museum all was still. Then the horse came to life destroying the whole building. Then I said, Stop! And one second he looked at me and almost shot me! But it didn’t because Carter was a superhero he use his laser eyes to block it. After I knew he was a superhero there was a spider called a radioactive spider and I ate it and Carter said No! Don’t eat that!” but it was too late. So I shot The Horse and we beat him once and for all. Jasiah Woodard, Grade 2 Normal Park Museum Magnet, Leigh Grady The Underworld Adventure One day I was walking around at Coolidge Park and I saw a live skeleton horse, and I think to myself, “It would be nice to show off.” I hop on it and it takes me under water and then through a secret passage and I end up in the underworld. There are demons, zombies, skeletons and more. I, a defenseless human, have to survive through this?! I have no idea where I am. I’m confused, lost, hot and thirsty. “I want to go home”, I say to myself. I wonder around some more when I see an ancient script. It was about the ultimate map and I wanted to find it. I searched for it and found signs pointing to it. I found the entrance, there were demon guards protecting it. “I have to get it”, I whisper to myself. I try to get the ultimate map, but I get caught. I run away and see a pool of lava with the golden horse. I do some parkour moves and I hop on it and ride to the surface. Later, I form a rescue team. I still always go to Coolidge Park to remember going to the underworld. PJ Wright, 2nd Grade Normal Park Museum Magnet, Stephanie Higgs 31

[ Grade 3 Poetry ] Puppy to Dog Puppy Cute, silly Whining, wagging, licking The cutest thing ever Smelling, biting, begging Smelly, heavy Dog Michael Benton Grade 3 Normal Park Museum Magnet Emily Pittman

Bay peaceful beautiful Swimming diving canoeing Bays can make a beach Orca Hudson Fundy Calm quiet Bay Jakob Bruner Grade 3 Normal Park Museum Magnet Mrs. Courtney Hueter

Rainbow Red Yellow Playing Running Laughing Kids everywhere love seeing rainbows. Guarding Coloring Loving Orange Blue Rainbow Rebecca Bruner 3rd Grade Normal Park Museum Magnet Elementary Mrs. Bethany Schlar I am a Boy I am a boy. I wonder that I am African. I hear the sounds of laughter. I see joy in everybody. I want a snake for a pet. I prevent my soul. I feel like a flower. I worry about my family. I cry when I get hurt badly. I understand math. I say nice things to people. I dream that I had all the Pokemon. Nyrider Cofer Grade 3 Nolan Elementary School Holland Lanphier

The Bear A bear fishes in streams He has a lot of dreams. He grumbles and tumbles. The campers’ food he crumbles. And he hears the people’s screams. Savannah Curtis, Grade 3 Grace Baptist Academy, Launa Cooke

Special Night

Sunsets Sinks under sky Stars rise past horizon Yellow moon lifts slow as yeast Huge moon Kennedy Doan, Grade 3 Bright School, Elsbeth DeRusicher

Rainforest Rainforest Hot, humid Flows, blows, rains Windy, noisy Rainforest Lilly Floied, Grade 3 Boyd-Buchanan School, Mrs. Kim Glisson

What Did My Sister Do Today? Made a mess Put on a dress Jumped in the leaves Climbed a tree Cried a lot Tried to mop Played the flute Helped make soup Refused to eat the peas Tried on a shirt that fell to her knees Took a nap Caught a rat Fed the dog Played with a hog Played a game Went out in the rain Ate some bread Went to bed Mollie Garland Grade 3 Hilger Higher Learning Shelley George

The Snail The snail coming slowly through the garden, sometimes stopping to eat the vegetables. So slimy, so small, slowly moving through the garden, like honey running down a leaf. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shell brown and hard, like an oak tree just standing there. On the shell is a swirl, like a spring just waiting to be sprung. And the snail keeps moving through the garden. Lily Hartley Grade 3 Bright School

Ms. Elizabeth Oakes Trees bumpy like a porcupine tall as the sky leaves falling like snow trees fall down like rain

Christopher Kennedy Grade 3 Nolan Elementary School Diane Huseman

Swordfish Swordfish make a tasty meal But, I wonder how That would make your stomach feel? 1,000 pounds They can weigh In the Pacific Ocean Is where they stay… Slashing my sword Every day! I jump out of the water I make a big splash! Everybody sees me And all start to laugh! That’s me I’m a swordfish I’ll be back in a Flash! Ethan Lane Grade 3 Boyd Buchanan School Lisa Holland

Peanut Butter Every thing depends on peanut butter, sitting in my pantry, yum yum yum, peanut butter Xander Maynard 3rd Grade Nolan Elementary Holland Lanphier 38

Seahorses Seahorses are poor swimmers But I think theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re winners! They swim in the sea all day Wiggling their tails and fins. Holding onto seaweed Trying not to get swooshed away By the big sea creatures. They can be any color and size. When it comes to seahorses, Nothing is boring! Danielle Middleton Grade 3 Boyd Buchanan School Ione Matherley

A book Is like a portal, To other worlds, A safari, Something To feed your brain. But when you close it, Everything gets sucked back in, Like milk through a straw. All that is left of it Stays, In your brain. Campbell Miller 3rd Grade Nolan Elementary Ashley Thornton Bay Salty soft Swimming boating snorkeling Bays are so very large Orca Fundy Hudson round busy Bay Sylvie Miller Grade 3 Normal Park Museum Magnet Mrs. Courtney Hueter

I am Thankful for You I am thankful for my eyes to see. My favorite fall sight is the leaves. They are so pretty, orange, yellow, green, and red. I am thankful for my ears to hear. My favorite fall sound is the wind blowing. It makes me calm when it blows through the trees. I am thankful for my mouth to taste. My favorite fall flavor is Pastel de Nata. I like it when it’s hot out of the oven and we all sit at the table together. I am thankful for my skin to feel. My favorite fall texture is my family’s skin and to be able to hug them every day. I am thankful for my nose to smell. My favorite fall smell is the smell of Pastels de Nata coming out of the oven. It smells great! Bruna Monteiro Grade 3 The Bright School Noelle Coleman My Nightmare: A Poem A fiery dragon, I steal its egg. I feel its rage. Cold night, Old dragon. I’ve set the stage. I run, She chases. Her breath lights the night. A rocky tunnel, My escape. But not the end of my fright. Aidan Noll Grade 3 Thrasher Elementary Mrs. Ferguson

Rainforest Rainforest Green, beautiful Rains, decays, breathes Tall, brown Rainforest Daniel Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Bryan Grade 3 Boyd-Buchanan School Mrs. Kim Glisson

valley deep wet shining raining growing you might see wild flowers near a valley Yosemite valley Lookout Valley Chattanooga valley lush green valley Mia P. Grade 3 Normal Park Museum Magnet Barbra Lail

I Am… I am Jack. I wonder if there are aliens out there. I hear nothing. I see a wall. I want a new video game. I am Jack. I pretend I have a dad. I feel air. I touch air. I worry about getting in trouble. I cry when I get hurt. I am Jack. I understand words. I say “hey”. I dream nightmares. I try doing the best I can. I hope I will finish. I Am Jack. Jackson Schurr Grade 3 St. Nicholas School Lynda Pritchett

I Amâ&#x20AC;Ś I am on a hugging streak. I wonder why I am a human. I hear Will. I see Will. I want to have fun. I am on a hugging streak. I pretend to be Levi. I feel nothing. I touch Joe. I worry about my brother. I cry tears. I am on a hugging streak. I understand that Beau is afraid of pumpkins. I say hi! I dream of cool stuff. I try new foods. I hope to have friends. I am on a hugging streak. Zachary Schurr Grade 3 St. Nicholas School Lynda Pritchett Daddy Playful Lovely Loving Caring Playing A great thinker, my daddy. Sharing Giving Doing Blue Eyes Blond Hair Daddy Haiden Sparks 3rd Grade Normal Park Museum Magnet Elementary Mrs. Bethany Schlar

Long Gone He used to be here. His name was Gumbo. He was loved and special Because he had One green eye One brown eye. He was long gone when I was a baby When I got home From the hospital, I was greeted with a kiss. He did not get near Any kid but me. I was his favorite. He would bark at everyone but me. He loved me and I loved him. Maggie Thiele, Grade 3 Nolan Elementary School, Diane Huseman

River Deep Shallow flowing twisting moving the river splashes into the bay Tennessee River Nile River Mississippi River lazy messy river Carter Wendt Grade 3 Normal Park Museum Magnet Barbra Lail

Weddell Seal Weddell seals are animals of the ice They have excellent eyesight Fluffy, with silver, gray, and white They are little fur balls That swim down below Along with the currents Together they flow Cute, cute, furry friends That live mostly under the sea If you take a swim, You might find me! Kate Wood, Grade 3 Boyd Buchanan School, Lisa Holland

[ Grade 3 Prose ] Penguins Cinnamon and Marshmallow were arguing while driving as they always do. But, today, there was going to be more to argue about. You see, Saint Nick made Cinnamon and Marshmallow share a car to drive back and forth to the work shop. The logical choice would be for Cinnamon to drive, he was the tallest penguin, allowing him to see out of the windshield. However, Marshmallow, the short round penguin, insisted he would drive, while Cinnamon yelled out short directions and warnings of sharp turns. Marshmallow was a little slow in his reactions to Cinnamon’s directions, or maybe Cinnamon was a little slow to give directions. Either way, there wasn’t a Santa’s shop worker that wasn’t afraid of their driving. This particular day, Cinnamon had made this dual very late, making Marshmallow wait at the donut shop for 16 minutes. Marshmallow, with a scowl on his face, drove this candy cane car like it had a number 3 on it. You heard that right, their car was finely crafted from fragile candy canes, by some of the craftiest elves Santa had. While Marshmallow put the pedal to the medal, Cinnamon looked away, biting his tongue. He was good at not saying anything at all, if you couldn’t say something nice. Cinnamon looked up just in time to see Fuzz the Polar Bear asleep in the middle of the road. Fuzz should have been named Sleepy, since he often laid down for a nap at first yawn. By the time Marshmallow reacted to Cinnamon’s alarming squawks to avoid Fuzz’s limp body, it was too late. The precious candy cane cars left tires hit the black ice side of the road, sending their fragile chariot of delicious art into a flat spin. As this feathery dual fought each other for control of the steering wheel, they skidded quickly across the packed down snow. As they squealed and squawked out in a language only two angry penguins would understand, they hugged each other and closed their eyes. All the hugging couldn’t help them and their fragile car. They crashed the back of the car into a future Christmas tree, sending candy cane pieces flying high in the air. There was no getting to the workshop on time today. Fuzz, realizing the penguins wrecked their precious car in attempts to save his life, ran out to see how he could help this chaotic mismatch of Santa’s helpers. He felt terrible about the mess their car was in. Once he could tell the two squawking birds were okay, he began doing what he does best, building stuff. He built a cart from the ruined Christmas tree, and quickly put the candy cane pieces in it, then started hauling it to Santa’s shop. At first sight, Santa is very upset at the busted candy cane chariot. Fuzz assures Santa they can fix the car in a short enough time to only create limited delay in building Santa’s toys. Fuzz also volunteered to work for free to catch up Santa’s helpers. You see, Santa’s elves were working on a special project, building the latest and greatest new toy. This toy was in the highest of demand, a limited edition hover board.

Once Santa saw how hard Fuzz and the penguins worked, he could only get excited. He was excited because this crazy trio was working themselves ahead of Santa’s schedule. This was going to be the best Christmas ever! The penguins were rewarded by Santa for fixing a problem so quickly. He gave them a brand new candy cane car. They were so excited, they gave the car to Fuzz, and put him in charge of driving it. Their new job was to keep Fuzz awake while driving. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! Carter Brown, 3rd Grade Silverdale Baptist Academy, Lisa Ellis The Surprise… On one beautiful sunny day with nice cool breezes and fresh warm air, the leaves on the trees were waving side to side like a boat. On that same day, we wanted to do a surprise to Mom – just my Dad, sister Kassi, and I. But hours later we had a conversation about if we will do something to Mom. One more hour had passed and we were going shopping at Toys R Us to get something. “But Dad”, I asked. “What if we don’t find one?” “You’ll see,” he replied. Soon, we got in the car. Dad drove Kassi and me through the neighborhood on the highway to Toys R Us. “Wow!” I said to myself, “I wish I could get lots of other toys.” We went through isles and isles of lots of stuffed animals, but we didn’t find one. “Well,” Dad told us, “I guess we will have to use the one at home.” “Uhhhhh!” I groaned. “Why can’t we just use a similar one?” I asked. “No,” Dad replied. “Let’s just use the one at home.” “Fine,” I said quietly… I was a little angry at him. Then we went to the cashier and out the doors – empty handed. Then, we got back in the car and drove through the highway and down the neighborhood. It was getting late outside when we were home. We found Mom sitting on our old fancy dark purple chair reading a book. And Nate, my brother, and Vincent (Vinnie) were in bed, so we had to be very quiet in the house. She told us, “Get into bed.” “But, Mom!” I explained, “Kassi has to feed the cat first.” So, Mom let Kassi feed the cat. Then Kassi walked up to the door and opened it. She opened the lid and scooped the food into his bowl. She really didn’t fill up his water bowl because the cat didn’t really drink much water! When she came back in, she left the door open. Then she came back inside. It was silent in the room for a moment. Suddenly, Dad pulled the string, it moved closer and closer to Mom! We stared motionless. Mom looked down, she leaped out of the old purple chair and let out a light scream. It was black with pink ears and a pink tail and black eyes! It was a stuffed animal opossum! Eleanor Bryant, Grade 3 Nolan Elementary School, Diane Huseman

The Perfect Toast Once upon a time there was a toaster named Pop. He lived in a house near a lake with his owner Alice and her three year old brother Ollie. Alice loved toast. She loved raisin toast, toast with peanut butter, toast with butter, whole grain toast, cheesy toast, honey toast, and even plain toast. In other words she just loved toast. One day Pop and his family went to have a campfire with Mr. and Mrs. Honker. On the way back home Pop wasn’t feeling well. “I feel like a burnt piece of toast,” said Pop. So both Alice and Ollie agreed to take Pop to the mechanic. They couldn’t help either. Then Alice had an idea. She got butter and spread it on Pop. “I feel better. In fact I feel like butter on toast,” said Pop. Then they made some toast. It was so good. They decided to use butter if Pop was hurt again. Lily Folkins Grade 3rd Silverdale Baptist Academy Mrs. Williams A New Member of the Family “Because we are getting a dog!” my mom said. Henry, my brother groaned. “No we’re not!” I said back. I was definitely not buying that from my mom. “Yes, we are!” “The owners of our house gave us permission,” my mom told us. Still, it was so hard to believe. But when my whole family stepped out of the car, I was convinced. We were getting a dog! I jumped up and down on my mom and dad. When we got to the dog adopting area, most dogs were barking or howling. “Let’s go find George,” I said. I ran ahead of my family. “Come on!” My family followed me but George wasn’t there. “What about Fred?” I asked Henry. We took Fred out to the puppy playground. Fred went to the bathroom because he was so excited. We took Fred back to his area. “Look at Tebow,” my mom said. We took him to the same playground. I loved him. Let’s check out a few more just to be safe. We checked out a few different puppies. My mom and dad both said no then we found Connor! When he relaxed at the puppy playground my mom said, “he’s the one!” “Yay!” my mom and I yelled! I was so full of excitement with our newest addition to the family! Grace Friedman Grade 3 Normal Park Museum Magnet Whitney Battles 49

My Cat Tigger One warm, spring day, I was playing and I found out that my cat Calzone got liver cancer (it was so warm, you could not feel it!). If Calzone ate something, it fed the cancer! After a few weeks, he got skinny and lost a TON of weight. (He weighed as much as a notebook!). We fed him food that gave him more weight. All it did was feed the cancer! We made Hops and Cherish (my other cats) not eat the food by putting Calzone in my upstairs bathroom. (Hops and Cherish would weigh as much as a barrel if they ate the food!) Poor Calzy was not happy up there. Two times a week, he got "field trips" downstairs. The food Hops and Cherish ate was put away. They ate food that made them lighter. Calzy started to meow a LOT. One week later, we found out Calz wouldn't live much longer. We were going to get a new cat because I was having surgery. "I want a tiny cat. One that weighs as much as a piece of cardboard!" I said. "Maybe..." My mom said. We were going to the beach in 3 weeks. We were going to get the kitten after we went because we didn't want to leave the kitten alone right when we got him or her. We went to a center for abandoned cats and dogs. It was called The Pet Placement Center. We went into the kitten room and found a kitten named Tucker. He was very playful. He loved to play with my brother's shoelaces. We thought about getting him, but my brother didn't want to go to school with no shoelaces. Next, we went into the adult room and found Tigger. "Hi Tigger!" I said I let him sniff my hand and know my scent. We stayed for about 15 minutes, then went back to my house. We went again 1 week later. My brother and I went to the kitten room again. My mom followed us in. I walked over to ask her something. The next thing I knew, I was in Petco looking for kitten things! I was SO happy. "I love you so much Tigger!" I said in my bedroom. "Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re the PERFECT cat!" Every day Tigger also got field trips. A few weeks later, Calzone went to the vet. The vet couldn't do anything about the cancer, so we had to put him to sleep. He fell asleep in 10 or 20 minutes. I held his paw the entire time. "I'll miss you Calzy. I'll never forget you." I said. "Meow!" Calzy meowed. "Meow." I said back. I called this the meowing game. He meows, then I meow back. I wondered what Calzy was doing in heaven. I thought he was crossing a rainbow bridge. At least I had Tiggy to cheer me up. Jimmy Giannasi, Grade 3 Nolan Elementary School, Diane Huseman

James

One Christmas Eve, Santa assigned all the elves in the north pole to a task before Christmas. 40 elves made the toys, 20 elves set up the decorations, 13 elves baked the cookies and 1 elf put up the north pole sign. This elf wasn’t a regular elf. He didn’t have any friends and his name was James. Every Christmas, the elves got a wish come true for working so hard. Every Christmas, James wished for the same thing. Every year some elf got to go send the presents with Santa and James wished he could be the one but never got it. He grew older and never got his wish. Now James was 20 years old and finally he stopped believing in his wish. He was so frustrated that every elf in the village got to have one turn being Santa’s helper on Christmas except for James. Santa had a checklist of who got to send presents with him. He was checking them off when James snuck into Santa’s workshop because he had enough hearing about every elf in the village getting to go deliver presents with Santa. He decided to steal Santa’s sleigh and go deliver presents by himself. It was a horrible idea. What was he thinking but he thought it was a good idea. He heard Santa checking off the elves…Ginger, Bells, David and finally he got to James’ name. Santa said, “HO, HO, HO, I forgot James.” Before James could hear Santa say he was going to go with James this year, James was already on his mission to steal the sleigh. J James forgot he didn’t have the sleigh keys so he creeped by Santa when he was distracted to go get the key to open the garage with the sleigh inside. He grabbed the key and ran to the garage. James got to the garage and punched the code it. The door opened and the sleigh has right in front of him, bright red with white spots and the bottom. Before he could get in it, Santa burst through the doors. Santa grabbed James sweaty wrist and pulled him into his office. “What is the meaning of this,” Santa said. James didn’t know what to say he just blushed. They both were sitting there for 20 minutes of silence. Finally, Santa let him go with a warning. James thought through his plan and decided to live with it a little while longer. Finally, 2 weeks pasts and Santa came to James and said “ho, ho, ho. I’ve got some good new for you James. You are coming with me to deliver presents!” “Really?” James replied. “Yes” said Santa, “It is right here, on my list.” So Santa and James went off following James’ dream and they lived happily ever after. Caroline Grant Grade 3 Bright School Elsbeth DeRusicher

Breathing Under Water One summer day I found out that I could breathe under water. I was swimming in my pool and I forgot that I didn’t have my snorkel on. So, when I went under water I thought that I would drown. Then, for some reason, I tried to breathe under water. I knew that it wouldn’t work. Then it just so happened, I did it! I could breathe under WATER! It was my dream to breathe under water and I did it. But it did not last long. I instantly had to come up, even though I didn’t want to. For some odd reason I couldn’t breathe under water any more. I found out that my friend accidentally kicked me in the back when she was swimming. This stopped my underwater breathing. The thing is, I totally forgot that she was swimming in the pool with me. She possibly didn’t have her swim goggles on and couldn’t see me under the water. So, I tried to go back under water. My plan didn’t work the first time, but it worked the second time. While breathing under water the second time I saw something. I also heard someone or something. What I heard was my mom telling my two friends and me to get out. And, I saw my other friend’s foot swarming around in front of me. I asked my mom if she could breathe under water but she said, “I don’t know. I have never tried.” So, I got out of the pool. The next day I swam again. Except this time I swam by myself so I wouldn’t get kicked in the back. This time I was at the lake with my dad. We went on the boat. I was able to breathe under water in the lake, too. When I was swimming I saw beautiful things. Things like bright colored fish, lake snakes, and many other beautiful things were under the water for me to see. My dad said that he started getting worried because I was under water for so long. So he started looking around for me. I told him that I went a little too deep, possibly. Then, I told him the whole story. After that, he said that only the best of us could breathe under water. But the weird thing is that he didn’t sound surprised. It was like he knew something that I didn’t. He told me everything that day about our family’s special gift and told me not to tell anyone. Then, we started swimming again really deep under the water. Those were my favorite two days of my life. Addi Marie Greene Grade 3 Snow Hill Elementary Mrs. Jayme Newell

Camp Vesper Point Vroom! Vroom! I was having so much fun at Camp Vesper Point. I was on a boat with my cabin mates. We were tubing. Next it was my turn. It felt like it was an hour until it was my turn so I talked to my friend Rachel who I was about to ride on the tube with. She is really funny. We both love to go fast on tubes so we couldn’t wait any longer. We were already thinking about what’s going to happen. We were hoping we would have so much fun. We could feel strong wind blowing on our faces while we waited. We wanted to be last because everybody says save the best for last! The boat stopped. It was time for us to get on! Splash! We jumped in and swam and swam until we got to the tube. We pulled the handles until we got on. The water was very calm since the boat slowed down to stop so it was very easy to get on. When we got on we yelled, “go as fast as you can!” When I got on I was kind of on edge. But I didn’t want to show it. She slowly started the boat and I was so excited! Then she got really fast and I saw this gigantic wave and felt a little scared. When we went over it I fell and went head first in the water. I had a huge headache. I started to cry because my head hurt so bad. She told me to swim toward the boat but I could barely move. Eventually I got to the boat. They asked me a couple of questions. I didn’t forget anything. But I still had a concussion. They rushed me back to the cabin in a golf cart then they took me to the hospital with my favorite counselor Maggie. There I saw my dad. He hugged me and asked me if I was ok. Ms. Toria was there because my mom could not be there. The doctor took me to the room and got me some Power-aid and told me to drink a lot. She asked me if I was wanting to play a board game or color. I said board game so she got me Candyland. Me and my dad played together. She kept on asking me questions. Finally I was done then I was ok. I went home and played with my dog Knoxy! Sophie Hartung Grade 3 Normal Park Museum Magnet Whitney Battles

When I Got My Dog, Dixie One day I woke up then I remember I was going to get a puppy. I was overjoyed. I ran downstairs my family was overjoyed. To start the day, a morning breakfast. Pancakes drizzled with maple syrup. I ate fast because I was so excited. Then we went to go get our puppy. We had to drive four hours but it was worth it. On the way there we stopped by Chik-FilA. I got chicken nuggets and fries with a drink of coke. Then we all got back in the car and kept driving and kept driving. Until finally we were there. I was so happy I cold scream!!!!!I told to myself that this was the highlight of my life. So the guy took the puppies out and I shall the cutest little puppy scramble out of the cage. It was so cute we cuddled her and loved on her. And then we picked her we were going to name her Dixe. She had big brown eyes and soft silky fur. She was a English golden retriever (that means she is white.) So we payed the guy and brought her home. She fell a sleep in the car. It was still a little bite light outside so we could play. But we had to be gently to the puppy I was so happy. Being with her always makes it so much fun in everything. I love her. Saylor Jackson Grade 3 Nolan Elementary Bailee Barrett My Most Memorable Christmas Gift One morning on Christmas, I got up and woke my mom and dad up. I saw a gift that looked interesting. It was a plastic boot. I picked it up and it was a little heavy. The first thing I saw in the boot was dog treats. Under the treats something was moving. I opened the boot and I was surprised to find a dog. I feel that it was the best day of my life. The End Austin Nelson Grade 3 Grace Baptist Academy Tammie Fricks 54

The Chocolate Rainbow Honey Adventure If you want to get to me, you will have to go in the dryer. You will have to go through all of the cycles. You will probably get sick, but you will be fine. My dog will get you candy helpers to make you feel fine. Then you arrive in Rainbow Chocolate Honey World. Go in the Honey Swamp, but go through fast because the frogs will make you go ribbity. Then follow the golden bridge path. Then you will see seven castles. The round castle is where I am. There you will meet me in the golden chocolate and the honey hot tub. And you will not have to go in the dryer again. You just have to say “come bing” and if you want to go back, you just have to say wherever you want to go. Grady Robbins Grade 3 Bright School Ms. Elizabeth Oakes A Mouse Christmas Once upon a time, there lived a winter mouse. He was homeless so he lived out in the snow. It was winter, and he did not even know what Christmas was. One day, he smelled something that he has never smelled before. It was a sweet smell- peppermint, gumdrops, graham crackers, and frosting. It was a gingerbread house. He chewed his way in and he gasped. He’d never seen so much light and colors. It was a Christmas tree! It was decorated so beautifully. It had candy canes, paper gingerbread men, ornaments, and a beautiful star at the top. “Freeze!” yelled a gingerbread man. “What’s with all the decorations?” the mouse asked. “Why for Christmas of course!” he said. “Christmas?” mouse said. “You know, presents, goodwill, toward men.” He said. “Hmm? Hmmm? I never knew about Christmas. Tell me more.” So he did. He celebrated Christmas with the mouse and they become friends. Parker Simms Third Grade Snow Hill Elementary Mrs. Jayme Newell 55

Unsolved Mysteries Do you like mysteries? Well, we are going to be talking about some: the Lost City of Atlantis, Pompeii, Stonehenge, and the Bermuda Triangle. Those are some of the mysteries people still question today. The Lost City of Atlantis is a legendary island. Plato first mentioned it. Apparently it was to have existed in the Atlantic Ocean west of Gibraltar and sunk beneath the sea. Pompeii is an ancient city in southern Italy, southeast of Naples. It was founded in the sixth or early fifth century BC and became a prosperous port and resort. Pompeii had many villas, temples, theaters, and baths. Pompeii was destroyed by an eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79. The ruins were well preserved and were rediscovered in 1748 and have been extensively excavated. Stonehenge is made up of ancient circles of large, upright stones that stand-alone on a plain in England. There is some controversy about who shaped, carried, and set up these huge stones. Scholars theorize that Stonehenge was built in three phases beginning in about 2800 BC. The Bermuda Triangle is a triangular area in the Atlantic Ocean bounded by Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and a point near Melbourne, Florida. Ships and aircraft have apparently disappeared without a trace. Atlantis Where is the city of Atlantis? Atlantis is under the sea. When people lived in Atlantis there were harbors, temples, and docks, also the capital city was on a hill and surrounded by rings of water, which were joined by tunnels large enough for a ship to sail through. For over two thousand years the story of Atlantis was just a story. Then, in the late 1800s, an American named Ignativs Donnelly became fascinated with the story, and wrote a book called Atlantis the Antediluvian World, which became a best seller. Where is Atlantis? Many people, like the British Air Force photo interpreter J.M. Allen, have questioned the exact location of the Lost City of Atlantis. Here are some other facts. Atlantis, a likely mythical island nation mentioned in Plato’s dialogues “Timaeus” and “Critias,” has been an object of fascination among western philosophers and historians for nearly 2,400 years. Plato described it as a powerful and advanced kingdom that sank in a night and a day, into the ocean around 9,600 B.C. The ancient Greeks were divided as to whether Plato’s story was to be taken as history or as a metaphor. Since the 19th century there has been renewed interest in liking Plato’s Atlantis to historical locations, most commonly the Greek island of Santorini that was destroyed by a volcanic eruption around 1,600 B.C. Pompeii Pompeii is a city that got covered by ash, and destroyed by a volcano. Here are some facts about the city of Pompeii. The people who lived there did not know that Mt. Vesuvius was a volcano, as it hadn’t erupted in 1,800 years. Also it was estimated that just over 13% of the total population of Pompeii died in the initial blast. A population of around 15,000 people and estimated 2,000 died. Mt. Vesuvius erupted destroying Pompeii shortly after noon on the 24th of August AD 79. The city grew over the years with buildings slowly being replaced with

structures of brick and stone. The Oscan people who were descendants of the Neolithic inhabitants of Campania originally settled Pompeii around the 7th century B.C. They are still uncovering Pompeii today. Stonehenge How was Stonehenge built? People think maybe aliens built it. Stonehenge began about 5,000 years ago as a simple earthwork enclosure where prehistoric people buried the cremated dead. Two types of stone were used at Stonehenge. They were bigger sarsens and smaller bluestones. There are 83 stones, total. Stonehenge is an engineering wonder. Located in Wiltshire, England near the town of Amesbury, a huge sandstone alter was positioned at the center of the prehistoric monument which weighs 5.4 tons. Inside the circle of sarsen stones, a horseshoe of stones was created weighing approximately 45 stones each. There are many myths surrounding the mystery of Stonehenge. As there are no records to provide us with information, one can only assume what the real purpose of the construction might have been. Some myths are religious and others scientific. Some people believe Merlin and the Devil used the site! That is some interesting facts about Stonehenge. The Bermuda Triangle Have you ever heard about the Bermuda Triangle? Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean. The Bermuda Triangle is also known as the Devilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Triangle. Some people think that aliens take the airplanes back into space with them. Flight 19, was the designation of five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers, which disappeared on December 5, 1945. The Bermuda Triangle is at least 500,000 square miles. The Bermuda Triangle is one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of the modern age. From the Bermuda Island to Miami, USA, and Puerto Rico, people have experienced electronic fog in the triangle. That is what the Bermuda Triangle is. These are some facts about a few of the unsolved mysteries in the world. No one has answers to these facts, which makes them fascinating. Parker Stewart Nolan Elementary Grade 3 Mrs. Leary

A Bully That Stopped Rihanna dragged herself on the bus because, she knew that she would get bullied. This boy named Richard was the big bully. He would say mean stuff like ‘’YOU’RE UGLY!’’ but she knew that he used about 50 percent incorrect grammar, so that didn’t really bother her. When Rihanna got to school, she said to herself “Here comes another horrible day. Holdup I have an idea. Why don’t I just not talk’’. It worked okay until … LUNCH!!!! Just when she sat down she got hit with a banana. ‘’WHO DID THAT?’’ Rihanna said. Richard twinkled his eyes. ‘’That big bully’’ Rihanna mummered. Richard came up to Rihanna and said he was sorry. Rihanna said it was okay. Rihanna made more friends. That boy Richard really liked Rihanna. The next morning was Saturday, Rihanna went to take her dog Sparkley for a walk. When she got to the park she spotted Richard. She was still a little afraid because of school. She decided to be brave and wave her hand, so Richard came over. ‘’Oh, Hello’’, said Rihanna. She saw Richard’s dog. ‘’What's his name’’? asked Rihanna. ‘’I haven’t made one yet, I just got it today’’added Richard. The dogs played and they played so much they started fighting. “Does that look familiar?” Rihanna asked giving Richard a funny look. Richard laughed. “Looks like our dogs are friends now. Just like us.” Queijah Stewart Orchard Knob Elementary School 3rd Grade Samuel Durham and Ashley Carlyle

The Three little Skunks One day a mother skunk told her three skunks they had to leave. So they left and went off into the world. One little skunk came across a man with some card board and asked if he could build a house with the card board. He built his house and was so happy he began to sing, jump, and play. And then the big bad fox came along. He said, “Little stink, little stink, let me in.” The skunk said, “Not by the hair of my stinky, stinky chin.” “Then I will paw and I will paw and I will tear your house down,” said the fox. And he pawed and he pawed and he tore his house down. The skunk ran as fast as he could to his brother’s house. He knocked on the door and said, “Let me in, let me in.” And his brother let him in. He said, “There is this fox that is coming to the house to eat us.” The brother’s house was made up of plastic. The big fox came along and said, “Little stink, little stink, let me in.” The skunks said, “Not by the hair of our stinky, stinky chins.” “Then I will paw and I will paw and I will tear your house down,” said the fox. He pawed and he pawed and he tore his house down. And the two little skunks ran to the youngest brother’s house. They knocked and knocked and said, “Let us in, let us in and he let them in.” They said, “There is this big bad fox and he is going to eat us all.” The brother’s house was made of steel, wood and bricks. The big bad fox came to the youngest brother’s house and said, “Little stink, little stink let me in.” The skunks said, “Not by the hair of our stinky, stinky chins.” “Then I will paw and I will paw and I will tear your house down,” said the fox. He pawed and he pawed and he didn’t tear the house down. And he was so tired he screamed and he wailed and tore the door down but when he saw what they were doing he was so sad he couldn’t even cry. Their tails were up and they were waiting for him to open the door so they could release their stink bomb. After, they sprayed they never saw him again. Christian Swafford Grade 3 Hilger Higher Learning Shelley George

The Pesoonia One day a little girl came home from school and she had a book called Magic. She has never read it before and she opened it. BOOM!! She was in the book. She saw some mountains and words in the corner. Suddenly she heard a voice reading the words. At the end the voice said complete my quest and you can get out of the book. “What quest?” she said. She saw a hole in a tree. She looked inside and something pushed her into the hole. She was falling and falling and falling and she stopped. At the bottom of the tree it was very very soft like a bed and she fell asleep. When she woke up she was in another place. It was very stinky and foggy. She could not see, finally when she could see she wished she could not see. It was nasty and slimey and gooey and everything was dead. The voice told her the quest was to make the land beautiful again. That was her quest so she could return home. The voice told her she must find a rare flower called “pesoonia”. It was a teal blue flower with a pink center. When she found the flower she must remove the petals one by one and plant them in the shape of a heart with love so the land would become beautiful again. The problem was a tangled prickly angry bitter vine that moved guarded the flower. Love kept the vine alive. The pesoonia flower radiated love no matter where it was so it kept the mean vine alive. The girl climbed to the top of the mountain to visit the vine. She told the vine she needed the pesoonia flower to make the land beautiful again. He said no. It was his and she could not have it. She promised to plant the pesoonia flower around the vines roots so he would always be loved and kept alive. The vine wept with joy and spread his vines apart so she could enter the garden. No one had ever shown him love before. With love in her heart for the vine and to keep him alive she planted the petals around his roots and the land became beautiful again. The voice appeared above her then from behind the clouds and was the sun. The sun thanked her and blessed her with a rainbow. Then she finally got out of the book. A few years passed and the girl had kids and she gave them the book. Then they had adventures and visited the vine, which grew beautiful teal blue roses, and they lived happily ever after. Kaeley Williams Grade 3rd Silverdale Baptist Academy Mrs. Williams

[ Grade 4 Poetry ] Tree Green, bright standing, lighting, shining, ornaments, star, presents, bows, wrapping, opening, thanking, special, thoughtful, gifts. Aubrey Baugh 4th Grade Boyd-Buchanan School Mrs. Hedrick Animals Big and Small God made animals big and small, Short and round, skinny and tall. It’s so hard to pick my favorite one; I love them all more than a ton. Dogs and cats and turtles too, It’s amazing what tricks animals can do. Horses, elephants, lions and bears, As big as they are, they sometimes can scare. Camels and hippos, pigs and giraffes, They always seem to make me laugh. When I grow up, I’ll be a vet. And probably have a hundred pets.

Rylie Brannon, Grade 4 Silverdale Baptist Academy, Mrs. Holt

The Meadow The sound is so calm in the meadow where I sit, and also so peaceful. The grass sways. A leaf in the wind, blowing my thoughts away. The riverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s color so deep and blue, Like a shadow drifting on a midnight sea. The trees with the flowers, The trees with the fruit, I watch them waiting hour by hour by hour. Lucie DeGaetano, Grade 4 Normal Park Museum Magnet School, Selena Seymour Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Creatures My frogs wrestle under water Two brothers having fun. Tiny pets nibbling at my finger As food pellets float to the bottom. A paradise of colorful rocks and trees Just a small box of water. Bubbles and Floatie jump high and low Like bouncing tennis balls. Floatie drifts down to the bottom An autumn leaf softly falling. One brother remains. John Edwards, Grade 4 Hilger Higher Learning, Shelley George

Once A Year Once a year, fall all the leaves they make a sound that no one heard the boy inside, still believes that he could be a bird Late one dark night he wanted to go and fly to a star so white during the time when all leaves cease to grow Once a year comes a season named fall A time when the falling leaves leave no space wide open When you step on a leaf Each piece is small after they are broken He went to the door, then heard a sound so very plain the sound of wet, clear rain Whit Finlay Grade 4 The Bright School, Allison Sakich Ginger Bread A cinnamony house and sugary toppings The gingery smell and minty stockings In my mouth crunch and frosty With the gummies and candies so smooth It tickles and makes me want to groove As I finish the last half I do my happy dance! Daniella Garcia Grade 4 Wolftever Creek Elementary School Karilena Wood

Snow is Big Grass and tree branches and ice Smells like air that is as cold as ice Tastes like ice and winter Feels soft and a little bit hard too Sounds that is chips on my back Crunch crunch crunch Savannah Grissom Grade 4 Wolftever Creek Elementary School Karilena Wood Matter All Around Matter, matter all around, For many types can be found. Remember solid, liquid, and gas. Did you know they all have mass? Solids, solids, hard as a rock, Their strength you cannot mock. Liquids, liquids, have no shape, They take the shape of their container. Gasses dance and prance around, Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in the air and on the ground, Matter, matter, everywhere It can be found anywhere! Maya Halenar Grade 4 Normal Park Museum Magnet School Meredith Vlahos 64

Snow The snow is white and very light. The snow is cold and hard to hold. Many different snowflakes fall from the sky Hitting the ground one second at a time. When the sun shines bright The snow fights come to an end. When the snow falls on the roads They all begin to close. Brodie Johnston Grade 4 Boyd Buchanan School Geunita Ringold Laying Laying in my hammock in Mentone, AL Over my head I see butterflies Bright lights shining under the stars I hear a dog in the distance barking People slamming doors right and left To my right a baby apple tree just starting to bloom my left a rock covered in moss Abby Millwood Grade 4 The Bright School Allison Sakich 65

Lipstick My mom said when I was Little about five she told me to Get her sweatshirt. I looked everywhere till I got To the bathroom. I open a cabinet I saw lipstick. I thought it was Chapstick. I rub it all over my face. I look at myself. I see a pretty little girl. I show my mom. I heard her sigh. Oh why donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t you look Like you got in my makeup cabinet. She laughed and laughed. I laughed with her. Jenna Naik Grade 4 The Bright School Allison Sakich

First Time Seeing Snow Watery frost is as white as a paper towel Like a ball of white ice that you can scrunch up And all you hear is watery winds Moving freely around the cold crispy air So cold and frosty when you smell it It starts to melt in your mouth Allison Oister 4th Grade Wolftever Creek Elementary Katie Graham In the wires

light bulbs on bouncing balls at school and at home the new moon shines today circuits changing how we see science all around the city Josie Pfiester Grade 4 Normal Park Museum Magnet Alison Redfoot

Tornado Fierce and unexpected Whirlwinds of destroying air Twirling cylinder of death Sweeps up everything in its path In a flash. Caleb Wagner Grade 4 Boyd Buchanan School Geunita Ringold 67

Storms Thunder booming Lighting flashing Puddles splashing Everything crashing Storms make all things exciting Tate Williams 4th grade Boyd Buchanan School Mrs. Hedrick My Winter Moment A pretty winter day as if it were raining marshmallows Water dripping from my cold hands Fresh air and the mist of water An ice cube in my mouth A big handful of ice in the palms of my hand and water dripping Gracie Wolfe 4th Grade Wolftever Creek Elementary Katie Graham

Pink Pink smells like fragrant, sweet perfumes, in your grandmotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s room, roses in vases scattering, billowing petals falling from the sky. Pink looks like a lone pink daisy in a field of white and yellow ones, the sun smiling beautifully on them. Pink dances like the sunrise and sunset, painting the dark sky as the sun comes up. Pink feels like a soft downy quilt, wrapping its pure cloths around your body. Pink tastes like a strawberry popsicle, slowly melting down your arms, the sun beating down on your shoulders, a pink sunburn starting. Pink sounds like a magenta colored dolphin splashing, and splishing its silvery pink tail quickly against the cold deep blue waters of the ocean. Pink moves like a chameleon walking slowly across tree branches that arch like rainbows, one padded foot after another. Pink speaks to me like a pink chevron backpack silently sneaking through the front doors on the first day of school. Audrey Zmaj Grade 4 Saint Nicholas School Alice Revenig

[ Grade 4 Prose ] The Finished Time Machine One day, there was a knock at the door. I came out of my lab to see who it was. But when I got there, all that was there was a package with a note on it. I picked up the note. Here is what it said: Dear Tyler, I am you. I have finished the time machine you have been working on. In the box are instructions for finishing it. Then, in two years, you will send the same instructions and the same note to yourself. KEEP THE CYCLE GOING! Love, Tyler â&#x20AC;&#x153;Wow,â&#x20AC;?I thought as I went back to my lab. Four days later I had finished the time machine. I pushed start. There was a low, rumbling sound. Suddenly it disappeared. It had worked! Then I pushed the second button on the remote control, and it reappeared. I told everyone the great news. Two years later I took those same instructions and the same note and sent them back in the time machine. Tyler Bacon Grade 4 Hilger Higher learning Shelley George

The Exchange Sarah wasn’t in the mood to do chores. It was going to be a nice day and she was anxious to take a ride on Teddy, her new pony. She dragged herself into the hen house to collect the eggs and then moved on to the shed where her family stored potatoes and other root vegetables. Mama wanted to make potato pancakes to go with the fried eggs she was making for breakfast that morning and she’d sent Sarah to collect them. On a normal day Sarah hated going into the potato shed by herself; it was dark and, in her mind, always a little creepy. On this particular morning, it was barely light outside and even darker inside. She stepped in slowly, letting her eyes get used to the dim light from the lantern and then made her way over to the bins where the potatoes were stored. What was that?! Sarah was certain she heard a noise behind her, maybe just a mouse in the dried out hay in the corner, but maybe not. Either way, Sarah decided it was best to just get what she needed and get out of there. Sitting and eating breakfast with her family, Sarah forgot all about what might or might not be in the potato shed. The conversation turned to other things like the upcoming church bazaar and whether this winter would be colder than last. Sarah ate quickly and headed to the barn to saddle up Teddy for a ride they had both been looking forward to. Sarah had found a new path down by the creek and planned to explore it today before she had to be back for evening chores. They found the spot where the newly discovered trail started and began making their way along the path, both enjoying a little shade for a change. It was then Sarah heard the sound of other horses coming her way. She wasn’t scared, she’d been riding these parts since she was old enough to give herself a leg up, and now, at age 9, she considered herself pretty grown up. When the riders got closer, she could see they were wearing uniforms and they looked pretty ragged. They stopped when they saw Sarah. They told her they were looking for another soldier, one wearing a uniform that looked different from theirs. They wanted to know if Sarah had seen anyone pass by. No she told them, she had not. They wanted to know where Sarah lived. She told them the Smith farm just across the hill from where they were right now. They thanked her and rode off. A while later, as Sarah came up over the hill, she saw those same men talking to Papa out by the gate to the small pasture. She decided to take the longer way down the hill so she wouldn’t have to explain to Papa that she’d had her own run in with them. She got Teddy to the barn and settled in and then made her way to the house. Mama was in the kitchen and told Sarah not to forget she’d need more potatoes for the evening meal. Sarah decided to get that done first thing, that way she wouldn’t have to go in the potato shed later when it was getting dark. She opened the door and made her way across when she heard the same noise from this morning. She wanted to run but knew that didn’t make sense. She’d grown up on farms and wasn’t much afraid of anything creepy crawly. She turned around, deciding to find out what was there, but before she made it to the corner where the hay and cornstalks were drying she spotted something, she wasn’t sure what, but something reflected in the light from her lantern. She felt sure it wasn’t a “what”, but a “who.” She left in a hurry and went back to the house so she could have time to think. At dinner Papa

talked about the men who had ridden through and said they were hunting someone and asking questions at farms along the way. Sarah wanted to tell everyone what she thought- that someone was in their barn! But she couldn’t bring herself to speak up. She decided to find out for herself if she was right. After supper, she told Papa she was going to tell Teddy goodnight. She wrapped a couple of leftover biscuits in a cloth and tucked them into her apron pocket. She made her way to the potato barn and left them just near the cornstalks to see if they’d be gone in the morning. They were. Sarah repeated her experiment after breakfast. Two biscuits and a little ham this time. That evening the biscuits and ham were gone, but this time there was something waiting for her- a little cross made from cornstalks, just the size to fit into her apron pocket. Thank you Sarah said aloud, not sure if anyone was even listening. She again left food and went away determined that tomorrow she would tell Papa and Mama what she knew. Sarah rushed to her chores that next day, anxious to find out if her “friend” was still there. The biscuits were still sitting where she’d left them and Sarah wasn’t sure what to think. She felt guilty for keeping a secret and rushed back to the house to find Mama. As she came up to the house she heard Mama and Papa talking. Papa was saying it was a hard time to be a young man with all that was going on and that he prayed the Miller boy from the next farm over would make it home safe. His parents had gotten word he’d been badly wounded and was missing and didn’t know if they’d ever see him again. Sarah clutched the cornstalk cross in her pocket and prayed the same thing as Papa; sure the Millers would see their boy again. Alexandra Blye Grade 4 Boyd-Buchanan Kay Lee Smith

The Mystery of the Missing Animals One foggy evening, my two best friends and I, along with my sister Taylor, decided to go to the zoo. To our surprise, the zoo was closed when we arrived. It didn’t make any sense to us because there was a sign that read “Monday – Friday 9:00 a.m-6:00 p.m.”. What had happened? Where were the zoo keepers? Why couldn’t we go in? We all wanted to figure out the mystery. Norah and Elizabeth headed toward the main gate to get a closer look. When we leaned on it to see inside, it accidentally opened. The lock was missing so we decided to go in and look around. As we went through the park, we noticed something really strange. There were no noises. We didn’t hear any birds chirping, tigers roaring, monkeys climbing or bears growling. All the animals were missing! My sister, Taylor, checked the news on her cell phone to see if there were any reports about the missing animals. One of the news channels had reported an unusual situation at a local restaurant about two blocks from the zoo. A turtle and a frog had been found in the restaurant enjoying a piece of lettuce drop by a waiter. We knew some missing animals had been found. We decided to take a short cut through an alley that led to the back entrance of the Italian restaurant. The closer we got, we began to get really excited. We hoped we would find clues that would lead us to the other animals. About halfway there, we found our first clue. It was a peacock feather. We knew we were on the right track. Next, we saw a huge paw print in the grass and finally, we heard some interesting noises in the background. As we turned the corner, we saw a funny sight. There, in the back of the restaurant, were all the animals. They were everywhere! They were climbing in the dumpsters, turning over garbage cans and enjoying leftover spaghetti and meatballs that had been thrown away. We called 911 to report that the mystery of the missing animals had been solved. In about 10 minutes, the area was covered with news reporters, police, firemen and emergency vehicles to help take the animals back home. The next day, we were invited back to the zoo to visit the animals. The mayor gave each of us a $10,000 reward for our bravery and our help in getting the animals safely returned. We also got a lifetime membership to the zoo. So, make sure you take good care of your animals and feed them well especially at the zoo. If not, they will go find their own meal and it will probably be spaghetti and meatballs. The End. Rylie Brannon Grade 4 Silverdale Baptist Academy Mrs. Holt

Wormy and the Big Apple King Wormy and his best friend Gurmy lived in Bobings Garden. The best friends and all the other worms called the garden Wormaniea. Wormy and Gurmy were not very popular in Wormaniea, because they weren’t as slimy as all the other worms. Being as slimy as possible was considered a good thing in Wormaniea. The garden was like most gardens. It had tomatoes, potatoes, corn and all the things that worms loved. But what the worms worshiped most was a big apple tree on the far corner of the garden. Wormy and Gurmy couldn’t understand why all the other worms worshiped the apple tree, because no worms would ever go near it. Whenever Wormy or Gurmy would ask about the big apple tree, everyone would say that the Big Apple King lived there. They said the Big Apple King was too mysterious and divine for any normal worm to approach. One day Wormy and Gurmy decided since none of the other worms were brave enough to go see the Big Apple King that they would leave Wormaniea, travel across the garden and visit the Apple King. Early one morning Wormy and Gurmy left Wormaniea. They were scared when they left, but were determined to face their fears and make it to see the Big Apple King. They knew nobody would know where they had gone because they didn’t leave a slime trail behind them. On their way, they came across an old grasshopper. He asked them where they were going in such a hurry. Wormy said they were going to visit the Apple King. The Grasshopper told them to be careful with the Apple King because he was evil. When Gurmy heard what the grasshopper said, he wanted to go back home. Wormy talked Gurmy into continuing on to the Apply King. Finally the best friends reached the big apple tree, but could not find the Apple King. Suddenly, they heard a loud crack, but could not tell where it came from. Then they heard a large thump behind them. When they turned around, they were face to face with the Apple King. Wormy and Gurmy were scared to death!! The famous Apple King they had heard about for so long, what should they do? They needed a plan. They also needed to warn the people, even if the other worms weren’t always very nice. It was the right thing to do. They decided to attack from both sides, Wormy squirmed to the right, and Gurmy squirmed to the left. They both did what worms do best, they started to dig into the Apple King! They had no fear, they were working together like best friends should do. All the sudden, Wormy heard Gurmy yell “You’re rotten to the core!!!!” It was true, all this time, everybody had been so afraid of the Apple King, but he had been rotten to the core the whole time. Wormy and Gurmy had saved the day! They went back to Wormaniea, and told everyone the news about the Apple King, and what happened. Everybody cheered and called them their heroes!! All the worms of the town realized you can’t make up your mind about someone by looking at them, just because they are not as slimy, you might have a hero under your nose the whole time. Brooks Burnette, Grade 4 Silverdale Baptist Academy, Mrs. Keum Glass

The Mysterious Pond It was a hot, July day. Henry and Lucy were bored, and wished that they had something fun to do to beat the heat. Henry came up with a plan. They went down to the pond to cool off. After they swam for a bit, they got out to dry off in the warm sun. Henry stood up and picked up a flat stone. He threw it in the pond and watched it skip across the water. Lucy did the same thing. Henry threw a third stone. He turned to go, and heard a strange noise. When he looked back at the pond, the third stone was skipping back to him. Henry was astonished! How could this be? He looked at Lucy who seemed to be just as surprised as he was. Henry examined the pond and the area surrounding it, but he didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see anything out of the ordinary. He remembered a story his Grandfather had told him about the pond. The story told of a fisherman who was not having any luck catching fish. He became frustrated and was about to give up, when all of a sudden, a whirlpool formed in the middle of the pond and sucked him in- fishing pole and all. Legend had it that from that day on, the fisherman ruled the pond. He did not like other people using it, and played tricks on those who tried. Henry always thought this was a crazy story, until now. Henry decided not to take any chances. He grabbed Lucy and they ran as fast as they could back home. They decided they would keep this a secret. They still could not make sense out of what had happened. They made a pact to return the next day to check it out. Henry hoped that nothing bad would happen. Only time would tell if the legend was true. The next day, Henry and Lucy went back to the pond. It was another hot, July day. They looked around, but saw nothing except calm water. They began to wonder if they had just imagined what had happened yesterday. Feeling silly, they jumped into the cool water and began to splash around. Suddenly something brushed against their feet. They thought it was probably just algae, but they felt it again. This time they were both pulled under water. They have never been seen or heard from again. Jack Carter Grade 4 Boyd-Buchanan Kay Lee Smith

The Magic Kettle One chilly, fall day in California, Lucida Anderson was using her key to unlock the backdoor to the restaurant where she worked. It was her first day and she was pretty nervous because she had never cooked for a restaurant in California before. She was setting everything up in the restaurant, trying to make everything look nice for the restaurant’s two chefs and all the guests who would be dining there. One of the chef’s names was Britt. She was a kind, loving person with an open heart. The second chef’s name was Ann, but she preferred to be called Ms. Ann. She was the complete opposite of Britt because she had a bad temper, a cold heart and thought she was more important than other people because of her job as a chef. Lucida did not have a chance to meet the two chefs at her job interview so she was anxious to please them. As she was wiping down all the tables she heard a knock at the front door of the restaurant. She ran to the door and found her two friends, Clara and Corina. They were the only friends she had made so far in California. Lucida invited them inside and gave them each a tall mug of chocolate milk with whipped cream, because it was not cold enough for hot chocolate. They sipped on their chocolate milk as they talked about their plans for the day. After her friends said goodbye, Lucida went into the kitchen to pull out some pots and pans they would use that day. She wanted to be ready for whoever may stop in the restaurant to eat. As she was rummaging through the cabinets, she found a strange box wrapped up in rope with a note attached that said, “whoever finds me should only use me for good.” Lucida put the box aside to finish sweeping the floor and get to her other chores, although she was very curious about what was inside the box. Then the two chefs came in the door. Britt said hello in a kind voice, but Ms. Ann asked sharply if Lucida had finished all her morning work. Lucida told her, yes, that she was just beginning her other chores. Then Ms Ann told her to get busy, and Britt told her thanks for coming early to set up. Ms. Ann, Britt and Lucida all got busy preparing for the day while more workers continued to trickle in. Once they were finished, they flipped the sign hanging on the front door to OPEN and customers began to walk in. They left the first customer to Lucida, and when the waitress had given her their orders, she thought the requests were odd. She had studied some on these foods but wasn’t completely sure how to make it. She had found an odd way to make it but when it came out she wasn’t sure she wanted to give that batch to the customers. Since they had been waiting a long time, she decided they would just have to have it. When the waitress gave it to the people they didn’t even try one bite, but requested something else or a different cook. Lucida was upset the dish had not turned out like she wanted, but then she remembered the mysterious box and note. She picked up the box and snipped the rope open with her scissors. Opening the box, she found a dusty old kettle. She wasn’t sure how it could help but she decided to give it a try and find out what the note meant. She had set out the ingredients out to make the next request, creamy potato soup. She sliced the potatoes and put them in the pot, along with some butter. Lucida went to the fridge to get more ingredients, but when she came back to the pot it was already full of soup. She scooped out a bowl full and gave it to the waitress to give to the customers. After eyeing the soup suspiciously, they tasted it and thought it was the most delicious potato soup they had ever eaten. They gave the waitress a large tip and told her to

thank the cook who had made it. She decided if they chefs had any trouble making their food, she would show them the magic kettle. Lucida went home feeling happy that she had discovered the big box. The next day she woke up and couldn’t wait to go to the restaurant and try out the magic kettle. She wasn’t sure if it would work with just any food, but she had hope. She hummed happy tunes as she was skipping to the restaurant. She unlocked the backdoor and went to the cabinet where she had left the kettle. She opened the cabinet doors where she had found the box, and took it out and put it on the counter. When she opened the box, she discovered the kettle had mysteriously disappeared. Lucida thought she had looked in the wrong cabinet but after looking through several more, realized it was the right cabinet. The other two chefs were already there and busily working setting up for the day ahead. Britt was her kind usual self, and Ann was her grumpy unkind self, except today she had an evil smile on her lips. Lucida soon discovered that Ms. Ann had stolen the pot, and she wouldn’t tell Lucida or Britt where it was because she wanted it for herself. She had seen Lucida using the pot the other day and the wonderful things it could do and wanted the pot for herself. Lucida told Ms. Ann that they could all share the kettle to help make the restaurant better. Somehow those few words made Ms. Ann want to share it with the others. Now they all had a wonderful kettle to share that had awesome magic. Lucida was happy she had found the magic kettle. Chloe Creekmore, Grade 4 Silverdale Baptist Academy, Mrs. Glass Baby Business One night at a military base in New York scientists were working on a medicine that could cure anything. They just tested their medicine on a baby. The baby seemed fine at first, But then the baby started crying then one of the scientists noticed that the baby was moving. He was growing bigger now he was twice his size. An alarm started sounding every one started running and screaming. It was 7:00 in the morning Max was getting ready for school, He was so excited it was November 13. It was his birthday! But then he heard crying and he forgot his 2 year old brother Billybob. He cries too much. Max slumped into the kitchen of his apartment, his mom was there making breakfast , hey my birthday boy. Moooom you know your not supposed to call me that. Remember, when you come to lunch at school you can’t call me snugglebun, birthday boy, don’t even talk to me. Can I walk to school by myself I am going to be 10? Max was walking to school with his friend Mark. Mark said Happy Birthday Don’t talk about it. What’s wrong Mark asked My birthday I was born on the Friday of bad luck. At Least 77

your birthday is on a Friday. My Birthday is on a stinkin Monday. But it is on the only day of the year that is bad luck day that is considered the worst day to have a birthday on. Later when they got to school, Max didn't pay any attention to what the teacher was saying in Language arts. When they broke up to do what the teacher said. Then Mark interrupted his thoughts and said come on the your station. Max just thought their was something coming. He barely got anything done when the teacher said time to go to math. At math the teacher said do your weekly sheet and daily sheet. Max had only done two problems when the teacher said let’s go over our Daily sheet and weekly sheet. When they finally got through she said get your plan book and spiral and do your work. I was on topic 8 this topic is about long division. Max thought in his head I feel like something. It felt like it had only been five minutes, When the teacher said time to go to active play. At active play Max played football even though she specifically said no football at school because football at school football turns into real football. At active play while Max was playing football, he heard a rumble. At first he thought that he was just imagining it, then it started to get louder. Other people were starting to hear it too. Then Everyone froze. A giant shadow loomed over the whole playground. Then there was a deafening roar.(it kind of sounded more like a baby crying than a roar)An alarm started sounding and everyone started to run! The teacher started to scream and that just made everyone else scream louder. The PE teacher yelled get in the tornado positions Then the giant baby will crush us. What do we do?!Then Max looked at the baby. He seemed to have recognized the baby’s face. His face kind of looked like Max’s face a little bit. Then he knew who the baby was, He recognized the cry. It was BillyBob Max’s baby brother. Then he knew what to do. BillyBob loved warm milk. Max remembered seeing a newspaper saying that the world’s biggest milk bottle was in town. Max ran like a Cheetah too the panicking teacher. Max said that is my brother BillyBob, and he loves milk and I remember me looking at the newspaper and seeing the biggest milk bottle in the world. Can we drive the bus too time square so we can get that bottle too BillyBob The teacher surprisingly listened.(well I guess we were in a time of crisis)So everyone got on the bus. The teacher said pair up with someone I don’t care who. Then when we were all on the bus. She said this might be a bumpy ride. She took off leaving the baby behind. When we got too time square. The teacher said all of you stay in the bus. Then went over to a guy that looked like the guy who made the bottle. It looked like she was saying that she was saying that there was a giant baby and she needed too borrow the bottle. The guy looked like he was saying yes. The guy was so rich it looked like he called in the helicopters. Then we heard a deafening sound of the helicopters, they shot booeys down too the bottle and started too pull. The teacher got back in the bus. When we got too the school BillyBob was playing with Upper Primary. The helicopters put the bottle down and BillyBob got the bottle and slowly started too shrink with each sip. When he was back too his normal size. He was still holding the bottle. It looked like he had super strength Jackson Ermence, Grade 4 Saint Nicholas School, Alice Revenig

Lydia's Mountain Chapter 1 - Is It Ours One beautiful day up in one of the tallest trees on the mountain was a tiny old treehouse, there stood Lydia, Crystal, and their dog as white as snow. They called her Applewhite. They ran away because they were tired of working on their farm. But when they were walking they found a treehouse Lydia explained “Crystal we should go in we can't build a treehouse ourselves and besides what if there's food in there?” “But what if someone is in there? Well, I guess I am hungry so….. ok let's do it!” Crystal nervously said. So up they went. But when they got up there, there was a dog bed, two beds, a table with two chairs, and food! It was like it was waiting for them. Chapter 2 - The Hunt There they stood, then the dog crawled up in bed and fell asleep so did the girls. They were exhausted after a long day of searching for a place to stay. “Good morning Lydia ready to go hunting?” “Yes, let's go!” Chapter 3 - The Chase Meanwhile, when Lydia and Crystal were on their hunt they heard a rustle in the bushes. “Lydia what is that?” “I don't know, I hear it from the bushes! “RUN, IT IS A BEAR!” They hid behind the tree and the bear ran by. “Ok let's just go catch some fish.” Crystal said. “Agreed” “Lydia, all I want to do is go back to the farm with mom and dad, we should have never ran away.” Then off they went. Chapter 4 - The Hike They were walking to find there way back and saw an old man under a tree with a mocking bird. “Excuse me, we are on our way back to town would you like to join us?”

“No I can't I will just slow you down and besides bad things happen in the woods, but thank you for asking.” said the old man in a soft voice. “He's not wrong” The mocking bird replied. So off they went. Chapter 5 - Will They Make It “Lydia we should stop until tomorrow I'm tired.” “No wait a second that's our house! Crystal we're back I knew we'd make it! “Lydia you're the best and it sure is good to be back home. “Well, you know I never would stop looking till we get home. Right?” “Yes, I do.” The End Sophia Folck Grade 4 Nolan Elementary School Rachel Teas

Figure “THE MOUNTAIN IS COMING DOWN!” yelled someone in the crowd. It was chaos, everybody was screaming because it was true, the mountain WAS coming down. “EVERYBODY INTO THE BOMB SHELTER!” I yelled. People everywhere were scrambling into the shelter and the person on the end of the line shut the door but not everyone was inside. Then a silence settled, outside we could hear screams, people were banging on the door and then we heard a huge thud and everything went silent, no scream,s no banging, just silence. Then someone broke the silence “What was that? Was it the mountain?” all of a sudden everybody started whispering “it was the mountain". Then all of a sudden John my best friend screamed “The door won’t open!". John is a funny character but when he gets scared he gets serious “We're all going to die!” He yelled dramatically. “No we’re not.We’re just going to be locked up...for a while. "I said reassuringly. A man came to the front of the crowd “Said the girl who started this in the first place!”. I felt mad and spoke without thinking “Oh ya well well you don’t know what you're talking about...dumy!”. “What did you call me!?”.My mom came up to me. She is a tall person full of creativity and love ,but my dad is almost the exact opposite, he is strict, hard, and firm. “Calm down Lily and just explain what happened.” They mom sounded so on track when I wasn’t. I tried to explain. “Ok it all started when I went hiking off the marked trail ,it was fine at first but then it got colder and colder and I broke into a cold sweat “what if I'm lost, what if I will never find my way back!” I thought fearfully as I walked on for what felt like hours when out of the blue I found a tall stone at the edge of the forest.It was like it was pulling me in! “This must be the heart of the mountain.” I had heard about this many times before but I thought it was fake.My mom had described it exactly how it was. It was like a big field surrounded by forest and in the middle was a stone, a tall pale stone. I walked closer and closer then I started to run faster and faster and finally I stopped right in front of the stone. I reached out and touched it. All of a sudden I felt a surge of power, it was like I was being filled with memories of the mountain! Then I fainted. I woke up with a fright! There was a person standing over me.She was small and skinny with no face texture whatsoever, almost like a smooth stone in a river. “What are you doing here?” the strange person asked in a voice that wasn't quit a voice. “I was just walking and I...” I tried to explain but she would not stop asking question after question and I got curious and asked a question of my own “Ok ok it's my turn to ask something. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”. She was silent and stared at me “Go away! I see now that you are human and nothing good ever comes from that.” She mumbled and looked away as she said it. I got up and firmly said “Well if you could be a proper human and help me home I could go away and ...” “HUMAN I AM NOT HUMAN I AM A FOREST SPIRIT!”. “ A forest spirit? I have never seen one and I am sure that it doesn't look like a human.” I pointed out.I looked at her calmly as a grin slowly took over her face. “Ha just as I thought a doubtful doubtful human you are. Your the same as the rest.You see, all humans have clouded eyes that can not see the true beauty in nature and they only want money and wealth. But children have no doubt and they see all that is true. "she said it with a strong voice. I suddenly realized I was not at the stone anymore. I was at a small old pathway with signs leading to a road. “Hey,this is my trail! How

did you find it?” I exclaimed.Then a car came up before she could answer.I suddenly turned around and she was gone. “Hop in it's time to go home. My mom was waiting for me to get in. As we drove down the road I sat there looking down on it like it was a never ending line that was judging me, laughing at me.We stopped at my house.The clouds in the sky looked sick like they were going to burst. As we pulled into the driveway, the rain started coming down. When I walked into the house, my dad looked at me with a smile. “Well well well look who decided to come home huh!”he said with a quirky voice. “Nice to see you too dad.” I said calmly as I walked through the door. The tv was on loud and I could hear the news caster saying “The rain is coming down hard and we are all excited about the new building of the water park!” Water park? what's he talking about? I wondered. My dad turned up the volume “We may have to cut down a forest for it, but it’s worth it!” A forest, a whole forest! this must be stopped! I grabbed my mom's keys right out of her hand and ran out the door furiously. Right as as went outside I could feel the hair on my head getting wetter and wetter. “Where are you going my dear?” My mom called out to me. “I’m going to stop this monstrosity!” I answered in a loud voice. “I was driving down the road when I saw a burst of light and the rest is a blur. All I remember is running for my life like all of you.” I stopped my story with a sadness in me. “Hey the door is loose!” John said. My head bolted up “What did you say?” I whispered. Suddenly a burst of light came in from the door with a cloud of dust, a lot of dust. I slowly came out of the bunker. There was nothing but dust, no mountain no town just dust, but far in the distance I could see a tall stone, with a figure standing next to it. Dakota Houck Grade 4 Normal Park Museum Magnet School Selena Seymour

Lisa and the Hamster Lisa was a cat. She was sweet, kind, loving and caring. She was the color of snow. She had a best friend name Martha. One day Lisa’s owner bought a new home. A hamster lived in the home. Lisa’s owner went to work one day. The hamster came out of his room and saw Lisa. She said, hi. The hamster said, what? He did not like Lisa. He said, I am not an ordinary hamster. I am an evil hamster named Joey. I will capture you and tie you up and take over the world! All of a sudden he drank a potion made out of a potato and turned into a black cat. Joey chased Lisa and she knew she had to run away. Lisa opened the door and went out in the hall, ran down the stairs and ran out the door, into New York City. Every time she would try to go home to her room, the evil hamster would chase her out, but he would never go outside of the room. It was like he was trapped inside a bubble in the room. Mostly, Lisa spent her time at Martha’s house. By the way, her owner was on vacation. One day, Lisa decided to build a machine and it would protect her so she wouldn’t get hurt. She walked upstairs and opened the door to defend herself. There the black cat was sitting on the couch licking his paws and he said, you were late. Lisa said late for what? The war between you and me! Wait! All of a sudden, the evil black cat came running toward her. Lisa ran across the room and he ran down the hallway, thinking Lisa would chase him. Then she shut the door and locked it. Joey ran into the sewer, turned back into the hamster and for two years, he had servants and lived in the sewer. He worked on a machine with his servant, the rat. Finally, now he can get out of the sewer. He said, in a cold and nasty, voice I’m finished! Then cracked his knuckles. He was excited to start the machine. Joey stayed there and tried to start his machine. Every time he would test it, he would say, it needs more parts! Finally, it started and he went back to the house. Lisa was sitting there and Joey turned back into the black cat. Lisa and the cat started to stare at each other. They began to fight and they fought for two days. Finally, Lisa said, “what are we doing?” Joey said,” I do not know.” He said, he was sorry for being so evil. Joey drank the potion to turn him back into a kind hamster. Lisa said, I forgive you for all the bad things you’ve done. Lisa, Martha and Joey became best friends and loved living in New York City. Katelyn Johnson 4th Grade Silverdale Baptist Academy Mrs.Holt

A Warrior Cat’s Lesson Brambleclaw scrambled across the log as the water rushed below him. He hoped he would not fall in the icy cold water. He was relieved to get to the other side of the slippery, cold, wet log. Then he padded off towards his clan’s camp. All of a sudden a black blur zoomed right past him! Brambleclaw was hoping it was not another cat, but he wasn’t so lucky. He dodged him, running faster than ever as the black cat lurched after him. Brambleclaw quickened his pace. His heart beat wildly. At last, Brambleclaw surrendered. Firestar was the leader of the clan. He was sending out secret patrols so other clans would not dare go into the Thunder clan’s territory. Bramblclaw was a very well trusted cat. He was not expected to break the warrior code, but he could not help himself. Brambleclaw had crouched down in the fresh green grass. As if he was an eagle, he pounced and caught a mouse. Without thinking he had eaten it! Eating without sharing with the clan was against the warrior code! He thought that no cat would notice, but sure enough they did. It was not long before Firestar found out. Brambleclaw was caught and punished. Brambleclaw had to remember what it was like to be an apprentice again. He had to take orders and serve the leader. After six moons he was finally appointed as a warrior again. Brambleclaw really learned his lesson that day, “I will never forget this,” he whispered as he stalked back out into the forest. Sophia-Kate Julienne Grade 4 Normal Park Museum Magnet School Meredith Vlahos

The Sad Adventures of Piglet There once was a piglet and his name was Piglet because he was just a plain kind of pig. He wore plain pants or shorts with nothing on them, just plain black. His T-shirts and long sleeve shirts were the color of black. He is very clean and fancy and never wants to go into the mud, but of course that was typical bath for pigs. He lived in a burned down barn with lots of food and certainly a lot of mud. The problem was that everybody thought that Piglet was a boring and not fun pig. Piglet tried to do fun stuff so they would like him. The things he did were splash in the mud and leave the mud on him whom he did not like on bit, but he still did it. All this did was seem to make him have fewer friends. He tried and tried, but he never got any friends. Then one day he was wondering what if he could do the most amazing thing? Then they would have to be my friends, right? So he kept on thinking of what that amazing thing would be. Then he saw another pig walking around so Piglet said to him,” Do you know what will amaze the other pigs, mainly the girl pigs? He gave the oddest response. They really like for pigs to dress up in clown costumes. So Piglet got up bright and early the next morning and went to the costume store, bought a clown suit, and jumped right into it. He could not wait to show all the girls his outfit! Then he came outside and he saw the other pig he met the other day that said he should wear the outfit. He caught up with him and thanked him for the suggestion. The other pig began to laugh and said, they don’t really like clown outfits and started to laugh. “What,” said Piglet angrily? “You mean that they are going to laugh their heads off at me because of you?” He tried to rip and pull the costume down off him, but it was too late! “Ha, Ha, Ha,” all of the girls laughed. “Ha, Ha, Ha,” they all laughed again. Piglet was so embarrassed and ashamed that he never came out of the barn again. He stayed in their living happily in his clean black clothes. He never took another pigs advice again. Elsie Martin Grade 4 Normal Park Museum Magnet Ms. Jamie Tipton

The Tail of Dragons and Friends Chapter 1 - Summer June 21, 2003 Today I’m writing to you because it is a day of celebration. It is my first day of Haterogt. Haterogt is a school of Dragon training. I’m afraid people aren’t going to like me because I’m the ancestor of Lord Olomva. We are getting off the train right now, I’m so scared! See you tomorrow diary!! June 22, 2003 Diary, There is only one person that likes me, his name is Peter Haterogt . I know, his last name is the name of the school. His grandfather founded the school! So far my favorite class is dragon repel potions (because I’m good at it.) The teacher’s name is Mr. Hawgew. Bye, until tomorrow Diary. June 24,2003 Sorry that couldn’t write to you yesterday but I had a lot of homework, and girl trouble. There is a really mean girl she is the descendant of the hero who killed my grandfather, Lord Olomva. I hate her! Every time I mess up a little she makes me seem stupid! P.S I was partnered with Peter Haterogt , he is so cool! I hope I’m with him tomorrow! Bye Diary! June 25, 2003 Diary, Guess who I was partnered with? Angalena Orra, the girl who was mean to me! She took over and did it wrong and blamed it on me! The worst part is she blew-up the shed we were in and now everyone thinks I ‘m following the footsteps of my grandfather! June 26, 2003 Now Peter Haterogt hates me, too! Ohh, fine. I will try not to complain to you so I will tell you about this sport thing, it is a one person game (thank goodness!) where you ride on dragons and try to steal the other players egg. You have to defend your own egg at the same time! Try outs are tomorrow! Can’t wait! June 28, 2003

Sorry I couldn’t write to you but I was at tryouts! Ohh, my gosh, I made the team! Sorry you’re probably wondering how there’s a tea; we all combined our scores into one. The best part is that Peter Hatergot is on my team! He is the captain! Diary, I’ve got a surprise for you the next time I write. Bye!! June 29, 2003 So Diary, I learned a spell to take your eyes out of the book so ready, set! Orwritea! Here Diary, put on this costume. It is a meerkat. Meerkats are magical so you don’t have to hide your magic! Your name is Zsibella. “Come on, come on Zsibella! We will be late for herbs for dragons! Oh, gosh, you know how mad Mr. Brance gets when people are late, especially me!” Chapter 2 - Peter June 21, 2003 I blacked out on the Hatergot train. When I woke up there was a girl standing over me clutching two diaries. One of them was mine. The other was hers. I couldn’t believe somebody else had a diary. She was pretty, too! She asked me my name. I said it. She thought it was cool I was the descendant of the founder of the school. When I tell you this don’t you dare do your magic thing where you pop open and tell my deepest secrets! If you promise not to tell, I will write it… I have a crush on her. There I said it. Now don’t go blabbing or I will put you in the food processor! Chapter 3 – Summer June 29, 2003 Sorry I had to put you back into Diary form, but I got detention so I had to clean Peter’s dorm. So Peter’s diary told me something! It said “Peter loves you, Peter loves you!” Oh my gosh, here comes Peter!! Bye! Chapter 4 – Peter Peter felt nervous, so he decided to go to his dorm room. Peter almost threw-up when he saw Summer in his dorm cleaning. She was just the person he wanted to talk to! She blushed when she saw him. Then, he got a straight face and said “This is very important.” and “I don’t hate you anymore. We have to work together to catch it…” Chapter 5 – Summer At first she had been surprised when she heard Peter tell her his dairy turned into a dragon. He told her it was a friendly dragon/diary. Then he told her to get out her’s. Then Summer said, “But I don’t have one.”

“Yes you do. Your diary turns into a Blue Fireoligy dragon. That is why it has a blue dragon with ice blue flaming tail. Press this flaming tail when we get outside.” And with that he left the room. “Wait!” Summer said, her voice full of exasperation. Chapter 6 – Peter “We have to save Mount Rushtree from being burned up! Or all the dragons are going to die!” Peter said this as soon as Summer got outside. She pressed the tail on the beautiful blue dragon. The dragon on the cover started to grow and glow until it landed on the grass and said “My name is Zsibella.” Then Summer asked if she could get on. The dragon said “Yes!” Peter smiles happily and presses his Green Finn dragon on his book. He got on his dragon and they fly off into the sunset. Claire McOmie Grade 4 The Bright School Allison Sakich

The Invisible Kitten One day there was a kitten. The kitten's name was Kitten. Kitten was playing in the yard but then Puppy came over. Puppy told Kitten to look at his new toy. Kitten knew it was a trick so she just said, “Go away Puppy.” Puppy said, “I’m not going away until you look at my new toy.” So Kitten looked at the toy. “Cool,” said Kitten. “Can I try it?” Kitten asked. “Yes.” said Puppy. Kitten pressed a button but then she turned invisible! Kitten yelled for her owner. Kitten yelled “Maddie! Maddie!” Maddie ran outside. she said “Kitten! Where are you Kitten!?” Kitten told Maddie where she was and then she told Maddie that Puppy turned her invisible. Maddie was so mad at Puppy she put him in jail until Kitten was visible again. Maddie called her mom and asked when she would get home. “Not until my 10:00 p.m meeting is over and it matters how much traffic there is.” But when Maddie told her dad that Kitten was invisible he rushed home! Maddie called Lily and Alex to come over. Once everyone was there they started to turned Kitten visible again. Alex ran to the basement and picked up something random. And when Alex poured it on Kitten a little bit of Kitten turned visible! Kitten was eating a chocolate bar. But Kittens legs were still invisible! Maddie told Kitten that she would be back to normal soon. Alex ran to the garage and got the same thing that she got from the basement and poured it on Kittens legs. Kitten was back to normal after that and Maddie hugged Kitten and asked her if she learned her lesson. Kitten said yes and also said that she would never go by puppy again unless she had to. Puppy was still in jail for turning Kitten invisible. But Puppy was messing with his toy and he made himself invisible so he yelled, "HELP!" “Here we go again,” said everyone at the same time. The End Mary Mueller Grade 4 Normal Park Museum Magnet Alison Redfoot

The Starkids and the Mistress of Dark Night Hi! I’m Gabby Paisley. I’m 9 and at my 6th orphanage. It’s called Austin Texas Home for Runaway Children. I go to Mason Elementary School. It’s so unfavorable. I have a pretty good reputation there. You almost always do when you’re the best runner and soccer player in school. I am on my run to school when I spot a glow out of the corner of my eye. I see it again, farther away this time. I follow it. I run until I feel like I’m going to faint. It stops a few feet away from me. Maybe I shouldn’t have done this. No, don’t say that Gabby. I breathe and touch the bright light. It dissolves into a small necklace. It has a simple bronze chain and a small charm that looks like a book on the end. I pick it up and carefully open the book. Suddenly, bam I was spinning in a blur of lights, fabrics, and beautiful glass fixtures like a Christmas tree falling on top of you. I hit my foot on something hard and collapse onto the ground. I look around. The place looks like my school’s science lab but bigger and filled with tons of wacky stuff. I look for a door and stand up. A sharp pain flies up my left ankle. I hobble around until I find a door on the far side of the room Suddenly, right before I can open the door, a stout and fair-haired lady blasts through the door yelling “Jonathan, don’t you dare send her back!” Through the door I see a boy around my age with a remote control. “What in the world?” was all I could say. The little lady faced me and said, “Hi Gabby! My dear you’re in bad shape! Oh I almost forgot, I am Miss Mary Minnie. Mistress Mary Minnie to the four other mistresses. Don’t ask anything, because soon enough we’ll tell you everything. Just be patient!” And then she chimed, “Jonathan Dear-Honey-Dew-Boy, take the child to her room so the healer can have some time to fly here.” Jonathan grunted, but still helped me hobble out of the room and began to almost drag me down all different corridors until he stopped in front of a black door with stones almost completely gray with light hints of blue. Just like my eyes I thought. He unlocked the door with a charm on a necklace he was wearing. The door swung open, and I walked inside. It was actually a pretty big room. It featured a blue and white canopy bed and a big desk with a white leather chair. The walls had gigantic tapestries showing the destruction of a beautiful kingdom. I had a feeling this room was made just for me. Jonathan finally broke the silence by saying, “The healer Meriweather will be here soon. Rest, the time will come once you are ready. Bye!” I had no idea what he meant, but took his word about rest and slept like I was in a coma. I woke up later to the sound of someone rapping on the door. I hopped out of bed and opened the door. Outside the door, a thin lady with red hair and a bright smile walked in and said, “I am Meriweather the head healer. How is your foot dear one?” “It’s good. I mean I’m good. Oh you get it!” I said. Something about that lady’s smile really got me on the edge of my seat!

“Oh, then I will just do a small magic x-ray and we will make sure you’re up and running again!” She pulled out what looked like a wand and waved it over me. Then she said in a singsong voice, “You are free to go to the room with emerald stones on it. Goodbye!” I decided that instead of my eyes, the stones would look like Miss Mary Minnie’s bright green eyes. I strolled down the hallway until I found the door. I walked inside to see Miss Mary Minnie shouting, “For the last time, she might not be the one to defeat her, but she can help!” I notice Jonathan pacing in the corner mumbling, “Hey I’m just saying she doesn’t look old enough and she’s not even a Starkid yet.” Then Miss Mary Minnie said, “Oh Jonathan, our conversation is no longer private.” That is when I saw how much Jonathan looked like me. We have the same scarecrow blond hair with almost light blue eyes, but they were too gray. We even had the same stubborn expression. “Well that’s creepy!” I said. “What?” asked Miss Mary Minnie. “Oh nothing,” I responded. “Well then let’s begin. You are in Mastellville. Otherwise known as The Land of Mysteries! We have been fighting Grizelda, The Mistress of the Dark Night. Knowing that children are filled with love The Light Day Lieutenants created an organization of kids all over the world helping find Grizelda’s weakness. This Organization is called Starkids Incorporated. You are now going to defeat the Mistress with the help of a Starkid named Marcus and Jonathan. Bye!” Suddenly we disappeared and reappeared into a dark throne room. In the middle of the throne room a lady with purple hair and red boots stood talking into a phone. Her voice was muffled but a few words stood out. Things like destroy, Starkids, and Light Day. I was mad. I ran to her, somehow grabbed a blade from nowhere, and hacked the sword at her waist. The sword broke right when it was about to hit her. She put up her phone and said “Nice try, Starkid!” Then out of nowhere I had an idea! The Mistress moved like every step hurt. Maybe her feet were her weakness! I called out “Feet=Weakness!” We all began cutting her feet. She disintegrated! I suddenly appeared at home! I am so glad I am an official Starkid! Acadia Phillips Grade 4 The Bright School Allison Sakich

My Poor Pinky One day I wish it never happened, but it did. It was my pinky. Scratch that, it was my beautiful pinky. I jumped up in the air, the hard football hit my beautiful pinky. A day later, it started to hurt more. I whined so long, my mom had to take me to the doctor. When I went to the doctor, I sat forever. It felt like a year, but I was exaggerating, but just a little bit. Finally the doctor got there. We talked for a long time. I told her where my pinky hurt. Next, we went next door for a x-ray. It took forever, and then I got a sticker, so did my brother and sister. And then it was time for the x-ray. It was a little scary seeing the red things on my pinky, but it didn't hurt. Before the x-ray, I kept asking if it would hurt. It turned out my pinky was snapped in half. I didn't think it would have snapped. It was my first broken bone. I got a cast and I had to wear it for a few weeks. When I got it off, I would maybe get a shot, but I was lucky. I didn't have to. That same doctor helped my mom when she was a kid. My bone still looks weird but that's ok. I can still throw a baseball. I can swim. It doesn't hurt anymore. Oh, and by the way, Wesley did it!!! Harrison Ragan Grade 4 Grace Baptist Academy Jamie Gill

Quendilla’s Heroes Normal girl, normal life… or not. Who knew that the simplest girl in the world really has a secret life that no one knows about… Hi. I’m Lisa. Normal name, right? That’s my “in-public” name. My real name is Ramin. My best friend’s name is Vonclave. He’s a nerd- literally! He’s not only got braces and glasses but he’s the candy type of NERD (and he’s purple). My home is number 44 on Jr. Rd. It’s actually my Aunt and Uncle’s home. I live there along with my bratty cousin Rebecca. My real home is in my room. In my room, there’s a painting- just a painting- no bed; no closet; no anything – just a picture with a golden frame. The painting has a couple and a little girl. That was my parents and I before an evil wizard, named The Eddy, made my parents disappear. But luckily, they left me a portal behind the painting so I could travel between two worlds. The world I travel to is my home, Quendilla. Quendilla is a magical world where no humans roam. I bet you’re wondering what I am if I am not a human. I’m an elf! Not the kind you find in Santa’s workshop- oh no, no, no… I’m the kind that you see on The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. I’m daring! Now, enough about me. Let the story begin! “Ramin!!!! How dare you do your little magic act or whatever! You know the rules: No magic on tests!” said Uncle Larry. “I didn’t cheat on the test!” I corrected. “Listen to your Uncle!” said my Aunt Clarise. “I AM NOT LYYYYIIIINNNGGG!” I screamed so loud, and so high, I cracked all the windows! It’s a power of mine. “Go to your room!” Uncle Larry commanded. I grunted and stomped up the stairs to my room. I passed Rebecca who was grinning in a fiendish kind of way. I knew she was going to lock me in my room again. I slammed the door behind me. I then quietly laughed and said, “Works every time!” I couldn’t wait to go to Quendilla. I quickly stepped into the portal behind the painting. I took a deep breath and there was Vonclave, all smiley, purple, lumpy and braces shining. “Ramin!” said Vonclave. “Vonclave” I said. After we hugged, we started walking to Vonclave’s house. On the way, Vonclave asked, “Do you think your cousin will lock the door again?” “Don’t worry.” I said. “When I say “thank-you” she will unlock it. She never likes to do anything that will make me happy…” “ Or,” Vonclave pointed out, “You could complain and have more time here?” “Hmmm. Maybe I will…” I teased. That night, a storm came. Quendilla was designed to only sprinkle – real, rainbow sprinkles! It doesn’t storm very often on Quendilla unless it’s a warning. Vonclave and I woke up when we heard a gigantic boom of thunder. “We’re in trouble!!!!” Vonclave said in fear. “According to what I am seeing on my Magic Tablet, the – The…” stuttered Vonclave. “What????” I yelled. “The Eddy is coming,” he whispered.

“Ahhhhh!!!!” I screamed sending a shockwave so powerful it not only shattered all the windows, but also Vonclave’s glasses. This was my most powerful scream yet as Vonclave’s glasses are made of the strongest glass in the universe. Then, as I looked around admiring my amazing talent, I heard Vonclave complain “Hey! How am I supposed to get another pair?” “Don’t worry,” I said as I whipped up another pair using my powers. Just then, I noticed a dark cloud spinning away from Vonclave’s house. On the cloud, there was a person – not a person – a Wizard. It was The Eddy! It had a storm cloud for a head with cat-like eyes and lightening for hair. His body was a whirlpool whirling and swirling. He was about to blow Vonclave’s house to smithereens just before my scream blew him backwards towards his castle. “Now let’s go!” I yelled. “Where?” Vonclave asked. “We’re going to stop The Eddy!” After gathering our supplies, later that day, we started our journey to The Eddy’s castle through the Hungry Vine Jungle, over the Bat Creaking Lake, and under the Tunnel of Black Licorice. When we got to the castle, Vonclave and I saw a devilish sight: The Eddy. Then Vonclave said in a heroic voice “Give me a boost.” “Sonic Scream or Super Throw?” I asked. “Both” he requested. Then I gave him a boost and Sonic Screamed him up to the Eddy’s face. “Hello ED!” said Vonclave holding up his fist. Vonclave punched The Eddy off his storm cloud. I took a step backwards and The Eddy fell alllllll the way down to the center of the earth. Then, he evaporated. Vonclave and I walked all the way back to the portal talking about the “ED”-venture that we had. “See you later you nerd-o-rater.” I said. “See you in a jiffy, you elf hippy” said Vonclave. “We really need a better way to say ‘Good-bye,’” I said as I stepped through the portal. When I got into my room, I went over to my door and “Oh no…Not again!” as I turned the locked handle of my door… “Rebecca!” Lily Rhyne Grade 4 The Bright School Allison Sakich

Scattered Showers: The Diary of a Raindrop Day One: Hi I'm Robby the raindrop, and this is my diary. Right now I'm in a puddle, and this morning if I had been a centimeter closer to that car, I would have been road-kill. Aaah! What's happening to me?! I am flying! I'm water vapor. Day Two: What now? I'm getting turned into a liquid. Brrrrrrrrrrrrr. It's freezing in here. Day Three: Aaaah! Why do I have to be afraid of heights? Hey, I'm snow, but I'm turning to rain. Look out for Big Ben! I think I'm in London, but I'm not sure. I'm a raindrop, and raindrops aren't that smart. We're actually kind of dumb. Yay, I'm right. That sign said LO-N-D-O-N. Day Four: OK. I think I am in the dump in a milk jug now. I'm evaporating again. Aw, vapor. Clouds, Clouds, Clouds. Is there anything else to see up here? I'm falling again. Wait what! I'm falling again? Aaah! " Day Five: OK. Evaporating. Condensing. I know what's next. Falling. I'm not going to scream this time. Change in plan. Aaaaaaaaahhhh! Day Six: This is something different. I'm in the ground. Are these things straws? No. What are they? Oh! They're roots! I've always wondered what those looked like. I'm getting sucked up! I'll see the inside of the tree now. Hey. I like this. I'm going up, but I'm not evaporating. Day Seven: This leaf is comfy. Sun, you better stop heating me. The sun says that he can't help it, but I wish he could. Oh well. I'll go up. Day Eight: I'm in a cloud again. I'm going to use my plan from before, don't scream. Or maybe notâ&#x20AC;Ś aaah! I'm officially a snowflake. I'm headed towards the mountain. I like not being like everyone else. It's peaceful up here. Day Nine: I've finally landed. What's happening to me?! Fuzzy stuff is all around me. Now I'm rolling around. I'm getting dizzy! My face is numb! Mmm. I've tasted this before, tastes likeâ&#x20AC;Ś carrot! I can see for miles up here! There's a snow leopard! Day Ten: Oh no! I'm melting! Going downhill now. Day Eleven: I'm in a stream. Yuck! Campers brushing their teeth, but this seems a little different. Aaah! Hands grabbing me! Aaah! Mouth! What's this funny taste? Definitely not carrot. I think it's mint. I wonder if they make carrot toothpaste. That would be pretty cool. Earthquake! Volcano! Oh. Just being spit out. I feel a little sick. Day Twelve: Aw, vapor... Here we go again. Stop it, Sun. Oh yeah, you can't help it. Sorry. I keep forgetting. Even though you can't help it, this is really driving me crazy. Day Thirteen: Ok, Cloud, you better not drop me this time. Or not. Don't look down, Robby, don't look down. WATERBAAAALLLL!! Yay! I didn't freak out that time! Day Fourteen: This is the last page of my diary. I think I'll rest under this tree for a while. Maybe someone will plant a carrot nearby. Anyway, see you next time! Well, not literally see you, but whatever. Goodbye! Olivia Sanders, Grade 4 McConnell Elementary School, Connie Robinson

Colonial Crimes Chapter One It is the summer of 1765, and a young spirited girl named Elizabeth is riding on her horse, Black Beauty. Just as she is about to get Beauty a drink, she hears her father say, “Elizabeth! Your mother needs help with baby William! Oh, do come in soon!” So Elizabeth trudged on through the fields to her home, for she was quite disappointed that she had to go indoors. For you see, Elizabeth is not the kind of girl that can sit down and do needlework for two hours. She enjoys to live life to the fullest, as does her father, a wealthy nobleman, her father’s apprentice, John, who one day wanted to join the army, and her baby brother William, who could not talk yet but was excited for the years ahead of him. So when Elizabeth went inside, she saw one of the funniest sights that she had ever seen in her life! It was John, her father’s eighteen year old apprentice, with the baby William crying in his lap! “John! Give William to me before he gets sick from having such a tantrum!” Elizabeth cried. But really, she could hardly keep from laughing. Then, she heard a crash in the cellar. She set down William, lit a lamp, and quietly crept down into the murky darkness. When she got there, she saw a figure scrambling like a mouse from its prey into the backyard. Then, just as the person was leaving, Elizabeth turned around and screamed. The money cabinet was empty. Chapter Two Just as he heard her scream, John rushed out the door saying “One moment! I’ll be right back! Just have to get something!” he exclaimed. Then, Elizabeth heard her father’s shoes clabbering down the steps saying “What’s all the racket about?” When he finally got down to the cellar, his face went as white as a sheet. “What in the blazes has happened here? Oh dear, please do not tell your mother about such language. I do believe that she would be most disappointed in my careless actions.” he replied thoughtfully. Just after Elizabeth’s bewildered father had finished his sentence, John rushed in with the police. Elizabet left and ran, although it was quite unladylike, to her friend, Anna-Marie’s house to see if her noble, courageous, and intelligent friend could help her with her mind-boggling mystery. When she got there, AnnaMarie’s mother welcomed her in. “Good gracious Elizabeth! What ever has happened to you? You look so pale.” “Yes, I know…” said Elizabeth. “But I must see Anna-Marie.” After receiving permission from her mother, Elizabeth ran as fast as a rabbit up the stairs to Anna-Marie’s room. Right as she rushed in, she saw her friend practicing her needlepoint. “Elizabeth! What is all the racket about?” said Anna-Marie. “Someone has broken into the money cabinet and stolen about three hundred dollars! That was about half of what we brought from England!” Three hundred dollars was a lot in colonial times, but six hundred was an outstanding amount. Elizabeth’s father had all of this money because he was a nobleman and used to be in the shipping business. “So Elizabeth, do you want me to help you?” Anna-Marie said in a comical voice. “Well, you didn’t think that I would come all this way for a tablespoon of sugar or something did you?” Elizabeth

said. “Of course I want you to help me! Did you think that I could handle this advanced mystery all on my own, now did you?” Elizabeth said with so much energy in her voice, that she rattled the china on Anna-Marie’s bedside table. “Well, let’s get started.” Chapter Three The Cole family was just sitting down to dinner when Elizabeth staggered in, for she was quite tired out from the long walk home from home from her friend’s house. She received quite a scolding when she arrived, because her mother liked all of her children to be clean and prim at the dinner table. So when Elizabeth walked in, her mother was appalled at her dirty appearance. After she was washed and changed, she told of her little adventure. Elizabeth told the rest of her family about the thief and Anna-Marie agreeing to help her find the culprit. The next day, Elizabeth went to Anna-Marie’s house. When she entered her room, Anna-Marie was squealing with joy. “We got him! We got him!” she exclaimed happily. “What do you mean?’ Elizabeth said. “I mean that we have caught the person that stole your money! I was walking down the street last night, wondering if anyone saw him steal the money. I saw a man sitting on a bench and went to ask him. He spilled the beans, I tell you! He said that he was quite dizzy, not himself, and just went, took the money and left.” After that, the girls called the police and the tramp that stole the money, Henry Rider, was sentenced in court for only 5 months in prison. Elizabeth thanked her wonderful friend for helping her find Mr. Rider, and that she couldn’t have done it without her. And that, my friends, is the end of this story. Claire Scotchie Grade 4 Saint Nicholas School Alice Revenig

Change One day in the early cool morning I got up from my deep sleep. It was very early in the morning. I got on my thin plaid shirt, ripped jeans, and brown boots. I went downstairs to get some butter toast on sourdough bread, my favorite breakfast. After breakfast I went to the shed to get some tin buckets and the cornmeal to feed the chickens. I also got a flashlight and headed to the yard. I had to milk the cows, and that takes about 30-40 minutes. After I fed the animals I went to the butcher on 88 Cherry Street. When I got home, I went to my room. Back downstairs my parents were talking about something, but I could not figure out what they were saying. All I heard was, "Should we tell her?" but that's all I heard. In a few hours it was time for dinner. Everyone decided to go to Cowboy Cody's, a really good BBQ restaurant in town. I ordered a BBQ sandwich. At dinner, my parents were trying to tell me something. They said, “Rebecca, we need to tell you something.” They hesitated… “We're moving in two days.” “WHY DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS SOONER?” I yelled. “Well, we were afraid you would be up...” “Well, I am upset now!” I screamed. "Be quiet,” my dad whispered. "Sorry,” I said quietly. In a few minutes, our food came, and we ate kind of slowly and in complete silence. When we were finished, the waiter came and took our empty plates. To make up for not telling me that we were moving in two days, everyone decided to go to Frozen Festival, which was an ice cream place. "Thanks for taking me to Frozen Festival," I said. “It is the least we could do for not telling you we were moving,” said my mom and dad. The next two days went by too fast. Before I knew it, I was saying goodbye to all my friends on the farm. I was so sad to leave my friends on the farm, especially the baby chicks that were born just born a few days ago. Just then, I heard the moving truck pull up to my driveway. In big blue bubble letters it read, "FRIENDLY FAMILY." “This is really happening,” I thought. “Are you finished packing?" my mom yelled from upstairs. I had tears begin to come to my eyes. “Yeah,” I finally mumbled. I sat on the bay window crying as I looked out the window. I was remembering all of the fun times that I had on my farm. "Come help me pack the moving truck!" my dad called from the driveway." I went downstairs and out to the truck. I put in three suitcases and two chairs. After I finished helping put everything into the moving truck, I got into the car. My family and I began to drive to the airport. As I sat in the back seat and we drove away, I saw all my friends playing in their yard. We had to wait for 3 ½ hours on the flight. Finally, we got on the plane. It took several hours to arrive to our new city, but before I knew it I saw ground. I wondered what my new house would be like. After we got off the plane, we got into a taxi. I heard that my new neighborhood was at 96 Instine Road and that there were a lot of beautiful gardens there.

As I pulled up to the neighborhood, I saw a girl about my age kicking a soccer ball. “I love soccer!” I thought. When I got to my house, I was unpacking and heard a knock at the door. "Who could that be?" I thought. I ran downstairs and saw the girl. "Hi," she said. “Do you like soccer?” "Yeah," I said with a big smile. “Maybe this move would not be so bad after all!” I thought as I went outside to play with my new friend. Grace Sharp Grade 4 St. Peter’s Episcopal School Randi Schlosser

Mountains “The mountains are calling and I must go” – John Muir When I first moved to Tennessee, my family and I went hiking in the mountains. It was so wonderful and adventurous. There are many things that I loved about our hike in the mountains. One of the first things we did was get ready for the hike. We put on swimsuits and hiking shoes. We also had to pack some sunscreen, bug spray, our lunches, some delicious snacks, and lots of water. Once we were all ready, we headed to the mountains. When we arrived, we explored the visitor’s center. My grandma & grandpa bought me a cool bear claw necklace. Now it was time to hike. While we were hiking, my grandpa carved a walking stick for me. It was so cool. The walking stick made me feel like a famous adventurer. We saw many strange and interesting creatures. We saw chipmunks, fish, deer, squirrels, insects, spiders, and we even saw a few ticks. My favorite animal that I saw was the deer. It was my favorite because deer are so fast and cute. We saw them nibbling on the grass. The best part was watching the adorable baby deer frolic with their moms. We tried not to scare them. Next it was time for tubing! Our hike brought us to the entrance to a creek. I attached my tube to my grandma’s tube. I was lucky because my grandma had all of the food on her tube! We got stuffed! The currents pushed our tubes forward down the creek. My grandma and I saw a huge Garr fish in the water! I was worried that it might bite my leg! Once, when I was reaching for my water bottle, I fell right out of my tube! Thankfully, my grandma pulled me back on the tube. When we got to the end of the creek, we had to finish our hike through the mountains. While we hiked, my grandpa told us stories about different plants and animals. We met some awesome dogs on the trail. We stopped and played with every dog that we passed. A few times on the trail, we would see openings in the woods. We went through the opening and followed the trees down to another creek. My parents let us jump in and swim. The water was freezing cold, but it was still remarkable! We climbed up rocks and jumped into the water! (I could never do that in Florida!) We even saw a creature swimming near us! I thought it was an otter, my sister thought it was an alligator, and my brothers thought it was a beaver. Either way, it was tremendous to see! For me, the mountains are amazing. I was born in Florida and lived there for my whole life until now. There were no mountains and no hills where I lived. I love hiking in mountains. The mountains make me feel like I am home. I hear the mountains calling my name. Logan Smith Grade 4 Grace Baptist Academy Jamie Gill

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Always Be Looking It was Thanksgiving, and we heard a knock on the door. On the door step there was a little hedgehog. All of the sudden it disappeared, but in its place there was a scroll. I lifted the scroll and opened it, and before I knew it I was zipping through time and ended up in another dimension. The dimension was wonderfully odd. I was captured by its unknown beauty. The hedgehog was there too. He said, “You are in a world called the In Between. It is a world where all of the things that people and animals can’t see live. All of a sudden, he shed his hedgehog costume and he was actually a shadow. Really, he looked like a black blob with shiny blue eyes. Instead of pupils he had tiny silver dolphins that danced in his eyes. He was the most beautiful creature I had ever set my eyes on. He saw the awe in my eyes and he grinned a big grin. He said, “My name is Gardol. You’re your guardian.” Suddenly we were whizzing back in time travel. We were standing at the window of my house. I was reliving my second birthday. I was having a Strawberry Shortcake birthday, and I saw Gardol in the shadows throwing confetti. How had I missed him? I smiled, and we were again whizzing through time. I was now at my grandfather’s funeral. In the shadows there was Gardol weeping with me. I never knew that shadows could weep. Before I could say anything we were back on my doorstep, and he was back in his hedgehog disguise. He said, “Always be looking, and maybe you’ll see me again. I will always be watching you, even if you cannot see me.” I thought to myself, “Wow, what an amazing Thanksgiving.” I jumped back into reality when my mother called, “Daphne, the turkey is going to get cold! Wash up!” I wonder if Gardol is here at this Thanksgiving. The End. Ansley Waters 4th Grade Hilger Higher Learning Shelley George

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Untitled There once lived a fox who was very curious about things. But one day he approached a big cave in the middle of the forest. He badly wanted to go into the cave but he knew Papa fox would get very worried, so he didn’t go into the cave. At dinner Papa and Mama fox asked him how his day went he didn’t want to tell them about the cave he saw so he didn’t. When little fox went to bed in the middle of the night there was a wisp of blue light. When little fox approached the blue light he followed it but what he didn’t know is the blue wisp followed led him into the cave. When he got into the cave he didn’t know it was a magic cave the did magical things he didn’t notice it until he got thirsty once he thought of it the cave grew a little stream. The fox didn’t know what happened so he went back to sleep when he woke up he wanted some food so the cave grew a table full of pancakes bacon and eggs the fox was amazed, but after many years the fox became greedy. The fox still wanted to escape still though but the cave trapped whoever was inside unless they weren’t so greedy. After many years Papa fox became really worried, he saw the same blue wisp before and here it is again! Papa fox knew there was only one place he could be the cave, Papa fox ran as fast as he could until he approached the big cave the problem was is you can’t see or feel anything so Papa fox let out a big “woof” little fox heard so he kept following the sound until he saw Papa fox. Once they got out of the cave they went home. Then little fox learned that he should be less adventurous. Abigayle White Grade 4 Normal Park Museum Magnet Alison Redfoot

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[ Grade 5 Poetry ] Emotions The car drove away With my brother in it As it drove the trees started to sway The sky dark as a big black pit They whispered of us Over Tim the whispers grew It turned into a great big fuss Our emotions shrunk til a few My brother came back With presents black and blue But all I got was a sack With some items but only a few Lilly Bowman, Grade 5 Thrasher Elementary, Julie Spino

Swimming What is swimming? At the pool looking out, you see shallow and deep water, waves moving up and down, blue and white shining water. You get in and feel the cold water. You start walking down and you see how the water is low at your feet to high at your head, friends racing each other and saying, â&#x20AC;&#x153;That looks fun.â&#x20AC;? Enthusiastic swimmers You start playing and making friends Suddenly you feel the enthusiasm that is floating in the pool. That is swimming. Vivian Brockman, Grade 5 Bright School, Mrs. Vicki Everett 103

I Am Estefania I am Estefania Daughter of Francisco and Irene, sister of Jose, Fatima, Eliseo Who needs lots of sleep Who loves to color and read Who sees my family Who dislikes to wake up in the morning early Who dreams of going to Mexico Resident of the house with noisy Jose and Fatima Camarena Estefania Camarena, Grade 5 Red Bank Elementary, Mrs. Candace Russell

Minecraft Block by block I dug straight down Block by block Until I fell Down The Hole To certain death I knew this would happen But I did not know when I Fell Into Lava To Certain death I lost my gear I lost my sword But it didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t lose My hope Shiloh Chamberlain, Grade 5 Thrasher Elementary, Julie Spino

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How not to read Here is a poem On how not to read. Why would you read this If there is no need? I want you to stop this, Stop this right now! Seriously, you’re still here? All I can say is wow. I’m sick of writing this. Okay, good bye now. You’re not allowed to read this, Or are you? Ask your mother. How should I know? We don’t even know one another. Spencer Chinery Grade 5 Thrasher Elementary Mrs. Garvich

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Outside I am curious and quiet I wonder why the sky is blue I hear the clouds moving past I see the wind in the air I want to know why trees have leaves I am curious and quiet I pretend I am a bird flying past I feel the grass beneath my feet I touch the leaves on the tree I worry if it will storm I cry when weather is bad I am curious and quiet I understand why flowers are colorful I say I am free I dream that I can fly like a bird I try to make the flowers grow I hope I can swim like a fish I am curious and quiet Kendall Creel, Grade 5 Red Bank Elementary, Mrs. Worley I Shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Have Let You Go We were sitting in the room waiting for you to come back That moment played in my head when the car tumbled over and over She lays in an eternal sleep where no one can wake her The doctor came in to the room and said that she might lay there forever We would never in a million years leave you by yourself We were sitting in the room when we heard the most terrible noise The beep blurred into one We shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have ever let you go. Gracie Crooks, Grade 5 Normal Park Museum Magnet, Katherine Blake 106

What is the Holocaust? The Holocaust is Nazi’s going after Jews, running as fast as you can AWAY, leaving your old life behind, Never to see it again, Hiding from the Nazi’s You hear bullets ricochet and bombs exploding in the distance, You can feel the fear in the air Can we survive? Suddenly footsteps, You are yanked AWAY from your family, Taken to a camp, Where the smell of blood and death is very strong That is the Holocaust. Callie Czarnecki Grade 5 Bright School Mrs. Vicki Everett What is love? it’s thinking about him during class it’s staring at him like nothing else in the world exists it’s blushing and looking away it’s writing his name all over your paper it’s being able to talk to him and not run away it’s having him like the same things you do it’s knowing that he likes you for you it’s first being friends then moving into an entirely different category it’s doing little favors and inching towards big ones it’s being there when you need someone it’s holding hands when you’re scared it’s kisses and hugs it’s knowing that he’s for you That’s love. Light Davis Grade 5 Bright School Mrs. Vicki Everett

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Poetry: A Haiku Poetry I think, Has a tendency to stink. I don’t like it much. John Mark Fraker Grade 5 Thrasher Elementary Julie Spino What is embarrassment? Embarrassment is when you trip and fall flat on your face, You have an ugly haircut, The teacher calls on you and you’re wrong, No one thought your joke was funny, You wear something too small, When your parents come to school and give you a big wet kiss, Now that’s embarrassment. Connor Hayes Grade 5 Bright School Mrs. Vicki Everett

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Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Rock on, on the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Three, two, one blast off going more than a hundred miles per hour turn left turn right go side to side go upside down swerving and curving. A rock'n band screaming at the top of their lungs they're on a big road trip see'n exit signs and restaurants But then the car slows down Seeing a red carpet they get out of the car They're a famous rock band walking to see their terrified faces as they blasted off Mary Chapman Hayes Grade: 5 Hilger Higher Learning Shelley George

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What Are Those? What are those? You might ask. People are all different and that is what is about the world. We are from different backgrounds and cultures but we are all equal people. We might wear a bindi or a veil or Jordan retro 5â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s but we are all equal. What are those you might ask? Evan Haynie Grade 5 St. Peterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Episcopal School Mrs. Maounis Reading and Writing Time Reading fun, quiet calming, adventuring, occuping words, books, hands, pencil tiring, hurting, interesting sadness, happiness Writing Lily Hicks Grade 5 Boyd Buchanan School Michelle Rudolph 110

I Am Obedient and Loyal I am obedient and loyal I wonder if life truly has a meaning I hear emptiness I see shadows in the corners of my eyes I want Nerf rifles, pistols, being famous, and rich I am obedient and loyal. I pretend to be my game self I feel sad and empty I touch the scar on my elbow I cry because of the memory of the pain I understand pain is nothing I say the Greek, Roman and Egyptian gods are real I dream that Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m in the woods as my game self I try drawing him in my mind I hope I can be him when I grow up I am obedient and loyal. Lucas Kahle Grade 5 Red Bank Elementary Mrs. Candace Russell Running Shirts hot pink, Bucfest wearing, running, relaxing Nike, Under Armour, drink, liquid freezing, gulping, refreshing cold, delicious water McKinley Locke Grade 5 Boyd Buchanan School Michelle Rudolph 111

On the bed, thoughts in my head. Sad thoughts, angry thoughts, some I can’t describe! Dressed in black, for dear sister Sarah. I walk in my tall, tall shoes, to the graveyard, to grieve the news. The priest says many, many words. Suddenly, I have to burst saying, “Sarah? Why her? It could’ve been me or you!” I am escorted into the graveyard, and I see eyes the color blue. It is a boy, not any boy though. In fancy, old, and tattered clothes, not solid, not liquid, but some sort of gas. Like magic, it seems, but it can’t be that. He sings, “Live with me, Nora. Sarah lives here too.” I scream, run, try to go. But every little time I try, he comes right in front of my left eye. I scream, once more, trying not to believe in this graveyard lore. Suddenly, I am pinched, and I am awake. Sarah is here. Abigail Mann Grade 5 Normal Park Museum Magnet School Catherine Cox

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Dunder Dunder the dog Oh, how amazing he was Jumping and Swimming and Diving. Dunder was afraid of thunder though That was his only flaw. At first he was shy, But he broke out of his shell, Doing tricks and behaving weren't his flaws at all. Ava McBryar, Grade 5 Thrasher Elementary, Julie Spino

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Zachary’s Passions I am compassionate and shy I wonder how Pegasi fly I hear the wind whistle I see an imaginary thistle I want a timid butterfly I am compassionate and shy I pretend that a banana I can peel I feel that magic is really real I touch the water’s own edge I worry that I'll fall of a ledge I cry—well, about everything makes me cry I am compassionate and shy I understand another’s job I say, “Criminy, Jimminy-Bob!” I dream of very weird things I try to draw perfect rings I hope for world peace—why? I am compassionate and shy. Zachary Pham, Grade 5 Red Bank Elementary, Mrs. Paula Worley

Drawing Drawing lines, picture tracing, trying, asking hope, color, wet, canvas watching, hoping, drying brush, colors Painting Miranda Renfro, Grade 5 Boyd Buchanan School, Jennifer Jones Tumbling All Around Flip and tumble all around try not to fumble or hit the ground around, up and down, side to side tumbling all around. Feet down, back on the ground up in the air and once around oh though youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re dizzy you love what you do once you know what to do youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll see your feet more that a face. Raegan Sanders, Grade 5 Boyd Buchanan School, Jane Beasley My Dream World The world spins like the hands of time. Every day is a blur; Nothing seems clear to me. Is this all a dream? Should I be scared? Should I feel free? What is happening to me? Should I try to leave this world? I don't know if it is up to me. Sidney Taylor, Grade 5 Thrasher Elementary School, Tracy Crosby 114

My Porch I sit On my Porch as I listen to The birds sing They sound like A beautiful choir Singing in harmony My porch has chairs With soft cushions on it. This is one place to escape From a crazy overwhelming World. I love my comfortable porch! Kate Tolson Grade 5 Hilger Higher Learning Shelley George

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[ Grade 5 Prose ] Untitled I’m falling off! Whoa, I’m scared! Ahh! It was after lunch on one of those perfect days; not too hot or too cold. My mom and I were making our way through traffic to our horseback riding lesson where (as long as it didn’t rain) I would canter for the first official time. As we turned onto the bumpy gravel road to the ranch I saw the outdoor, fenced-in, and uncovered arena without lights where I would shortly be riding. Girls on snorting horses of almost every shape, size, and color kicked up clouds of dust on the arena’s dusty ground. As we parked my mom’s maroon Nissan mini-van, I opened my door, and I smelt it. The overpowering stench of fly-infested manure from 65 plus horses. I might have gagged if I hadn’t been to the ranch before, but I still shuddered before carrying on. I heard girls older than me chatting before I unloaded my mom’s mini-van. I pressed a button below the license plate, and started removing things from the trunk. Out came my saddle pads, d-ring bridle, brushes, and apple flavored horse treats. Now anywhere else I would have stuck out like a sore thumb. My curly, knot riddled, dirty blond hair was pulled back into a low ponytail under my black velvet helmet. I had on my black unpolished ankle high boots, and my beige riding jodhpurs from Stockdale’s. In a nervous habit, I sucked my lower lip, but my emerald green eyes rimmed with sapphire blue gleamed with excitement. I found my horse, Duke. Duke was a sturdily built chestnut horse with a black mane and tail, a white sock on one of his back legs, a white blaze on his face, and two large roaming eyes. “Hi Duke.” I said cheerfully, but not a moment later I commanded sternly. “Let me brush you.” My friend Payton arrived after several minutes. “Hey Payton!” I exclaimed, while rushing over to hug her. “Ready to canter?” I said enthusiastically. “Yeah,” replied Payton with a broad grin. I could tell she was just as ecstatic as me. “Come on, we should brush our horses, I think you’re riding Snickers.” “Yes!” Payton said happily. I started to tack up Duke, putting on saddle pads, a leather saddle and girth, and finally my d-ring bridle. I started walking Duke up to the arena, and when I arrived there I got on top of Duke. It’s a lot easier to say than do, at least from the ground. I am so glad I can step on a block of wood. I started the stretches my instructor (Ms. Heidi) wanted me to do. I reached towards Duke’s ears, towards his tail, and finally towards both of my feet. I went from walking to trotting, which is a slightly faster gait than a walk. It’s not as fast paced as a canter, but it’s still fun. After that I glanced at Ms. Heidi, and she gave me the go ahead to canter. I got Duke trotting, and I started to kick with all my might, and I clicked with my mouth. Finally I…. Do it! I’m cantering, so this is how it feels. It’s amazing, exhilarating, and terrifying all at once. But, the speed! I’m going so fast the background blurs, my hair whips back with the wind, 116

and my foot comes out of its stirrup. Now it’s too fast! I’m falling off! Whoa I’m scared! Ahh! I’m being jostled this way and that. “Whoa Duke,” I nearly shout with panic in my voice as I pull back on the reigns. “That’s enough cantering for today, Boy.”, I tell Duke while patting his neck. As he slows down to a walk, I realize how I feel. I almost fell off a horse, but I feel like I can do anything. I wouldn’t trade this feeling for anything. Sophia Baleeiro Grade 5 Bright School Mrs. Vicki Everett

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The Haunted House Hey there I'm Abbey, and this is a made up story that will be from my point of view. This is about an experience that didn't happen, but did in the story. So I hope you enjoy it. Ring, ring, ring. "Hello, hey it's samara I was wondering if Shawna and I could go to your house this weekend." "Yeah that's fine, Shawna and I were planning a scary sleepover anyway, see you later." Ding dong. "Mom they're here," I said. "Okay Abbey go open the door." said mom. "Hey I'm so glad you came," I said. "Yeah I thought Samaras mom wasn't going to take us because she was watching her favorite show." Shawna said "Samara, Shawna and I have to show you something," I whispered "Okay Abbey, but it better be good." said Samara "Come to my room Samara, hey Shawna you go and turn out the lights," I said. "So I guess it's going to be scary, right," said Samara "Yeah, every day for the past month after school Shawna and I worked on it," I said "Okay Abbey are you ready," said Shawna. "Yes. “Shawna and Samara said in unison. "So do you like it?" I said. "Yeah it's so scary, you guys wanna play truth or dare?" Samara said. "Yeah my mom and dad are going on a date so we can do whatever whenever we want." I said shouting. "I'll go first, “I said. "You sure Abbey, cause I don't want you to pick me," Samara said curiously. "Really Samara come on what's the point of playing if you're the one who came up with it, and doesn't wanna play," I said in angry voice. "Okay." Samara said cryingish. "Shawna, truth or dare," I said. "Dare," Shawna said allowed. "Okay I dare you to go in the haunted house, “I said laughing. "Really, well you guys have to come with me." Shawna squilled. "Okay we will, right Samara?" I said." Yeah I'll totally go into a haunted house...NOT!" Samara said scared to death. Hey it's me again, you know, the real Abbey. Well do you like it so far? Well if you do great and if you don't, well I guess I'll try again next year. Okay back to the story.... "Guys I'm scared," Samara said." Again Samara, you came up with truth or dare." I said. "Oh come on I thought there was just candy eyeballs and fake skeletons," Shawna said. "Really you think I'm that dull," I said very angry. "Come on guys we're all supposed to have fun, not fight." Shawna said angry. "Abbey, Shawna...did you hear that." Samara said scared. "Hear what?" Shawna and I said at the same time. "That voice." Samara said. "I heard a little noise, but this house is really old so it makes all kinds of noises." I said. So as I'm walking through the house I do hear lots of noises, but I tell myself its okay.

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Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m a brave girl, but I'm scared of that house. Sometimes I think there are ghosts in there, but then again I tell myself, it will be okay. Okay me again, just so you know. In reality the haunted house is on Samara's street. Also I'm actually not scared of it. "Guys did you know there's ghosts surrounding us." Samara said. "Omg Samara you're right, what do we...(scream)...."Wow Samara now they are going to eat us or something, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I said. (3 screams) We all ran out the house, screaming. When we got to the house we hid under my bed. See about thirty minutes later we saw something in the doorway, I thought it was my mom. It was not my mom, no no, no, not my mom. It was Bloody Mary. "Guys, is that Abbey's mom?" Samara said in curiosity. "No way Samara that is not my mom, if that was my mom I would have ran away years ago." I said making a joke. "I think that's Bloody Mary," Samara said. "Nah it couldn't be Bloody Mary would of found us by now."" Hey Abbey where's Shawna........ Hey it's the real Abbey again and I was wondering....do you like it....I been waiting for this moment....do you think I am a good writer. "Okay Shawna we need to tell her." "Really I was about to drag her out from under the bed." "Tricked ya Samara we did all this to scare you." "So did we do good...Samara...where are you...(scream).""Check the closet, there she is."" What are you doing Samara," I said. "I'm praying for dear life!" Samara said. "Abbey, I know she was going to be so scared.'' ''It's okay she knows we were just playing with her...right." "I can't believe you guys. Okay me again this is the end of the story. So I guess we all know now that some people get scared easily, and that haunted houses can be totally scary. Also, if I win this year then next year I will do the haunted house #2. Abbey Blevins Grade 5 Red Bank Elementary Mrs. Russell

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Treasure at Dead Manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Peak It was a dark, cold night on the huge, towering mountains that surrounded the even larger Dead Man's Peak. It was a place that not even the strongest, bravest man would dare step foot. But, there was one, not-so-strong, not-so-brave, 11-year-old kid named Jake Ridley who had enough curiosity to explore the treacherous, dangerous Dead Man's Peak. He had been warned many times by the families who lived in the area about the legend of a great Emperor who ruled over his people with an iron fist. The Emperor had a strong and powerful army and was feared by many. He conquered the surrounding cities, enslaved their subjects, and stole their valuables. He had become the richest and most powerful ruler in the world. There was one more kingdom to destroy; a powerful Empire ruled by a kind, yet organized King named Josiah, who was known for his sneaky strategies and decisive plans. The Emperor ordered his best fighters to be prepared for the difficult battle ahead. His idea was to catch the enemy off guard with a surprise attack in the middle of the night. It turns out King Josiah was way ahead of them. At midnight, the Emperor's men started to panic when a trumpet suddenly sounded from the east mountain. When the trumpet stopped, all the Emperor's men turned just in time to see King Josiah, in all his glory, round the mountain top with his best, silver armor gleaming in the moonlight. The Emperor's army was quickly overwhelmed by King Josiah's fearless army as they moved like ninjas in the rough, rocky terrain. The Emperor quickly fled to Dead Man's Peak where he had hidden all of his wealth. For hundreds of years, no one knew the exact place where the treasure was kept. Legend had it, when the Emperor started on his way home, a group of King Josiah's men followed and killed him on the spot. It was believed his ghost still guarded his treasure, and anyone who came near it would never be seen again. For Jake, this was just another reason to keep going back to explore. His dream was to find the treasure and take care of his family. The snow had just melted, marking the end of Winter and the start of Spring. It was a beautiful morning with a clear, blue sky and cool breeze. Jake thought it was the perfect day to hunt for the treasure. At the crack of dawn, Jake snuck out of the house in his favorite camouflaged jacket and khaki pants he had received as a Christmas present from his grandparents. He went to the old abandoned cabin in the woods that he used for headquarters. In the back of the cabin was a small room he used to store his tools and gadgets, including two shovels, one rake, three knives, a hatchet, a pickaxe, two hammers, and some nails. Jake had also discovered a latch under an old rug that led to a small cellar he used for his binoculars, vests, hats, and lots of duffle bags to hold the things he found on his journeys. But, his favorite place was a small attic with a tiny window and old shelves he used to display his most valuable artifacts. There was an old rocking chair where Jake spent countless hours doing homework, reading books and making plans for the day. In the corner of the attic was a desk where he sat to examine the things he found. Jake grabbed his vest and some tools and headed out on his hunt. At first, it felt like his normal routine, hiking up the overgrown path that led around the peak. As he walked, he suddenly felt the ground give way underneath him to a long, slide-like tunnel that led to a beautiful garden with a waterfall running through the middle. There were old, hand-carved,

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sandstone buildings, which ancient people used to hold the bodies of their ancestors. With a little examination, he also found the Emperor had used some of the buildings as a burial place for his own royal family members. Jake didn't know what to explore next! He wanted to look in the buildings where the Emperor's family was buried, but for some reason he was drawn to the waterfall. When Jake got to the gorgeous waterfall, he thought he saw something behind it. Out of curiosity, Jake walked directly into the waterfall. When he came out on the other side, he was face to face with a gleaming throne made out of solid gold! The armrests had two lion heads carved from very large emeralds! Jake didn't know what to think! Had he really found the lost treasure? He walked over to the beautiful throne and had to sit down just to make sure all of it was real. As he was daydreaming, he gripped the armrests, and one of the emerald lion heads fell off, hitting the hard, stone ground with a bang. Jake was frozen with shock from what had just happened. When he got up, he noticed a small lever where the lion head had been. Jake carefully pulled the lever. At first, it was quiet. Then, the room started to rumble, and one of the walls lifted to reveal a vast treasure room full of gold and diamonds! Jake returned home with a big smile on his face. He had enough riches to take care of his whole family, all of his friends' families, and even his children and their children! In the end, Jake became an internet sensation by telling the story of his once-in-a-lifetime experience finding the treasure at Dead Man's Peak. Ethan Campbell Grade 5 Grace Baptist Academy Shana Ivarson

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Untitled I did a fast flip, turned off the wall, and charging back like a great white shark would, I rammed my hand into the wall. This all started back last summer after my 4th grade year on June 22nd at 4:45 p.m. I was warming up in the Stuart Heights pool: ready to beat Fairyland in a swim meet. “100 back kick,” Coach Katie yelled. I pushed off the wall onto my back, and I started to kick. With splashes all over my face, I got out of the water and went over to go sit with my buddies. Now I was ready to cheer on my team. The little kids went first with 25 yards of freestyle. While they were swimming, I was stretching and getting loose for my race that was coming up. It was now my turn. I stepped over by the block and waited for the announcer to say the name of the race, and then click the buzzer. “Ladies, please step on the block. This is a 9 and 10 girls’ 50 yard freestyle. Take your mark….. “BEEP” I dove in straight with a pencil shaped streamline. Splashing like a whale, and hearing water filtered screaming. “Go Caroline GO!!” Doing a fast flip turn at the wall, I pushed off and was on my way back to the side we started on. Then it began. Charging back to the wall like a fish swimming away from a shark, I was going as fast as I could. I was determined to win! I touched the wall hard, looked around to see if I had won, and threw my fists up in the air. I had won 1st Place. Getting out of the water, I asked for my time. “30 something seconds”. I was too excited and didn’t catch the last part. My next race was the medley relay. Reese started out our relay with two laps of backstroke, Charlotte did 50 breast stroke, Bea did 50 fly, and I did free. I was the anchor on the relay and the other team was ahead by almost a lap. I dove in swiftly with a beautiful splash. Going as a fast as what seemed possible; I was catching up to the girl. Then, kicking hard like a dolphin; I started to pass her. Soon enough, I was in the lead but she was on my heels. This was a close race, but I got to throw my fists up in the air again and shout. “Yes” We had won our relay by about two seconds. By the time my other three races had gone by, I was winning all of them. Five points, ten points, and another three points! With nonstop fists in the air; I was so stoked, jumping up and down! The end of the meet was near and when it was over: Stuart Heights had won 407 to 368! It seemed like millions of swimmers were cheering. We pushed our coaches in the pool with their clothes on. Everyone was laughing, splashing, and cheering! After we had all dried off and changed into dry clothes, almost all of us went out for a team dinner at Las Margaritas. The place was packed with wet heads everywhere. It was a loud, yummy, and fun time! After a long night of eating and rest, the next morning I checked the newspaper and found my name with 19 points beside it. I felt so good, because hard work does pay off. For the rest of that day, I felt like a celebrity. I mean, I technically was. Caroline Clark, Grade 5 Bright School, Mrs. Vicki Everett

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Secret Places There it was, a dragon in it’s bold glory about to attack the…. “Ms. Canyon what is the numerator?” Here it goes again, my daydreaming getting me in trouble. Someone whispered, seven. “Seven” I say loudly happy I had someone looking out for me. Mr. Goldwin’s face didn’t change when he turned to face me. “That would be incorrect, Ms. Canyon.” It seemed like the whole class laughed. Not one to be embarrassed, I said louder than the laughing. “ Well it would seem Mr. Goldwin, would you care to tell the class the answer?” He looked irritated. Here comes detention. The bell saved me. “Ms. Canyon can you wait a minute.” He said searching his desk.” I can’t I have science.” I say, needing a escape plan. “ I’ll just give you a hall pass.” Well there goes my escape plan. I walk up slowly to his desk waiting for the detention slip. Instead of detention slip he was holding out an envelope. I took the envelope, it didn’t have much besides my name in big font, “Sterling Canyon” he misspelled my name. Mr. Goldwin started rambling on about how I have a lot of imagination ad should use it, blah, blah, blah. He stopped in the middle of his sentence, and looked at something behind me. I look back trying to see what caught his attention. I stopped shirt seeing what he saw. There was a man standing in the middle of the room. He wasn’t fully human. He reminded me of a phrase I once saw in a book. ‘ Satan’s fashion consultant ‘ depicted this guy perfectly. I turn around used to seeing that kind of stuff. “You see that?” I ask. Figments of imagination are something other people can’t see. “The better question is , do you?” I nod speechless. He nodded in thought for a minute. “You are the missing link.” He said looking me straight in the eye. What’s that supposed to mean? “ I should have seen it all this time, how you day dream through class. Your last name starts with a C, we’ve been looking for you for thirteen years.” He started muttering under his breath. I barely paid attention; I couldn’t get over the missing link part. “ You have to come with me.” He said as he held out his hand. If he expected me too take his hand he had another thing coming. “Please come with me, I’ll give you answers about your parents.” How did he know my parents? The little red angel in my mind said he could be lying; yet the little white angel is saying I need answers, that little white angel makes a darn good argument. I took his hand “Where are me going?” I ask. “A place with answers.” He said looking back at me. How are we getting there? “ Imagine a place with safety and answers.” I hear him say. Well that answered my question. I try hard. All the sudden I feel wind rushing around me from nowhere: blah my hair tastes terrible in my mouth. I close my eyes wanting it to be over. The wind stops, I get thrown into a bush. Thank goodness for that bush. I lift my head to find Mr. Goldwin walking toward me. How did he not get thrown into a bush? “ Where are we?” I ask getting up. “We are at head quarters for starters class c, didn’t your parents ever tell you- “ he stopped short realizing what he was saying. “ About that actually pipe up ‘cause you have some answering to do.” I say irritated. “Your parents were keepers.” He said avoid me.” What are those?” I ask. “ I’ll tell you inside.” He said while walking. I was very anxious when we walked in.” Well, answers!” I say anxiety building up inside me. Mr. Goldwin seemed to be thinking of a way to say it. He turned to me after a minute of thinking. “You have big imagination, right? Some may say over active.” He said looking at me. Well the man wasn’t lying; I do have that. ‘ Well what if I was to tell you, you don’t have

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an over active imagination but see things very little people can see. A seventh sense, so to think. We see secret places, we see different worlds.” He said taking a breath. “ Well what does that have to do with me, and you said something about ‘missing link’?” I ask. “ You are the missing link in the c class. We arrange groups by bloodline. I know you have more question but lets save that for later. Liberty will show you your room. I turn to find a tall girl behind me. “ Hi my name is Liberty Cross, I’ll show you the way. I ‘m in your group.” She said as she held out her hand to shake. “ Hi my names Sterling Canyon, I’m still confused about the whole keeper thing.” I say “Don’t worry I’ve been here for years and still don’t get it.” She said with a laugh. I knew instantly we were going to be friends. “Well here’s your room. All of the group is in the hall, try to make some friends.” As soon as I got in the gigantic room I feel on the bed and went to sleep. I awoke to the sound of knocking. Hold on liberty I’ll be there in a minute. I say as I open the door to someone else. “Who are you?” I ask. “ Well hello to you too little miss sunshine.” He said with a laugh “My name is Hunter Crown, Liberty sent me to get you for breakfast.” I didn’t need breakfast I needed answers. “No thanks.” I say as I duck out. I almost sprinted to the library. I was looking through the files, when something caught my eye. I walk over. It was a lever to something. I race out to find Liberty. I found her with Hunter. “ Guys I have to show you something.” I say as I race to the library. I showed them the lever. We walked in; it was cold and dark. I grab my flashlight and head straight to the g files and grab Mr. Goldwin. I then walk to the c files and grab my parents files. I open Mr. Goldwin’s all it said was his name and rouge underneath it. What does than mean? All my moms said were her name and missing underneath it. I open my father’s all it said was his name and rouge. At that moment Liberty leaned in and gasped. “Sterling, rouge means they’re stealers, stealers kill keepers to get control over a world.” “We don’t kill all keepers some become stealers.” I hear Mr. Goldwin say. “ Well hello daughter, I’ve been looking for you all this time.” Then it hits me, my father is a stealer he kills keepers to get what he wants. Tigi Cole 5th grade Silverdale Baptist Academy Mrs. Diane Alosi

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Civil War Diary Excerpt Dear Diary, July 19, 1861 Today I woke up to the smell of custard, eggs, and chicken. I sat down at the table and asked, “Where are we going today?” Pa pulled three train tickets out of his pocket. I was overwhelmed with joy that I was going on my first train ever. The tree tickets said “July 19, 1861 Manassas, Virginia. Pa looked at me and said, “We are going to watch a fight.” That’s when I felt like ants were crawling around in my stomach. We were going to watch a fight where Ma, Pa, or me could get hurt or even killed. We got in the wagon and started heading for the train station. Gracie Crooks Grade 5 Normal Park Museum Magnet Katherine Blake

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Sven and the Battle Against E.V.I.L. Sven jumped into the bunker, right before the bomb exploded. They were coming. The 14-year-old young man was being chased by E.V.I.L (evil, vicious, important, lunatics). E.V.I.L ‘s alien marshals had been tracking him for a couple of months for stealing top-secret information. Sven was a slender Norweigan youth, not afraid to do what it took to survive. He was scavenging through the bunker to find food, for he had not eaten in three days. The alien marshals burst through the snow-covered trap door to get to Norwegian’s hiding place, the bunkers. One was tall and green with one head, four arms, and two legs. Another was short, fat, and orange with two heads, six arms and four legs. The leader of the group was Blóbnør, and alien who was middle-sized and pink. He had 20 limbs, for which he use to jump, crawl grab, and other things, and three heads. Sven ran out the back entrance, just as Blóbnør destroyed it with his lazer eyes. “C’mon boy,” Sven said, as Roudy, a half-wolf, half-dog, scampered out from behind a crate and ran out to the mountain of glaciers, where Sven was waiting. They would be hidden among the glaciers. Blóbnør’s heat vision would be frozen in the summer of 3052 in Norway, for because of the -152 degrees freezing temperatures. They ran across a bridge made out of ice. Roudy started barking. “What is it boy?” Sven asked. Suddenly, the bridge exploded on each end, sending Sven and Roudy plummeting 200 feet down towards the rocky terrain. “Where am I?” Sven asked. “You were hit pretty bad,” a voice said. “But WHERE am I?” Sven repeated. “You are in President Baby’s Containment Chamber,” replied a tall man. “Don’t give it away,” whispered a short, fat man. “Give away what?” Sven asked. “Nothing…” the first man replied. Roudy started barking at the men. The short fat man suddenly pointed a U.D. at Sven. “This is an Ultainium Disablizer,” he said. “It can teleport anything but foam, and create anything but foam, which this room is made of.” Roudy trampled the short, fat man tearing off his disguise. “It’s those guys from E.V.I.L.!” Sven gasped. Glørb, the tall, green alien, jumped on Roudy. “Where did the orange man go?” thought Sven. Then Blørb, the small fat alien dropped from the ceiling and tackled Sven. “This all ends now!” Glørb yelled, as he aimed the weapon at Sven. Right before the beam hit Sven, Roudy jumped in front of him. The beam hit Roudy and he was teleported to another dimension. Sven grabbed the weapon, aimed it at his head, and blasted himself to another dimension…

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The E.V.I.L. aliens blew up our Earth and ended it. Sven is continuing his search for Roudy, hopping through dimensions, to find his best friend. Parker V. Davidson 5th Grade Silverdale Baptist Academy Mrs. Victoria Willcutt Through the Blue Once on a warm summer day, the bluebirds were singing and everything was beautiful. The blossom trees were now home to the newest baby bird, Flower. Flower was a special bird . She was so special she was called the jewel of the trees, which would make her the princes of her kingdom. One day Flowers mother was trying to teach her how to fly but she just couldn’t get the hang of it. If Flower couldn’t fly by the time she was 18 she couldn't become queen. Flower at this time was 17. Her next birthday was in 10 days. Flower tried all day and night, but just couldn’t get the hang of it. Flower was very sad and scared if she didn’t become queen no one could live on the family’s tradition. If no one lived on the family her kingdom could die. Her mom had to think and fast for now they only had 4 days until her birthday. They were scared but they knew they would think of something. One day her mom had an idea. The idea was to at first fly Flower on her back and then perch her on the durnester branch. The dunester branch was magical branch that in an instant anyone would know how to do something they didn’t know how to do. So the day before Flowers 18 birthday her mom flew her to the branch and said “now sweetie we want you to lay down on this branch,” “but why,” asked Flower. “ Because it will help you fly,” said her mother. “ ok,” said Flower. she laid down and awakened again. “ I thought you said it would help me,” she said. “ It should have , this is the durnester branch,” said mom. "Oh, i’m all out of time I won't become queen,” she said with a sigh. The next morning Flower woke up and felt weird, she ran outside and began to flap her wings and…began to fly! That day at coronation when she was tested to fly she was glorious. Today Flower is the queen and rules her kingdom well and she has her own little girl her name is Rose. Rose is 14 right now and thanks to the dernester branch can fly. And in 4 years will be queen. Dawn Detherow 5th grade Lookout Valley Elementary Philip Cooper 127

Untitled My foot slipped. I grabbed onto the rope and kicked my other leg and the wobbling rope was not any help. My whole body felt stiff, and I could not move. It was a cold damp morning on our second day at Camp Lookout, and none of the girls in my cabin wanted to get up this morning, especially me. I slipped on my blue “be hippy” shirt, my yoga tights, brushed my teeth, and did my hair. Luckily, I am fast at getting ready, so I was right on time to meet my group. When my group and I got to the rope course range, I started getting shaky. I don’t think anyone thought it would be so high! First, the main instructor showed us how to properly put on our harnesses. It was pretty difficult, so I had my teacher, Mrs. Austin, help me. I was ready, or so I thought. We all had to take our turns, and it took a pretty long time because we had to go one at a time. When it was finally my turn, I almost backed out. I was way too scared, but I knew I could, so I started to climb. When I reached the top of the ladder my hands were already stiff and sweaty, but I could not stop now! When I got to the top, I started to feel some confidence in myself after another instructor tied me into her belay and told me to keep climbing. The bright sun was lighting up my face with bravery and courage, and I knew I was safe. On the next obstacle I learned that you have to keep both your feet on different sides of the board or else it will flip and you will fall! At least I made it past that one. Now it was down to the step stool, tight rope walk, and the zip line. I zipped past the step stool without even looking down! Finally I was to the last one, the tight rope walk. I got to the middle when my foot slipped from the rope and I almost fell, but at that moment I put my other foot on and caught myself. “What a save”, an instructor yelled over the soft breeze! And the thing is, at that moment more than just my foot almost fell. So did all my courage and bravery, but somehow I seemed to have caught it and my fear of heights seemed to have gotten smaller and smaller. When I got to the end of the course, I got hooked onto a rope connected to the zip line. The instructor gave me a push and I was off! I felt like I was a Canadian goose flying to a warm shelter for the winter. At the end of my journey down, my teachers caught me and I almost pushed them over with all my speed. After getting disconnected from my rope, I ran to my friends with excitement in my eyes. Cate Fisher Grade 5 Bright School Mrs. Vicki Everett

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Untitled Once upon a time there was a knight named Luke Folck. Luke Folck had brown hair and he was tall and he had pale skin. He had big ears and he was very skinny. He served a king named Aaron King. Aaron king was a bit shorter then Luke and he had black hair and also he had pale skin. He was also skinny and he was very wise. One day while serving the king, the king gave him a quest. The quest was to save a little girl named Janey. Janey was trapped in a castle guarded by an evil, cruel dragon. The king said that the way she got there was the dragon earlier that year attacked the king’s castle and stole Janey to show that he was strong and evil. Then he took her to his evil castle. The dragon was called Sophia, the cruelest creature to ever walk the Earth! The brave, noble knight accepted the king’s quest. Then the king said,” the castle is one days horse ride east.” So then that night the knight went to sleep and woke up very early next morning. Then the knight started his quest on his horse right before sun rise. The knight’s horse was black and he was a male. The horse also very deeply respected the knight. He thought the knight was his partner. He jumped on his horse and went west. On his way to the castle that was guarded by the evil dragon he met a merchant who was selling a sword made of steel. The merchant was a male and he had dark brown hair and he had a dark colored shirt on him and a dark colored pair of pants. The knight thought that the sword was better than his own, because his sword was made of copper. So he asked the merchant,”how many coins is the sword worth?” In respond the merchant said,” 5 gold coins.” The knight then gave the merchant 5 gold coins and as promised the merchant gave the knight the sword. Then the knight got on his horse and continued to head west. Then about sunset the knight arrived and was surprised to see the dragon sleeping. The knight saw the cruel dragon’s scales and the dragon had big wings. So then the knight snuck up to the dragon and was just about to slay the beast, when then the dragon awoke. The dragon lifted his big wings. So then the knight ran to cover by a rock. So then the dragon started to flap his great wings and the dragon was getting closer to the knight. Then the knight new it was his chance to slay the dragon. So then to the dragon’s surprise the knight threw his sword directly in the dragon’s throat. Then since the dragon would die from not breathing the knight ran away. Then later he came back and rescued Janey. Then the next day he returned to the king with Janey. The king was shocked to see Janey with the knight and then the king told the knight,” you have rescued one of my citizens so in return I give you 500 gold coins.” The knight then said, “Thank you my king.” Then the knight built a nice and cozy home and had a good life. Luke Folck Grade 5 Nolan Elementary Mrs. Lisowski

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Mt. LeConte We were driving to the tallest mountain in Tennessee. Mt. LeConte. It would be a 7 hour hike to get to Camp A. I saw the sign that read in bold print; TRILLIUM GAP. We had arrived. I was traveling with my grandparents Ampy and Batman, my mom, dad, and brother, Jimmy, my uncle Scott, and my cousins Clarke and Austin. We started up the trail. About ten minutes in, Austin said, “This will be an adventure!” I thought in my head, “Oh yes it will.” We were growing a bit apart, and the views were amazing. Now I knew why it was called Trillium Gap. There were flowers all over the trail! We eventually got together for our first rest break. Clarke said, “I wonder if there’s treasure at the top…” “I highly doubt that, Clarke.” My mom said. Clarke was only 5, no wonder she had come up with that thought. “By the time we get up there, we’ll think that dinner is treasure!” I said. Everyone laughed. The thing about doing feats like this is that everyone can bond with each other. We knew that we had to keep a tight schedule if we were to get to the top before dark. Clarke and Austin did not want to leave our rest spot, but then Batman said something that made them get going. “If we don’t get up there before dark, the bears will come out and eat you!” Austin was only 3, so something like that really struck fear into her. We kept on going, and pretty soon it was lunchtime. Jimmy, who was 8, was trying to get to the top first, and was scarfing his sandwich down. I told him that he wouldn’t be able to find his way around without the map, which my mom had. After lunch we kept on going up the mountain, and the air was getting thin. We were lucky that no one here had breathing problems. A few hours later we saw a sign that said no horses, so we knew we were close. It started to rain really hard, and we took cover under the massive trees. Then there it was. The end of the path. I trashed my backpack and raincoat and ran towards the dinner building. We had dinner, and afterwards I was walking across the path that ran through the village. I looked out through the clearing, 6,735 feet into the air, with Gatlinburg way down below. Tommy Giannasi 5th Grade Nolan Elementary Mrs. Marshman

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Thomas: The Only Bull Without Legs At the beginning of time, there was a bull named Thomas. He lived in the forests outside of Ethiopia, which was ruled by King Cepheus. One evening before dusk, he was walking through the forests past his home being bored, when he saw a white rabbit caught in a hunting trap. “Help me, help me, Mr. Bull!” The rabbit screeched. “I have places to be and things to do,” Thomas lied roughly. The rabbit twitched and blood spattered all over Thomas. He grimaced, “Fine, fine hold still.” Thomas shifted his weight onto the button to release the rabbit. He stomped off to his grazing pasture grumbling to himself. Meanwhile, in the heavens, the great Gods of Olympus were watching Thomas as he did this great deed. Artemis, The Goddess of the Hunt and Animals said, “He did this due to the fact that this rabbit was annoying him. He should not be rewarded.” “I believe this mischief making animal should have the chance to make one wish from us.” Later on Earth, Thomas was grazing in the pastures where Perseus, the Prince of Ethiopia often hunted. He heard footsteps and realized Perseus was coming. Thomas ran and hid behind a giant bush and decided he would have some fun. He snuck up on Perseus and smacked him with his tail. As he turned to flee, Perseus who is much quicker and had excellent reflexes, chopped of Thomas’ legs two at a time. Perseus left Thomas to die and rot in the Ethiopian pasture. As he lay dying, Thomas pleaded to the gods and Zeus decided he would use this as Thomas’ one wish. Though there would be one condition, he would never be seen fully. Zeus would not put him in the sky as his form before he lost his legs. Thomas would not be shown with legs in the sky. Perseus came many days after, feeling guilty every time he saw the blood spattered in the field. As a reminder, every year, the grass becomes a dark brown in late June. In Tennessee, if you look hard enough, you will see the faint shape of The Only Bull Without Legs. Lucy Good Grade 5 Normal Park Museum Magnet Mrs. Jane Mitchell

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The Lunar Dig Site The year was 3592 when it happened. The Martian stealth troopers infiltrated the lunar dig site without anyone noticing. The miners were drilling for alschnev ironiion, a super strong iron only found on Earth’s moon. The dig site is above a crater supported by two long “arms”. It has a central observation tower. At the bottom of the tower there is a big drill that goes down in the crater. The Martians took over the dig site in minutes. The humans that fought were killed. The rest were made slaves to the Martians to mine for the metal. All transmissions between Earth and the moon were cut off. Three of these slaves were determined to escape. One had more brain than brawn. His name was Nate. He had brown hair and was about 24 years old. Another man had more brawn than brain and didn’t think things through. He was named Butch. He had black hair and was 27 years old. The last is a flaming haired man who was 25. He was a pilot who could figure out how to maneuver any ship in the galaxy. He was named London. He was courageous, but gets stressed when things aren’t good. The men slipped out of the dorms and into the air vent. It was drafty in the air vent and the men finally had to crawl on their stomachs. Finally, they made it to the hanger. They sneaked past the guards and went into one of the Martian spaceships. Inside, there were buttons, lights, and technology humans didn’t understand. London and Nate tried to figure out how to drive it while Butch was on his i-Phone 1006. Soon the ship was out of the hanger and in space. The ship wasn’t hard to fly because Nate read the manual. (He speaks fluent Martians and can read it, too.) Behind them the guards were flying out in their ships after them. Lasers were bright around them, but never once hitting the ship, thanks to London’s great piloting. London piloted the ship back at the enemy and fired at them, blowing them up. Then, they went to Earth. They had to speak to the President of the World about the attack at the dig site (there’s world peace). They made an arrangement to speak with the President. After talking about the situation, the President ordered the military to send in some troops to take back the lunar dig site. There was a big battle when the humans rushed in with guns firing. Butch, going for their commander, got wounded. London helped with Nate in the spaceship outside making sure no one escaped. Many lost their lives and many more were wounded, but in the end, the humans were victorious. They all hoped the hordes of Martians wouldn’t come back; they never did. As for Butch, London and Nate, they all got married, had kids, and lived to a ripe old age and had a good, adventurous life. Elijah Hampton Fifth Grade Silverdale Baptist Academy Mrs. Victoria Willcutt

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10% Chances

I wake up to the ear aching noise of a steady, Beep… Beep… Beep. “Where am I?” I wondered. All I could see was my family standing over me with joy and a little bit of worry. My mom’s eyes fill up with tears as she hugs me. Eventually I realize that I was in a hospital. About two minutes after I realized that I was in a hospital, a doctor walks in and asks me a few questions. He asked me what my name was and I responded with,” Kevin James Aggle.” He asks me another question. It was how old I am. I said 10. Once he left the room the first thing I asked was what happened. My mom said that I had brain cancer. That sent chills down my back. After about two days of boredom, the doctor announced that the treatments he performed on me tested that I would be free to continue my regular life with hair on my head. I was overjoyed to hear that I could sleep in a real bed. My mom told me that I would be going back to school in the next 2-4 weeks. I was going to be so happy to see my friends. I wouldn’t have wanted to study though. Eventually came the day for me to go back to school. My mom and I started off in the car. When I got to school, all of my friends were there. It was a big surprise to my teacher to see me there already. It seemed like everyone in the universe had to ask me if I was ok. Overall though, I had a great day. At recess I played tag, I didn’t get in trouble, and I even got to go to P.E (Physical Education). One day during school, the cancer made a comeback. My brain started to fail. I passed out during math class. My nurse called 911 when she couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me. The ambulance rushed me to the hospital. When I got there, surgeons had to perform an emergency surgery on my brain. The C.A.T scan showed that my brain had swelled up and touched my skull. That is why I passed out. I had to be put into a medically induced coma. The surgeons told my family that I only had about a 10% chance of living through this. That was what really scared my mom. The surgeons finally finished the surgery although I was still in a coma. Almost a week later, I was still barely hanging on to my life. I was starting to worry the doctors. They said that I was most likely not going to make it. That’s when it happened, I went into cardiac arrest. That is when your heart stops. The doctors had to shock my heart with the defibrillators. Defibrillators are the pads that shock your heart. After two tries of using them, it worked. I had a heartbeat. The next day I woke up. This time I remembered everything that had happened. Except for the surgery and me being in a coma. Once again everyone was happy to see me awake. This was like a bad movie being played over and over again. The only thing that I could think about, was that I had died. The doctor came in and told our family that the surgery was successful, and the brain cancer was gone. We were all so relieved to hear that I could carry on with my regular life. Especially me. Holland S. Hunneke, Grade 5 Nolan Elementary, Sara Lisowski

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The Great Turkey Escape A few days before Thanksgiving Dowsley the turkey was making a plan to not get eaten for Thanksgiving. Dowsley loved duct tape so he thought if he covered himself in duct tape no one would know it was him. In the morning Dowsley would put his plan in action and get far away from the farm forever. To begin this was Dowsleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s last chance to get of the farm before Thanksgiving. He was hoping this plan would work unlike the other nine plans they were all epic fails each time he got caught this time he was hoping his plan would work. So he got his gray duct tape and started rapping himself in it he thought to himself ten times the charm. He could not tare the duct tape because his wings were taped shut. So he asked a fellow turkey to tare the tape and rape his head. The fellow turkey Ashton did what he asked and tore the tape as well rapping his head. A few hours in advance Dowsley would roll in the open. A few hours later Dowsley rolled in the middle of the turkeys pin. Then the farmers saw the duct tape ball and thought it fell out of the trash. So then the farmers threw the duct tape ball in the trash can. Dowsley sat in the trash can for a while then he started to move a little bit then he was upside down and falling. Before he knew it he was in the back of a garbage truck. Then he go up with his feet which were never rapped he was going so fast that the tape tore on the road. At last he was free at last. A few minutes later in the woods Dowsley remembered a primes he had made to the other turkeys. The primes he made was to free the other turkeys. So he went back to the farm he made a plan to go in to the farm without being detected. So he went in opened the pen and all the turkeys were free. The farmers started to chase them so they started to run. The farmers were too fast so they flew in the woods. The farmers couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t find them in the tree so they gave up and left. Then the turkeys went to prepare thanksgiving. That Thanksgiving they had the best thanksgiving meal ever nuts, berries, and insects rather than turkey feed. Now they will never get eaten. That was the best Thanksgiving turkey escape ever. Rhet Johnson Grade 5 Nolan Elementary Mrs. Marshman

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The Great Adventure There was a man named Elijah and he was going on a hiking trip. He had a backpack with him and in it was some rope, a blanket, a canteen full of water, a knife, a compass, and a fire starter just in case. This hiking trip that he was going on was in the Alps mountain range. So when he got packed he got on a helicopter to go to the top of the mountain. The hike he was going on would take him to the bottom of the mountain. So he got all of his gear and started heading down the trail. Thirty minutes later he started noticing that each time he took a step snow started collapsing under his feet. Five minutes passed and he decided to take his backpack stuff it with snow and tie a rope on the bag connecting to him. On the rope he put knots so that if he falls they will break his fall. He knew he read this method in a book somewhere. He continued walking, as he got tired of dragging his backpack. And then when he was walking he slipped on the snow. He was sliding down a slope and he could see the end of the cliff. He got more and more scared as he came closer to the end of the cliff. And then he fell of the cliff. He closed his eyes thinking he was falling. And then he opened his eyes and saw that he wasn’t falling but he was hanging on the side of the cliff. And he remembered what he did with his backpack and was really thankful that he did that. He tried to find a way back up but he couldn’t find a way. So he pulled with all of his might and got back up. When he got back up he couldn’t find the trail so he started to panic. He thought the trail was near him so he started running around looking for the trail. But he couldn’t find the trail. He started walking the way he thought he was supposed to go. After a while of walking he got tired and couldn’t find the trail. He decided to take a break. He looked around and in the sky he could see dark clouds coming his way. He thought it was a snowstorm. He wanted to make a shelter but all around him was snow. So he kept walking and found a slope. He thought for a while and thought he could build a snow cave. It took him a while to finish it but when he did he laid down his blanket and took a nap. When he woke up, he peeked out of the shelter. It looked like the storm was gone. So he stuffed snow in his canteen and kept walking. He felt really hungry and knew there was nothing to eat on this mountain. But he also knew that the tree line was south. So he took his compass and pointed it towards the south and walked to where it pointed. After a while he got off of the mountain and could see the tree line. When he was walking, he could hear cracks below his feet and wondered what it was. So he took each step cautiously. And then he took another step and heard a loud POP. At the same time he was falling and could feel cold water surround him. And then he noticed that he was in an ice lake. He gasped in shock at the coldness. He tried to get out but failed as he slid back into the water. He tried a second time and succeeded. When he got out he was really cold. So he did some exercises to keep him warm. Once he got warm, he started walking towards the tree line. He had finally got to the tree line and was really hungry. When he started walking through the forest, he found a dead deer. He ran towards the deer carcass thinking he could eat it. But when he examined it, he noticed that it had rotted. But he could also see some maggots on the carcass. So he picks up

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some of the maggots and ate them. Then he remembered that he could use some of these worms as bait for the frozen lake. So he got some of his rope and tied hooks on the rope. He ran back to the frozen lake and saw where he had fell in. He ran to the hole and put his fishing line in the hole. While he was waiting, he saw a rabbit. He decided to try to kill the rabbit. So he snuck behind it and put his hands over it. But before he could touch it, the rabbit ran off. For a while he sat in disappointment, then he went back to the fishing hole. He pulled up the fishing line and saw two fish dangling from the line. He was so hungry that he took one of the fish and bit into it as hard as he could. After he had finished eating, he went back to the forest. On his way he found a giant ant hill. He thought there would be something in the ant hill to eat but he couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t find anything. The sun was going down and he was getting tired. So he built a shelter right next to a pine tree. Once he finished with the shelter, he built a fire. After he drank some water, he dozed off to sleep. In the morning, he woke up to the sound of chopping wood. He looked over his feet and his fire was creating smoke. The chopping sound got louder and louder. He climbed a tree to see what it was and he saw a helicopter. He was saved. Matthew Jones Grade 5 Boyd Buchanan School Mrs. Jennifer Jones

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Santa Hunters There are three kids on a hunt to see if Santa is real. Marco is the leader, Brooklyn is the smart one and good with computers, and Zach is just the dumb one. So the kids get started on a new project to build a jet slay. It took the kids 12 hours to finish. It was only a few days until Christmas Eve and they had to find out if Santa is real. Slinking out of nowhere a tiny little Elf sat in the kid’s treehouse and watched them for hours. The next day Marco, Brooklyn, and Zach started on their journey, but the jet slay would come on. They cranked and cranked but the jet slay wouldn’t come on so Zach checked the motor and the tiny little Elf jumped on Zach’s face and Zach said, “Get this stupid Elf off of me!” Brooklyn and Marco pulled off the little Elf and strapped him to a table and asked him, “Why are you here?” The Elf replied, ”I’m here because Santa sent me to spy on you guys and hope you wouldn’t find out.” Marco said, “Well little Elf, you’re coming with us.” So Marco, Brooklyn, Zach, and the Elf all headed to the North pole. They all get there and the first place they go is the packing room and Marco realize that Zach is gone “Zach, where are you?” Marco yelled “I’m right here on this belt,” Zach replied. And so Brooklyn jumps up and grabs the package and saves Zach. The kids head to Santa’s office. “Wow this is big,” said Marco, Brooklyn, and Zach. The door opens. “Somebody’s coming. Hide!” said Brooklyn. A tall man with a long puffy beard and a fat belly and in a red suit came in the room. Zach said, “Santa!” “Zach, you idiot!” Marco and Brooklyn said. ” Santa said, “Why are you three children in my office?” Marco replied, “Well, sir, we’re here because we wanted to see if you are real, and now we know.” Santa runs out the door. Marco yells, ”Santa, wait up!” So Marco, Brooklyn, and Zach all went after Santa. Santa made it to the slay hanger and got the reindeer and said, ”On Dasher, on Comet, on Blitzen, on Vixen, on Donner and on Dancer, on Rudolph and Santa pulled off and the gang got in the jet slay and chased after Santa but they were too late. They lost Santa in the fog and the kids went home devastated. The next day was Christmas morning. The kids woke up and a whole bunch of presents were under the tree. Marco opened up his gift. He got an Xbox 360, Brooklyn got a new science kit, and Zach got a drone. The kids played with their toys and hoped to see if Santa would visit them again. Morgan Jones Grade 5 Normal Park Museum Magnet School Catherine Cox

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Untitled We noticed a homeless man smiling at us. In the summer after my fourth grade year, my neighbors and I realized how fortunate we are and lots of people in the world need serious help. Then and there we decided we need to help! Driven by the mottos “Everyone can make a difference, they just have to try!” and “Every penny counts!”, Lucie, my neighbor, and I started planning and organizing and figuring out what we could do. Finally, after what felt like the longest yet most fun week ever, we made up our minds to do a lemonade stand. We set up the colorfully painted stand on the brick sidewalk by the walking bridge. The wooden floor of the bridge creaked under the feet of the pedestrians. In the background I heard the splashing river. At our stand we had big, fluffy muffins, caramel chocolate brownies, marble cake and mango lassie, Asian mango drink and lemonade (who would have guessed). I wore an excited smile on my face and my eyes were full of anticipation. I walked quickly, not able to stop, and I played with my hands. At our stand Lucie and I sold goods while Neal, Sid and Julian (my other neighbors) dragged people to the stand. We already had to empty our donations basket. The stand was going great. So many people came over to us to get a refreshment. Some people gave us encouraging smiles or said “It’s great you’re doing this” or “It’s great you’re involving yourself!” Now we were sure, we can do this. After we were done selling, we had some muffins and some lemonade left. A few yards away we noticed a homeless man. He had a smile on his face, and his hair was grayish. His skin was dark and wrinkly and he wore old clothes. We realized not just people in poor countries are poor, but there are people right outside our door step that need help. So we gave the man the food and he mumbled a blessing. I felt light; I felt we did make a difference. Back at home, we counted how much money we had raised. We found we had 500 dollars in our hands. In the end we donated the money to Red Cross, Red Crescent. I felt accomplished but also tired. It was a great experience. Simon Kastenberger Grade 5 Bright School Mrs. Vicki Everett

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The Room It all started when I saw little squares with numbers under the air vent. I took off the vent and I saw a key pad! I guessed the passcode 1-2-5-7. “Ding!” went the keypad. Then I saw a tube, like a water slide tube but with no water. I jumped into the tube. I came to a room, a very fascinating room. I pinched myself to check if I was in a dream, No! I was not in a dream! I yelled, “Ow!." I saw a robot sitting at a table doing...homework! I turned and gasped, I could not believe my eyes, a vending machine full of Lego sets! I punched in the passcode 1-2-5-7 out came a Lego set! I heard sweet tunes and my best friend was on a soft couch! I looked up, a giant, shiny disco ball was up above. I then heard over the loud noise my sister, “Mom, I can’t find Eden!” I could not help myself, I emerged from my hiding place. My friend gasped when she saw me, “Eden!” Solana, my best friend, gasped, “I cannot believe it’s you! Thank you, I was getting tired of all the monotony in here. Finally, you noticed!” I replied with sarcasm, “Of course! How can you ignore an air vent?” Solana started to laugh. “We are going to have a good time.” She said. “Anyways,” I said with a grin, “Last one in the hot tub is a rotten egg!” Solana ran after. We ordered pizza: two large, one cheese, one pepperoni. When the robot finished our homework, he was free to go. We got out some Legos and played for a while. We had a great time! That is how we found The Room. The End. Eden Knutson Grade 5 Hilger Higher Learning Shelley George

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Johnny Gets Captured! Warning: This story contains a large amount of awesomeness. Exposure will be fatally awesome. (You should probably read Johnny the cat before you read this. It will make more sense. It's one of my poems.) Once there was a cat, not an ordinary cat, a cat that worked for a secret agency this cat was once abducted, will he escape? Chapter 1: Abduction -- One day Johnny the cat was strolling around the streets minding his own business and gathering food when out of nowhere this creature picked him up and put him in a plastic box. His mullet fell in the process! Johnny confused tried to process the situation. A large creature with two arms and legs, two eyes a nose feet and hands. But what was it? It kept speaking some kind of weird language and it kept saying "Such a cute little thing." Johnny had no idea what this meant. He sent a distress call to the A.O.H.D (Association Of Hating Dogs). Chapter 2: Distracted -- Johnny hoped Count Llamalas would answer his call. Soon he reached a strange box with a triangle on top. The creature walked inside and kept saying something like "I'm home." Johnny was so confused especially when the creature let Johnny out. Johnny knew he was now going to escape but before he could do anything he felt a hand on him. He tried to escape its grasp, but then it started lightly scratching him. He could not resist the luxury of the hand so he was pet to sleep. He woke up to a puppy in his face and he ran away immediately. The creature put some kind of yarn string in front of him. His instincts betrayed him. He attacked the string with adrenaline surging through his veins until he was so tired he could not run. He was alerted to the sound of his rumbling stomach. Chapter 3: Escaping -- He looked in the kitchen and found a bowl of food. It appeared to be dry disgusting food he has never seen before. He remembered what he was after... escaping. He was going to escape but then something struck him, this could be his family. But just then a big thump went through his whole body. He looked outside, it was the A.O.H.D! Also his old owner! Jakefromstatefarm! He got in and flew away and Count Llama gave him two of his favorite gifts, a mailbox! For his addiction with sitting in them. Also a mullet! He looked behind him and there was his cute kittens following in his footsteps by stuffing everything in their tiny pillowcases. Johnny realized something, the A.O.H.D was his family. And they lived awesomely ever after... Or so they thought. Then they got a distress call from Johnny's cat brother John! He was captured! The End... maybe Chris Lagorio, Grade 5 Red Bank Elementary, Mrs. Russell

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My First Time at Lake Winnie My mom and dad called for a family meeting one day. All I could think of was oh great what is it this time. My parents and I waited for the boys to get out of their room so they could tell us. “COME ON, HURRY UP BOYS!” I sat yelling waiting impatiently. The boys ran right out of their room as soon as I yelled. They both said, “WHAT, we were playing Call Of Duty!” In my head I said well it’s not my fault that mom and dad called for a family meeting. As normal my brothers yell at me when I am trying to help my mom and dad. After all that nonsense my mom said, “your dad and I have a special place where this family can have a fun time.” Thank you God, we can finally get out of this house. Dad said excitedly, “ we are going to Lake Winnie.” Austin said, “ FINALLY, I’VE BEEN WAITING FOREVER TO HEAR THOSE WORDS!” In my head I said no you have been waiting forever to have your own house. Austin saw that I was getting annoyed so I quickly said, “ YAY, a place for fun!” My mom just had to say, “ and there is going to be an area with tons of water.” Which it made Austin and Devin even louder. Finally the day came up to go to Lake Winnie. Everyone except my parents had their swimsuits under their clothes. Everyone hopped into the car and my dad was driving. My mom Efreaked out because when he drives sometimes he goes around a tight corner really fast and if he were to crash we would go flying into a river. We got to Lake Winnie and everyone there had to be from Amazon. I was really blessed because we got to go there for FREE. My dad knew many people there. We finally got started with the rides and the first one was a great experience. You would get into a little seat that looked kind of like a basket. We got buckled in and the ride started to lift up and swing. Once it picked up its paste everyone riding could look sideways and see the ground. I heard everyone screaming and one of my brothers was all crouched up holding their knees. When we got down I couldn’t help but laugh. Luckily my mom and dad started to laugh along. We went on a couple more rides like a roller coaster, one where it looks like you’re in the sky because of all the paintings, and finally the boat that swings back and forth. Some of the rides I couldn’t go on. My dad didn’t go on without for one ride but my mom did. Then my mom didn’t go on without me on one ride but my dad did. Soon it was time to go and I had a lot of fun. My family and I bonded like we never have. I loved and hope we are going back soon. I learned that first roller coasters are a lot freakier then I though Second always be prepared to scream. I recommended going if you haven’t. Megan Langford 5th Grade Lookout Valley Elementary Philip Cooper

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Soaring Once there was a little girl named Alexa. Alexa had crazy, red, curly hair and lots of freckles! She was strong and brave--loving and kind. But most importantly, she was a daydreamer. Alexa often thought about flying, for that was her one wish. Her family did not have a lot of money because her dad was out of work. His job was at a candy factory. He took Alexa there to try new flavors they created. Days were sad now though, but Alexa was the light of the house. Every day after school, Alexa went to go practice flying. She would go to the highest cliff and jump--hoping and dreaming that she would soar. She felt like all the sadness and worry of the household disappeared. Alexa was weightless. Her hair was in her face, and…and…SPLAT! The little girl fell into the creek!!! At school, the other kids made fun of her. They made up names like “Alexstupid” and “Flyer Girl.” One day Alexa had enough! She ran all the way home crying. Her mother tried to speak to Alexa, but the little redhead was already in her room. Alexa was sitting at her window when she heard a knock. It was her mother. The tall, skinny woman came inside the room with a stunning box. Alexa’s mother opened it up and pulled out a faded, old, black and white picture. The picture was of a man in a blue uniform. He had on a vest with brass buttons. Alexa looked very closely, and she saw a word embroidered in gold thread. The word was “Pilot.” After Alexa was done looking, her mother said that the man in the picture was Alexa’s grandfather. She shared that Alexa had called him Pop Pop. His name was Edward. Pop Pop was a strong leader in the Air Force. He flew airplanes all over the world. Mother also pulled out a toy plane. She said it was an eighth birthday gift from her dad. Alexa’s mother wanted her to have it. “You will always be my little girl. I want you to fly high and touch the sky. Never stop believing in what you think is important,” said Alexa’s mother. On the way to school the next day, the kids started up with the mean names, but that spunky redhead did not care! Nobody could upset her anymore. School went by lightning quick. Her teacher even said, “Good job.” The reason why everything went by so fast is because it was her birthday. When she got home, Alexa’s mother and father said they had a surprise! Her parents said they would ride bikes to the surprise destination. The scenery along the way was gorgeous and when they got there, Alexa’s heart almost stopped. In front of her was a hot air balloon! It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. The young girl stepped into the big balloon and up, up, and away. They were soaring. Alexa and her parents were above the treetops. The daydreamer felt like she was on a cloud. Her dream came true. She was flying! Alexa learned something valuable that day. It does not matter what people think of you. If you stay true to your heart, nothing will stand in your way. When Alexa grew up, she became a pilot. But not just any pilot. She was in the Air Force just like her Pop Pop! Alexa helped many people like on her trips to deliver supplies to needy kids in Zambia. Everybody’s favorite little redheaded girl grew up to be an amazingly strong woman of change. Emily Logan, Grade 5, Boyd-Buchanan School, Mrs. Michelle Rudolph 142

The Map One day there was a boy named Jack. He was in 5th grade. He would normally get A’s but there was one subject that he hated. It was science. He would always get B’s in science. It was five o’clock in the morning and Jack’s alarm clock rang. He had to get ready for school. Jack was so tired that sometimes when he would walk to get on the bus, he would almost fall asleep and trip. Everyone on the bus would laugh at him. Jack would always get embarrassed and would try to sit at the very back of the bus. One day while seated at the back of the bus, Jack found a science book. He looked in it to find who owned the book. When Jack opened the book, he did not find any name. Instead, he found a map of their school. The map was titled “Secret Door”. Jack thought it was a joke and that some kid just drew the map. But written on the map were the words, “No joke”. The map intrigued Jack so when he was dropped off 40 minutes early before the start of school, Jack tried to find the secret door. Jack followed the map. He went left, then down the hall, turned right, and then turned left. The map only took Jack to a dead end. He looked at the map again and the X marks the spot of the secret door. The door that Jack found was at the end of the hallway and it said, “Do not enter.” He wanted to go in, but he was too scared to go. Cautiously, he took a deep breath and opened the door. There was nothing much in there, only some cleaning materials that housekeeping would use. Jack looked around the room and he didn’t find any treasure, another secret door, or another map. He thought that the map was really a joke and that he was right after all. Out of frustration, Jack accidentally placed his hand on a toilet plunger. The plunger was stuck to the floor, but the handle of the plunger could be moved. He moved the plunger handle to the right and it opened a door that was flushed against one of the walls. This was the secret door. Jack entered the secret door. He found countless science artifacts and experiment guides. Every morning, Jack would go in the secret door and explore science. He would also conduct experiments. Before he knew it, he fell in love with science. He also started making good grades in his science class. When he graduated from elementary school, he left the science book with the map and placed it in the back seat of his school bus for another kid to find the adventure he experienced. Ryan Jacob A. Lopez 5th Grade Silverdale Baptist Academy Mrs. Jennifer Westcott

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A Pirates Journey to Treasure

When the pirates sailed the great seas, trying to find hidden treasures, they came upon undiscovered islands. While doing this they had many struggles along the way. Some of the struggles that they had were terrifying weather, dangerous under water sea creatures, and deadly diseases. During the terrifying weather there were great dangers such as sharks jumping out of the water and rocking the boat. There were huge fish that were coming aboard the boat with large teeth biting the pirates because of the overtaking waves caused by the storm. Because of the wind and rain the Pirates couldn’t keep the sails from tearing into shreds. This weather lasted several days during their journey. Another obstacle that the pirates were approached with were sea creatures. The dangerous under water sea creatures had sharp monster like teeth and their skin was bumpy with leather like texture. Most importantly the sea monster made the most ferocious sound when it was ready to attack. The monster would show their eyes just above the water and when they found their prey they would swallow you’re ship in one gulp. The pirates would make their way through the murky waters on their way to the hidden treasures. On the last leg of the pirate’s journey they were diagnosed with a deadly disease called purple-squeakia. The sickness came from the fumes that the deadly sea creatures gave off. The diseases turned the pirate’s bodies a dark purple and they would talk with a very high pitched voices. The only cure for the disease was to swim in a school of jellyfish. The pirate’s struggled day after day while at sea but the treasure on the island was well worth the adventure. There were many more islands that the pirates sailed to that took them through different obstacles. Overtime they learned to sail around the obstacles and retrieve the grand treasure unharmed. Once upon a time there was a boy named Andrew Villagran he was very rich. He loved kangaroos and really wanted a mustache. He always dreamed of riding in a mutant kangaroos pouch with a big puffy mustache. Andrew had many hair implants to get a mustache but the hair always fell out Andrew had two sisters Haley and Emily. He despised them because they annoyed him and shaved his head so he locked them in a basement with food and never heard from them again. One morning when Andrew woke up he heard footsteps outside so he looked out his window and he saw a mutant kangaroo that was purple and had a big black puffy mustache with pink eyes. Andrew put on a pair of khaki shorts and a t-shirt and ran outside to talk to the kangaroo. Andrew was so happy he fell going down the stairs but kept on going outside. When Andrew got outside the kangaroo told Andrew his name was Greg and that he needed Andrew to come with him. So Andrew climbed into the Greg's pouch and Greg started jumping away. Greg said he was hungry so Andrew suggested they have and eating contest. They ordered a ton of hamburgers and started eating it was a close round but Andrew won. They left the restaurant stuffed and happy.

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They got on Andrew's private jet and told the pilot to take off. Greg was telling Andrew that his archenemy was Bob the panda because he took Greg's family when he was young but before he could finish speaking they heard an evil panda laugh. Greg leaped out of his seat and started to fight with Bob but Bob had backup. While agree was fighting Andrew was getting parachutes he handed one to Greg and told him to kick a hole in the plane. While Andrew and Greg were floating to the ground Andrew saw a hot air balloon and spare fuel. When they got to the ground Andrew and Greg ran to the hot air balloon loaded the fuel and food into the hot air balloon and drifted away for a few years. When Andrew's mustache finally grew Andrew and Greg became a super hero team and went to defeat Bob the panda and all the other animals that were villains. So Andrew and Greg lived happily ever after. Blake Lyness Grade 5 Nolan Elementary Mrs. Lisowski

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The Brutal Winter I had no words, none. Nothing circled my mind. Empty. I sat, covered in blankets, staring. Was I alive? Was I dead? What about my family and friends? Would I ever see them again? This was all unclear to me. Coldness circled me. All curled up in a circle I felt that this might be the end. Then, out the frosty window, I saw the first of many birds. That bird was followed by more, and more, and more! Soon the brutal winter passed and spring arrived. All was peaceful, for now. Evelyn Lytle Grade 5 Normal Park Museum Magnet Regan Phillips

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Dragon Me I sat resting in my egg. It was toasty warm and cozy like a soft bed. I longed to see the outside world. Too bad the hard shell would not break. Then one day the egg gave a crack, a snap, and burst like a balloon. Finally, I was out of that egg. It felt so good to stretch out my legs, wings, and arms. Happiness flooded my body. I opened my eyes to see nighttime. A bright, warm object lifted itself from behind the mountain, and I tried to fly. It took me sixteen times to get into the air, and another five times to fly up into the sky. Goodbye cave! About a year later, I realized that I had changed color from a misty gray to be complete transparent. Awesome! Now I can sneak up on my prey, fish and deer. “Cough, cough, WOW blue fire!” I yelled, in my native language of dragonese. My voice echoed across the sea of green trees. Then on the horizon, I saw a white square. My curiosity got the best of me, and I went to check it out. When I reached the square, I could hear “Beep, beep, honk, honk, Iʼm driving here!” There were yellow specks that moved on their own. Other specks walked on something hard and gray. “What is going on?” I thought. I saw a flat square with squiggly lines and shapes mounted on a metal tree. I think it read, “New York City” What in the name of dragons does that mean? As strange as it was, I smelled something that I have never smelled before. It made my nose want to dance, and my tummy growl. I flew over to the strange, square cave. It said, “Mr. Pancake.” More strange words, I guess. I looked through a transparent wall. The specks yelled,” AHH, a dragon! Run for your lives! Call 9-1-1!” They threw their round, blue circles at me. Those wonderful, brown fluffies on the circles smelled so good. But I didnʼt eat them. The blue, round thing hit me, I let out a terrible screech, and flew away. I remembered when I was young, I learned to fly with my slender body. I saw a huge metal mountain that was taller than the rest. I hurried to get to the top of it. Down below, there were mass gatherings of the specks. They looked through the transparent walls and fired hard rocks. When the fiery rocks hit me, it felt like I was on fire. I hit them with my blue flames and the hard rocks stopped hitting me. Then I heard ch-ch-ch-ch-ch sound, and looked up to see a flying metal spider. I felt a slice on my body and I was knocked out. When I awoke, I was caged in a building that reminded me of my cave. The specks were bigger than wild boar now that I was so close to them. They had metal spikes with red liquid inside. I was scared as a mouse in a snakeʼs grip. They put the needles in a big machine that went beep, beep, processing data. I was held captive for 14 fiery ball rises and sets. I had found enough strength to bust out of captivity. I shot my blue flames at the top of the cage. The metal bars melted, and I was able to fly away. I went higher and higher until I was gone. I will never go back to that New York City again! Jack Matheny, Grade 5 Snow Hill Elementary, Diane Hitchcock

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The Fate of One Johnny Cash There was once a young boy named Johnny Cash. He had grown up a good lad and tried to please his parents and important adults in his life. However, he had few friends and was unhappy. His life at school was hard and he had little fun. One morning, Johnny was cleaning out his locker alone. A small group of boys that the other students thought were â&#x20AC;&#x153;coolâ&#x20AC;?stopped and started talking to him. He smiled at first and felt important. Soon one of the boys asked Johnny if he wanted to ditch school and hang out with them. Johnny knew better. He felt it was wrong and might lead to him getting into trouble, but he thought if he went that maybe people would stop picking on him. So, Johnny said yes and walked out the school door with his new friends. The group drove for a while, and after about thirty minutes, Johnny asked where they were taking him. The driver told him that they were almost there. When they stopped the car Johnny was blind folded. No one said anything until Johnny heard some laughing and a voice ask if he like skulls. He answered with a yes, but was wondering why. Then a boy that was called Van asked Johnny if he wanted to get a fake tattoo. Van explained that a fake tattoo would come off in about a week, so Johnny agreed. Johnny layed down on a bed, and he was kind of calm. Then he looked over and saw a man next to him on another bed. This man was getting a tattoo and was screaming with pain. This scared Johnny very much. When the man got up to leave he had a large red patch on his arm. Johnny asked the man if it really hurt that much, but he only replied that he had a lot of them and he was fine. Johnny was thinking that the man would come and get a new tattoo when the other one faded. Suddenly, the tattoo artist was standing over Johnny and asking where he wanted his tattoo. Johnny just looked at Van and asked what would be cool. Van told the artist to put it on Johnny's arm. Then Johnny asked what he should have put there, and he was told a skull would be the coolest thing. The tattoo artist was not very nice, but he told Johnny to be still and that it might hurt a little. Johnny started to scream and then to cry. He could hear the other boys in the waiting room laughing at him, and that just made the pain worse. After what felt like hours, Johnny walked into the waiting room with a huge red patch on his arm. Van stepped close and ripped the patch from Johnny's bleeding arm to show a scary and ugly skull covering his entire arm. The next day, Johnny wore a short sleeve shirt to school to help his arm heal quickly. He wasn't worried about the teachers seeing him because he believed the tattoo was only fake. His homeroom teacher stopped him on the way to lunch and asked him if he was ok. She noticed he had been quiet and acted like he was not feeling well. Johnny told her that he had gotten a fake tattoo with a friend and that it would be gone soon and that he was fine. The teacher let him go, but warned him it must be gone soon because it was out of dress code. She also warned him that if he was not feeling well to please let someone know. After a few days, the tattoo was still there and was not getting lighter. Johnny had been running a fever and his arm hurt very bad. His new friends had hardly spoken to him and He did not know what to do. He saw Van at lunch and told him that the tattoo was not going away and that it was hurting and that he did not feel well. Van just laughed and looked at the other boys.

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Van called Johnny stupid while the other boys just laughed. Van told Johnny that on his arm was a real tattoo and that all of it had been a joke. Johnny just listened to them laughing and took off running to the restroom. He cried and cried. He was so embarrassed. He had let these boys misguide him, and now he had broken a school rule and was getting sick just because he wanted to be â&#x20AC;&#x153;coolâ&#x20AC;?. Well, after the infection had healed, Johnny was fine. He continued to do well in school and graduated with honors. He went on to college and usually was able to hide the ugly skull on his arm. However, the tattoo made it very hard for Johnny to find a job. He was told that it wasn't a good example and that it did not look professional. He took a modest job with modest pay and had to live in a small home and was never able to marry because he could not support a family. He now travels to lecture children about being who they are. He tells them that being yourself is enough, and that everyone does not have to like you. He warns that if you have to do what people tell you to be their friend then they are not really your friends. Johnny had a sad, sad, sad life. Chaise Maynor, Grade 5 Boyd Buchanan School, Mrs. Jane Beasley

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The Lonely Christmas Tree One day in the Signal Mountain christmas tree farm there stood the smallest tree in the lot not many branches but enough he was probably going to be used for fire wood and not decorated. The little tree often talked to the birds that would land on him and the other animals that lived in the lot. He watched the sun rise and the sunset and the stars that twinkle at night. He watched the farmer go to the market every day and watched his lights go off at night. The only thing I liked to watch was the stream by the lot often times I would see fish and the beavers run home to theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re family. Till one day a car pulled up and a man and a boy stepped out. This was my chance to be bought I stood up straight and stretched out my small branches and waited and waited the boy walked over to me and liked me his father walked over and said something to him. They waked back over and picked me up I watched the man pay the farmer and help get me on the roof to their car I was getting a home. As we drove off I looked back at the farmer and remembered how he would take care of me. As I looked back at the farmer he grinned I smiled back at him.We were on the highway that was my first time on one. I could feel the wind blow through my small branches and the smell of the city the diner Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve heard of. As we passed through the city I heard the sirens and after we passed through the city we came out on the country side and we drove down a dirt road and I was home. They unloaded me and brought me in and put me in a stand I was home. I was watered with hot water and placed by a window I felt strange Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve never had a home beside the farm and the forest. It was 2 days after and I heard I was being decorated at first I thought it was over. I looked outside and I saw birds and other animals I was in my home away from home. The feeling of having a home is amazing I had everything I wanted . That night I was decorated I had strung popcorn ornaments and a star on top, I felt amazing. That night I had shining lights and tensile and most importantly a home I was not just a tree I was a christmas tree. On christmas eve I watched for santa clause suddenly I heard a thump and a thud and someone was zipping around the room suddenly the person was gone and I had presents under me and I had a home. The next morning the boy ran down to his new bike I watched him ride around I was home. Daniel Odom 5th Grade Nolan elementary Mrs. Marshman

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Chasing Butterflies In the end of June, it was just a peaceful Thursday at my grandma's vanilla white house at the break of dawn. The shadows of super bendy bamboo were falling against the kitchen window and the back porch, the small yet cool summer breeze was heading to the green garden, and my grandma was roasting pumpkin seeds, steaming rice, and cutting melons. Looking out the back porch stairs, it was calm as a zen garden, no noise, annoying actions, and not much movement. Then, I found a butterfly net under the amber glass table, with a yellow raw bamboo handle with a layer of polyester gloss, a glistening metal frame that smelled like Koi fish, and a silk soft net wiring, greener than acacia leaves. I stealthily grabbed the net, even though my grandma would not mind if I played with it, but I did it anyway. It was gorgeous in my dark chocolate brown eyes, glittering in the morning sunlight. Swiftly, I had the legendary net in my hand and chased dozens of butterflies in the bamboo trees and the garden, filled with onions, Rosemary, basil, corn sprouts, even some tulips from May. I caught two Cabbage Whites as white as the White House, a Monarch with deep black lines along it's wings, a Vermont that almost looks exactly the same as the Monarch, three Copperheads that had shiny brown wings, and a moth, strangely. They were all so fast, it was like an acrobatic, diversified, colorful butterfly show. Then, they were scattered towards the corn, then the herbs, then the tulips, and eventually into the streets. "Why would a butterfly be on the streets anyway?" I asked myself. After two hours, I fell in the garden, dazed, enchanted by them all, fluttering in the air. I released the eight butterflies out of the net, and they went to the overgrown parts of the garden. My grandma just finished cutting melons, so I took a slice as she waddled around the back porch stairs. What a great morning! Zachary Pham Grade 5 Red Bank Elementary Paula Worley

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Sky A girl named May is in the woods all alone at her secret base behind her house. Sleeping so cozy, maybe too cozy. She woke up with blue hair and a cat that said “Hi.” She was in a forest so green and colorful it felt like dream. “Where am I? Who are you?” May wondered. “I’m Sky, your talking kitten and you are in wonderland," she said. “Princess, are you ok?” “What I’m a princess?!” As they walk near the blue pearled castle she says, “You’re the princess of the sea.” She sees a pretty lady with blue hair and a dress. “Young lady you have to study you don’t have time to roll in mud. “Who is she?” May said. “The royal pain your mother, and you’re even worse. “If so, why don’t we run away?” May said with a smudged face. Sky went to get lots of food, while May got a backpack and filled it with blankets, clothes, cooking materials, matches and bow and arrows. They left at 2 am and they crossed the border at 3 am. Then they slept the rest of night away. As she awoke Sky was making a fire and made brunch. “Hey, May why did you bring a bow and arrows?” Sky asked. “We are going to run out of food sooner or later and we will have to hunt in order to eat.” After they ate they started to walk towards the fire village. They stopped and stared at a rustling bush. May picked up her bow. They saw something move, a boy? “Who are you?” May said fearlessly. “Oh I’m Jack Ice. Wait aren’t you May Water?" He asked surprised. “What are you doing here?” May said, “Um, running away.” “Same here.” “I’m going to Fire Village.” May helped Jack up and asked, “Want to come with us?” He replied, “Fine.” “You know this is nice, having friends.” “May, what are we going to do in Fire Village?” Sky said. “Get a job and build a house.” Then May tripped and hit her head. She awoke back in this boring world. Then heard her mom calling her. “May, honey I got you a cat, her name is Sky.” The cat winked. Mia Pugay Grade 5 Normal Park Museum Magnet Mrs. Jane Mitchell 152

Letters to Jen It all started on a pretty day, the day before one of my best friends left me forever. It was Saturday. Jen, Sam, and I were on our way to our usual place right beside Dead Man’s creek. We had no idea the creek had sharp rocks that could crack skulls. Jen took off her shoes and socks then dove right in. I wasn’t looking at her until I heard Sam gasp. There she was lying with her face down on a sharp rock. I didn’t know I screamed until I heard it. I saw my mom crashing through the trees. “Willow, Sam” she screamed. Then I saw her eyes go to Jen. I was crying. I could feel the tears run down my flushed face. I ran into her arms, and said her name like I did when I was five. “Mama” She pulled away. She ran down into the creek pulling out Jen’s bloody body. The rest was a blur. The next thing I knew I was in my brother’s car resting on the side of the seat. My face, still red, had tears still streaming down it. Sam was beside me. I looked into Sam’s deep dark green eyes. “Sam”, I was scared to ask, but I did anyway. “Is, is … she dead?” He looked at me grimly. “Yes”, he answered. That was enough for me. Sobbing, I opened the car door and ran into the forest until I got to the place where she died. I don’t know how long I kicked leaves, rocks, and sticks. I opened my mouth and screamed to God, “Why” And as if he was listening, it started raining. The next day I stayed all day in my room until there was a knock at the door. “Willow” my mom said “Willow” in a singsong voice. Jennifer’s death didn’t seem to drag her down. “Willow!” Then she finally just opened the door. “Sam‘s here”. I saw his green eyes dance with laughter as he looked at me. Then I remembered… I was in my Mockingjay footie pajamas. I did the only thing I could do, throw a pillow. “Wait”, he squealed. Um, how did that sound just come out of you, I questioned? Then he made his voice go back to normal. “I don’t know…” he said innocently like it didn’t even happen. “I have an idea to make you feel better.” “Mmm hmm” I looked at him skeptically. “Ok, we can write letters to Jen”. “And how can we do that? She is never going to get them.” I raised my voice, mad that he would say that. “No seriously.” He looked at me hopefully. “OK, fine” I said with an edge to my voice. He grabbed a piece of paper from my desk and a pencil out of a drawer. “Ready” He said smiling. “Ready” I replied. I started writing. Months after writing letters to Jen, I stopped. I am 13 now. I should stop believing that she is going to write back. Jen’s dead. I need to accept that. I find myself crying again. “Willow Willow” my mom yelled down the hall. “You have a letter from Jen!” “What” I screamed back. “That’s not right, she can’t write back. She’s dead!” “Ugh, I give up” she said with an edge. “You were trying to trick me!” I raised my voice. The next day was just horrible! I stayed home and looked at pictures of Jennifer and cried, and cried, and cried. Two years later, I’m still

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sad. Sam and I have drifted apart now. He has other friends now and I will live forever grieving for Jen until I die and see her. Madelyn Rains 5th Grade Silverdale Baptist Academy Ms. Renae Marcus Alexander Graham Bell and George Eastman Alexander Graham Bell and George Eastman are and were very smart inventors. They made a difference in the world that we might not have appreciated at first. If it were not for them, we would not have some of the same things we have now. At age 12, while playing in a grain mill with a friend one noticed the slow process of husking the wheat grain. Have you ever thought about George Eastman and Alexander Graham Bell to ever be similar? Well if not here are some similarities. Bell had 2 brothers who died from tuberculosis. Eastman had 2 sisters who were wheelchair-bound from polio and died when he was 16.George Eastman and Alexander Graham Bell both never had children. Alexander Graham Bell was the first person to invent the telephone. With his invention, he has changed our world. He did more than invent. He was also an educator, scientist, and linguist. He has many talents, maybe some we don`t even know about yet. He did have a wife but no children. He did important work in communication for the deaf and held more than 18 patents. George Eastman was a great inventor. He did things other people didn`t get a chance to. He made a fantastic invention called a Kodak; it is a camera. He also made cameras for small children, too, but they were much cheaper than the bigger ones for grown people. He came up with the name Kodak, because he believed products should have their own identity free from association with anything else. Without Bell and Eastman, we probably wouldn`t have cell phones or portable cameras like we have today. I think life would be different, because without them we wouldn`t be able to talk long distances. We also would not be able to capture the moment on video or on camera. The world would be changed a lot without phones or cameras. I wonder if more people would go outside and play if we had less electronics? Karly Rector Grade 5 Snow Hill Elementary School Meredith Ziegenmier 154

Untitled Once there was a king. He lived in the kingdom of Oxpatch. His kingdom was happy and quiet. Zero violence. Zero rioting. Zero neglecting. Most of the time... The king had a treasure, an ancient relic of the dynasty before it. The beast however, was after it. It was a ring made up of seventy-eight carat diamond. The ring made of pure gold has all the power in the world. In the wrong hands, it could destroy the world. The kingdom was a having a grand celebration. They were having so much fun, they didn't notice the huge, red eyed, hairy, ugly, and demonic beast, slinking past the castle wall. The beast was looking for the treasure. He had one micro sized problem with stealing the treasure. He didn't know where it was. No one in all of Oxpatch knew where it was, except the royal order. There are so many secret passages in the castle that if you saw a map of how to get to the treasure, it would look like you had to walk through walls. The beast however, had his ways... The beast had a friend. The witch. They had a deal. If the beast gave her ten gold coins, she would give him twenty sticks of dynamite. He lit them and blew the walls down. Everyone immediately notified the Knights when they heard it. The were quick to the scene! They dashed through the hall. They found the beast in the treasure room. The beast noticed them. He pounced and killed about a hundred of them. There were fifty knights left. Forty. Thirty. Twenty. Ten. Five. Three. Finally there was just one. He was the weakest one but the wisest one. He threw a stick and the beast went after it. He then pulled out his crossbow, and fired... The village was going crazy. The news was spreading like wildfire. The beast is slain! The king decided it was time to have a new king. His son would get the throne, but was far too arrogant. Also unfortunately, the beast killed him. Who would get the throne? He made a decision. It would be the brave knight that had slain the beast. Oxpatch was ruled by a hero. They were in for a good future. Christopher Romero 5th grade Nolan elementary school Mrs. Lisowski

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Game Over It all started when I was sitting on the couch, playing Minecraft with my brother. We were at the VERY end of the game, facing off the ender dragon. This was it, the dragon had at least five health left, when all of a sudden…… I heard a sound, at first it was very faint, until it was a loud sucking sound like a portal opening. I closed my eyes and ears hoping the sound would go away. But after a while I opened my ears and my eyes and…… What I heard wasn't my house, and what I saw, DEFINITELY WASN’T MY LIVING ROOM. Instead of wood furnishings and a television in front of me, there, right in front of me, stood, the tall ender dragon. And he looked mad. As soon as I saw him I bolted straight out of his path, narrowly dodging his deathly flames. I ran over to my brother, who was trying to find something to hide behind. But there weren't very many choices since we were at the very end, where all there is to hide behind is endermen. So instead of staying behind to get burnt to a crisp, we took our chances and ran out of there as fast as we could, until, after a good 30 minutes of running we stopped to catch our breath and to take time to craft items, using my only crafting table left. I said to my brother, ”It's time to get to work!” So after a good crafting montage we had emerald armor, and the best diamond sword I had ever seen. “We are ready to fight until the end” I said. And with that, we ran back towards the ender dragon. We ran as fast as our legs could carry us, we ran until the huge ender dragon came into view, and we knew, we had made it. The first thing I did is distract the ender dragon, but running around and waving my sword into the air. Well step one complete, because well, the ender dragon looked pretty confused. That was a good thing, because now, my brother had a chance to take out the energy towers that helped the ender dragon regenerate health. He took down all of those in a jiffy, thanks to his diamond pickaxe. Then my brother jumped on top of the mighty dragon, as I tried to hold him down, I was struggling to keep him down so I drank a potion of strength which made it SUPER EASY. Meanwhile, on top, my brother was trying hard to defeat the mighty dragon, he was doing great until the dragon tossed him off. He hit the ground hard, and stopped moving. “OH NO” I yelled, I tried to go over to him but as soon as a let go of the ender dragon, he grabbed me super quick and held me tight, so I couldn't move. “HELP, HELP ME PLEASE, SOMEBODY, ANYBODY.” But as if on cue, my brother slowly rose up of the ground, and he leaped onto the mighty dragon to finish off what he had started. He had dropped the dragon’s health from 50, to 30, and even he got it finally all the way down, down to 0. The ender dragon dropped to the ground, and loosened his grip on me. I slipped out and raced over to my brother and said, ”That was amazing, and awesome and all, but HOW ARE WE GONNA GET OUT OF HERE!!!!!” He didn't have an answer. But meanwhile on the outside world, my grandpa was vacuuming, and he saw the TV on and he said, “Stupid kids these days, wasting good energy” And with that he turned off the TV. Landon Sapp, Grade 5 Red Bank Elementary, Mrs. Worley

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The Inventions of Alexander Graham and George Eastman Alexander Graham Bell and George Eastman were the inventors that changed the future dramatically. Together, even though their inventions had many differences, they still changed the way we think. What would life be like without their inventions? Today, I will compare and contrast their inventions. Have you ever thought about how life would be without the telephone and camera? Average people wouldn’t be able to take pictures with all the heavy camera equipment already invented. Without telephones, we wouldn’t be able to communicate long distances that easily. These inventions are similar, because they could connect society all over the U.S. Alexander Graham Bell was the first person to invent the telephone with his partner, Thomas Watson who was an electrician. This idea came to Bell while he was working on the harmonic telegraph. Bell and Watson both worked very hard on the telephone. On March 10, 1876, they were finally successful in making the first phone call. George Eastman was the inventor of the Kodak and Brownie cameras. He came up with this idea when he was twenty-four and wanted to take a trip and document everything with a camera. However, the equipment was heavy, huge, and cost a lot of money. Eastman decided to finTtd ways to make photography a hobby for everyone. So, in 1880, he opened his own company, the Eastman Dry Plate and Film Company, named after a formula he saw in Britain for the “Dry Plate.” During World War II, his company made unbreakable glass lenses and cameras to take pictures from planes. All in all, his invention eventually led to a camera on a cell phone that we have today. Without Alexander Graham Bell and George Eastman, we possibly wouldn’t have cell phones with cameras which we have today. These two inventions have many differences, but they both changed the future. In class we learned to compare and contrast the differences between the inventors and their inventions and compare and connect them together to really understand the impact of these inventions. Sofiia Skrypkar Grade 5 Snow Hill Elementary School Meredith Ziegenmier

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The Game The stars in the night sky, showing a bright light to two brave warriors defending their queen. But it wasn't always a pretty day with flowers everywhere. Some days there would be days with dark, gray clouds in the sky, waiting to fall down. The warrior galloped, sprinted, and crawled to the king-the king of kings. Now this wasn't the ordinary kid at the children's playhouse. This was the king of tough obsidian armor. There are three king of kings. Number one, Lava King. He is the assault of the three kings who could shoot lava out of his fingers. Number two, Diamond King. He had the most protection because he was made of the strongest material ever. And the third, Obsidian King. He doesn't do much. He just sits there blocking every move with his hard, rocky obsidian. Until the obsidian breaks, that is. This one knight had the sword of light, so he could break obsidian in an instant. First, he threw his sword at him, knocking a little obsidian off. Next, he tried to slash the Obsidian King down the middle, but he missed. His second throw was sure to make contact, and it did. It broke the Obsidian King into shattered pieces. After that, the brave knights went to go look for enemies. At first they found trolls and goblins hiding in caves, but they wanted a tougher, stronger enemy. So they traveled for miles, and they found the second King of kings. The Diamond King. This battle was too tough for one knight, so he had to bring his partner out. The partner had thesaurus of darkness. Powerful to the Diamond King. The Knights stepped up on a tall, wooden ladder and made the swords darkness and light come together to shine into the eyes of the Diamond King. The King was blinded, so the Knights could easily win the battle. It took the Knights both 10 shots to break him. But something happened that no-one would ever forget that day. The Lava King has risen from his volcano! The most powerful, furious King ever known to the world. He shot lava in the smoky air, did his evil laugh, and said, "Rise my minions!" But nothing happened. He just stood there with a big smile and lava shooting out of his fingers. The Knights decided to run away back to their queen because they thought it was fake and they were a little scared of him. They told her everything except the part when they ran away because they were scared so they wouldn't get punished. The queen knew they were lying because the queen saw the knight of light wiggle his foot and that meant he was lying. She didn't punish them, but she demanded them to go destroy the Lava King. So they went back to the volcano but right as they got there they could see what he tried to summon before. But it was real. Small skeletons with a Viking hat and lava dripping out of the bones that make up their body. The Knights had to think of something quick before the minions broke loose. The knight of darkness thought of a way to wipe all minions out. They will try to create a bomb. It required only what they could do to make it. They had to have obsidian from the Obsidian King and diamond from the Diamond King. With those materials, they could relate a nuclear bomb. And they did create it. They placed it on a launcher that a rocket used inside a plane, lit the string lit the bomb, and took off. But one thing went wrong. A Knights shoe lace got stuck in the string! They both launched off with the bomb and crashed into the volcano! As soon as the crashed, they fell into the hole! They all fell down into the dark, deep hole all trying to climb

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back up. But they kept slipping and slipping again. Once they all went through the gooey lava, all they could see were lights. They ran away from them, and had seen the most disturbing thing ever. They could see action figures of themselves! The Knights said together, "Are we in... a game?" Tyler Summers, Grade 5 Thrasher Elementary, Julie Spino

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The Magical Garden Once upon a time there was a mysterious girl named Lila who lived in the woods. No one knew why she was so mysterious or what made here that way. She always played by herself and never talked to anyone they all knew she was shy. But what they didn't know was that she had a big secret. She wasn't really what she seemed to be. She lives in a magical garden. With fairies, elves, and unicorns. In fact she is a fairy and has a mini pet unicorn. Everything in that land was magical. That's how it got its name The Magical Garden. It all started when she was little. One day she was walking through the woods at night when there was no one with her. She walked into a part of the woods she had never been before. There was a circle of bushes with rocks surrounding it. She walked through and there she was in the magical garden. She started to grow wings and gained powers and soon she started to shrink. She had become a fairy. She was so happy but at the same time she was sad. “How will I get home” she thought. Then a group of fairies came up to greet her. Their names were Lily, a flower fairy, Misty a water fairy, and Aria the star fairy. Then Aria said “Come to my house so we can get to know each other”. When they arrived at Aria’s house things were different before you knew it they were talking, having fairy roles, and acorn tea. They got to know each other and then Lila started to look sad all the fairies asked her why she was so sad. Then Lila said “I’m sad because I will never get to go back home”. Then misty said “You can go back home if you want”, “How” said Lila. “Come on we’ll show you” said Lily. They finally arrived to what looked like the way that she had gotten there. Then Aria said “Here we are”. Lila said “Isn't this the way that I got here”? “Yep” said Misty. “You can go through here and go right back to where you came from, and come back through when you want to return”. “But when I go back I'll still have my wings” said Lila. “No you won't” said Aria. “When you go back your wings will disappear, and when you come back here your wings will reappear”. “Well then I guess it's time for me to leave” said Lila. So she said goodbye and off she went back to her house. Caroline Tinsley, Grade 5 Grace Baptist Academy, Shana Ivarson

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The Dragon Thief My name is Erin. I live on the island of Orcanjayer with a small tribe of people, called by many the scourge of Orcanjayer. Some say we steal from neighboring islands. We say we relocate goods. You may call us pirates, but we prefer Vikings. Over the years, we have been forced to steal because some animals steal from us. Those animals are dragons. Yes. Dragons. As the tribe’s only shepherd and butcher, I found myself cursing them every day. Whenever I sat any meat out to dry, it got swiped by a mischievous dragon. Along the way, I learned that chicken blood is deathly to dragons. So I decided to poison my meat to stop the dragon thief from bothering me again. I didn’t know that my actions would put me and the rest of my tribe in danger. Once I finished planting the chicken blood in the meat, I slipped off my apron, revealing the crudely painted camouflage coat underneath. I could have asked the tribe’s painter to do it, but I didn't want anyone to know what I was doing. This was a matter between me and the dragon thief. I waited all night, but nothing came. Maybe the dragon had a good nose. Why didn't I roll in mud to mask my scent? Just before I called it quits, I heard the whoosh of dragon wings. I immediately stopped rustling and laid still. Honed claws came down from the heavens at impossible speeds, darting in and grabbing the biggest piece of meat. Good, I thought. That one has the most blood in it. Now it’s time to turn in. I awoke to the sound of a battle horn bellowing. Great, I thought. the dragons must have found out about the one I poisoned. I rolled out of my bed and stumbled to the door of my hut, weakly grasping my bow and quiver. When I stepped outside, my head nearly got taken off by a giant monstrosity of a dragon. They must have really needed that dragon. After ducking under an empty cart, I tried to make a plan. After a few hot, stressful minutes, I had my plan. I would find and heal the poisoned dragon and return it to its kind. I emerged from my hiding place and stumbled toward the woods. “Erin!” the chief yelled, while wrestling a grounded beast. “Don't worry! I have a plan!” I hollered back. And the fun began. It was silent in the woods. Too silent. The dragon wasn't here. I tried several different spots around the island, but none of them had the thief. The last spot on my map was the mountain of Anchia. I was going to need some rope. Lots of rope. After a lot of pain and sweat, I reached a cave near the top. A weak flicker of fire emerged from the opening. This is the place. Yay. If I had to choose one word to describe the dragon, it would be: sharp. Very sharp. The claws were so acute, they seemed as if someone had stuck daggers on the end of each toe. Dagger, I mused. That seemed like a good name. I wearily approached the beast, who was too unsteady to shoot flames. “Look, we may have our differences, but do you want all of your friends to die?” The dragon—Dagger, I corrected myself—didn’t have the strength to do anything but moan. “Curses!,” I swore. I hastily took some herbs that I had collected earlier out of my satchel. My hands shook as I stuffed them in Dagger’s jaws. He hesitated for a moment, then took the herbs gratefully. Dagger chewed weakly, but I was grateful that he wasn't chewing my fingers.

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Back at the village, things weren't going well. The ground was littered with debris and broken weapons. Half of the village was either rubble or ash. “At this rate, everyone and everything on the island will be dead!,” a young warrior shouted to his comrade. “Why are they attacking us anyway?” the other replied. Little did they know that this attack was all for the dragon that I was riding above their heads. “We need to find the leader of this attack, so you can call it off,” I murmured to Dagger. He threw his head around like he was getting something off of it as a response. Then, without any warning, he shot off to a deep mass of dragons in the distance. The ride was short. And terrifying. There were so many arrows shot from strong archers, it seemed like we were being chased by large, skinny bees. When Dagger and I finally reached the cloud of dragons, it was almost a relief. Almost. Most of the dragons let us pass, probably assuming that I was a prisoner. But there were a few dragons that were ready to shoot fire. After a few stressful minutes, we reached the center of the cloud. A huge dragon was bellowing—maybe orders, maybe death threats—I couldn't tell. Just as I was muttering “Maybe he won’t see me,” the giant flying beast turned to us, and had a conversation with Dagger that involved a lot of fire blowing into the air from both sides. Just as I thought that I was going to be barbecue, the exchange ended and Dagger started flying back to Orcanjayer. “What? I thought that you wanted to be with your own kind!” But Dagger growled, and the meaning was clear. I wanted to stay on Orcanjayer. If you argue, I can just drop you off right here. I gulped and looked down. Nothing but water for about a thousand yards. “Ok, I’m fine with that.” Just then, a giant bellow resonated off the water, and just like that, the siege ended. As we swooped down to Orcanjayer, I thought, We might have rebuilding to do, but now a dragon is on our side. Alex Williams Grade 5 Thrasher Elementary Wes Wood

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The Zombies Once upon a time in a lonely town in Arkansas in 1913, people were shocked when they saw something unbelievable. Three young boys named Ricky, Dan, and Keaton were in town trying to sell their mother’s cow. Ricky was 21 years old, with fiery red hair, and sky blue eyes, with a lot of freckles. Dan was 24, with coal black hair, and mud brown eyes. Keaton was 18, with ink black hair, and grass green eyes. When they were in town no one was there. They kept on hearing grunts and screams. “Shh. Listen. Do you hear that?” Dan asked with a croaky voice after he swallowed a big gulp of air. “Hear what?” Said Ricky rolling his eyes at Dan. “Um… guys, do you see those weird looking bodies with blood on them walking towards us?” asked Keaton. “Oh that’s nothing. That’s just Ben pulling a prank on us, “said Ricky. Ben was the three boys’ friend. He was 19 years old, had chalkboard black hair, and sparkling blue eyes. Ben ran up behind them. “Um. I’m not playing a prank on you. Those are zombies. There was an outbreak at Area 51.” The 4 boys all looked around. There were thousands of zombies everywhere. Dan dropped the leash on the cow and the cow bolted into the zombies. You could hear the cow’s call of distress and the zombies slashing of claws. MOOOOOO! ARGH ARGH MOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Then all was silent. No more cow yelling. All the boys went running to their parent’s house and Ben went with them. Ricky went downstairs and got all the knives, throwing knives, guns, and ammunition that he could find. Ben got 5 throwing knives, 1 crossbow, and 36 arrows. Dan got a shotgun, 2 throwing knives and 111 rounds of shotgun shells. Ricky got 1 tomahawk, 2 pistols, and a sniper. Keaton got two swords. The 4 boys all went to the market and went to war with the zombies. Then they saw an army of knights coming towards them. All the knights rushed toward the zombies. Millions and millions of knights and zombies were being slaughtered. AHHHHHHHHH. BURGH BURGH. AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. Then when it felt like all the zombies and knights were killed, a zombie slashed Ben right behind the ear. As Ben’s eyes turned white, his skin turned brown, black, and green. He charged after Keaton. Keaton dropped kicked him and tried to get him to not bite him, Keaton’s heart fell into a black hole he jabbed his sword straight into Ben’s head. Keaton put his head into his hands and was thinking about what he had done. “What? Why did you do that?” Dan yelled. “I couldn’t let him destroy us!” yelled Keaton back. Then a knight ripped all three of the boys out of the zombie’s way. Breathing sighs of relief, they listened as the knight took off his helmet and said, “Hi I’m Prince Landen. Come back to my kingdom with me. You’ll be safe. Don’t worry. We have ANTI TECH ZOMBIE SHEILDS, and HAZMACK SUITS!” So all of the boys got on a horse and road off, leaving the battleground and of all the injured knights behind. Thomas Wilson, Grade 5 Snow Hill Elementary, Mrs. Hitchcock

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War Dear Diary, Last night I lay in bed staring at my cracked up ceiling and dusty old chandelier. Tears clogged up my eyes as I listened to gunshots in the distance. My mama checked on me several times, but I pretended to sleep. I was so petrified I could barely move. My skin was pale and weak with horror. That wasn’t anything new, though. I felt like that every night. I guess that’s what happens when you live in a small, creepy house in a war-torn town. All around the world, happy children and adults skip frantically with joy, getting to see what the world has to offer. But me, all I ever see is the four corners of my room. Day and night, stormy and sunny, I’m always here, always. Our small town used to be a great place with carriage rides every day, beautiful homes, delicious restaurants, funny movies, fun schools, and best of all, our town was filled with smiling faces all day long. Unfortunately, that all went away in just two months. A small, poor, and despicable town attacked us. We had no choice but to declare a mini war between the two towns. The war was fought in our town. All citizens were told to leave, but many of the families refused to leave their homes, including my family. Most families had underground storm shelters, because our town was known to be a place that gets a lot of bad tornados. Everyone in our town that is still alive has a storm shelter, which is where everyone goes when any army men come within two miles of your home. The war has been going on for three years now, and it hasn’t become any less death defying. My brother, papa, and grandpa were actually in the war to start with, but my brother and grandpa were both killed by a bomb after only two weeks of battle. My papa is still alive but was recently wounded and there’s a possibility he could die of infection very soon. Our papa enjoys writing letters to me, my mama, and my Mimi, which we enjoy very much. But that might not last much longer. I continue to pray for a miracle every day and night, but no one really expects him to survive much longer. I just found this diary in my backyard in a bombed up storm shelter under a bunch of rubble in my backyard. I live in Chattanooga, Tennessee on Signal Mountain. My mama told me that a war was fought on the soil our house was build on, but I never could imagine finding a diary from the past. My mama always is telling me to stop sneaking around in our backyard looking for war artifacts, but for once, my huge interest in history really paid off. I assume that the person who wrote this diary was writing it when their family got bombed. Her diary was really sad, but it was written very well. I already told my mama about the diary and tomorrow she’s taking me to the Chattanooga Museum and they’re going to help us find out the person who wrote the diary, and then were going to publish it as a book. So when you see this diary in the bookstores, you should read it. Hayden Wise, Grade 5 Normal Park Museum Magnet, Regan Phillips

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Invisible for a Day Once there was an eleven year old boy named Timothy. He lived in a place called Murbool, USA and went to a school called Yenycece. Everything was going great for Timothy, he made good grades and he had plenty of friends. Then one day a new kid came to school, his name was Billy, and he became popular fast. Billy was nice at first but then he started hanging out with all the wrong people and he became so mean people started calling him Billy the Bully. One day Timothy was playing kickball and he got called out. All his friends said he did a good job, but Billy said that he was a no good loser and said he would never fit in. That’s just one example of the many times Billy bullied Timothy. Sometimes though Billy punched, kicked or slapped Timothy. Then one day Timmy (Timothy’s nickname) couldn’t take being bullied anymore. So, he ran home and he wished something upon a shooting star. He wished that Billy wouldn’t even notice him so he wouldn’t be bullied. Timothy cried himself to sleep that night. The next morning when Timmy woke up he just went about his business to get ready for school dreading another day of being bullied. While he was brushing his teeth though he looked into the mirror and yelled. “Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh! Where did my FACE GO!! Mama! Dad! HELP!” Timmy yelled. They came rushing up the steps to see what was wrong. When they got to the bathroom, they panicked and looked everywhere for Timmy. As they did this Timmy spoke to them. “Guys. You guys. Guys! YOU GUYS I’M RIGHT HERE!” Timmy cried. They all stood still, they couldn’t believe what wasn’t before their eyes! His mama and dad stood there stunned trying to compute what was going on. A few seconds later Timmy’s dad panicked and called the police and doctors. Timmy didn’t want to be experimented on because he was invisible. So, he did the only thing he could think of, he jumped out the bathroom window, then he grabbed onto a drainage pipe and slid down. After hitting the ground Timothy ran until he could run no more. It was eleven o’clock a.m., Timmy had spent the entire morning hiding in an old movie theater that he had fixed up enough to play movies. He thought to himself, hey, if I’m going to hide out I might as well have fun. He sat in the theater excited about a bully free day. Later, still in the theater he heard two voices coming from behind him. One voice was deep and the other was gravely and quite. At first he was just going to wait them out, he knew they couldn’t see him. So Timmy thought he had nothing to worry about until a tall strong man ( the one with the deep voice) bumped into Timmy. “Who’s there?” the man snapped. The instant the man said this Timmy sprang up and ran outside the building .Once he felt a reasonable distance away he stopped running and just walked around the town because he didn’t know what else to do, He walked past the park and saw his friends playing tag. He sat down on the sidewalk and watched them play. Seeing them play made him feel sad. Now that he was invisible he couldn’t play with his friends without blowing his cover. Timothy no longer wanted to be invisible. He thought to himself, why am I invisible? It hit him, it was because he had wished on a shooting star. If that was the reason then he could just un-wish it, RIGHT?

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Timmy was a quick thinker and knew where to go. He went to the only place you can see stars in the daytime, the planetarium. He ran inside the planetarium, luckily there was a showing. He soon saw a shooting star. “I wish…” Timmy thought very carefully about what to say next. “I wish people would see me again, Billy wouldn’t bully me again, and that this day didn’t happen!” Timmy said. Suddenly there was a great flash! “Did it work?” Timmy asked himself as he sprang out of bed the next morning. Timmy ran to the mirror and he saw himself. He whooped with joy! Then he checked his calendar and it was yesterday! But would Billy bully him? When Timmy got to school he asked around and found out Billy moved! They all lived happily ever. Joshua Woodall 5th Grade Silverdale Baptist Academy Mrs. Jennifer Westcott

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Untitled A long time ago there was a forest in the undiscovered land, which is now America. In the forest there was a village. The village was called the Changeling Village. Nobody was allowed outside, no one but the scouts, who were trained to be almost invisible. They were trained like this so they were not to be seen by their enemies, the forest creatures. The creatures hated the changelings because they destroyed the forest to build their houses. In the village one of the changelings was named Harald. Harald wanted dearly to be one of the scouts. But when it came to the Choosing Day Harald knew he would not be chosen. Harald went home in shame after Choosing Day, for he had not been picked for any job. He would have to work in the fields laboring all day. After all the changelings had gone to sleep he snuck into the changeling baronâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tower to see if the Jobmaster had him posted for a job. On his way to the tower, he was caught by a Changeling Guard corporal. The corporal took him to the baron to determine the punishment for Harald. But the guard was a little drunk on the elderberry wine that the changelings drank to stay alive. Because of this, Harald seized that moment to escape. As Harald escaped he started to run towards the orphanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home where he lived. Harald knew that he would be shamed in the village. The next day he went out to the fields to gather wheat, corn, and carrots. Harald had heard rumors in the fields about a war that might soon occur between the forest creatures and the changelings. Harald had plans to escape from his life in the fields. He thought that when he was collecting wood he could run into the woods. Harald thought that he could plead with the forest creatures to not kill him. Harald had escaped to a peaceful life in the woods. Hayden Woodrow Grade 5 Normal Park Museum Magnet Katherine Blake

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