Exciting Stories of My Life
By: Maggie
About the Author Maggie Liu is a young writer. She was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA on July 23rd, 2006. She is ten years old and is currently a fifth grader at Kaohsiung American School. The first book she has written was when she was 10 years old, and it is the book you are reading right now! She hopes to write more fantastic books in the future. Maggie’s favorite hobbies are technology, fencing, and soccer. She lives in Kaohsiung, Taiwan currently with her parents and one brother and sister.
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My First Fencing Lesson Have you ever learned a new hobby? Well, during my year of kindergarten, my swimming coach introduced me into FENCING. Not only was I excited, I was also very nervous. “Was it going to be hard? What is the coach like? How many people will be learning?” I asked myself all these questions before my first fencing lesson, eager to find out all the answers. It was a boiling Wednesday afternoon, if I recall correctly, when my brother, Paul, and I were introduced to the exciting sport. Our coach taught us some basic moves, and before I knew it, I was hooked. He, my coach, taught Paul and I all these crazy steps like “on guard,” “advance,” and “retreat.” He showed us “epee,” “foil,” and “sabre.” I couldn’t hold the sword yet; it was too heavy (at least that was what he said), so he made a sword out of a fishing pole. My brother threw it into the pool, and by the 3
time I got it back, I was soaking wet.
It was so interesting and I was so eager to start! That night, I told my sister what we learned and I could tell she was hooked, too! “C’mon! It’s fencing time!” My excited sister yelled. It was the next day, and we were going to the fencing place. “Oh, boy!” my brother and I said to each other. “Coming!” We yelled back. We got there as happy as a fish in the water. The dogs there was saying, “come and feed me!” by pushing their food pans towards us. They seemed to be starving to death! The coach said they actually ate a lot today, so at first we didn’t feed them. Then, they were looking at us like hungry children, and we couldn’t resist. That was how they ended up eating a few more pans of food that day!
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We took our first step towards fencing, and first step towards something new! The questions I had from before was answered, but I never knew then that I was going to make a lot of friends at that time, and I was just about to see that!
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The Yellowstone Black Bear Surprise Summer in Yellowstone was amazing. Up the mountains, around the lakes, getting dizzy, and finally there. “Screech!!” The car suddenly stopped. “Bad Bison! Blocking the way like that,” my dad said. Yes, that’s right. There, in the middle of the road, was a herd of bison - slowly crossing the road, stopping to rest. That was what the king of Yellowstone (bison) did. That was their hobby.
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“C’mon! Out of the way!” followed by, “finally! there! Let’s go!” “Dad, when is LUNCH?” I whined, “I’m starving!” “Okay! Okay! There’s a restaurant just down the road!” As annoyed as he sounded, I could tell he was starved, too! After a delicious meal of bison meat hamburger, we piled into the car. Something moved in the forest. We all saw it. “Was that-” Annie, my sister, was cut short. “A BLACK BEAR!!” we shouted, half overjoyed, half scared. “No! Two! You see the baby?” I exclaimed. We attracted a group of workers. “What is wrong? Why are you shouting?!” “Black bear!” we shouted. “Wow! You don’t see that every day! I’ve worked here for several years, and only saw a few,” one of them said, “Congratulations!” Before we knew it, a group of tourists was congratulating us too. As the group slowly faded, we got back into the car. “Next stop, Glacier National Park! I hope we won’t see any sharks!” I knew dad was joking, but Annie’s face was as white as a piece of paper!
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Glacier Park was, and still is, a beautiful place. The water was so transparent, you could see the fishes swimming inside the water. “Let’s go for a swim!” My mom told us. “Sure!” We answered. I jumped in, and they followed. “Oh, my gosh! The water is freezing cold!” we exclaimed! It was so cold. If you can imagine being locked inside the fridge for a night, that’s how cold it is. Well, I guess that’s why they call it “GLACIER NATIONAL PARK,” because the water IS GLACIAL during the winter! After we picked up some little stones for a souvenir, we got back into the car. “Do you guys want to go back to the hotel now?” “Yeah! We were all starving again after the excitement!”
Back at the hotel we were staying in, nobody could believe that we actually found some black bears. It was a surprise, and not a very good one in some ways, like right after lunch! A surprise is a surprise, and I can’t say I’m completely happy with it, because it was so close. If it saw us, we might have gotten injured badly! We were very lucky to see a black bear, and it was a very rare chance. We saw lots of animals in Yellowstone, but there is one animal that we wanted to see but didn’t see: the moose. We heard that it is only spotted in a spot that we didn’t go, somewhere further in. Perhaps next time we can see the moose.
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The Pikachu In The Freezer We just got back from the night market, and I was saying (at the little farmhouse we own in Quishan), “I won a Pikachu doll at the night market!�
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After we parked, I got out and started toward the house. Out of nowhere, my brother, Paul grabbed Pikachu and raced into the house. He was on the top bunk, which is MY bed. When I got there. I figured he must have hidden Pikachu there. I climbed up there like a monkey and started to look around. He tricked me because Pikachu was nowhere on the top bunk! After 10 minutes or so, I gave up. I started toward the freezer to get a drink. What I saw surprised me - a PIKACHU IN THE FREEZER staring at me! In the freezer was the Pikachu I was searching for! I was not angry -I don’t know why, to be honest - I thought it was a good idea. It was summer, and it was HOT, no, maybe boiling during the day. It was a bit hot even at night! Pikachu would be a very cool pillow to have. Awesome! Thanks, Paul! Someone woke me up from my daydream, or maybe night dream, and it was a call from Paul! “Bring the dodgeball out! Come play with us!” he shouted. That was it. “Okay! Coming!” I shouted back. I stuffed Pikachu into the freezer, and raced outside with the dodgeball. At night, I forgot to get Pikachu. The next day, when I got it, it was freezing! Freezing Pikachu! Freezer Pikachu! How much more nicknames are we going to give it?!
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On the way back home from Quishan, my brother kept reminding me about the whole “Freezing Pikachu Incident,� and I was stressed out, and I fell asleep. When I woke up, Pikachu was staring at me again! I took it off my head, and started to sleep again! It was a day that kept reminding me about Paul, with the awesome idea he had!
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Sea Turtle Malaysia Night time is the sea turtle’s favorite time. They leave the ocean and lay eggs. Sadly, when I went to see one, it was NOT laying any eggs. I was 9 years old when my family was in Malaysia. We were going to see some eggs that the sea turtles hatch. “Wow!” “Unbelieveable!” “Fantastic!” Comments were whispered as we saw the sea turtles. “Everyone can hold one of them,” said the tour guide. “YAY!” The crowd of people around the little sea turtles were getting bigger and bigger by the second. “We are going to let them race. We can see which turtle will go faster from the same distance from the sea.,” he announced, “Ready… Set… Go!” The sea turtles raced into the ocean. “Yes, I won!” I shouted, gleefully. “Great job!” Paul, my brother, told me. After that, I let another 2~3 sea turtles back into the sea. I felt anxious. Will they survive?
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Did you have fun?” Paul asked. “I sure did!” “Tired?” “Pretty.” “Canoeing later?” “You bet!” “Race you to the bus!” Paul shouted and took off. “No way!” I ran after him. The sun was setting, shining on the wide ocean, making it look like gold, shimmering inside. I wondered if the little sea turtles would survive.. I sure hope so! Just then, I saw a tiny, little head, poking out of the deep, dark, ocean, far, far, away. I hope to visit the little sea turtles again, and at the same time, I want to see the ones we just let go.
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My Future Plans As a kid, have you ever wondered what you want to be/do when you grow up? It could be a teacher, a doctor, an athlete, an engineer, or anything you dream of. When I grow up, I will like to attend Kaohsiung Medical University. I want to go there because I want to stay in Kaohsiung, and become a doctor! The school looks very nice, and it is close to my house. It is also the university both of my parents went to.
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I dream of becoming an eye doctor, like my mother! After years and years of watching my mother, I thought that it looks like it will be a very interesting job for me. Another reason is that it uses English! Well, most medical things does. I hope that I will not be in a hospital because there are too much patients! I hope to work at a clinic, which I still can make some money, but there are not too much patients. When I am older, I think that I will be kind to everyone, especially children. I could remember how I felt when adults were mean to me when I was a kid. If I am kind to everyone, then they will be kind to me. That will make me very happy. I will make all kinds of friends. Children, adults, and even old people will be my friends. That will be a very good situation. Not only will I help them with their eyes, I will also make new friends! As much as I like children, I don’t want to be married. I think I could just play with my sibling's children. I think having a family to take care of is too much pressure for me. On the other hand, I would like to have a pet dog. I think dogs are cute, and they would be a good friend and cheer me up when I am feeling sad. I don’t want to be sad, but maybe sometimes I will not be able to help it. A dog can also play with me when I am bored. I could throw a ball, frisbee, or anything like that to him, and he will bring it back! That way, not only will I be happy, he will, too! My greatest ambition is still to become a doctor, so I can make friends and help others. I also hope to keep in touch with some of my friends, from elementary school, middle school, high school, college, and universities I go to. That will be a fantastic future, at least in my opinion.
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