Studentsxpress June 2017

AUTHORS IN THE SCHOOLS PRESENTS

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WE CAN’T THANK YOU ENOUGH. Through positive community support, children have opportunities to learn from adults and each other. Thank you to StudentsXpress for providing a creative magazine in local schools that encourages children’s writing, reading and expression. To all those who have given their time, support, and hearts to promote a brighter tomorrow through youth literacy — we thank you.

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www.studentsxpress.com Publisher Rachel Switall Magazine Group, NFP President Rachel Switall rachel@studentsxpress.com Rachel Switall Editor, Art Director, Advertising Director, Director of Marketing Executive Intern Michael Weisman Bonita Sanchez-Carlson President & Executive Director Near South Planning Board 312-987-1980 Printer Topweb, LLC 5450 N. Northwest Hwy. Chicago, IL 60630 773.975.0400 AUTHORS IN THE SCHOOLS PRESENTS

Dear Readers, I received so many wonderful stories for this issue, there was no way I could possibly include all of them here. I wish I could, but the magazine would be hundreds of pages long!

This issue is all about creative writing, with students finishing story prompts provided by Authors In The Schools authors. I hope everyone will join us for our next StudentsXpress SPEAKS! event at this year’s Printers Row Lit Fest (see back cover for details).

I would also like to invite everyone (published or not) to come read their submissions aloud at the open mic event.

A special thank you to our advertisers, who have helped keep StudentsXpress going. Now, whether or not you’re an advertiser, YOU can help keep sXp in the hands of students across Chicago. As little as $1/month at patreon.com/studentsxpress can make a big impact.

Thank you to those of you who have already pledged (some of whom are listed below). You truly are helping to make a difference!

—Rachel

Summer is upon on us. Great time to do plenty of reading and writing in the great outdoors. We hope you’ll join us for some great literary events this summer. Visit the Printers Row Lit Fest on Sunday, June 11 at our Young Authors’ Ceremony or the StudentsXpress SPEAKS! Open Mic session. Attend our “Authors Corner” at Field Market Days – June 24 and July 15 (2pm-6pm) – on the campus of The Field Museum (south terrace) or join us for a White Sox Game at Authors in the Schools Night – Aug. 12. For ticket info., call 312-987-1980.

Bonnie Near South Planning Board

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Cover by Jenner Academy of the Arts students o sure t nts— Stude k, please be ck names, e r h o c w t ing s no wrong! submitt ck doe s When . Spell che t any name lined white ly o t g a I k, un if ne r o e e w iz it t r g w ar olo se so I ap ’re turning in t. And plea mitted. you e bes page sub h if , t o is ls A paper me on every a u! your n Thank yo write

Bloom Yoga Studio Kerry Maiorca Coffee & Tea Exchange Kevin Kirsner Julie Weisman Jodi Soriano

The Peace School Jennifer Kim Andrea Dydo Caroline Frieswyk Alison Snyder Ronald May

Denise Holmes Dorsey Chambers Eileen Favorite Spinforce Julie Lasin

next issue: summer fun!

What are your plans for the summer? • Draw a picture of you enjoying your summer break. • Do you have a favorite summer memory? What was it?

Draw a picture to illustrate your memory. • What do you love most about summer? • Draw a picture of Chicago in the summer.

Submissions due June 20, 2017.

Can you find these pictures throughout the magazine?

Contact rachel@studentsxpress.com if your school would like to participate in StudentsXpress.

Sponsored by Constant Contact

While showcasing art and writing from students in Chicago Public Schools, StudentsXpress aims to promote creativity and literacy, encourage alternative expressions, create positive self esteem and open discussions.

AIS Author: W. Nikola-Lisa

No, my dog didn’t eat my homework. But here’s what really happened....

Zach L.

... My car leaked oil on my homework. … I was walking to school carrying my homework with my hands when I turned the corner. A really, really, really big mean growling dog was staring at me!

I dropped my homework and ran the other way to school and didn’t stop till I got here! —Maeve T.

When I get home, I do my homework.

Then, I get on my iPad and I like to take naps.

Demji B. ... I was walking back from my school to my house, it was around… four in the afternoon. I got to the steps of my door and the moment I opened the door I knew that I left my backpack at school. Wow I can’t believe that I would leave my backpack at school, I guess I was too busy walking to remember. Anyways I walked all the way back to the school to see that my backpack was gone and someone else was running off with it. At that point I was not worried about my homework, because my keys were inside of there. I ran as fast I could and almost caught up to the guy, he looked about, I’m not sure, but if I could guess I’d say thirty to forty. So after chasing after the guy I guess he was an Olympic runner of some kind because he was faster than Usain Bolt. After that I gave up I mean he was so fast I could practically feel the wind that he had behind him while running.

What was I even supposed to do if I caught him it’s not like a thirty year old will be afraid of a thirteen year old kid saying “I think you have the wrong backpack.” So I gave up and waited outside my house until it was around night and my mom got home. And that my good Sir is the reason why I do not have my homework on this glorious day. —Anthony P.

... I was at school and an alien came and ripped it.

—Vivien B.

2

... My homework was in my book bag. My book bag was open. It flew out of my book bag. When I came back to school, I looked in my book bag. It wasn’t in there. When I went back home my homework wasn’t there. I went to my aunt’s house and my homework wasn’t there either. Next, when I went to my grandma’s house, it wasnt there either.

After all that looking, I went to my teacher’s house. Guess what? It was in her window! I got it out of her window. When I went back home, I did my homework. When I woke up for school the next day, I made sure I didn’t leave my book bag open, so my homework didn’t fall out again. Now, I don’t have to go to everybody’s house looking for my homework, like I did the other day because my book bag was open.

The lesson you can learn is to keep your book bag closed because your homework will fall out. —Camelle S.

Hugo B.

... My cat ate it, not my dog.

Reid P.

... The cat ate it. He came in the window and took it off the table. Then the wind blew us to the ice cream shop. Jeff the dog was singing his favorite song to the TV. —Justin T.

... My sister accidentally dropped my homework into the fish tank. My fish named Guppy ate the homework. Then, Guppy got a tummy ache. We took Guppy to the vet. The vet had to give him surgery to get my homework out.

—Janelle C.

... So I was coming home from school when I realized that I left my folder at school.

I told my mom but she said that I needed to be more responsible and that I would have to explain it to you. We were almost home and she said I needed to work on it in the next day. Out of my dedication to this class, I knew that I needed to get my folder for my homework. I went to my garage and grabbed my bike. I biked as fast as I could and got to school in twenty minutes. When I got to school I couldn’t get in, because the school door was locked. I saw the window to one of the classrooms was opened. The only problem was it was on the third floor. I decided to climb the wall. It was really hard, and I almost fell off, but I made it in. When I finally got to my locker I checked and it wasn’t there. I was so frustrated, but there was nothing I could do. I sadly went back to my bike and rolled home. I went and looked in my backpack hoping for my homework.

And there it was. I was so annoyed! I had just spent so long trying to find my homework, but it was there the whole time in my backpack! I angrily got it out of my backpack and started working. I went to use the bathroom and when I came back I saw my cat standing over it, my homework shredded. So after all my dog didn’t eat my homework, my cat ate my homework. —Katherine T.

... So you know how it was windy today, well the paper got blown away. So I ran after it. Then I saw that it ended in the tree that my brother always climbed. So to my surprise, guess who was in the tree, my brother! (He was supposed to be in school by the way). So, like any annoying brother would do, he tore the paper and dropped the scraps to the ground. Then, as a responsible student, I grabbed all the scraps and taped them all together. But then the wind blew it away again and I ran and ran after it, and do you want to know where it ended at? A cow’s mouth (and the cow was taking a bath, so it got wet) and then the cow swallowed it. And I mean, you wouldn’t want to get it out the other end, I mean ewwwww.

—Sam L.

...it fell in a puddle.

Peighton W.

... One day when I was ripping out my math homework a bully in my class said “you are the person I am coming for next.” I said “what do you mean?” She said “BULLY YOU.” I thought it’s time I fight back. So we were friends at first but someone made her mad, but that day we became good friends I gave her my address before she got mad. So she came over the next morning and RIPPED UP MY HOMEWORK! I got so mad I told my mom and my mom called hers and that day the bully got in trouble and moved to a new school. and I never saw her again.

... I was at home and I went outside to start playing. After I got done playing I went inside the house, got in the shower, and ate dinner.

Then I went in my room, got my book bag, got my homework, and threw it in the trash.

The next day I went to school and my teacher asked for my homework. I lied and said my dog ate my homework. Then she called my momma and asked did she see my dog eat my homework and my momma said no but she saw me throw some papers away.

Then she told my momma that I was going to get a 0 on my missing homework assignment. Then my momma asked her can I make it up. She said no because she doesn’t have any more copies of that homework assignment.

After, my teacher called my momma again because I had missing class work and I was playing a lot. She called her and told her can she come up to the school for a parent teacher conference. My momma said yes she will be up to the school in the morning.

The next day my momma came up there for the parent teacher conference. She had told my momma I have a lot of missing assignments and I play a lot. And I’m also very close to failing 6th grade. So my momma said is this true that you play a lot and you do not do your work. I said yes. The teacher said I can make up the work by doing extra credit work.

I was able to complete the extra credit assignment. I got a 100% on the extra credit homework assignment. I passed 6th grade.

—DaNija H.

Summer 2017

... A ghost ate my homework. Yep, it was a ghost with a dog as his head and man body. Yeah yeah, that’s what he looked like. Oh, and he also said, “Bark, Boo, Bark, Boo.” Ya, that’s what happened. —William G. Jalen G.

I was playing minecraft when my dad came in and he asked “have you done your homework?” “I don’t have homework” I added. “Did your dog eat your homework?” he said.

I responded “No, my dog did not eat my homework but here is what really happened, on the board it said no homework!”

Caurie H.

“... I was doing my homework when it was time to eat. When I was done eating, I went to go watch TV. My sister had the remote. I took the remote and turned the channel and my sister started to cry, but she stopped herself for some reason. She stomped out of the living room laughing. It was 8:30 when I stopped watching TV and went to take a shower. First, I went to my room when I noticed that my homework was missing off my bed, and then I heard a laugh. I ran to the bathroom and saw my sister dump my homework in the toilet and I watched it go down the drain. She laughed and I screamed. My mother came and asked what happened. I told and my mother yelled at her and it was my turn to laugh.” And that’s what I told my teacher.

Summer 2017

... I was in the park sitting down doing my homework. Then a baby was walking so I gave him my homework then he threw it and it started raining. Then an old lady stepped on it with her cane. And that is what happened to my homework. —Jaylah S. ... When I got home from school

... I threw my homeKeeshuna P. work into the garbage because the teacher was doing too much and I said, “I’m not doing that homework.” So when I went to school the next day I got in trouble because I threw my homework in my garbage. I got a whopping when I got home and I got a punishment. I was crying, and my mom said, ”You weren’t crying when you threw your homework away, so why are you crying now?” So, when I went to school the next day, I knew not to throw away my homework again.

it was late because I went to visit my cousins. I went straight into my room and fell asleep.

—Rachel B. Dorian O. ... I was in the house wa tching TV and playing the video game then I went with my mom and best friend to gogo bananas then I had to go home and go to sleep so that is why I didn’t do my home work. —Aniya H. ... It was a sunny day and I just got finished when my paper was floating in the air like magic. In an instant a man appeared, it was a magician. He is so cool. I learn a lot from him. I like magic. —Wyatt because I wanted ... I didn’t want to do my homework play. It got late, and ide to play my game and go outs enton M. —Tr . bed to t wen I and I was tired, so

... Last night I was doing my homework. I went to the bathroom.

When I came back it was gone. I saw mud on the floor and the window was up. I got on my shoes and jacket. It was muddy out.

I followed the footsteps. It led to my friend’s house. He went to the basement. I went down quietly. I closed the door. I said “GIVE ME BACK MY HOMEWORK!” He said, “Never, first you will have to beat me in a game. Second you will have to beat me in a dual. Third you will have to beat me in swimming.” I said “OK.” The game was dodgeball.

Everything felt slow when I was playing dodgeball. I dodged everything. I got a ball and threw it. It hit him. Next was a dual. We dual with fish. I smacked him with it. He smacked me hard to the groud. I was knocked out. He copied my homework. When I woke up he said , “You won. Take it.” I went back home.

I put my homework up. I went to school. I told everyone what happened. You wonder what happened to the boy who stole my homework. I told on him.

He got in trouble. The thief was Jeremiah. —Amarion T. ... I was eating apples and honey. I got an apple and picked up the honey. Then it drizzled all over my paper. I ran over to the sink and put the paper under the water. The water made a huge hole in the paper. I ran upstairs to grab my blowdryer but I remembered I left it at my friend’s house so I grab my straightener. I straightened it trying to get it dry when I realized it turned half of my paper black. I grabbed my paper and left the house. I was going to walk to my neighbor’s because she is in the same class as mine, so I could get a copy. When I was walking the paper slipped out of my hand onto he street.

A huge truck ran over my paper leaving bits and pieces flying everywhere. I collected the paper pieces and threw it away and went on to my next assignment. —Alexis G. ... My dog took my homework and showed it to his friends. They stole it from him and put it in a hole. And covered it up and then they ate it. The end. —Mason

... I just forgot my homework at school.

Sorry, I just... forgot it at school.

Eve

...A monster ate my homework.

Tony

... It was 12:00 a.m. and I could see a red and black sweater and it was coming towards me. I saw claws, hands, and a top hat. I could even hear him saying, “Shhhhhhhhhhh!” When I finally was scared to death, I saw them! It was Freddy Kruger, Jason, Andy, Chucky, Leather Face, and Scary Mary. I fainted but Jason helped me and took my homework and tore it up into a million pieces. When I went to school, my teacher said, “Where’s your homework?”

And I told her the truth, and she gave me candy for telling the truth. I promised to always do my homework.

... One day after school I was given chores to do and as I approached to the table where I left my homework I noticed my homework was nowhere to be found! After noticing my homework was missing I wandered around the house to see if I would be able to find my missing homework.

After not being able to find my homework I decided to take a break because I was so tired out from looking for my missing homework, but as I laid in bed I started to hear noises like paper being crumpled up so I went back downstairs to see what was the noise and while staring where the noise was coming from I had seen nothing there.

While the noise was getting louder and louder, I still couldn’t see anything or anyone. I went into my backyard and saw raccoons with my homework.

I tried to get them to go away, but they wouldn’t budge, so I left them alone for a little while.

After a while they had gone away so I had seen my homework all torn up in pieces.

I couldn’t believe my eyes because raccoons had gotten my homework and torn it up. Later that day I swept up the homework pieces and placed them on the kitchen table and tried to put them back together, but that didn’t work out so I had to come up with a plan before my parents got home.

So while trying to come up with a plan, I tried to hide the pieces and that didn’t quite work out, so I tried taping them together and that didn’t work so I had no choice but to tell my parents that the dog ate my homework even though he didn’t.

So it turns out that my parents didn’t believe that the dog ate my homework either so I couldn’t think of anything else to tell them. So I guess that’s what happens when raccoons get ahold of your homework. —Dayonna D. ... I was sitting doing my homework when the news came on. It said that there were bears with lasers on the loose. I ran around my room like crazy and when I was not paying attention (totally not on the floor asleep) the bear stole my homework. So no my dog did not eat my homework, a bear ate my homework... did I mention the lasers. —Alexander B.

3

AIS Author: W. Nikola-Lisa

No, my dog didn’t eat my homework. But here’s what really happened.... ... I was sitting on my back porch with my dog when a weird space UFO landed in my backyard.

As my dog and I went closer to explore an alien came out with popsicles. It walked closer and grabbed my homework out of my hands. The alien motioned that if I gave it my homework it would give me the popsicles. My dog, Snickers, looked up at me with droopy puppy eyes that were begging me so I had to say yes. That’s what happened to my homework. —Logan P. ... I did. You see, I was doing my homework on the island, and my dad was making dinner beside me. I didn’t realize it, but I was doing my homework on top of a cutting board. My dad had headphones in and was blasting music in his ears, he was nodding his head to the music and I could tell he obviously wasn’t paying much attention because the avocado he was cutting, which he oddly wasn’t using a cutting board for, kept sliding and the knife would hit the granite. As I had just finished my last equation, I suddenly had to go to the bathroom. While I was in there, I could hear the oven go off and I realized that the salmon was ready. When I finished, my dad said, “Dinner’s ready!”

I rushed towards the kitchen and inhaled the wonderful aroma, I sat down and cut off a piece of salmon. As I took my first bite, I tasted something that felt weird and gooey. I took the weird material out of my mouth and examined it, I looked to the salmon, it was the same cutting board I had used for my homework! I picked up the salmon to see the bottom of it. There it was, wet and soggy, my math homework that I worked so hard on. —Jessica L. ... I was playing the video game Megaman and I got sucked in and I freaked out then it changed to Pac Man then Yoshi’s Island and then I was put back out and I was teleported to the bathroom and I dropped it in the toilet….on purpose! —Oscar E. ... my little brother drew on it and poked holes on my homework like Swiss cheese. —Brandon C. ... I left my book bag opened and a gust of wind blew it to Mars. —Derrion T. ... It was a regular day. A nice breeze, the smell of fresh flowers in the air. All the sudden I glance around at a boy on a bike who crashed right into me! In all the commotion my homework pages slipped out of my purple backpack and…oh no… landed in a puddle of water.

I was starting to panic when a mom and her toddler daughter walked down the sidewalk. The little girl was trailing goldfish behind her and a few landed on my soggy pages of homework.

Then a bird, probably thinking the goldfish were real, scooped up my homework in its mouth! I saw it swallow.

I walked to the bus stop dejectedly and rode the bus to school… and here I am now.

What?! You do not believe me? ….Fine…. I didn’t do my homework. —Anna H. ... I was leaving school and usually I get on the school bus but I decided to take a plane home. It was a very long flight to my house because my house is two whole blocks away. When I sat down in a seat a dog sat beside me and licked my fat, smelly, big thumb. I moved my homework away, and what do you know?

It flew out of the window and fell on my neighbor’s house. I jumped off the plane and fell on the roof. Well, not exactly. I may have fallen through the roof. I forgot about the fact that my neighbor is an ugly witch. She took my paper and put a spell on it. I saw my paper turn into a large homework sheet. I said well at least I got my homework back. I walked outside and it started pouring down raining. I had no other choice but to use my homework as an umbrella. I walked in my house and began writing on it then it ripped. And that’s what happened to my homework. Can I make up for it? —Ashley A.

4

Lucas R.

... “Alright, get your homework out everybody,” Ms. Harriet said. “I’m coming around to collect it.”

Ms. Harriet’s last stop was Annie. “Where is your homework, dear?”

“My dog ate it,” Annie responded quickly.

“I’m sure,” Ms. Harriet replied sarcastically.

“O.K.,” Annie said, defeated. ”Here’s what really happened.”

“I was sitting on my back porch, doing my homework, when a gust of wind tore it out of my grasp. The paper swirled to the middle of my yard and and I ran to pick it up but another wind came and it went over the fence and into the woods. So, naturally, I climbed over the fence. It took me a little while but I saw a flash of white fall into the brook. I ran over there and jumped in.”

At this point in Annie’s story, the whole class was listening. Some were laughing while others stared with their jaws dropped. Ms. Harriet motioned for Annie to hurry up with her tale.

“The brook is pretty shallow, only a foot deep. I ran ahead to my paper, but it was pretty soaked. I gently picked it up, but it just fell apart at my touch.”

“Annie, you could’ve just emailed me,” Ms .Harriet said. The class glared, her story wasn’t over yet.

“I started to cry, but a bird heard me and flew over to comfort me. It showed me to a cave where a gold powder covered the stalagmites. It sprinkled over the homework and the bird chirped as a wind scattered the pieces over the forest.”

Then Annie added slyly, ”It’s supposed to appear at home tonight.”

Ms. Harriet chuckled with the rest of the class. “Bring it here tomorrow and I won’t take any points off it for your creative tale.”

That is how Annie magically got full credit for a late paper. —Lillian W. ... First I was playing the tuba at home and the homework was in the tuba and when I blew, it went out the window. Then it went down a hole. I dug to the core of the Earth and got burned. So you can blame it on me.

… It was Friday and it was 3:00 and we were doing math.

It was the last day of school! I couldn’t wait. Our teacher had given us an assignment to write what we did over the summer. Then…. Ringggg. ‘School’s ooovvveeerrr!’ everyone shouted. My mom and my dad and three-year-old brother and dog were waiting outside. I gave my teacher a hug. I ran as fast as I could to my parents, I was so happy. We got in the car and we were off to Florida! And I took my backpack with me to Florida. When we got there, we went to the beach. I took out my assignment and started to work on it. My brother was playing with the dog. My mom was resting with my dad.

And then the dog came running at me. And then he took my assignment and buried it under the sand. It took me two days to find it. And when I found it, it was ripped. And that is what happened to my homework. —Alexander Allen A. ... I was playing baseball when a gust of wind blew away my homework. Suddenly some flying underwear grabbed it from the air. The flying underwear took off and dropped my homework in a birds’ nest and the mama bird tried to feed it to her babies. But they spit it out. My homework fell into a pack of wolves. My homework got carried back to my house and landed in my dog’s mouth. —Santi ... I went swimming and my ... my baby cousin ripped it up and put it in a piñata homework was eaten by a big for her party. —Adlitah G. whale. —David B.

... I went out with my friends, and we had so much fun. But my mom told me to never go out on a Sunday because the next day is school. But my mom works late on Sundays so I went out anyways and didn’t come home until 10:00. My mom got off at 11:30 and I had to get home before her so I rushed home as soon as I could.

Once I got home I laid down but I couldn’t stop thinking about all the fun I had. I couldn’t even go to sleep until it was 11:40. I knew my mom was about to walk in so I pretended to sleep. I heard her walking up the stairs then my phone start ringing. It was Kia. My mom opened the door and she took the cover off me. I still had on my clothes and she asked where I went. I said outside and she gave me a list of things to do for my punishment after school the next day.

I put on pjs, went to sleep, set my alarm to 7:30, got up brushed my teeth, washed my face, put on my clothes, and put my homework in my book bag. My mom dropped me off at school and told me do my homework at recess.

I walked into the classroom and Ms. Kate said “Do you have your homework?” and I said “No my mom told me to do it at recess.” I’m on punishment and 12:30 came and I did my homework at recess. And I turned my assignment in and got a B+. —La’Naeja O. ... When I was done with my homework, I left it on my dresser.

When I came back upstairs, it was gone. I looked everywhere for it, but then I remembered my window was open. I ran outside to see it floating away. I chased it all the way in the woods. Then, it finally stopped in front of a huge cave. My homework then flew in the cave. I was going to go in and get it, when I heard a growl. A humongous hairy animal came out of the cave. I screamed and started to run, but it caught me, and took me back to its cave. I was so scared when it started talking to me. It told me it would let me go if it can eat my homework. So, I let it eat my homework, then, I went home, and went to sleep. I forgot to redo my homework, and came to school, and told you. —Kaitlin K. Summer 2017

... I was undercover as a construction worker. I had to capture three bad guys who robbed a huge bank. I had a close eye on them; they were right inside a closed store. I was going to get them right when they came out. I slowly started making my way over and I heard a crash. I turned my head for one second to see what all the noise was about but it was just a construction machine. When I looked back they were gone! I ran to see if they were still in the store, but they weren’t. I saw a hole in the wall so I quickly ran through. I was running constantly for ten minutes when I finally saw a door. I went inside and climbed a ladder that I saw in front of me. I opened a latch and water started filling the passage! I was at the bottom of the ocean. I swam to the top and saw that they were riding a boat to a vacant island. I swam to the island where they were having a secret meeting. I took out my lasso and tied them up. I took them back to my headquarters and was crowned “Employee of the Month.”

So, obviously, I was too busy to do my homework yesterday.

—Lainie W. ... I was on my Mac book finishing the conclusion of my paper during the storm. I was so happy to finish it so I printed it out. I was up until 10:30 pm working on that paper. So after I clicked print, I fell asleep on my desk. So I guess when I was asleep I had a dream. I worked at the Empire State Building Mail Room. That’s where it all started... I met a friend named Buddy, he was an elf. I also met two super awesome friends named Jessica and Lainie! So we were there for about three weeks, before we realized that we were throwing important mail away! So our boss, Mr. Odd, told us to go through the big pile of mail. And in case you were wondering, that took the next 18 days.

We suddenly found a big yellow envelope and it had “Stella D.” on it! “That’s my name,“ I had said. So we opened the envelope up and Lainie saw my paper! Then I awoke up from the suspicious dream.

After I woke up I journeyed over to the printer in the office. My paper was gone! But then I remembered to look something up on the internet. But as usual, I forgot. But I did remember my dream, so I looked up the Empire State Building website. And surprisingly, right on the front page, was MY PAPER! I didn’t know how it got there so I tried calling them to ask where it went but the power was out! So Lainie, Jessica, Buddy and I all hopped a jet plane on our way to New York City. And when we got to the Empire State Building, they wouldn’t give me my essay back! Why? Well they read it and loved it so much that right now, as we speak, it is in a glass case there! So yea that’s where it is now. I mean I don’t even have a dog....

—Stella D. ... When I went home, I laid my homework on the table and left it there. Then, I went to eat my hot wings. After that, I went outside to the park. Then, it was time to go home, so I went home and I remembered about my homework. I got some water and put it on the table where my homework was, and I sat down at the table.

My little sisters came in playing tag. My little sisters ran under the table, shaking it, so I tried to make them stop. But it was too late!

My sister had already knocked over my water and it wasted on my homework, and my homework got wet. I went outside to dry my homework because it was windy outside. Then, my mom called me into the house to get up the water. So, I forgot about my homework. I left it on the porch and when I came back, my homework was gone. —Tierra T. day. I was taking my home... I was sitting outside on a beautiful ng wind started blowing stro a then work out of my folder, and g out of my hand. I ran after really hard. My homework went flyin a puddle. The car drove away it, but it landed underneath a car in ework was ruined so I just hom My and ran over my homework. pened. —Emily H. threw it away. That is what really hap Summer 2017

Luca C.

... Well I did it but then my mom told me to go to the lake.

So, I went but then a giant octopus grabbed me and took me under water. Luckily, I had my helmet and I didn’t drown.

Then, I forgot that my homework was still on the beach.

I swam up to get it and got it.

Then the octopus came back and swallowed me and my homework whole. But I had a knife and cut the octopus badly, so I got free! But my homework disintegrated cause it got wet.

I am serious my dog did not eat my homework. It was my cousin’s pet sugar glider. It started when he was eating a fruit loop. Yes a fruit loop.

And so my cousin tried taking his fruit loop away. And guess what? The sugar glider bit him.

He thought it tasted good.

And so he ate the house and ate my homework. So what I did was I took my hand to try and get my homework out but severe consequence he ate my hand. So yea, my dog didn’t eat my homework the sugar glider did.

Claire W. ... I was sitting on the couch working on my homework when I saw a saw. I don’t know if it was an illusion or something but I got up and stared at it.

When I turned around my homework was gone because little alien guys were running around in a spaceship in the room.

How did that even get there and guess what? They were holding my homework! Then the ship disappeared. I thought that I was better off with the dog story but apparently I failed with my lie. Shesh. I thought that the real story would be way too crazy but now I’m in detention for not doing my homework and making up stories/excuses for not doing it. Thanks a lot aliens, I hope you are happy now. (Actually I hope that you are miserable.) —Chase Bella M. ... I was just leaving school and started to walk home with all of my homework and my backpack, then out of nowhere aliens stole me and my backpack! I screamed for help but when I went to yell there was no one around! I had thought they had taken me to their “Other World” but then, I blinked, I was back in school taking my test THE NEXT DAY! Then I realized I had fast forwarded through all of last night! That’s why I don’t have my homework. I actually don’t know where it is. Well it’s somewhere in this world. —Evi V. ... I went home and got out my homework. I was doing my homework and then I remember I forgot to feed my fish. I felt so bad that I have not fed my fish in 3 weeks because we did not have food. My fish just stared at my homework like he wanted to eat it, so I put my homework in the fish bowl. My fish ate it up in a second. So my dog did not eat my homework, my fish actually ate my homework. —Sally G.

... so we had so much homework that I didn’t want to do so I tried to make my dog eat it and he refused. So I threw it in my neighbor’s trash and she returned it. So I threw it down the garbage disposal. It wouldn’t fit so I cut it up into a million pieces and went to chill on the couch. But my brother put it back together. Thanks! So I just didn’t turn it in at all and I got slapped in the arm for it. —Lyric J. ... I did. It was almost dinner time and my dad wasn’t home yet. I was starving. I went to see what was in my lunch box. The leftover was warm ranch. But then I saw something that looked like pot roast, beans, mashed potatoes and Sprite. I grabbed it and shoved it down my throat but that’s when I realized it was my homework. —Hillary A.

Why hello there, my name is Alex and you might know my classic story “my dog ate my homework”, but Sam did not.

So I brought you here so you can see what really happened.

It was spring cleaning and I was late so I quickly did it and I left it on my desk to go get a snack. Like I told you earlier it was spring cleaning so of course my mom came in my room and tried to clean up. So she saw my homework on my desk and she thinks it is junk. So you can guess what happened next. She threw it away. And Sam knew it was my homework so he took it and put it on my desk and after that my mom realized it was my homework so she blamed it on Sam. —Micah-Loren D. ... I try to do it but it was too hard! Then, I put it on the cutting board and try to cut it but it went pow and I cut it. Then I try to tape it all but the tape was gone. Then I said ok so I got some glue but it got all over the place. Do you think that is it? Well if you said yes you are wrong. Then all of a sudden a gust of wind came and blew it in the sink and I pushed on the disposal and disposed of it. The end. —Jynelle A. ... I did not do my homework because I had to go to after school then go home so I couldn’t. Also I had to get in the shower then eat dinner then go to sleep so I could not do my homework. —Jerrell F. ... I had my homework when I was walking out the door. It was rainy outside and my book bag was unzipped. My paper fell into a puddle. I went back home and put it in the microwave so it will dry. Then, my paper got hot, so I put it in the freezer. Then it got cold. I had to rewrite my whole paper. When I was finished, I only had 3 minutes to get to school. I tripped on a rock and fell on the hard concrete ground. Then, a bird came out of nowhere, and snatched my paper and flew into the clouds and I never saw it again. —Saniyah S. ... I didn’t do my homework because it was hard. I couldn’t get help from my mom and dad because they weren’t home, and I didn’t want them to be ashamed of me that I was having a hard time doing my homework.

Instead of trying I threw it away in the garbage. I told you that my dog ate it because I didn’t want to announce in front of everyone that I didn’t know how to do my homework. —Tamia R.

5

AIS Author: Nancy Gee

My two best friends and I went for a ride on our bikes, when a huge wind picked all three of us up up in the air then like magic.... ... something was happening to us. We all felt magical like we can do anything. When we landed two of my friends felt weak. But after a while, my friends felt better. Well we all felt better than before After then we started walking and right in front of us these sticks were floating, so one of my friends grabbed the stick and the wind blew thunder and lightning started and after that, a light shined on him. Then something happened to me and my other friend. A stranger said the sticks are not sticks. They are wands and us three are wizards.

—Danny S.

Aryanna G.

... we saw a magical land where everybody was royal.

As soon as we landed we were all dressed in dresses with crowns. We had lovely dresses, one was blue one was green and mine was purple! Then the princes came up to us with horses. Soon enough we returned home.

Magical Ride The most magical ride of all We were never going to fall Up over the rainbow Everything was aglow Through a cloud there was a mist Suddenly, there became a twist The rainbow can talk And can certainly walk My friends and I Wondered why There was a walking, talking rainbow in the sky On the rainbow at the top We hoped we wouldn’t drop The rainbow bent down On the edge of town Down we went When the rainbow bent The rainbow said goodbye And it was hard not to cry But was the best bike ride Which couldn’t be denied —Gracie W.

Grady P.

6

... we flew up to our homes but it all looked the same until when we woke up. There were cats covering the ground. That afternoon at recess the lady who was watching us said it might rain. At first it was a drizzle of raindrops then there were kittens and now there are cats.

It continued to rain all day then at about 2:00 hamsters, then ocelots and bobcats. At around 4:00 there were tigers, lions and bears. Oh my! —Zakiah T.

ny jumped over us. ... a rainbow unicorn puppy bun —Grace C.

Zairion

She’s riding a bike. A unicorn picked her up in the wind.

... we disappeared. We started our journey in San Francisco, but ended up in Los Angeles. My friends had money with them when we left. They took it out. The money fell in a sewer. We were scared and did not know what to do. We looked around and around and saw a strange house. We knew we were no longer in San Francisco. The house belonged to Bill Gates.

The house seemed weird. The house was upside down and things were floating inside. Bill said, “Look, everything seems different from the real world.” We did not want to go all the way in because we were afraid we would not get out. I asked my friend Herbert if he could bust a rhythm. He started to rap. He started singing a song called Clint Worried About You. I liked the song so much I started to sing it with him.

We sang it all night until we fell asleep.

In the morning, we woke up in a different city. We were in Atlanta, Georgia. The houses were not the same as they were in Los Angeles. The houses were normal. Herbert was sad so I cheered him up. The day seemed to be getting normal. The next day, things were the same. No more strange houses. —Jarell S. ... portals. I saw blue lights, flashing like an all-blue disco ball. We were in the air for weeks, maybe months. We finally hit the ground and I saw this strange place. Animals talking, animals and insects that were larger than me. It was raining gold, there were trees made out of candy, and cars were flying.

I think we landed on a magical land. There were houses on the land, they were big and colorful, but it seemed like no one lived there but animals and insects. We stayed in the houses. Whatever we want, we just say it and it appears. I researched the land and I found out it’s a storm that happens twice a year and that was only the first time this year. I found out that you have to be at a certain place at a certain time, one storm takes you to the land, another storm removes you from the land. About 2 months later, me and my best friends were asleep when the magical storm happened again and we missed our way home. I think we will be stuck on this land forever. We will have to wait another year to be removed from the land. We all said the land is not bad after all. —Cordell P. Carly W.

... We flew into space and went to Mars.

Then we met martians. We said hello to them. Then we had to leave and went back to Earth. The End.

... we were in an aliens’ ship in the sky and they took us to a funny looking planet that was green and red. When we got there, they started hooking up a hot pot and I thought, “What are they doing?” So I thought about it and they were trying to cook us. So, we ran to the aliens’ ship and flew to Earth and we lived. It was like the most scary but fun day ever.

—Ambernyee W.

... a big portal opened at the middle of the park.

We grew wings! We had all turned into fairies!

Soon we were not riding on bikes, we were flying with our wings flapping. Soon we landed and a bunch of fairies were in a circle. All of us landed in the circle.

One fairy said “Hello and welcome to dreamers fairies land.” A fairy a small voice said “Wake up!” All the girls closed their eyes and they woke up and they forgot they were at a sleepover. The end.

... We were pouncing up and down.

Then, all of a sudden, a light flashed and some guys were chasing us with weapons. A man in a deep voice said, “Fight.” He was dressed in armour and he came closer to us. He was a knight and he had an entire army of them behind us. My friend Jack decided to joust with him. They poke at each other many times. I was afraid what was coming next. I accidentally got struck in the leg and the pain was severe. I was crying and screaming from the pain. “Get ready to get your butts kicked” said the knight. We started to make fists. We looked the knight and his army up and down.

We knew we had to be prepared to win this battle. The knight grabbed his sword and started to swing it at us. We ducked and ducked some more. In one swing, I got struck in the arm. I was bleeding. It was dripping a lot. My friends started to pull me back.

I said no. I wanted to win this fight on my own.

I got up on my own. I started to swing another sword as fast as I could.

The knight became weak. He fell.

My swings were too much for him. It seemed I got stronger and stronger.

My friends were excited to see me beat up the knight. The rest of the army saw how powerful I was. It was like magic. They started to leave. “Let’s get out of here now before he strikes us.” they said. When the fight was over, we rode our bikes home. —Ameer P.

... While we were flying we got pushed up all the way to the moon then we had to be rescued from the moon by space men. I think I saw an alien.

—Konrad M. ... What happened was me and my friends named Jeremiah and Romesha. I had snapped and then the huge big wind was gone. Then we were playing in the clouds. We were playing tag and hide and go seek and it felt like cotton candy. We saw everything even our house even our trampoline. We went to sleep on the clouds which was fun. 12 hours later.

The next day we fell out of the clouds and landed on our trampoline and it was fun! —Carron C.

Summer 2017

... we went back in time. “Where are we?” I said. “We went back in time!” my best friends said.

“Oh no! How did we get here?” I asked. “That wind,” they said. The three of us went into a coffee shop and asked what the date was. The man said, “March 17, 2030.” “We didn’t go back in time, we went to the future!” I exclaimed. My friends and I thought of a way to get back home. “I don’t know,” one friend said. “We can just ride our bikes again and we might get back home.”

So the three of us tried to ride our bikes and nothing happened. “Why didn’t it work?” I asked. No one knew. So magically our bikes started moving and we were so happy. The TV said that it would rain tomorrow. So my best friends and I decided to stay in the house. ­—Shanya W.

Lola F.

... But Molly, Sasha and I landed in a magical island. It was amazing. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I need to go to the king to tell what happened.

After he talked for hours, we got some advice. He said, when another gust of wind hits here, it will send you back.

After a gust of wind hit it didn’t work. I decided we have to walk. We walked and walked. We made it. Yes!

... the world we knew before our eyes disappeared. All that was left was a little bit of grass, dusty rock hard ground, with brown rocks and the sky was filled with clouds that were arguing with the sun.

We all wondered what was going on. As if something sensed our thoughts, a path of rocks appeared around us. All three of us looked at each other as if we had another head growing out of our bodies. We all shared a look of apprehension on our face about following it. I grabbed their hands, to show them we were in this together. We took a breath and started walking.

As we were walking down the path, they had a strong grasp on my hands, as if we were going to be swooped up by dragons and be their dinner. With every step we took, the ground shook making us take a step back with shaky breaths and our hearts beating. To say that we were scared was an understatement. I’m sure we all had our hearts in our mouths. We didn’t know where our parents were and we didn’t know why we were here! It was like another episode of Harry Potter.

As we walked closer, the path ended. We looked around for continuation.

We notice the path come to an end. We wondered what was going on, and after waiting a while we figured it out. The ground started shaking and rising up into a cave making us scream out in horror as lightning struck the ground. We all looked hesitant while walking to it as sounds came out of it.

As we came closer to it there was a wall. The wall consisted of our names and pictures of some sort of battle. We couldn’t read the words on it from its Egyptian writing. The only part that was English stunned us, “Those picked up by the wind are the ones windfully chosen…” —Jamari S. ... Christian and Javonte flew off the bikes immediately. They did not know what had happened and they did not know what to do. They were scared. It took more than twenty minutes for an ambulance to come. When the ambulance finally arrived, two men got out. They looked around until they saw my two friends. They started asking Christian and Javonte what happened. “We don’t know,” they said together. The two men picked up my friends and put them on stretchers. They carried them to an ambulance and they drove off. I went with my friends. When we got to the hospital, the nurse told me that we had to stay for a month. She said, “Your friends are badly injured. They cannot go home right now.” I cried and cried. I did not want my friends to stay in the hospital. More people came in so the nurse had to leave. I went to see my friends, but they were asleep. I thought a lot about what the nurse said and then I decided to stay with them the month and get the help they needed. Every day during the month, my friends saw different doctors and nurses. They got a lot of attention and got better. After the month was over, we were able to go home. —Kristian A. Summer 2017

... we were in the sky. After that, a magical road appeared in the sky. It made the whole city look up, they couldn’t believe three people were riding bikes in the air. The magic began to spread.

Gravity gave up and now everything around the earth was floating. All the vehicles, houses, people, everything started to come into the sky. Soon the three friends realized there was a new sky village. This would be the new home for everyone, Sky World had begun. —Cameron G., Delilah J., Justin H., Starrine S., Cinsear A., Mia L. ... It flew us all to this unfamiliar place it was full of wonder. Next thing we knew we were lost, everything was modern and the traffic was bad, we asked everyone where were we but they ignored us. Everyone back at home was worried. We decided to find out ourselves, until this woman gave us money to get on the Uber. —Jovorianna A. ... Okay, sounds from the way I put it, it was no big deal. It was a huge deal. I thrashed in the air, trying to grab the pearly white handles of my bike. My hands felt empty without holding them. My feet felt just not right turning the pedals round and round. My hair was being swept away in a furious breeze, not like the pleasant breeze I felt when riding. And my eyes— my eyes stung watching my bike crash onto the hard cement sidewalk. I exchange glances with my best friends Emma and Bianca. Bianca’s golden hair covered her eyes, but her mouth looked nauseous and ready to throw up. Emma’s chocolatey hands covered her face and she looked petrified. The wind jerked, and we all landed in a thud. Bianca gasped for air.

Emma looked around silently. “Uh, that was odd…” I mutter.

Bianca opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it and ran for the nearest trash can. I noticed Emma looking at a temple in front of us. “No…” she muttered. “That’s the colosseum. We...we’re in Rome!” —Hazel R. ... A boy named Jacori and Desjahne were riding their bikes on the bike trail. All of a sudden, a chilled wind picked up and blew the boys off their bikes. The next thing that happened was they were in a different place. The place was very colorful. The new place had an ice cream parlor. The boys went inside to take a look. A man at the counter stood there and offered them free ice cream. The boys sat at a table and waited. They talked to each other and they were having fun. They seemed to like this place.

Jacori took out his homework and studied for a test. He told his friends this place was peaceful. After they finished their ice cream, they left to go outside. A policeman was there and tried to arrest them. The policeman said the boys stole the ice cream.

Apparently, the store manager called the police while they were eating it. The police officer handcuffed the boys and took them to the police station. The boys tried to tell their story to the police officer. The police officer did not listen. —Traeshawn W. ... My friend Rick was crying. “Shut up, you are not a crybaby,” I said. “This is so cool. We are in a strange place.” “I like it here,” said my other friend, Tommy. It seemed like we were flying around.

I felt the wind in my face and it was relaxing. We went up some more in the air and then around several trees. We came down a few times too. My two friends did not know what to do. They kept watching me as I soared. All of a sudden, Rick stopped crying. Tommy and I were glad. Floating in the air was so much fun and we did not want it to end. The next thing I remember we were waking up in our beds. This was all a dream! —Robert T.

Maia

....and they disappeared for 100 years.

Charlie

... Suddenly we grew wings and shrunk to the size of flowers, the higher we got.

We all fell on our faces because we did not know how to fly. Three weeks later we finally recovered from that face falling incident and learned how to flap our wings. “This is a lot harder than it looks,” my friend Carry said. “Same,” Lilly said.

“Why am I turning pink, and you, you’re orange and you’re yellow?” “I know how to fly!” Lily said. “What! What!” we shouted.

“We push on our wings!” Lilly said. So we tried it with our legs—we could not do the splits. Then we tried it with our elbows but none of us could reach our wings. Lastly, we could not depend on it, but we tried with our hands. It worked!

It worked! We could now fly! And we danced the night on. —Maeve R.

7

AIS Author: Jim Aylesworth

What was that? I think I heard a noise. ... This is kind of weird though, because I heard noises all around me, I mean, I’m in a loud classroom. “Hey, did you hear that?” I ask Jimmy. “WHAT?” he yells. “Never mind,” I say. “WHAT?” I roll my eyes. I look out the window and the sub yells at me to sit down, but I pretend I can’t hear. There’s a huge tank, and about a million men looking up at us with guns. Mrs. Bombushka from next door comes over and yells at us that we’re too loud. Everyone can hear her because she’s the loudest teacher at our school. I open the window and poke my head out, she yells at me but I just point out the window. She comes over and pokes her head out too. She gasps and pulls me back inside. The men saw us poke our heads out and were now yelling at us through a microphone. All the kids came over and opened the other windows to see what was happening. Even the sub poked his head out. “Hand over the boy!

He needs to come downstairs in five minutes or we will come up there!” Mrs. Bombushka is thinking very hard. “What’s happening? What boy?” I ask her. “They found you.” She seems worried. I’m very confused and am about to ask her why they want me, but before I can say anything, she picks me up and throws me out the window. I hear cheering coming from the room, well that’s nice. All the girls are crying, and all the boys are waving at me and laughing their heads off. I don’t think it’s so funny. I don’t know why I’m not scared, but I think it’s a dream so I let myself fall. SPLAT!! Ow...... —Eibhlin K.

Maxwell

It was a cat.

Caitlin S.

... I think it came from outside. Once me and my brother went outside it was a cat knocking over garbage cans luckily nobody in the other houses woke up because I bet that they would be frightened. That night me and my brother did not get any sleep because that cat. —Chad H.

... Phew! It was just a jet. Wait, it’s not just a jet, it’s an Olympic jet! How could I have forgotten! Today was the Olympics. I ran as fast as my feet could possibly take me.

When I got to the Olympics, I was exhausted. I also missed about 9.7 games. Just then, I realized that most of my relatives weren’t there. Then, I realized that I could have my own Olympics at my house. When I got back to my house, I invited all of my relatives over for the family Olympics. I just finished setting up everything when everyone came. We finished at 12:00 pm. By the time we finished, everything was eaten and every game was done.

Justin J.

... so I went downstairs and I heard something. I just couldn’t stand that noise and I wanted to know what it was. James said, “It might be a ghost inside of a cat’s body.” “No, that just sounds crazy,” Nick said. “No it just might be, let’s go see what the noise was.” I laid across the floor, put my ear near the vent and I kept hearing a meow sound. Yeah, we have to get out of here, so James and Nick ran to their grandmother’s house which was right next door.

By the time James’s and Nick’s mom got home, their mom was ready to pick them up. James and Nick got back home. They were still hearing meow noises.

James and Nick got in bed. James felt something moving in his bed. He screamed his head off and he pulled the covers off of his bed. All along it was just his cat Magic. And they had a good night’s sleep.

8

... I think it was a cat

ing from the ... When Darrion heard something com come on. Let’s go basement, Zakobe told everyone to Zakobe told Then . check it out. They get a flashlight n all five of dow e cam he n Whe n.

Darrion to come dow told Zakobe and his his friends jumped out and Darrion p playing around friends they had really got him. “Sto the Xbox Ones!” play and airs guys. Let’s go back upst —Eugene S.

... Emily said shaking and scared! Rose said you scaredy cat! Rose and Emily did not get along well. They heard footsteps but no one was there. They checked the next room, no one was there. The noise started to get louder and louder. The girls ran out and went to report a mystery.

Emily said the noise seemed like someone knew they were there. She told the officer they heard someone’s footsteps. The officer was not paying attention to them for some reason. He was looking out the window. There were really strange things happening in this hotel but no one seemed to know what was going on. The girls decided to leave and stay the night elsewhere. —Rynaiaa W.

... One dark and rainy night, I went to my cousin’s sleepover. We all had to tell scary stories. My cousin went first. She told a story about how a man named Brandon died when he heard a NOISE all because he had a Halloween party and invited the wrong guests.

It started off when Brandon had a Halloween party, and one of his guests called David had disappeared in the house. Everyone stopped partying and tried looking for David, the man who disappeared.

They could not find anyone so everyone stopped looking and went home but little did they know David was still in the house.

Brandon got tired and went to bed but could not sleep knowing that someone had disappeared in his house. Brandon finally got some sleep but didn’t sleep long because he heard a NOISE. Brandon went to see what it was but didn’t find anything. That’s when Brandon heard a NOISE coming from the kitchen.

Brandon discovered that his special knife was missing, he heard another NOISE but this time it came from his room. He turned the lights on and saw the man who went missing. He saw that his face was gone and he was looking for it. Brandon thought that his face was taken from him. David walked up to Brandon and cut his face off and killed Brandon.

All of a sudden we hear a NOISE coming from the kitchen, we went to see who it was and it was my cousin’s mom with a KNIFE but she was not trying to kill us she was going to cut the cake. —Jamece C.

... I went downstairs to find out what was the sound. It was 12:02 a.m. in the morning and my whole family was asleep including my cats. But the noise kept getting louder every time I took a step down the stairs. Then all of a sudden glass shattered. I ran upstairs so fast I think I had stepped on a Lego and didn’t feel the pain until now. A few minutes went by and oh boy I was shaking. I don’t know who could be downstairs or who is probably taking our TV or EVEN OUR FOOD! So I started to pray and I started to armor up.

I grabbed my Nerf gun and put on glass and grabbed my house shoes and my toy handcuffs. “Let’s rock and roll!” I slowly went downstairs and saw a man in all black. So I loaded my Nerf gun and started shooting at the guy. He looked at me and for some reason he was scared and then he just ran without looking back.

Then I felt like a hero. Then my mom, dad and grandma and my little sister got up and asked me why is glass on the floor. I said ... I walked step by step slowly up the stairs, waiting to be scared by my “Mom, there’s a new sheriff in town,” and winked my eye. little brother. But when I got to the top he was not standing there with —Rayonna M. a goblin mask on. This was starting to creep me out but I knew I had to stay a brave 13 year old. I turned the corner. I saw the door cracked open. ... my friend said. It was a late night, dark and rainy. My friends Smoke came out the bathroom door. Trembling I kept going. “You can and I were watching a very scary movie called ‘Get Out.’ We heard do this, you can do this,” I encouraged myself. I opened the door and the a knock on the door and we all jumped. One of my friends said, smoke came racing out. The shower curtain shook. I opened it and I felt a “Let’s all go and see who it was.” We got up on the count of 3 then sharp, cold, painful hit. The warm blood dripped down my face. I moved w e heard the noise in the basement and it was very dark and my arm cautiously and felt my head while looking up at the person creepy down there. We went outside and looked around. My dog holding an axe. —Ally came running downstairs barking, then our door slammed so we were stuck outside. We were all cold and I looked in the mail box ... Oh it’s just a pebble but then the pebble got larger and it changed for the spare key, but that wasn’t there either. I went around back colors and I ran out of my house then I heard a POP! It was just a pebble. I to go through the basement door but it was already wide open so came back the next day and I started to see more pebbles, they would get I got even more scared. I said, “Somebody I know is playing a trick larger and larger and they would change colors and when I woke up the on me.” What was that? I heard a noise. “BOO! I gotcha!” It was my next morning everything in my house was rainbow and POP! Everything brother the whole time. —Monique J. was normal. I looked out the door and it was just a pebble. —Charlie S. Summer 2017

Aaliyah C.

Unique H.

Jakyla V., Amari P., Trevion M., Charisma M. ... Darrion said coming from the kitchen. He said he heard a spooky noise coming from the basement. Kianna and Lianna started to scream, then Izzy and Litzy started to shake, but Trevion said, “Everyone calm down, grab a flashlight, and let’s go see what made that noise.” Then everybody took a deep breath and went to the basement door. Izzy grabbed the doorknob, but when she twisted the knob, she started to get butterflies and started shaking. So both Lianna and Kianna opened the door. Trevion stepped on one of the steps too hard, and it squeaked. “Aaahh!” Everybody screamed and ran down the stairs quickly. Some trees hit the window and Kianna screamed but Lianna told her it was just the trees. They heard the noise again, and they split up in three groups. Kianna and Lianna, Lizzy and Izzy, then Trevion and Darrion. After that Trevion and Darrion found out what the noise was. It was the twins’ dog, Spot. He was scared of the trees hitting the window. ... A creaking noise with no echo. It came from the attic, which I try to avoid. So, I slowly turn towards the stairs and cautiously climb up.

Alexandra One foot after another rebounds and meets the next step. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 go by, and the sound is still ringing in my ear. I finally reach the top and open the door. The sound is getting louder and louder. I walk to the back of the attic and start searching for the sound. Then the door creaked and closed. Alarmed, I turned around and tried to open the door. I was locked in. ... Could it be a ghost! Suddenly, I started —Helena P. A. to feel scared. I s-l-o-w-l-y moved. ... So I crept out of my room. I started walking I heard a voice in my ear saying and the noise got louder. I thought to myself, ‘Come, come here.’ I was frightened.

“In the kitchen!” So I tiptoed over to the When I looked downstairs, it was kitchen and saw a huge shadow, I turned on my little sister playing with her toys. the light and I saw my dad who was supposed That was what I heard. to be on a diet eating cookies and the Twinkie that was supposed to be mine and a glass of ... Me and my friends were outside milk in his hand. He saw me and ran. I tried playing then it started to rain. We going after him but it was too late, my dad went inside the house and we went in finished my Twinkie. —Bianca M. my room. Then we got a game. Then we heard a noise. We went to check ... exclaimed Michael. Michael was in bed in and see what it was. We grabbed our Iowa. The noise Michael had heard sounded to flashlights and we went downstairs. him like a lion. “I don’t know dear,” his mother We heard the noise again. The light said, “but I would not worry about it.” So Michael came on but we realized it was just lay in his bunk bed awake. Ten minutes later he my cat. —Sinaiyah R. heard the noise again. Michael decided to look

Makayla M.

... A bird. The bird is big.

Summer 2017

outside. What he saw was horrific. A tornado was approaching. He quickly woke everybody up. They went in their cellar. They heard their house getting destroyed. A couple minutes later the noise stopped. We crawled out of the cellar to see our house destroyed. We called our insurance company. They bought us a new house straight away. He saw no more tornadoes ever. —Leo S.

... The dog was howling.

The dog was walking all over the city.

I think I heard a tiger.

... I think it is a wolf. No I think it’s a dog. I’ll go in the cave.

Noooo it’s a bear! That’s not a bear it’s a pony puppy unicorn. No it’s a bear no pony puppy unicorn. No it’s a bear pony puppy unicorn.

—Karla B.

... that came from Stan’s donuts and it smelled so good.

Ahhhh! Take cover, a GIANT donut on the loose. I jumped onto it and took a big bite. Mmmmm tasty! I slid off. I was all sticky but I smelled good on my way home. A couple of people smelled me. I got compliments and everyone knew what was for dessert—Old fashioned glazed! —Dia G.

... One dark night, Elma and I wanted to do something adventurous. We didn’t know what we wanted to do. So I thought of bike riding. We went bike riding before. This night, it was different from the rest of the nights. That was a night that I would never forget. I probably won’t go bicycling ever again.

We were going down Cleveland and suddenly all the street lights turned off. We stopped in our tracks. All the cars that were behind us suddenly disappeared. I looked around and I didn’t see Elma anymore. I was terrified. Nobody was with me. It was dark and I couldn’t see anything.

I wondered where Elma had went.

The street lights popped back on but I still didn’t see Elma. I went to her house to see if she had went back home. Her parents said “I thought she was with you.” I got very scared then. I thought I had lost my friend.

Her parents and I went to the police station to make a missing person report. Tears were flowing out of my eyes. I had many emotions balling up inside. The police said, ”We will make sure that she’ll be home by the morning.” We drove back and I went back to my own house.

When I went back into my house, I saw my mom but not my dad. My mom was calling the police to make a report about my father. All the lights turned off in the house. I didn’t know what to do. All of a sudden I heard a noise. My mom said ”Shhhhh! What’s that? I think I heard a noise.” Two people popped out of the blue. Afterwards I saw two people in a black coat. It was Elma and my father pulling a prank on me. —Samaryah O.

... I was at my room with my dog watching a movie. I heard steps, soft steps, going to the basement. I just left it like that. I thought it was my cat that always plays with his ball that sounds like my mom’s keys. My dog stood up and started to cry. I hugged him and he stopped.

I started to get scared because I was by myself and my parents left to go to the mall like 2 hours ago. My uncle lives with us too, but he gets out from work like at nine or ten. I was just thinking what was that noise, I didn’t even pay attention to the movie. I didn’t want to go see because I thought it could be a ghost but we have four years in that house and nothing happens like that.

If I told my parents they were not going to believe me. The were going to say it was a noise. It was my birthday but my parents told me that they were going to take me for a trip Saturday. I decided to look to see what was happening and I got to the last stair and turned on the light.

My parents were standing up with a cake and a present in their hands. I was happy and the noise was my mom and dad that went downstairs with a cake. —Julian D. ... I whipped around and stared. The only thing I saw was my dog, Radar. He could’t have made the noise, it sounded more like talking. “Hello?” I whispered. “Hi” said a voice. I twisted my head and saw it. A tiger. I looked at him. He looked at me. “I need your help.” His voice was low and raspy. “Please?” I needed to get home and finish my homework. But I wanted to help. “Okay... why do you need help?” A mysterious grin came over his face. “Come with me.” He pulled scissors out of his trench coat pocket and cut the grass, opening a dimension. He pulled me through. He threw back his head, opened his mouth and let out an evil laugh. I realized it was all a trap. “I will take you back to my world and you will be my humble servant.” “NO!” I screamed. I never saw Radar again. —Sofia S.

9

AIS Author: Marlene Targ Brill

Living with a dog that talks.

Ethan

... is very hard. The evil scientist Dr. Barkenstean goes after him trying to do experiments on him! And he (the dog) is so classy he always for breakfast wants a scone and a hot cup of tea, and only the caramel kind! And since he’s had that every day he weighs over 1 million pounds and he is only five years old.

He’s literally like a person he walks on two legs. —Norah R.

Damarion A. The dog would be my friend.

Ariyonna ... so one time I was about to go to sleep and I heard a voice and I thought it was my mom and brother but it wasn’t it was the dog!

Feed me! Feed me! And I said no! Go to bed! The next morning it was horrible. The dog wanted cereal and I said no. Please please please. Fine, have it, and he drank and ate it in two minutes. Can I go to school? God why me! Reverse this curse please and when I came back he couldn’t talk. —Braeden J.

This is a dog named Midnight.

... When I asked my dog if he was hungry he said... yes. I asked “Did you just talk?” He said... “yes.” Then I dropped the food and ran in circles around the house yelling we have a talking dog in here! We have a talking dog in here! When I was done I was out of breath and everything. He said calm down girl. I said ok but I didn’t. I kept running and boom I crashed. —Savannah J.

... If I lived with a dog that talked I would make it translate what other dogs say. I could prank someone with the dog’s voice. I could learn when a dog feels good and when it is not comfortable. The thing I really want to know is why they bark and chase cats and squirrels.

Instead of picking out the treats I can let the dog choose what treat it wants. If a dog could talk this would not be a dream, it would be reality. —Sriharsha K. Renee

... is fun and weird at the same time. I wonder what would happen if I talk back to the dog. And I am going to find out! Maybe it will have talking puppies! So cool! —Emmy ... I can’t believe my eyes. All I did is say speak and the dog said hi! I wondered. So I followed him and my cat talked. I said I should call animal control! But I wanted to keep them to keep them happy.

—Howard C.

Elijah

Jenai E.

Hello, my name is Elsa Jack.

Elsa Jack runs.

It is Elsa Jack’s birthday.

... It was one summer day when I was going to summer camp. And my two best friends Aniayah and Leeaira came along with me. We had a lot of fun because there were a lot of things that we like. We like bikes, pools, playgrounds, and more. But our favorite one is rock climbing.

After we’d been there for the whole summer, I had a sleepover with my two best friends. I had a good time there though. We were playing loud music jumping up and down on the bed. We starting eating too much junk and we got tired of singing and jumping. So we went to sleep but while we were asleep we heard something.

Next thing you know we woke up and we saw a dog inside the room with us. And we all were looking crazy.

But we did not know whose dog that was. My best friends don’t have a dog. It was only me who had a dog but that was not my dog. My dog is at my grandma´s house.

And my dog is not brown it’s white. So we put the dog back outside we did not want to keep the dog hungry so we gave the dog some food and water. And we went back to sleep. The next day we woke up, ate breakfast, and washed up. And we thought that was a dream.

And then my dad came back with that same dog we saw last night. And I told my dad “Where did you get that dog from?” He said that he found that dog on our front porch and he told the dog to leave but the dog did not go. So my dad said we are keeping the dog because it did not have a home.

So I’m going to name her Silly but I did not want to tell my dad that Silly can talk so I’m just going to keep it the way we got it.

I told my friends to come to my house. I told them that my dad let me keep the dog that talks. That’s when my friend Leeaira said “Did you tell your dad that the dog talks?” And I said “No I did not.” I told them that the dog’s name is Silly. Then I said “Well guys my life is going to be fun because now I have two dogs but now there´s only one that can talk and that is Silly.¨ Now I am living with two dogs but one can talk. And one can’t. —Dah’Jaye H.

u if you could en wanting to ask yo “Hello, Ally, I have be erful Friday nd wo s sundae for thi get me an ice cream screamed en, Peanut? When?!” night?” “Huh! Since wh you fed me red. “Well ever since Ally, confused and sca my mouth on! You stole it from that twinkie.” “Correcti sudden a of ” mumbled Ally. All and ran to your bed, mom r he ard he odd. Ally had everything seemed t it was tha d lize rea d fast. Ally ha calling her for break it! —Andrea K. just a dream. Or was

1 10

You might think that living with a dog that talks sounds crazy but it’s awesome.

Instead of playing with my annoying brother at home I get to play with my dog. My dog Bella is so cute and fluffy. She is like my best friend. I tell all my secrets to her.

Bella does not gossip she always keeps my secrets safe even when they’re hilarious.

Me and my dog Bella like to pretend we are ninjas and spy on my brother. We never get caught except for this one time when Bella was barking so loud because she got scared of a piece of fuzz on the floor. But otherwise we are a good team. Also when my mom makes dinner and I do not like it I feed it to Bella. She will eat anything. Even Brussels sprouts which is so gross. Bella will do anything for me. When I have a bad day and I feel sad I can talk to Bella. Bella is the best dog in the world. —Claire L.

y with me and he ... can be fun. He can pla —Justi can keep me company. ... I was sitting on the couch watching T.V., and Barkley asked me a question. “Hey Zach, go get me some peanut butter.” Yes, my dog can talk, and I don’t know how. I said, “Ok, but next time you bring me food.”

Barkley, an Australian Labradoodle, is three years old, and is one demanding dog. He is the only dog in the world that can talk, and it’s weird but pretty legit. “Take me on a walk,” said Barkley. “Ok,” I replied. When we started walking, we bumped into Barkley’s friend Rufus. “Hey Rufus. How you doing,” said Barkley. “Woof, Woof, Woof,” barked Rufus. Of course Rufus can’t talk, but they are still great friends. “Bye,” said Barkley. We kept walking and Barkley met another one of his friends, Rico. “Hey Rico, how you doing,” said Barkley. “Woof, Woof, Woof,” said Rico. Rico is a show dog, so he is always looking nice. “Bye,” said Barkley.

Well, that’s Barkley for you. —Zach I. ... I didn’t mean for it to happen. I didn’t mean to let my dog go wandering off.

I didn’t mean for any of it to happen.

But, obviously, it did, and now I have a dog that talks.

In October my dog Pearl went wandering off into the woods. She was gone for a month! Then, when she finally came back, something unexpected happened.

“Pearl!!!” my father yelled from the porch. I ran out of my room where I was doing my homework. Pearl was sitting on the porch, wagging her tail really hard!

Then, she opened her mouth and said, “It’s so good to be back! I missed you!”

I stared at her.

“Hi?” Even though Pearl is a little different, I still love her a lot! —Joanie

Summer 2017

... is crazy. So one day I asked my mom, “Can I go check up on the dog?” I went downstairs and the dog woke up and started talking out of nowhere and it creeped me out a little bit and I was a little paranoid when the dog talked.

I cleared my ears and I thought I was dreaming. But I was not. I was wondering if I was crazy or something. When I found out that my mom bought a talking dog I felt special because I was the only one with a talking dog and the best dog ever.

The dog and I got along very well in my house and I took the dog out for a walk and we had a great conversation on how he will need to follow directions and be potty trained. I taught him how to play catch and I did a lot with my dog. One day I was walking with my dog and we saw a cat stuck up in a tree and the dog ran up the tree and grabbed the kitten by the neck and slid down the tree and my neighbor said he was a hero and my dog was in the newspaper and was famous for saving a little kitten.

The dog and I became rich because of his saving abilities and every time when he is going to sleep he always goes on his computer and types his thoughts about himself, shares his feelings, and when he is done he crawls into my bed and goes to sleep like a little baby. —Levonjay V. ... If I had a dog that could talk, I would make it tell me what it was thinking. I have always wondered what dogs, or animals, were thinking. I would bring the dog into my room and we would have a normal conversation. I would ask about what it is like to be a dog. I think it would be great to prank my friends. They have never seen a talking dog, so they would be totally freaked out. After they calm down, me, my dog, and my friends would go to the park and play around. Walking the dog would be more fun because I would have something to talk to. That is what I would do with a dog that could talk. —Brooke A.

... One day on my birthday all I wanted was a dog. So my mom gave me a dog. I cared for that dog, his name was King. Then me and King went for a walk and I found a ring.

The next day I saw a shooting star, I made a wish then the ring started to glow. When I woke up my dog was a talking dog to me. At first it was creepy then it was awesome. My dog wanted to come to school so I told my mom that he was a friend with no parents.

My mom was curious to know more about him so she asked what is your name. King said “Isaiah Thomas.” So I told her I was in the store and I saw him buying a root beer. So we spent the whole day talking about how I found him. The next day my mom told Isaiah to get ready because she applied him for school.

Me and Isaiah were in the same class and bus but when we got home my mom was gone and the house was wrecked. I was scared so I called the police and they said that they must have been looking for something—do you have any jewelry that you found, and Isaiah said YES this ring. The policeman said that was a ring that someone stole of Area 51. The police said that we need to find your mom right away. We tracked my mom by her phone. My mom was in an abandoned house and the police came and arrested the two men—Lebron James and Paul George.

The End —Desmond G. ... I’m living with a dog named Spike and he talks to me when he needs water or has to go to the bathroom. Spike also calls me to serve him food. I like that Spike is white with brown, soft hair. He also loves to play ball. So one day me and Spike had gone to the park to take a run and play ball. Spike didn’t like when other dogs were near me when I was playing ball with him so Spike ran up to them and told them that he didn’t want them to be by me. When we got home Spike talked to me about how he felt playing ball with me, he felt happy with energy and he enjoyed running around the park. Spike told me that he didn’t like when other dogs are by me. So I asked why and he did not say anything. But I think it was because he is jealous of me playing with other dogs. —Jessica V.

... can be crazy sometimes. But it can be very useful sometimes. I will tell you about this time that we were going to be robbed. So me and my mom were on vacation, and there was no one home. I was heartbroken to leave my dog Whiskers away. Then the robbers were about to break in, because they thought that no one was home. But Whiskers heard them talking about going to break in, and he set a recording so it was like he was talking to someone. The robbers heard voices and went away. But then the next day, they came back because they knew that there was no one home. But Whiskers called the police, and the robbers got arrested. —Zachary S.

AIS Author: Marlene Targ Brill

Living with a dog that talks.

I moved away from them. ... I don’t like living with dogs that talk. They talk too much.

That made me happy. —Destini M.

... One day me and my dog Louis were walking down the street on our way back home. When we got home Louis ran right on the bed. I went to go get some food for us when I heard a noise coming from the bedroom. I snuck close to the door and opened it a little. I couldn’t believe my eyes the dog was talking. So I just walked in acting like I didn’t see anything but I really wanted to see if it was true so I just said can you actually talk because I saw you talking and Louis said yes. I passed out on the floor, when I woke up Louis was right over me asking was I O.K. and I said “yes.” But I still couldn’t believe it so I asked how old am I and he said 25. I was so surprised so I asked him another question, the question on what day did I get you from the pound. He said on March 1st, 2016. It was weird for the first few seconds but I got used to it and we became happy friends and that’s how I found out my dog could talk.

Jeremiah M.

... Once there was a woman with a talking dog. One night, the woman fell asleep. The dog climbed onto the bed and slept on the woman’s face. The next morning, the woman woke up. When she found the dog on her face, which didn’t take long, she looked puzzled. “Why are you on my face?” she said, obviously confused. “Oh” the dog replied. “Your face is very warm.” So the woman nudged the dog off. —Ben L.

Siena

Dejay W.

I need to be your dog.

I live with a dog that talks.

My dog says he is going to chase a cat.

He can tell me secrets. He says in my ear.

He tells me that he wants to take a walk.

Eric G.

“I’m so hungry.” What was that? Bella looked around with her eyes wide open. The only people that were in the room were her and her dog (Donald). “It’s me.” The dog jumped into her lap and licked her. “Oh my, you can talk?” Bella’s face was first confused, but then she got happy. “Yes, now give me a doggy treat.” Bella went to get him a doggy treat. “Bell, did you do your homework,” Bella’s mom called out from the room next door.

“Yes mama,” Bella screamed out. Bella went to her mom’s room and took the dog with her. “Don’t say a word, Donald.” “Okay,” the dog says as he runs to the room. “Hey mom, what’s up?” “I’m about to go to the store.” “Okay.” Bella’s mom left. Then came back. Now they’re in the kitchen cooking, Bella and her mom’s done. “Let’s say our grace.” “Let’s thank God for this food.... Amen,” The dog says as Mom opened her mouth wide and fell to the ground.

—Caila H.

12

My name is Martin and I live with a talking dog. His name is Greninjon. He can do karate like me. I teach him English and when I said my first word he did too, but I don’t know how. —Martin S. ... is awesome and you can ask a cool question about dogs. I like it because it can talk it’s kind of odd. —Sophia M.

... So, my dog’s name is Max. He is a dog that talks. Isn’t it cool. I like dogs. I dream about having one that can talk and it came true! One day Max said to me Hi. Who are you? and I said, I’m your owner and I’m going to name you....Max how about that name... Sure, Max said nicely. So, do you wanna play catch or no? Yes I do wanna play catch. OK. and we were outside for hours and hours then finally we came in and ate, took a shower and after that we went to bed. And I had a great dream. Max was in it too! —Makyla S.

Caila H.

he My guinea pig was talking to me and got I use beca okay you are me to said hurt and I said I am okay. And he said we great we can play. And I said yes so shot some hoops and I won.

—Kaden B.

... My dog’s name is Pinky.

She helps me read my books. We always talk about fun things— like going to eat and playing games.

I love my dog.

—Spirit K.

My dog tells me that he is hungry.

My dog tells me he wants to play.

My dog tells me that he wants to run outside and race.

Torrance T.

... Three weeks ago, my dog started to talk to me. We were alone in the room at my parents’ party. As I was talking to myself, the dog listened to me. My dog’s name is Lucky, by the way, and he’s very playful and sweet. He can also be very smart at times.

So, I complained to Lucky about why we had to stay in the room upstairs. It wasn’t fair that my aunt’s kids were downstairs at the party.

Lucky answered back and said, “Let’s just leave out the room and go downstairs and see what they’re gonna say.” My reaction was very shocked. This was unbelievable and I didn’t know what to say after that. I was happy at the same time too, because now I could have someone to talk to all the time. Lucky looked at me like I was crazy because of my reaction. He said, “You didn’t know that I could talk?”

I said, “No, but it’s actually really cool.” This was the beginning of a lot of wonderful conversations. —Dakeera L.

...is not fun.

My dog Goonie talks too much! I got some cake without asking.

Goonie said, “Torrance did it!” I am sick of him. I have an idea, let’s give him away or sell him.

... is nice. They like to say whatever is on their minds. When they want food, normal dogs would whine and bark, but talking dogs just ask. They can also be helpful, like helping you with your homework, and they are also very polite, like taking up their dishes. They can be a handful though, and may want to argue with other dogs.

Get your talking dog today at 555-DOG-TALK! —Grant P.

... So one day I was walking my dog and some blue color juice spilled while I picked up his droppings. When I turned around, the fur around his mouth was blue. I was confused, so I made him take a bath. Later on that night, he ran in talking in a fast jumble. My mom and my jaws dropped.

I told him to stop it! He was silent for a moment and when I called his name he responded, “Yes?” How was he able to talk? As if he was reading my mind, he responded, “I drank a blue juice.” We took him to the vet. The doctor said he drank Mediterranean alien juice. “In English?” I asked.

“A speaking potion,” the doctor said. “He’s going to be able to talk for the rest of this life.” We made it home and we figured out that he was very smart. He asked if our television was 78 inches. When I asked how he knew, he said he did the area in his head. I was surprised because it had been less than 30 seconds! I had a flunking grade in math. He helped me bring it up in less than a week. Every night at dinner he did not want dog food he wanted what we had. We all lived happily ever after...together with our talking dog. —Davion H-J

Summer 2017

... It was one hot summer day and we were all at home chilling. My sister, Shaja, and I were thinking what if we had a pet. So we both went to our mom and stepdad and asked if we can get a pet. They both replied, “Sure! We can go to the pet store tomorrow.” Shaja and I both exclaimed, “Alright!”

The next day we all got up, ate breakfast, and got ready to go to the pet store. We piled into the car in excitement as we headed to the store to find a pet. When we got there the first thing we did was head straight to the cat section. We did not find any cats there that we liked so we went to the dog section. There we saw a very cute and fluffy dog that we chose as our pet.

On our way home we were deciding what our pet’s name should be. We decided on the name Bell. We ended up stopping by the store on the way home to buy food, a bed, bowls, a leash, and a collar for our new dog. Once we bought all the supplies we were finally headed home.

We got home and Shaja and I took our new dog, Bell, to Shaja´s room to play. We heard a voice that said, “Hi, nice to meet you.” I said to Shaja, “Did you hear that?!” Shaja replied, “Yes, but it’s probably only in our heads.” I agreed with her and we continued playing with Bell.

Once again we heard a voice that said, “Thank you so much for adopting and naming me Bell.” We shockingly yelled out, “Woah! You can talk?!” Bell said, “Yes, I can talk and I really like to talk with you guys.” Bell informed us that no one can know and that we must keep this a secret. We eagerly complied with Bell´s request.

In the end we kept Bell´s secret away from our mom and stepdad. It was very hard, but Shaja and I made it work. We had conversations and always had a great time together. We all spent most of our day talking to each other, it was the best summer that we ever had, now we are still keeping Bell´s secret ever since we got her. —Aniayah T. ... I adopted a dog, his name, Chuck, rhymes with duck. Anyways he started acting like a human. He tried to walk but always failed. A few days later I hear him. Hey what you doing?

I scream so loud Hawaii heard me. Seconds later Chuck covered his paw with my mouth.

Chuck said “Please don’t let your parents know I could talk.” I had an idea but I wondered. I asked him where did you come from. Chuck replied by saying “I live in South America and I need help getting back home with my family.” I was surprised that he was lost, and I had a mission to get Chuck back with his family. This is the start of a journey. —Edwen P.

... It is unusual because dogs don’t talk. Every day my dog talks and says “I am hungry.” At night, the window was open and he saw something…. He saw a bright light! Then he followed the light.

Then he went to a dark place. Next thing you know he was in another world. He up! The dog was fast asleep by his bed. It was all a dream!

—Krishae T., Kimani H., Zakiya S., Akiyrah H. ... is fun because he only talks to me. Dog and my friends went to the farm to talk to the horse.

Dog said, “I want french fries.” I asked Granny to take us to McDonald’s. My friends like my dog when we play ball. Dog likes to talk at bedtime and I get in trouble. —Dominique N. ... I live with a talking dog, the dog said I want to go for a walk. I said sure let’s go. We went for a walk for 15 minutes. When we came back Jack said I’m hungry. I fed Jack dog food. We went to sleep for 3 hours and 15 minutes. When we woke up we played from 7:00am to 3:00pm then went back to sleep to 8:00pm. —Deshaun G. ... Me and my dog Trey and my name is Treyvon. At first my dog could not talk and he found a magic necklace. I put it on him and he said hello. I said hi and he said can we get some steak please. I said ok. I said good dog and last night he ran outside and somebody took the necklace and he went back in the house and this morning he was not talking. I was sad but it was OK he will be my BFF. —Treyvon B.

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Take a narrated tour from Printers Row and see the Near South Renaissance, from Dearborn Park to Chinatown to Bronzeville to the Prairie Avenue Historic District to Central Station.

Saturday, June 10 and Sunday, June 11, 2017

HOURLY TOURS ON THE HOUR from 12:00 PM (NOON) - 2:00 PM Bus Departs NW of Polk and State Street PREMIER SPONSOR:

N S P B Ev e n t S p o n s o r s :

Join us at the Printers Row Lit Fest StudentsXpress moves from the page to the “stage” as students read their submissions aloud.

Sunday, June 11, 2pm Burnham Pointe, 730 S. Clark St.

Open Mic! Students, come prepared to read your “You’re the Author” submissions aloud in front of an audience.

Special Speaker:

Presented by

Near South Planning Board

Author Karen Lee Kelly Everyone is welcome!

Enter to win tickets to Broadway In Chicago’s “The King & I”

Presented by:

Near South Planning Board

Saturdays: June 24; July 15; August 26; September 23 and October 14, 2017

From 2 PM to 6PM The Field Museum, 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, South Terrace Visit the newest Farmers Market and Vendor Expo on the Near South Side. The only outside farmers market with craft beer specially brewed for The Field Museum, live music, arts, crafts, children activities and more fun for all. It’s a free public event!

Program Sponsor:

xmple.com