OG Tales by Writers' Exchange

OG TALES Original stories of how things got started

By the imaginative kids of division 8

Copyright © 2020 The Writers’ Exchange This book was created by Division 8, Ms. Hefti’s grade 6/7 class, at Grandview ¿uuqinak’uuh Elementary in the winter of 2020. The Writers’ Exchange gets inner-city kids excited about reading, writing and their own potential through mentoring and creative projects like this chapbook. All Writers’ Exchange programs are free for the children and families we serve, and we could not exist without the support of amazing donors, including BC Social Venture Partners Vancouver, anonymous, the Waterbury Foundation, Linda Louis, Bernard MacLeod, Marily Mearns, Megan Abbott, the Grayross Foundation held at the Vancouver Foundation, BC Gaming, City of Vancouver, Sasamat Foundation, Nancy and Ted Maitland, Premium Brands Foods, Edith Lando Charity Foundation, the Blue Planet Links Foundation, Lynn & Gene Gerwing, Port of Vancouver, the Van Tel/Safeway Credit Union Legacy Fund, Tweedledum Foundation, the Wolrige Foundation, Grant Conroy, Morie Ford, RBC Foundation, Jamie Evrard, Andrew Igel, Betty and Chris Wansbrough Family Foundation, CLICK (Contributing to Lives of Inner City Kids Society), Diane and Robert Matson, Gordon Ross, Rain or Shine Ice Cream, Symcor, Massy Books, CAF America, Mount Pleasant War Memorial Community Cooperative Association, Not Just Coffee Fund, the Hamber Foundation, Bridget Chase, Jim Fletcher, Scott Shaw and Marion Man, Theresa Shaw, and Mark Tindle. 207-877 East Hastings Vancouver, BC V6A 3Y1 vancouverWE.com We are honoured to be able to provide safe, fun and welcoming programs for kids and their families on the unceded and traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. As uninvited guests on this land we are grateful to be able to enjoy this beautiful place and we are committed to building relationships and learning about ongoing traditional ways of life from our Indigenous friends. Writers’ Exchange mentors: Anna, Briony, Carla, Kwin, Mem, Nicole, Siobhan and Vicky Design and layout: Kristie Sparksman Creative lead : Haley Wells

The Wolrige Foundation Van Tel/Safeway Credit Union Legacy Fund provide direct support to Writers’ Exchange in-school projects

generously donated the printing of this chapbook

About This Book This book is all about how lots of different things in our world got started: what it was like on the very first day, what happened next and what kinds of lessons we can learn from it all. Some of the things we wrote about are fiction, and some of them are real—you get to decide which is which! But no matter if they’re real or made up, all of the stories in this book are very original. We hope you enjoy our OG tales!

Back cover illustration by Eyvette

Contents 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 11 12 15 16 18 20 22 24

Tod and Bob by Leeya My First Day at Grandview by Jillayna First Time Making a Friend by Natalie How the Alien Learned to Be Careful by Chanel Doing Nothing Is Doing Something by Jordan Kind of Like Facebook: Just for Younger People Under 30 by Donnell Going to High School by Benjamin How Playland Was Made by Eyvette First Day of Heck by Veda The Election on Bikini Bottom by Kaliya The Child’s Story by Sequoia The First Day at Hogwarts by Kailani The Jackson 5 by Amina The First Day at the Swimming Pool by Eva Loud House: Future by Kye-Lee The Origin of “Would You Rather” by Keoni

tod and bob By leeya

Based on a true story Tod and Bob were in space exploring everything. They found a lot of strange things, things like shooting hearts, hamsters that have octopus tentacles, cows with at least 20 legs, zebras with spots, tigers with giraffe-like long necks and loads more. Then they came across a black hole! They didn’t know what it was, but Bob was sure it was dangerous. Tod didn’t believe him and began to get closer and closer. He got sucked into the black hole, but his hair was still outside. Bob was worried about Tod, but Tod was having the most fun of his life. In the black hole, there were a lot of aliens just chilling, other aliens selling alien food, and a lot more... even a small planet that was grey with red. Tod thought it was a very cool planet, so he decided to tie some of his hair around it and pull it back outside the black hole with him. Tod called Bob to help him get out of the black hole. Bob got the idea to wrap the hair around himself and pull, and it worked! Bob was strong enough to pull Tod and Tod’s planet out of the black hole. Bob was very confused about how he had just pulled a planet outside of a black hole. Tod decided to name the very cool planet “TOD’S AMAZING GREY AND RED PLANET OF AWESOMENESS” but Bob thought that name was too childish. He came up with a bunch of different names, but Tod didn’t like any of them. Then Bob said one last name, and Tod loved it. The planet is now known as “Pluto.” Tod and Bob now live on Pluto. Legend says that if you ever go to Pluto, you can still see Tod’s very long hair...

my first day at grandview By jillayna

On my first day at Grandview, I walked into the classroom and felt nervous. Mr. Phillips was the teacher and he was okay, he was fine. I remember doing math and we did stuff about Hinduism. I saw all my old friends from the last time I was here. I was happy to be back! And I was happy to see my friends. We ate apples and saladâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;it was good. It was fun!

first time making a friend By Natalie

My mom held my hand as I walked into my kindergarten class, and I was really nervous and I was looking down at my shoes. The teachers came up to me to say hi, but I was too shy to say anything. Then one of the teachers told me not to be shy because everyone was just as nervous as me. So I stopped being so nervous. I tapped a nice looking girl on the arm and asked her to be my friend. She said yes with a smile. I smiled back. We gathered a whole bunch of kids to play house. I was the baby, my new friend was a sister, a kid named Tyrone was the brother and a boy and a girl were the mom and dad. I can’t really remember their names. It was a fun game, but then the teacher called clean-up time and we all began to sing the clean-up song. My mom and my friend’s mom came in at the same time and my friend and I starting begging our moms to let us have a sleepover. Eventually they agreed, and I went to her house. Her mom taught us to play Uno. It was fun. I ended up getting second place to my friend. She got first and her mom got last. I’m pretty sure she was going easy on us though. My friend’s mom made us macaroni and hot dogs. I had never tried my macaroni with hot dogs... I was scared to eat it but I didn’t want to be mean so I tried it. It was really good, surprisingly. Her mom put a movie on for us and gave us a blanket on the couch. That night I had a dream that we were older and in a big building with lots of other people. We were still friends and she was still really nice. We were talking about how she was just as nervous as me on the first day of kindergarten. I realized it was okay to be nervous because it’s normal as long as you push yourself every once in a while.

how the alien learned to be careful By chanel

Once upon a time the coronavirus took over the earth, so I decided to start a new life on Jupiter. Now I live on Jupiter with an alien who I met and became close with. One day me and my alien were hanging out at the space mall (the only mall on Jupiter). We were in the food court and I decided that I wanted another drink, so I got up to get one. When I got back, I saw my alien talking to this weird-looking guy. Little did we know that he had evil plans to enslave the alien. He offered the alien anything he wanted if the alien would come with him to become his sidekick. The alien thought about it, but I told him it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t a good idea and that some people donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have good intentions and will manipulate people with empty promises and lies. And thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s how I taught the alien to beware of bad people.

doing nothing is doing something By jordan

corruption

A long time ago in a distant country there was a man named Larry. Larry was an ordinary man but he worked too much. He lived in a big city called Saint Denis. Saint Denis was so polluted that the sky was grey and you never saw the sun. Larry worked at a corporation called Corruption. Larry had worked there for six years, every day, nonstop. Larryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s problem was that he had wanted something since he was a child, but he was never able to get it. Corruption had a bad reputation for treating its workers like they were trapped in slavery, and Larry had

never gone home. He’d never eaten, slept or drank. He hadn’t seen his house or his family since 1994. Larry wondered how his family was. What they looked like. One year later, in 2001, Larry’s birthday passed and he was now 32. Larry had lived a horrible life, working day and night. He was a mess. Three days later, Larry heard something. It was a family, with a young boy. In a faint voice, the father of the family said, “Go home,” and the family disappeared. Larry picked up a mirror and saw how much of a mess he looked. He stood up, and, finally, after seven years, he went to his office, opened the door, looked at his boss eye to eye, and said, “I quit!” Larry walked out of the building. He saw everything and tried to remember what he had wanted... it was a break he had always wanted, a break. Larry went home and knocked on the door, and his entire family was there. He gave them a hug, realizing they needed something new. They went and bought a new house and started a new life. The moral of this story is to try to live your life, and try not to give everything away just for something you want.

kind of like facebook: just for younger people under 30 By donnell

On the first day of Instagram, few people knew about it... kind of like Angry Birds. The first picture on Instagram was a picture of the creator, a guy Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll call Jimmy Sullivan. He posted his picture to see if it would really work. He placed ads around the internet a few days before the launch. He had a small group of people, investors and followers who had signed up, and they werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t as impressed as they thought they would be. When famous people started using it, the investors and followers were shocked and started using it more. It was entertaining because, before Instagram, people had become closed to going outside. People were staying inside to play on consoles. As Instagram grew, people went outside more. It inspired people to like the real world. It got them away from YouTube, Facebook and even Twitter. People went outside to look at and take photos of famous landmarks, like Science World and Stanley Park.

going to high school By benjamin

On Monday the 12th of September I started my first day of high school at Van Tech on Broadway. All my friends were going to the same school as me, and—even better—my dog Frenchie got to come with me too. I was having a good time with my friends. The first day was cool and exciting, and I met so many new people. The only thing that was weird was that I kept noticing the principal staring at me, and it was creeping me out. Seriously, I felt like I saw him everywhere! I saw him in the bathroom, lunchroom, library and hallways, and he even followed me home. All the teachers did not believe me, because I was known as being the class clown and I was always making jokes. No matter what or how I told them, they didn’t change their minds. Thankfully my friends believed me, and they walked home with me to make sure it did not happen again. While we were walking home, we noticed the principal trying to eat a squirrel in the middle of a small park... suddenly he started running toward me with a weapon in his hand... and he followed me to my house! Just as he was about to attack me my dog Frenchie saved me! Just then, my friend Sarah pulled up in her car. “Get in! I’ll save you!” she yelled. As I was getting in the car the principal looked like he was about to grab Frenchie and bite him. I was so scared but I knew I had to get to somewhere safe. To be continued...

how playland was made By eyvette

One day Mickey Mouse Was at his house and he suddenly Had an idea... a park called Playland And He said, “I’m going To Make it out of Cheese.” He went to the fridge and Pulled all the cheese Out. Then he cut the cheese Into a Roller coaster And it was the red Roller coaster And It was a really sunny day And the cheese melted And then he cried. Suddenly he saw a tree And then He cut down The tree And he made Playland out of trees. And that’s how Playland Was made.

First day of heck By veda

Once there was a guy named Salamander who had a dog named Cat. One day he was at the park with Cat when Cat ran away. Salamander went searching for Cat and couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t find him anywhere. He started to put up posters, but he later found Cat with another human. Salamander was angry. Very, very angry. In fact he was so angry that he blew up... literally. Everything became red, hot and fiery. Salamander had created a new place that he liked to call heck. He made sure that the human who took Cat came with him. Cat ended up falling into the fiery pit as well. Salamander reunited with Cat but couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t find his home. So he took the remains of some other ruined homes and built a new one to live in. And that is how heck was created.

the election on bikini bottom By kaliya

Part 1 Once upon a time there was a jellyfish named Jquan Jigglex (with a silent x). Ever since Jquan was a little jellyfish he wanted to be the mayor of Bikini Bottom. A new election was coming up and Jquan wanted to run for mayor. He felt that being a leader was an important thing that he wanted to fulfill. As a child Jquan had been a very small jellyfish and had wanted to run for class president. When he decided to run, a group of bigger kids said he was too small and could never be a leader like a class president, so he felt insecure and dropped out of the election. But now Jquan wanted to fulfill his dreams and run for Bikini Bottom mayor. At the first meeting, he got to meet his competition. He walked into city hall, into a large meeting room with large desk and spinning chairs. There was a small bowl of hard candy on the desk. Jquan was the first one at the meeting, then a pufferfish name Linda Poof walked in. “Hello, it is nice to finally meet you Mr. Jigglex,” she said. “Pleased to meet you as well, Ms. Poof,” replied Jquan. Next, in walked Oliver Stone, who was a French octopus. “Bonjour mademoiselle and bonjour monsieur,” he said. “Ah bonjour. I see that you speak French,” said Ms. Poof. “Good day,” said Jquan. Next walked in a big huge king crab named Carl Crab. Now, you see, Jquan was familiar with Carl Crab because Carl Crab was one of the bullies in elementary school.

Part 2 Jquan’s heart was racing. He got a flash of memories—and they were not good ones. Carl Crab greeted everyone, but when he came to Jquan he gave a scary grin. “I believe we have met before, Mr. Jigglex.” “Oh, I believe we have, Mr. Crab.” “Please call me Carl. Mr. Crab is the owner of that restaurant, what was it, Un Crunchy Crab or something like that. Didn’t we go to elementary school together?” “I think we did, Mr. Cr-uh… Carl,” said Jquan. “I have to apologize for such misery that I caused you. I was not the nicest.” “Why, thank you for apologizing.” “We shall put the past behind us,” announced Carl Crab. Part 3 The next day was a big day for Jquan, because it was the day that determined if he would be mayor of Bikini Bottom or not. Everybody showed up at Bikini Bottom Square, and many wore shirts in support of Jquan. Lots of people knew Jquan because he had grown up on Bikini Bottom and was very polite, and he interacted with the people of Bikini Bottom. There were big boxes of different colours, each representing a candidate. There were guards who were making sure no one cheated. Part 4 The next day, the current mayor announced the votes. This is what he read out: Ms. Poof had 5 votes... Mr. Stone had 3 votes... Jquan had 8 votes... And Mr. Carl Crab had 103 votes!

Only a couple of claps came from the crowd. “Woohoo! Victory!” shouted Carl Crab. “Hey!” A little voice came from the crowd. “There are 11 of us here who voted for Jquan!” “And I voted for him too,” came another voice from the crowd. “And I did too.” “Me too.” “And I...” People started to get concerned, and they demanded a recount. So they had one, but the votes stayed the same. “Carl Crab the dirty liar!” “It is obvious that Jquan was the true winner.” There was another revote, and this time Jquan was the new mayor of Bikini Bottom!

The child’s story By sequoia

The Star Wars theme song plays... Baby Yoda/the child was on the unknown planet. BTW, this is before the Mandalorian. He had been taken away from his family but Baby Yoda/the child made an escape. When he got out of the ship he was on the planet Naboo, which was known for its beautiful clear water and nice view. Baby Yoda/the child had a bounty on him. He decided to go underwater to hide... hopefully no one would find him. The Star Wars theme song ends... Baby Yoda/the child jumps in the water with his water-breathing mask. He hears an unknown voice saying, “Like, we need to find this little dude before, like, the boss gets mad... Like, Scooby Doo, have you seen anything yet?” Another unknown voice says, “Nothing yet, Raggy.” Baby Yoda/the child swims away. He sees an underwater city and goes to look at it. There’s a creature there that looks like a shark. He realizes that it’s a baby shark so he swims over to it to say hi. He waves, because he can’t talk underwater. Baby Shark says, “Hey, I’m Baby Shark. What’s your name?” In a muffled voice, Baby Yoda says, “I’m Baby Yoda/the child.” Baby Shark says, “Sorry, I can’t understand you with that mask on. Here, let’s go to my house.” To be continued...

the first day at hogwarts By kailani

One day there was a group of friends that had an argument. That argument was about their future. “Well, there is something we have to do about this!” Hermione exclaimed. She was walking back and forth, thinking about what Malfoy had said to his sister. “What does ‘Turn back before the witching hour, before you lose all your power’ mean? I just don’t get it.” “Well Harry, you have to say something,” Ron said impatiently. “We need to find a place to practice our skills and we still need to find out what that means before we all lose our powers for good!”

“Hey guys, what are you all up to?” said Polaris. “What are you doing here!?” Hermione said. She ran up to hug Polaris. “Okay, so I have an idea. In the future there are going to be young wizards and witches who need to know the ways of the wizard and witch,” said Polaris. “Yes... and they need a place to learn those skills. Go on!” Ron said. “So I found a place to practice our skills!” “Really?” Hermione said. “Yes,” Polaris said happily. “So when are we going to see it?” asked Ron. “We will go to see it in two hours. Does that sound good?” “That sounds amazing,” said Harry. “I will see you in a couple of hours. I will send you an owl,” Polaris said. Then he said bye and walked away. Harry, Hermione and Ron looked at the fire. Then Hermione got up and said, “I’ll be right back.” “Wait, where are you going?” asked Ron. “None of your beeswax... just because you like me doesn’t mean you have to follow me every step I take! I can handle myself.” “Okay,” Ron said. “Wow,” Harry said. “That was weird. You didn’t tell me that you like Hermione.” Ron went red... so red that the sun would get hot, so red that the world’s most fierce bull would not even try to run. “Well, I didn’t even try to tell Hermione,” he said. “Oh. Well, we need to find out where she’s going,” said Harry. As they left, the owl came, and at the same time they saw Hermione. She was already starting to build the school, and she was halfway done. And she was not alone—she was with Malfoy and Polaris, and they were helping her. They rushed down Ron’s narrow stairway, but by the time they got to the school it was already done. Inside they saw Salazar Slytherin, Helga Hufflepuff, Helena Ravenclaw and Godric Gryffindor. And that is how Hogwarts School was created.

the jackson 5 By amina

The Jackson family includes Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, La Toya Jackson, Jermaine Jackson, Rebbie Jackson, Rand Jackson, Marlon Jackson, Tito Jackson, Jo’Vonnie Jackson and Brandon Jackson. This is the story of their lives. The Jackson 5’s first real performance was on December 18, 1969. They played with Bobby Taylor, the Vancouvers and the Corporation. It was on the Diana Ross Show. One of the Jackson 5’s first hits was “I Want You Back/Who’s Loving You,” which was released by Motown Records and sold 2 million copies in a week. Other songs by the Jacksons were “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough,” “Blame It on a Boogie,” “Dancing Machine,” “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” “Can You Feel It,” “I’ll Be There,”

“Shake Your Body,” “Enjoy Yourself,” “This Place Hotel,” “Torture,” “The Love You Save,” “Give Love on Christmas Day,” “Show You the Way to Go,” “Never Can Say Goodbye,” “ABC,” “Rockin’ Robin,” “Can You Remember,” “State of Shock,” “2300 Jackson Street,” “All I Do I Is Think of You,” “Lovely One,” “Things I Do for You,” “Happy,” “Darling Dear,” “Sugar Daddy,” “How Funky Is Your Chicken” and “Mama’s Pearl.” The Jackson 5 actually started singing together in 1964. They have been famous since December 1971, and were still famous in February 2020. Their songs have never stopped being so catchy and the Jackson 5 still have so many fans to this day. The only problem was their dad. He was a failed blues musician, whose only talent appeared to be devising innovative ways to make his children’s lives miserable. He reserved the worst for Michael. Throughout all of their fame and stardom, this dark secret loomed over the Jackson 5. Their father was forcing them to be famous and sing, dance and perform, but even though they were being mistreated they tried their best to please their father and make their family proud by becoming the famous singers they were.

The first day at the swimming pool By EVA

One summer afternoon, I went to the pool with this random site. It was my first time at a pool. (By a “site” I mean it was a program.) I was really excited to go. As we were getting ready to go, we lined up and got into partners. Then we walked up a hill. 2 buses later... We got there and we had to listen to this boring lifeguard. He said, “Have you ever been here before?” Some people nodded their head. Then he talked about behaviour and dos and don’ts. I, of course, just sat there listening to what the lifeguard said. After he was done, he asked the grade 5 to 7 kids to go somewhere. I was like, “Where are they going?” I didn’t really care that much about them, but I was five years old and I was confused. Anyway, the grade 4 and younger kids had to go with a staff leader. I went with this lady I didn’t know and we went in the pool. Me and the other kids played games, like random kid games. 2 hours later... This kid said she had to use the washroom. The lady told us to stay in the pool, and those two went somewhere (I didn’t know where). After they left, I went to the deep end. The waves kept pushing me. The water was up to my neck. I felt scared and tired. The useless lifeguard didn’t help me. I don’t know where the lady and the other girl were, but they didn’t help either. I was drowning and they were nowhere to be seen. Then this girl ran over and saved me. She was really tall even though she was a year younger than me. She grabbed me and saved

me from the evil wave pool, then she said bye and ran off somewhere. After that, I stayed at the shallow end. Then the staff leader came back, after everything was already solved. After that I learned how to swim with swimming lessons. But then I stopped at lesson 7.

loud house: future By kye-lee

It was a normal day and Lincoln and the others were waiting to use the bathroom. Linc angrily pounded on the door. “Come on Lynn, we all need to use the bathroom!” he said. “I know, I’m gonna be out in a minute!” replied Lynn. She came out of the bathroom and the others proceeded with their day. Linc slid down the stair banister and sat on the couch. Linka called out to the others that breakfast was done, then she walked out of the kitchen, plopped on the couch and just started reading a book. Lynn came downstairs with a mad look on her face. “All right, who took

my armour?” she said. Lincoln and Linka looked at each other. They were confused. “Maybe you left it somewhere?” Linka said. “Or somebody took it?” said Lincoln. “How the heck is that helpful?!” shouted Lynn. “Yeesh, you didn’t have to scream. Go scream at your brother if ya want, but did ya have to scream directly in my dang ear?” said Linka. “I need your help!” shouted Lynn. “Look, I will help,” said Linka. “Even though you screamed in my ear.” “Okay I’m sorry, yeesh,” said Lynn. “How long do you hold grudges?” “As long as I can,” said Linka. “Mom, are you okay? You look a little.. well... mad,” said Linc. “I’m fine!” said Linka with a smile. “Get it!?” :) “Okay?” said Lincoln. O-O

the origin of “would you rather” By keoni

A long time ago—four years ago—it was the first time that Writers’ Exchange came to Grandview. They started asking us these questions— “would you rather” questions—and Keona, Jordana and Sequoia had to pop balloons in order to get their questions. There was one balloon that looked different and Jordana, Sequoia and Keona went up to it and popped it. And… Words popped up in thin air that no one else could see. They all read the words out: “Would you rather live in the sky or live under water?” Then they all answered together: “In the sky.” Suddenly, they slowly started seeing themselves disappearing. And... They found themselves in the sky. “Are we in the sky?” said Jordana nervously. “Nooo!” Keona cried out. Sequoia suddenly reappeared. He looked at his ankle, and saw that he had two marks there. “What is this?” he said. Jordana and Keona were shocked. “How are you alive?” they shrieked. “I don’t know,” said Sequoia. “Wait, look at your own right ankle.” “Why do we have three lines on our ankle?” Jordana and Keona said. “I think—I think this is our lives. I fell down and now I only have two marks on my ankle.” “I don’t want to die,” they all said. So, they all decided to stay in the sky forever.

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