Rain

          It had been foggy all day, and Asher could hardly see more than ten feet in all directions as he stepped out of the building he worked in. Looking up, his mouth turned down, and his eyebrows came together in worry at the dark gray clouds that covered the whole sky, letting only a little light through them.
          "Gonna rain," he muttered to himself.
          Going quickly down the sidewalk, Asher felt the fog prickle the skin that wasn't covered by his coat, causing goosebumps that made a shiver run up his legs and down his arms.
          Shaking from the cold, he came to a cement bench with a sign next to it. Identifying this as a bus stop, he, sat down, placing his brief case by his toes.
          Asher looked at a watch on his wrist that he only pretended was there, then looked at the clouds again
          "Oh great," he groaned. A drop of water had just landed right on his eyelid.
          But maybe it hadn't! Maybe it was only the fog! Even as Asher thought it, he knew he was kidding himself. Right before his eyes the street was becoming spotted with the water droplets that were falling like dirt thrown into the air by a child.
          When would the bus come? It felt like forever to Asher. He wanted to get out of this miserable rain! Then he would be able to organize his thoughts better.
          He looked for the bus wildly. If anybody had been around, they would have described his eyes as crazed. As it was, most everybody was inside, keeping warm by their radiators or fireplaces.
          Ssschtshreeksestch! The bus! It was finally here! Asher leapt up as though frightened, and, remembering to grab the container of all his work papers, practically ran onto the vehicle.
          Taking a seat near the front, he let out a small sigh of relief that was only just audible over the rain that was now furiously pounding a ghost-like tune on the bus' top.
          Ignoring the rain that was also pounding on his window to get his attention, Asher looked at the torn up back of the chair in front of him. He stayed in this position until he had to get off.
             Ssschtshreeksestch!  The bus came to a stop, so he picked up his brief case, and steps off of it.
             He is immediately drenched head to toe. Ugh. He looks down in an attempt to keep the water out of his vision, and was tempted to carry his case over his head, but didn't because it wouldn't really help.
              Hearing some laughter, Asher looks up for a split second. Two teenage girls were spinning in circles with their arms out as though to embrace the rain. He looks back down and walks by quickly. How could they be playing out here? Didn't rain mean sadness? Something bad was about to happen! Wasn't it? Asher had been taught so. Oh well. If the wanted to bring misery to themselves, Asher didn't want to get caught in it.
             However, it seemed the girls had other plans.
             "Hello!" the taller of the two teenagers called to him, waving. "I'm Layna, and this is Maisy! Come under here. It is much more dry."
             Indeed, it was a lot dryer under the ceiling above the gas station. If it hadn't been, he would have kept on walking. The two girls went to him.
             "Isn't the rain so amazing?" the girl whose name was Maisy inquired. Asher stared at her for a moment wondering if she was being serious. Realizing she was, he replied, "No, Rain is horrible.It brings people misfortune."
             The girl named Layna gasped.
             "That can't possibly be true! You don't believe those superstitions, right? You're an adult!" she exclaimed. He shifted uncomfortably under her intense stare.
             "He does!" Maisy replied for him.
             "If rain brings misery, name at least three things that have gone wrong since it started," Layna demanded.
             He shifted some more. The truth was, he couldn't. Thinking back, the only misfortune the rain had brought him was nervousness, and even that had been mostly his own conscious.
           "See?" Maisy said softly. "Rain is a gift from God himself, and we should cherish it."
          "Come on, let us show you," Layna encouraged. Grabbing his wrist, she pulled him into the rain.
          Asher tenses up as he is once again encountered by the falling water. He glances uncertainly at Layna. She had her head up, facing the sky, with both of her arms out. It seemed as though she wanted to give it a hug.
         Asher, still a little nervous, does the same thing. The longer he stayed in that position, the more he relaxed.
         Maybe rain wasn't so bad.

Perspective

          You are not perftect. If you were perfect, you would never feel guilt. You would still feel suffering. You are not like that anymore. I have made a twin of you. A thing that is more robot than human. A thing that strives to protect others, and never has a selfish thought.

          I hate it.

          I miss the son who I loved so much. You are just a reminder of the experiment that forced me to kill him, to try to remake him. He just wanted to throw better. Well now he can. in a new body that is not capable of doing anything for himself. Now, he doesn't even throw unless it is to help a person.

          I hate you.

          I hate all of the other scientists for presuring me to give him what he wanted, what he thought he needed, even though I knew the consequence. I knew. And yet, I still did. I thought it was out of love. Now I know it was not. It was out of my own selfishness that I experimented on the last family I had. I knew that we didn't have the right equipment, but maybe if I just tweek this one step just a bit-?

          no. It was a waste of time, and a waste of a life. My son's life. My son's life. My son's life.

          For the rest of my days, I will probably repeat those three words until I die and join him in Heaven.

          Heaven!

          Oh what a wonderful place it will be. I will finally see my husband and my two daughters and my parents and grandparents! I will see-

          And that is when it sank in. I am a horrible person. I will see God Himself. He will judge me and tell me of all my sins. 

          No sin is greater than another.

          I remember my son telling me that before I put him in the machine. He must have known I would feel this way.

          "Oh Lord, forgive me!" I cry. I suddenly remember where I am, and who surrounds me. I am in a prison. The people around me are criminals. They have done much worse things than-

          No sin is greater than another.

          I am weeping. The other women are staring at me like I am crazy. Maybe I am. But still, I feel peace. I feel peace, and I know that He has forgiven me. He already forgave me by dieing a worse death than my son's.

          I think of my robot/human/son I created who is in foster care. I will be here forever, buryed just outside these walls. I am suddenly sorry for the things I thought about him only a few minutes ago. He wanted to be like that, and maybe there is still a piece of my baby left inside what I have constucted. I will never know, but I am still happy for him, that he will have a good life with the new family the government will give him. I move away from the corner where I was sitting and back onto my bunk whispering:

          I love you.

The Fourth of July!

          Everybody's anticipation mounted as we stared up at the clear sky. The stars sparkled, and the crescent moon seemed to shine brighter than usual.
          Looking around for a moment at all the people who had gathered in the streets of our neighborhood, I saw that some families had brought pillows and blankets to sit on. Some families had even brought out their couches. Still, others had decided to stand, like me. The people standing were usually the ones who didn't have kids.
          Suddenly, I heard a high-pitched screech, and, smiling hard, snapped my head back up towards the sky.
          Dazzling arrays of light lit up the night. BOOM! A sound like a cannon reached my ears, and I cheered along with everyone else.
          Red, white, and blue fireworks lit up the sky in turns, so bright, I could still see them when I closed my eyes. They represented freedom, love of our country, and love itself. standing where I was, I clapped and stared in awe at the power of independence day, and what it means to so many of us in America, the land of the free.

The Cheese Day

“More cheese! More cheese! You don’t want to make the princess depressed!” said John the fox. John was a rascal, and just loved making his best friend, Princess Miri, merry.

“John? John is that you? I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” somebody said. John turned around, and was face-to-face with the most exquisite fox in the pack. She was wearing a crown of the finest jewels that matched her ruby-red eyes. John bowed. “Princess Miri, your servants just went to get your favorite variety of cheese,” John answered. The princess put a paw over her, as her eyes started welling up with tears. “Oh John! You scoundrel, you shouldn’t have!”

Just then, they started smelling something really bad. “Ugh, what is that horrible smell?” asked Princess Miri. The panic bell started ringing. “We are being attacked by the skunk tribe!” someone howled. “Do something, John! Do something! I can’t encounter this horrible smell any longer!” cried Princess Miri desperately.

John mustered all of the courage he could get. “Don’t worry princess, I will make you proud!” John yelled over all the uproar.

John sprinted towards the swimming materials and scavenged for their best nose-plugger. Then, he ran towards the baseball field and scrounged for the best, most hardest bat. Dashing to the nearest skunk, he swung the bat and whacked him on the head with the bat, killing him. He did the same thing with all of the other skunks. When all of the skunks were dead, he told all of his servants to get a nose plugger and dispose of the skunks.

“John! Oh John! You did it! You saved us from being slaves to those outrageous creatures!”the princess said through tears of happiness. Just then, the king stepped in front of his daughter before she did anything to embarrass herself. “Dear John. We all thank thou for saving thy kingdom. As a token of gratitude, thy give thou permission to marry thy daughter, Princess Miri,” the king said. John was stunned. He could hear the princess sobbing in the quiet field as everyone waited for an answer. “I-I accept,” John stuttered. All the foxes around him gave a cheerful cry. Princess Miri ran around her father and gave John a kiss on the cheek. Everyone awed and oohed. John stood there stunned as the king said, “I think it is alright if you do that if your engaged…”

Princess Miri pulled away blushing. “You missed,” John said. “W-what?” the princess asked. “I said you missed,” John said again. Then he pulled the princess towards him and gave her a kiss right on the lips. Everyone around them shrieked and laughed.

The next day there was a big celebration for their marriage with all of the guest’s favorite kind of cheese, and they all lived happily ever after.

*Please note that I wrote this in fifth grade and that the foxes are engaged. It is perfectly OK for them to kiss. Hope you enjoyed!! :-)

Little Red Riding Hood... a greatly modified version

         Once upon a time there was a little girl on her way to give her grandmother food. This little girl had to go through the wood to get to the grandmothers house, and in the wood, were wolves. One wolf saw the little girl. 

         "What is your name, little girl?" the wolf asked.

         "I am Robin, but everyone calls me Little Red Riding Hood because of my cloak. Also, I am not allowed to talk to strangers." Little Red replied.

         Walking away, Little Red happily skipped, swinging the basket of food back and forth as she went.

         The wolf was hungry, and upset that the little girl had been taught so well. He made a plan to get the food in the basket. Running ahead of Little Red, wolf went all the way to the old lady's house. Remembering his manners, wolf knocked on the door.

          From inside came a faint, "Who is it?"

          "It is I, Wolf," he replied. Then, opening the door, wolf slipped inside.

          "What do you have to bring me today?" grandmother asked. Digging in his rucksack, Wolf found a letter addressed to Grandma Robin.

          Suddenly, wolf's stomach rumbled. "Wolf! If I had known you were hungry, I would have made you a sandwich! Please, do stay a little longer," grandmother insisted.

         "Yes, ma'am," wolf's plan was working well. There was a knock on he door, and grandmother excused herself for a moment to answer it. A moment later, she was back, with Little Red and the basket of food.

         "Hello Little Red," wolf said in greeting. 

         "Here wolf, have a roll, and stay and eat with Robin and me."

         Wolf thanked grandmother. His plan had worked! He was getting free food!

The Question

          I stared into those electric blue eyes. This person had the kind of eyes that gave away what they were thinking about you no matter how hard they tried to conceal it. I realized that this persons eyes matched his uniform. I also realized that he was getting very annoyed with me. I sighed. He had just asked me one of the hardest questions on my hard question list.
          I looked away from this person's eyes. He had the stare about him. If you tried to have a staring contest with this guy, you would lose automatically by looking away.
          "Sir? Did you hear me? Sir?" he asked, waving his hands in front of my face. He must think I'm mentally challenged. I looked back at his eyes for a fraction of a second just to confirm it.
          "Do I have to answer?" I asked him in a monotone voice. I already knew the answer. It was the same every time I asked that question here.
          "Of course, sir."
          I sighed again. I absentmindedly watch a young child enter the building, thinking over his question. Simple as it was to ask it, it was loads harder to answer. Yes or no? I asked myself in my head. I usually said it out loud, but seeing as this guy in front of me already thought I was a little wonky, I refrained.
          "Sir, I need your answer now," he said the electric blue eyes now boring into my face with exaggerated impatience. I could feel my face burning and sweat collect on my hands. Maybe I should just get them. but what if... my mind started firing excuses one after another making me think instead that i would just not get them. Another million excuses shot through my brain and chased each other in circles.
          "Can I just have you decide for me?" I asked, trying to keep the desperation out of my voice as well as my eyes, though I knew I had failed utterly...
          "No, sir, my boss will not allow this. I am sorry," the guy answered. I could feel sweat prickling my forehead now. Why had I even come here again? Maybe I will just go to somewhere they don't ask you that question.
          "I-I'm going to-to go somewhere e-else then," I told him, stumbling over my words out of embarrassment.
          When I was back in my car, I suddenly knew the answer to the question the guy with the electric blue eyes had asked me. Walking back into the building, I saw how long the line was because of me, but waited patiently at the end of it until it was my turn.
          I told the guy behind the counter what I had told him before, and then the answer I had dreaded came once more.
          "Would you like fries with that double cheeseburger, sir?"
          "I certainly would," I answered happily.
          When I was peacefully munching on my lunch in the car, I promised myself I would either never order from this fast-food place again, or I would make my mind up on the question before the employee had the chance to ask it.

We Love Plants

Pepper's mother's version:

It was such a relief, not having the powers anymore. Ever since I had turned forty last month, and had them taken away, I had been less tired, and was able to have whatever control over my emotions I wanted.

It wasn’t always okay though. Sometimes I missed having the powers. Like at times like this when I was setting the table for dinner, I would usually get a plant to do that for me, and then dispose of it real quick.

“Pepper,” I called up the stairs to my oldest daughter, when I had everything set out on the table, “Come eat dinner with us!”

I heard a scream. There had been a lot of screams coming from her room lately, it made me wonder if she had been chosen.

“What’s wrong, Pepper?”

I heard a small laugh come from her room, and then, “Salt came in wearing that scary mask!”

Looking at the dining room table where I had been sitting with Salt, he waved to me.

“Salt is down here with me,” I told her. For some reason, when I was twenty-five, I had wanted to name all my children after spices. I named my children Pepper, Salt, and the two twins were called Sugar and Spice. I have no idea what compelled me to do this, I probably should have let my husband name them.

“Well then it was one of the twins!” Pepper called back.

I sighed, the twins were always trying to scare people.

“Alright, I’ll deal with them later, just come eat dinner with us or I will come up there and drag you!” I threatened. I wouldn’t really do this, I just felt it was my job as a mother to make my kids go a little faster. I heard Pepper tripping out of her room and stomping down the stairs as I called the twins from where ever they were, and sat down at the table.

My husband still wasn’t home, but even though I was not that worried about him, I liked having freedom over my feelings, and forced myself into being really scared.

“Where’s dad?” Pepper asked as she sat down and started piling food onto her plate.

“I don’t know,” I answerd.

“Aah!” screamed the twins as they came running down the stairs.

What now? I thought, but a second later I understood. Turning around, I saw that the twins were covered head to toe in a flower plant. It was slowly squeezing the twins tighter and tighter the more they struggled.

I was shocked. It couldn’t have been me… I had the power taken away!

Pepper lept out of her seat and took out a pocket knife.

Since when did she need a pocket knife? I wondered.

“That’s not going to be long enough!” I said running into the kitchen, and getting a longer knife. My old instincts were coming back. Running to the plant, I took hold of the biggest flower, and started stabbing it repeatedly in the middle.

The plant fell away from the twins, and I helped them to their seats. I didn’t say anything about what had just happened, but I looked at Pepper curiously. Was it her?

When dinner was done, Pepper, did the dishes, and everyone went to their rooms.

Laying on my bed, waiting for my husband to come home, for the first time I wondered who had been chosen? It could be anybody, and it was really unusual to have it be your daughter, but it seemed as though it was. Unless the Choosers had forgotten to take away a few drops of the power in my blood, then it could have been me, but if not then…

I heard the front door open. Finally, he’s home. I thought. I heard him talking to someone… but who? My husband walked into my room.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, looking at the expression on his face.

He sat by my feet on the the edge of the bed.

“I think it’s Pepper,” he said. I knew what I had to do. Getting up, i walked out the room and to the front door, hoping that she hadn’t run away.

I let out my breath when I saw Pepper was still standing there. She looked frightened, as though she had just been caught doing something naughty.

I looked at the vine suitcase in her hands. She can do that with her powers already? I thought with amazement.

“Let’s go upstairs and sit on your bed for a minute,” I told her. She looked absolutly terrified at the idea of going into her room with me. However, she followed me without a word.

When we got to her room, the first thought that crossed my mind was this room is a mess. Then I realized that it was roots and flowers and potting soil that littered the blue rug in the middle of her room. I sat on her bed, and patted the sheets next to me, implying that she should sit next to me. Pepper got the hint.

“Is there anything you should tell me?” I asked her when she was settled.

“Yes,” she answered. I was too surprised to say anything, usually it isn’t that easy to get an answer out of her. I quickly got over my surprise and waited for her to elaborate. She would tell me in her own time.

“I’m mother nature,” Pepper said, bursting into tears. I smiled. It was her!

“I am - or was - mother nature too. When you turn forty, the power is given to somebody else. I’m so happy it was you!” I told her, giving her a little hug.

She wiped the tears off her face, and told me that this was a lot to take in.

Laughing, I replied, “So this is why you have been so distant with your family lately! And I’m guessing you were trying to run away because of what happened to the twins? Don’t worry, it took me a year before I had gotten my powers in contro. I’ll help you master them.”

Pepper looked a little confused.

“So does that mean I’m mother nature’s daughter?” she asked.

“No, you’re mother nature,” I answered with a wave of my hand. Noticing that she still looked confused,I explained:

“I was mother nature, but then I turned forty last month. Am I right to say you became mother nature on the day after my birthday?” she nodded. “Well then you are my daughter, but I am not mother nature, you are.” She looked like she understood, sort of.

After that, I helped Pepper control the powers. my husband  knew, of course, and it turned out there had just been a lot of traffic, and he kept hitting every red light there was.

My other children didn’t find out until they were old enough to keep a secret. They were happy to find out. The twins said it explained a lot, and Salt, well, he asked why he couldn’t be father nature.

THE END




Pepper's version:

 I was too dangerous to stay with my family, now that I knew what I was...what I was capable of. Ever since I had been chosen, I had worried about what I might do to my family. I still didn't have control over the powers.

         Staring at the little potted flower mother had put in my room, I focused on making it close and open. It had to be done with every ounce of my mind focused on the flower, or else it would-

         "Pepper! Come eat dinner with us!" my mom called up the stairs.

         "Aaah!" I screamed as the flower erupted into a sudden tangle of roots and vines. I took the pocket knife out of my back pocket and started sawing at the plant. I had decided to keep it with me at all times, because if I wasn't paying attention, I would sometimes walk past a plant and have it grow too.

         Just be glad you caught concentration at last moment, I thought darkly.

         “What’s wrong, Pepper?” mother asked. I laughed a little and thought, A lot more than you would want to know.

         “Salt tried to come in my room with that scary mask on!” I called back.

         “Salt is down here with me,” mother said. For some reason, my mom had wanted to have kids named after spices. She named me-since I was born first-Pepper, my brother-the second oldest-Salt, and my two sisters-who were twins-Sugar and Spice. Nobody liked their names except for me.

         “Well then it was one of the twins,” I yelled down the stairs, still trying to cut my way through the flower. Mother would believe me about this. Sugar and Spice were always trying to scare people.

         “Alright, I’ll deal with them later. Now, come down to eat dinner with us, or I’ll come up there and drag you!” mother threatened. I quickly cut the last few roots that were keeping me in, and quickly ran out my room and down the stairs.

         “Where’s dad?” I asked, sitting down at the table in between Salt and an empty chair.

         “I don’t know,” mother said, biting her lower lip. A million and one thoughts about what could be holding dad up zoomed through my head. They weren’t good thoughts either. They were thoughts like maybe he was fired and tried to find another job before he came home. Maybe he accidentally drove off the road and was getting a really expensive ticket. Maybe he hit a car really hard and was injured really badly.

         “Aaah!” the twins screamed as they bound down the stairs. I looked up. Great.

         Sugar and Spice were covered head to toe in roots. My emotions had gotten out of control, and so had my powers. This time, though, I hadn’t had time to concentrate on keeping the powers in control. they had given the plant a mind of its own. The roots squeezed slowly tighter around the two girls bodies.

         Jumping up, I ran to the girls and got out my pocket knife.

         “That’s not going to be long enough!” mother yelled, running into the kitchen and coming back a moment later with something in her hand. She grabbed one of the flowers, and  hit it over and over again with the thing in her hand.

         The plant released the twins, the thousands bits of stems and roots falling to the floor with a loud thud.

         Mother looked at me curiously as if she knew I had made the plant grow and attack Spice and Sugar. This was the last straw. I had too many close calls. I had to leave. We all finished eating dinner in silence. Even Salt, who usually never stopped talking, was silent. I think that they were just all in shock.

         When everyone-except dad, who still hadn’t come home-was finished eating dinner, I did the dishes, and then went to my room. Looking at the mess of roots and flowers on the floor, I had an idea. Concentrating with all my might, I had the plant tightly weave itself into a bag big enough to fit my clothes and precious possessions.

         After the bag was done, I stuffed my things into it, and hurried out the room, closing the door behind me. I walked down the steps and past the dining room and living room just fine, but it was at the door I was caught.

Just as was about to grab the doorknob, it twisted from the other side and swung towards me. I jumped back and looked at who had just entered.

I gulped. It was my dad.

He looked surprised. “What are you do- you aren’t running away, are you?” dad asked, spotting my vine suitcase.

I tried not to look guilty as I said, “Of course not… why would I do something like that?”

He didn’t fall for it, I could tell, but he didn’t say anything either. He just walked right past me, and into his room. A few minutes went by with me just standing there, wondering if I should still leave, when my mother walked out of her room.

“Let’s go upstairs and sit on your bed for a minute,” she said.

She’s going to see the plant all over your floor! I thought frantically. I stayed quiet though, too full of fear to open my mouth.

When we got to my door, I considered running in and growing a small but strong tree in front of the it, but pushed the thought out of my mind with great difficulty.

My mom sat on my small bed, and patted the blue sheets next to her, indicating I should sit too.

Reluctantly, I obeyed, feeling my forehead prickle as sweat appeared at the surface of my skin.

“Is there anything you should tell me?” she asked.

“Yes,” I replied, thinking a moment later, NO! NO! NO! I didn’t mean to say that!. My mom didn’t say anything, but I could tell she was trying to draw an answer out of me, but I wasn’t going to talk, I wouldn’t, she would never get an answer out of this-

“I’m mother nature,” I burst out. Suddenly, I was sobbing. I had kept this secret hidden for a month, but it had been agony not to tell my mother. I looked at her, expecting to see a look of confusion, but was surprised.

She was smiling at me! She wasn’t smiling as if she had just heard a joke, she was smiling at me with understanding! But how could she possibly understand? I found out a moment later.

“I am-or was-mother nature too. When you turn forty, the power is given to someone else. I’m so happy it was you!” she said, giving me a hug.

I wiped my face with the back of my hand. This was a lot to take in, and I told her so.

Laughing, she replied, “So this is why you have been so distant with your family lately! And I’m guessing you were trying to run away because of what happened to the twins? Don’t worry, it took me a year before I had gotten my powers in contro. I’ll help you master them.”

A thought suddenly whizzed through my head.

“So does that mean I’m mother nature’s daughter?” I asked.

“No, you’re mother nature,” mother answered with a wave of her hand. Noticing the confused look I was giving her, she elaborated.

“I was mother nature, but then I turned forty last month. Am I right to say you became mother nature on the day after my birthday?” I nodded. “Well then you are my daughter, but I am not mother nature, you are.” I understood, sort of.

After that, my mom helped me control the powers. dad knew, of course, and it turned out there had just been a lot of traffic, and he kept hitting every red light there was.

My siblings didn’t find out until they were old enough to keep a secret. They were happy to find out. The twins said it explained a lot, and Salt, well, when he stopped talking so much, he asked why he couldn’t be father nature.

THE END

Flames, Dragons, and Derek's Book part 1

          "Did you see that?" I asked my brother, Derek. It was a hot day, and the two of us were sitting on the front porch eating a piece of ice to keep cool.
          "See what?" he asked, looking up from the paper he was writing on. Of course, I had almost forgotten.
          My brother had entered a writing contest in which you have to write a hundred-thousand word book. The winner got the book published. Derek had been writing non-stop for a week now, and rarely looked up from his paper unless you spoke directly to him.
          "Never mind," I sighed. I looked back at where I had seen it... well where I thought I had seen it.
          No, I had seen it. My eyes were didn't play tricks on me. My imagination did, but not my eyes. I looked back at the woods in front of our little house.
          "I'm going to go exploring again," I told Derek
          "Fine by me, just be careful, Sue," Derek said without looking up. Sue was my nickname. My full name was Zsuzanna, but I preferred Sue.
          I got up and walked into the house. My parents were out camping with a couple of friends, and had left Nathan, my oldest brother, in charge. I didn't like having to live in the same house as Nathan. We had lived together at the orphanage, and had both dearly hoped we would not be adopted together. That hadn't worked out, though, and we were both brought here.
          "Nathan, I'm going out to exploring," I said as I walked into our room.
          "Be careful or I won't get paid for watching you," Nathan said, his dull grey eyes watching my every move as though to make sure I didn't hurt myself just to get him in trouble.
          "Whatever," I answered, rushing back downstairs. I ran past Derek, accidentally knocking a couple of his papers to the ground. I didn't hear him scold me though. I had to know if I had seen one.
          Before my mom and dad had died, they had told me that if I ever saw a piece of the sun fall from the sky, it meant that there was dragon close by. They said that I wouldn't see the sun fall, though, they said I would see a flame appear and then float towards the dragon.
          My parents had been the king and queen of a very small kingdom, but I couldn't remember what it had been called. This is why Nathan hated me so much. He didn't like it when people thought they were more important than him, and when he had heard my story, he was furious.
          I stopped at the edge of the woods for a second, thinking. My parents had done something... something that had to do with the flame. I racked my brain for the answer, and then I remembered. I was not to follow the little flame. If I did, it would lead me to a dragon. A gigantic, full grown dragon. If I found that dragon, I would be incinerated. That was how my parents had died.
          How could I have forgotten? It had been years ago, but I still remember them excitedly pointing at something that only they could see, and telling me to stay with the guards. I had followed them, of course. I followed them all the way to a clearing in the middle of a forest.
          I had been confused. Why did they look so happy, and why are they now screaming? I understood a second later. Even though I couldn't see it, I realized what was happening. They had found a dragon. Since they were the only ones to see the flame, they were the only one to to see the dragon.
          I could see the fire though. I could hear the angry roar and heavy wings flapping up and down. My parents had disturbed the dragon, and had payed for it.
          Shuddering despite the hot air, I turned back towards the house. Derek was still picking up the papers on the ground, so I went to help him.
          "Sorry," I muttered.
          "It's fine, Sue," Derek said. I could tell he was still a little upset about his disruption, so I asked him what his book was about.
          "Well," he said a little pensively, "I kept hearing Nathan taunting you about something, so I decided to eavesdrop. He said something about Princess Zsuzanna and the dragon that was going to eat you if you didn't do his homework. I thought it sounded like it would make a good book so, well... here." Derek handed me his papers for me to read.
          It was amazing. Derek had turned some comment into a whole book like it was no big deal. When I finished reading, I handed the papers back, mouth open slightly.
         "Wow," was all I could manage to say.
         "You like it? Really? Cool!" he replied.
         He sat back down and started writing again. I just stood there, wondering how he did it, when he said, "You know, I think that we should finish the book together. It is about you... kind of."
          "Really?" I asked excitedly.
          " Course," he laughed, and with that, he pulled  the other chair over and told me all of his ideas and I told him all my ideas. It felt good to write about what had happened. The book wasn't exact, but I helped change some things, and together, we won the contest. Nathan didn't bully me again after that. My new parents were so proud.
         When I turned twenty, some official looking men came to our house in the woods, saying I had come of age, and was to leave at once to rule my kingdom. I was happy to leave. Derek promised he would come to visit whenever he wanted to write another book - we had written a few since we had won the contest - with me, and I got to see the look on Nathan's face when he found out he really had been living with a princess.
          I was happy. I was home.

The Find

              "Hey mom, what's that?" Pandora, an eight year old girl, asked her mom as they were walking along the sea-glass beach in California one day.
         "Ooh, maybe you found some sea-glass! Go pick it up, Pandora, I can't tell where you're pointing."
         So Pandora bent down and picked up the round white objects the size of an oval penny.
         "Wow, they are so pretty! Maybe we could start a little collection, and put them in little jars to decorate our house! Pandora, while I put down the blanket and get our lunch ready, why don't you search for more sea-glass...put it in this baggy," Pandora's mom said as she pulled a sandwich out of a plastic bag and handed it to her daughter.
        Pandora happily ran off in search of the beautiful little pieces of sea-glass. Little did they know that the white sea-glass they had found wasn't even sea-glass at all, it was nail clippings that belonged to a very ancient pirate by the name of Captain Salt-Water.

          Fifty years before

     "Arr! Where be Milk-Maker with me chocolate milk?" roared the pirate, Captain Salt-Water. It had been almost four months since the crew had seen land, and everybody was a little bit cranky.
         "He be on break, cap'in," growled Nail-Trimmer.
         "Righ'...well since yer here, you can cut me toenails," said Captain Salt-Water as he took off his shoes. Nail-Trimmer gagged when he looked at the captain's toes. He had seen a lot of disgusting things before, how could he not when he was a pirate? Those toes though...
        After half an hour, Captain Salt-Water's toenails were finally cut, and Nail-Trimmer's face was as green as a lime.
         "Arr! Me toes can breath again. Scrap-Sweeper, throw them nails into the ocean," cried the captain.
         "Aye-Aye, cap'in!" replied the pirate.

        The pirate crew continued pirating for another year before they were caught in a storm and were never seen again, which was a relief to all the people they had been stealing from.

Tortoise's Surprise Birthday

         "Please, Monkey? If you don't stall him then He might get home to early."

          It was a nice spring day, and Hare wanted to throw Tortoise the absolute PERFECT surprise birthday party. 

          "OO-OO of course I will stall him, Hare, I just don't see the point because he is soooo slow and it will take him soooo long to get his groceries anyways," replied Monkey as he swung back and forth between two trees.

          "He does go very slow, Monkey, but I need him to go slower because I forgot to hand out the invitations to all of the guests, I still need to make the cake, decorate the house, get him a present, get prizes for the games I still need to put together, and make sure everyone will get a party-gift when they leave," Hare said, hopping around in circles to calm his nerves.

          Monkey, who had stopped swinging to watch Hare said, "OK, OK I will leave, now just tell me how I will know when it is okidoki to come back."

          Hare told Monkey that he would send Bluebird to tell him when he was ready, and then hopped off to start handing out invitations.

          When Monkey found Tortoise, he was just crawling into the marketplace to buy some groceries with the money he had won in a race.

          "Good-morning, Tortoise, how wonderful it is to meet you here, you see I woke up this morning, and had this amazing urge to help someone with their shopping!" Monkey said truthfully, he had wanted to help someone with their shopping when he woke up.

          "I don't know, I have never needed help shopping before..." Tortoise answered slowly.

          "OO-OO, it will be fun! I can climb up and get you the stuff on the tippy-top of the shelf, just think of all you can make with baking powder," persuaded Monkey.

          Tortoise muttered something under his breath about wanting to make scones, and Monkey swung excitedly on the nearest tree.

          "Yes, yes! Scones would make a lovely breakfast with that awesome tea that you make!" and with that, Monkey and Tortoise slowly but excitedly walked into the market. 

          It felt like forever to Monkey, who read all of the products that were above the bottom two racks since Tortoise couldn't see that high. It took them about ten minutes just to get through one row!

         There were ten aisles in the store, and while monkey was on his way to the bathroom after just going through row seven, he spotted bluebird.

         "How is Hare doing?" Monkey asked.

         "He said he just needs about an hour and a half to finish the cake, and then he said that the surprise party would be at Tortoise's house after that."

         Monkey thanked Bluebird for bringing him the news, and then did some quick math in his head. If it takes him about thirty minutes to get through the last three aisles, and thirty minutes for him to walk home, then Monkey would have to stall Tortoise an extra thirty minutes in order to throw him the best surprise birthday party ever!

        Monkey hurried back to Tortoise, who had patiently waited for him and started walking down the next aisle. After that, Every time Tortoise wasn't looking, Monkey would knock stuff over into the cart with his tail.

        When Monkey and Tortoise got to the checkout line, Tortoise looked in his basket and exclaimed, "I don't remember having that put in there!"

        "OO-OO, my silly tail must have knocked all this stuff over when we weren't looking! Let's go and put it back so that the cashier doesn't get mad at us."

        So Tortoise and Monkey walked through the aisles and put back all of the stuff Monkey had knocked into the cart, taking ten minutes to go through each aisle.

        "Well I really have to go, Tortoise, but it was fun hanging out with you," Monkey said as he turned around and ran out the door and swung through the trees all the way to his house to get the present he had made, and then sped all the way to Tortoise's house for the surprise birthday party.

       "There you are, I was starting to worry, quick, hide! Tortoise will be here any moment," Hare said as Monkey blew out the candle and hid. A few minutes went by until they heard Tortoise walking slowly towards his house. When he opened the door, put down his groceries, and turned the lights back on, every body jumped out of their hiding spots and yelled, "SURPRISE!"

      Tortoise got so surprised that he hid inside his shell for a full minute before he realized what was happening.

      "I didn't even remember it was my birthday today!" he said happily.

      "Blow out your candles, Tortoise! Don't forget a wish,"Hare said as he placed the cake in front of him.

      Tortoise blew out the candles, and the passed out cake. When the party ended after everyone had left with game prizes and full bellies, Tortoise thanked Hare and Monkey for giving him the best day ever.

                                                                         THE END

Bubblegum

        Once upon a time… like, a really long time ago, I found a piece of unchewed gum on the playground equipment. When I say unchewed, I mean like in a wrapper, so don’t start getting all grossed out.

Well, I decided to chew this gum, so I plopped it right into my open mouth and began to move my jaw up and down. Mmmmmm, blueberry flavored. I realized that this gum wasn’t chewing gum… it was bubblegum! I guess you can realize what happened next.

I started blowing bubble after bubble, with each one bigger then the next. After a while, I started getting bored of just blowing and popping my bubbles, so I tried to see how long I was able to keep my bubbles from popping.

I felt a funny little tingling feeling in my feet, so I looked down. Aaaaaaaahhhhhh! I was twenty feet off the ground! Nobody seemed to notice that I was up here, and I couldn’t call for help, so I started waving my arms up and down like crazy…bad idea. Pretty soon I was thirty feet above the ground, and still nobody had noticed me.

I looked down again. Why hadn’t I thought about it before? There was a little pond right next to the playground, and the wind had taken me right to it! I popped my bubble. SPLASH!! I fell into the middle of that pond. They had to have noticed that! I thought as I swam to the waters edge. I pulled myself out of the water and when I was all dried up, asked my mom if she had seen me almost fall to my doom. Do you want to know the answer she gave me? I’ll tell you:

“Oh sweetie, you have such an amazing imagination.”! I mean seriously? Who doesn’t believe their kids when they tell their parents something?!

How I Say Fireflies Got Their Light

Once upon a time, in a village far away, during the season when the harvest almost ready, around September- there was an annoying bug. This bug’s name was fly. Fly was always getting into other people’s business and making an irritating buzzing noise around their ears. People would try and swat them with their cloths, but Fly was really fast, and they would always miss.

One day the villagers held a meeting. They all agreed to try and make Fly change his ways. They people decided to try and talk to Fly first, but the bug wasn’t interested in what they had to say. The villagers admitted that they would have to make a trap that would teach Fly a lesson. The people had noticed that the bug liked to go towards the lights in their houses, so they found a way to turn fire on and off in a square glass container. They named this trap a lantern.

That night, as Fly was sneaking into a house to sneak some food, he saw a light. Fly felt like the light was talking to him. “Come to me,” it seemed to whisper.

Fly went towards the light, and when he got so close that he could almost touch it, he suddenly bounced backwards! The bug looked closely and realized that there was glass blocking his way. Fly started to get angry, and hit himself repeatedly into the glass, trying to break it. Then he saw that there was an opening at the top of the glass box that he could swoop into.

Little did Fly know that one of the villagers was standing just outside the fire’s light, waiting. When the man saw the bug go into the lantern, he lunged forward, sealed the opening, and turned off the fire. The man looked into the jar, and jumped back in surprise. Fly had caught fire, but the flame’s color had changed to green, and the bug was able to make the light go on and off somehow. In the morning, the man who had caught Fly told the rest of the villagers what had happened.

Fly didn’t notice that the villagers were saying anything. He didn’t even notice when the villagers roughly handed the “jail” he was being held in to each other. What Fly was paying attention to was his reflection in the glass. He had seen his reflection before, but today something seemed to be different. He looked and looked, and then he spotted it. He was glowing.

That night, the people let Fly out of the glass container, but he wasn’t Fly anymore...he was Firefly. When Firefly flew out of the lantern, he decided that he wouldn’t try to get on people’s nerves anymore-instead, he would be the quiet light whispering, “Come to me,” to whoever passed.