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by Sophie, age 9

 “Are we really in California?” Sam asked her Mom. They were driving in a rental car to a hotel in San Diego. Four hours earlier they were in the airport in New Orleans. Sam had never  been to California in all of her ten years.

   “ Yes,” said her Mom, who was driving through a lot of traffic. “It’s 11:00 at night. You need to get some sleep.”

     But Sam knew she wouldn’t sleep very well. She was too excited. Every year her family took a big trip and a small trip. This was their big trip for the year. It was just Sam and her Mom because Sam’s Dad had too much work to come with them. She was happy to be on the trip, but wished her Dad could come. Sam had heard about California from her Mom’s family. They lived in Northern California. They were from Mexico and moved to the United States when Sam’s Mom was ready for college. Sam’s mom, Isabel, wore her long black hair in a bun. Her skin was dark and she liked to dress in bright colors like pinks and reds and blues and greens and yellows and oranges. Sam had her mother’s long black hair and her brown eyes but her skin wasn’t as dark. Sam’s Dad was fair skinned, though he didn’t sunburn easily and his grandparents came from Scotland. Even though Sam’s dad had a southern accent, it wasn’t that strong. So, Sam talked more like her Mom with a Spanish accent, but her English was better than her Spanish. She had visited Mexico but it was slow and tedious to try and talk Spanish with her mom. That night, in California, Sam fell asleep easily but woke up several times thinking it was morning.

     Then it finally was. when Sam and her mom were eating breakfast in the hotel restaurant, her mom said, “Guess what?”

    “What?” Sam asked as she enjoyed her cheese omelet.

     “ We’re going to Disneyland today.”

     “No way!” Sam jumped up. She ran from the restaurant.

     Her Mom called after her. “Wait! I have to pay the bill.” After she did, she followed her daughter.

     Later that morning, when Sam and her Mom walked into Toon town, Sam asked, “ Can we go on the Roger Rabbit Ride?”

     “What’s the point of going to Disneyland if you don’t go on the Roger Rabbit Ride,” her mom answered.

     The Roger Rabbit Ride had a car that Sam and her mom could steer. As they entered the building they had to make a choice at a fork in the road. One direction was straight to the Weasles. The other was to the Happy Little Toons. Sam was steering and wanted to look at everything. She went straight, thinking they were headed to the Toons. The car wasn’t going very fast but suddenly, the car dropped into pitch black.  

 to be continued...

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by Connor, age 9

Chapter One

Jack

     Jack was a stray cat. He was orange with black stripes and one green eye and one blue eye.  He lived in Japan. He wasn’t always a stray. He had a home a long time ago in a very big house. One day when he was out hunting for food, he almost got hit by a truck. He was scared and then three rotweilers with big teeth chased him. He was lost. He was in a place he’d never been to. The houses were different, the streets were different, even the air was different. He was even more scared.

Chapter Two

Powers

     As Jack walked, he thought about his past. He remembered when he was a kitten and he lived in LA. It was nice there. He remembered when he lost his family. Poor Jack. Jack skidded to a halt. He smelled something. It smelled like slobber and dead fish.

     “Dog!” he meowed.

     Sure enough it was a dog. It was a pit bull. Jack ran up a tree. Now he was very very scared. He thought, “I’m doomed. I’m going to get eaten.”

     In a blink of an eye he was wooshing back to his own alley where he usually slept. Way behind him, the dog looked bewildered. Jack had no clue what was going on.

Chapter Three

Thinking

     The next day, Jack was thinking, what happened? Why did I come back home? I was thinking I’m doomed and then I came wooshing back. It’s so weird. Is it magic? hmmm. Maybe I can teleport.

Chapter Four

Food

     Jack was so hungry. He didn’t have any food the day before because he’d been too busy being chased. Jack decided to hunt. “When I’m hunting, I can test my powers,” he meowed to himself. He searched for food all day. He was so hungry he would have eaten seaweed.

     Uh oh. The dogs were out. But they were sleeping and he padded very quietly past them. “Food,” he whispered when he smelled a big, dead fish and walked over to it.

Chapter Five

Dog

He took a bite and heard a growl. He looked over his shoulder. One of the dogs woke up. Jack thought, “I want to go back to my alley.” He wooshed through the night back to his home. It was as fun as a roller coaster.

 to be continued...

 The Adventure of Desporaux

by Erin, age 9

     Despereaux scurried out of the broken socket, his eyes glued to the floor in search for crumbs. He searched the whole entire kitchen, trying to avoid looking at the chef’s slaughtering chickens. No crumbs. At all. He spotted a block of cheese on the counter. Desperaux took a chance and ran for the cheese. When he reached it he carried it a few steps and dropped it. The noise made the chef turn around. As soon as he saw Despereaux  he grabbed his bloody knife and chased after him, destroying everything in the kitchen. Despereaux’s heart pounded as he jumped over a chicken head. He breathed hard as he dodged the knife and hurried into the socket. Behind, him,pots and pans were everywhere. And a couple of chicken heads were scattered about the room. he went back to his home underneath the kitchen in the mansion. He stood at the doorway. Desporaux’s father was at the table doing paperwork. Desporaux's mother was doing the dishes. And Desporaux could hear his little sister snoring.

Desporaux was a mouse. His family was all mice. Desporaux was the only one in the family who wanted to explore. All the rest wanted to stay in hiding in the broken socket. Desporaux was a white mouse with itsy-bitsy ears. His family lived under the mansion of the rickest man in Asheville. Desporaux was born underneath this mansion and grew up begging his parents every day to let him explore. But his parents said no. His parents grew up under the mansion but never left their mouse house unless in search of food. Now that Desporaux was ten years old, he was the one who searched for food. Desporaux's family gets in and out of their house by going through a broken electrical socket in the kitchen of the mansion. Desporaux's little sister snored alot. His sister is a big nuisance and Desporaux wished his only sibling could be an adventurous boy. Since his family didn't notice him at the doorway, Desporaux decided he would try for the cheese again or else, when they noticed him without food, they'd be mad.

      Desporaux squeezed through the wires and scrambled out of the broken socket. He crept up next to the chef and took a high leap into the chef's shirt. Desporaux scratched and tore and ripped at the chef's skin. The chef fainted and Desporaux jumped on to the counter, pushed the cheese off the counter, leapt to the floor and pushed the cheese to the socket. The cheese was too big to fit in the socket, so he ate some. He made a perfect line so it wouldn't look like anyone ate off it. Desporaux dragged the chees through the wires and into the entrance of their home. He announced to his parents that he finally found some food.

     "I've been so worried about you, Desporaux, you've been gone quite a while," his mother said. "I'll cut this cheese up for lunch while you wake your sister."

     Desporaux went off down the hallway. His mother took a plastic fork prong and cut the cheese into 4 pieces, placing them on four small bottle caps at the table.

     Desporaux thought about his action packed day. He and his family lived for many, many more years, Desporaux fighting the chef for food--and winning.

The End

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by Sanjay, age 10

 Nevada 1976

     Crack. A lady came up behind Steven and kicked him into the labyrinth. He was an archeologist looking for fossils in an underground cave. Suddenly he hit the ground. His body ached from the fall and his butt from the kick. He felt like he had cracked his ribs. The only good thing about this was that he might be able to find his friend Dan who went missing while exploring this cave.

     He grappled out of the pit with his grapple hook and started walking around. He was already lost in the labyrinth. While he was wondering who that random lady was, he came upon a skeleton. He was happy to discover it wasn’t his friend because it’s too small. The labyrinth was huge. It was dark and eerily quiet with a tinge of mold and slime along the wall. A second later he tripped over something. It was his friend’s remains, with still visible pieces of his college sweater. How could he have thought his friend was still alive? He thought his friend might have eaten moss or escaped or something. Dan was a really determined guy. he liked exploring and looking for artifacts. They shared that passion. Steven pulled some dirt over Dan’s bones. A wave of sorrow came over Steven as he walked away from the burial.  

     Days later, Steven was starving and parched. He started eating moss to control his hunger. He wished more than anything that he had packed food. It became hard to survive. His body was running out of oxygen and he was walking slower and slower. He had hallucinations about food and water when suddenly the ground started shaking. Debris was falling from the ceiling as he leapt from rock to rock. Finally, he grappled up and out of the labyrinth. He felt extremely weak as he climbed out of the cave Then he saw it. A waterfall leading to the ground. The only way of getting down so he jumped in and hit the water with a crash. Every part of his body was screaming out in pain but he made it to land.

     He dragged himself through the boulders to the edge of Las Vegas. He came up behind a gas station. A man who was filling up noticed him and said, “I think I need to take you to a hospital!”

  He got to there just barely. Steven would be ok on the outside. But inside he was still sad about Dan. His next mystery was to figure out who had kicked him into the labyrinth.  

More adventures to come...

  Element

by Liam, age 9

     The beacon goes off in the nest. I wake up. A robbery. I can tell by the sound of the beacon. I run and put on my uniform. I climb down the rope. I change into my hero form though my name always stays the same. Element. Both arms are covered with rock, one arm red and one arm blue. Both are blazing with fire. My devil-like horns come out, my stone face comes out. I run to the bank in town. Everyone in White Bridge, rich and poor, keeps their money there. It’s Alaska, so some people got rich drilling oil. The other people work for them. They get paid, but not a lot.  It’s a long run because I live in a nest with a mutant creature and her babies in the woods.

     The robber is still in the bank. His sidekick is along with him. I know his sidekick is alien. I can feel the alien presence. I hear giant jaws crushing bones--maybe a cyboar or something. I can hear security firing their guns and the robber firing his. I burst into the door. There’s only two security guards left. Bam--a scream, then one of the security guards falls dead with a shot to the head.

     Then I see a giant boar with giant canine-like teeth, red eyes, walking on two legs, claws out of its front paws and hooves on the back. Hair covers it completely. Its two giant tusks are red with blood. He picks up the security guard and bites it in half and picks up the other two pieces and chews those. Shots come. The boar falls to the ground. Its red eyes go blue.  Then the blue eyes turn red and the boar gets up. He whirls around and charges toward me. When he’s in range I throw a punch with my red arm and then another with my blue. The creature flies back.  The cyboar comes to me again.  It boots me up into the air and slams me into the electrical wires sticking out of the wall. Then he charges. I hold my blue arm out and my red arm I grasp the wire. I grab the cyboar  I pull two electricity wires and stick them in and close the cuts with my hands. The electricity is too much for the heart of the cyboar. It is not fireproof. It burns up, sending poison through the cyboar from a poison gland that can only be opened by the heart exploding. The poison gland kills the cyboar for good.

     I push the cyboar aside. The robber is still there. But he has fixed the security guard guns onto his in such a way that when he fires all the guns fire with him. One shot barely misses my forehead. I jump high in the air and then slam my two fists into the ground. Two lines come red and blue and they combine in one streak. It hits the man, he goes flying back. His gun and security guns blow up.  Then I slam my red fist into him knocking him clean out. I run out and hide in between two buildings. I don’t want the police to see me.

     I run back to the nest. I hear a few squawks so I run faster. I climb up the rope. I jump into the nest. There were originally five baby mutant creatures. Now there are only four. The mutant creatures are very small but will grow to be huge. They have five heads. One head is a cobra, one is a Siberian tiger, a dragon head in the middle, then the gorilla and spider monkey. It’s body is covered in scales and striped patterns. It has eight legs. The back legs are those of a spider monkey, then a tigers, then a dragons, and then a gorillas in the front. A thick spider monkey-like tail lines out the back. Two dragon wings are on her or his back. I think they’re kind of cute but if you were a human child and didn’t grow up with them and saw them at night you would probably scream your lungs out.

      The mother of these babies, Corrine, is probably out on a morning hunt as it’s the usual time. When I came into this world on a small ship, I landed like a meteor and I came out in my alien form. I saw a human and immediately changed figures from alien to human. Then, I went around the globe searching for any other aliens. I finally found these creatures, the five- headed-winged-reptiles, from the planet Nock. It’s in the same universe and the closest planet to mine. There’s no other alien creature on this planet, Earth, so Corrine took me in. I soon learned the names of her five babies. Titan, Fireball, and Rocks are the boys and Tsunami and Hurricane are the girls. Unique names but they’re pretty cool. I got to help name them because they were freshly hatched when I arrived and their father had died right after they were born. That’s how this species works. I think that’s kind of sad. This species has five to ten babies each time, with some girls but mostly boys. All five heads can talk many different languages; one of them is planet earth language. They can speak all the languages on planet earth which they consider one language and they speak ten different alien languages including mine. I’m from planet Or-Gon. 

        The nest is like a giant bird nest and with a thick layer of roofing. There’s a place where it goes down into a pit. It’s  where these creatures and I go to stay warm during the winter. I look around the nest and realize  Titan is missing. He is my favorite boy. He’s fun to play with. He’s the oldest and he’s just plain, darn cute. I hear a truck engine being started and then an armored truck comes out of the bushes. I hear Titan’s squawk come out from it. Then a plane flies overhead and the truck drives up and in to a little compartment in the plane. The plane takes off just as I get back on the ground and start to run. I can’t fly. The babies back in the nest can’t carry me because they’re not big enough. Titan probably could but he’s the one who is kidnapped.

     Then I hear a huge roar coming from the sky. Corrine is circling above the nest. She drops down. I quickly climb up the rope.

     Corrine looks really worried. “Element,” she says out of her dragon head. “Where’s Titan?”

     “He’s kidnapped,” I say. “I’m going to go follow the thief but they went in a plane.”

      “Climb on my back,” she says.

       The babies watch me get on her back and climb down into the pit. Fireball, the biggest since Titan’s gone, closes a small door. Corrine and I take off, not noticing that Tsunami has grabbed onto Corrine’s spider monkey tail.

 To be continued...

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by Cecelia, age 9

Dulila and her best friend Lucy went to the park. It was a breezy day and they were both being thrown around in the air. When their feet hit the ground they became more sturdy. Dulila was on the swings when a dove popped up in front of her. It had a note on its beak with Dulila’s name on it. Slowly, she slipped the note out of its beak and started to read.

Dear Dulila,

We need you home. Mother is ill in bed.

Your sister,

Natalie.

Dulila was in the species of the cozy ladies. They were about two inches tall. Their whole little bodies were covered with purple fuzz and their skinny arms and legs were a purple-blue color. They had sparkly, clear wings on their back. They lived in maple trees because cozy ladies ate syrup. There were no men in the world of cozy ladies. Cozy ladies got pregnant by drinking a special type of dew.  Dulila was the oldest of four children and half the time she was taking care of them. Her favorite sister was Natalie. They were twins and that’s why they were really close. Together, they helped raised their two other sisters. Natalie always had her nose in a book when she wasn’t helping with the other kids. Natalie’s mother, Anna Maria, was not so helpful. Anna Maria was always out of the house buying groceries or going on dates.

    After Dulila got the note from the dove, she ran to tell Lucy what happened and they flew back to their maple tree together. The tree had many holes in it where cozy ladies made their homes.  Lucy went to her hole and Dulila went to hers. When she got inside she slammed the door behind her and wiped her feet off. She settled herself on the couch but decided to go by the fireplace to warm herself.  She sat on the rocking chair and started to hum to herself.

About a minute later, Natalie walked into the room. “Dulila, we need you to help us with mother. She has a deadly disease called sarra de la lung fungus. I think it’s caused by that poisonous leaf called ivy that mother likes to eat.”

Dulila and Natalie walked into a room to find their mother in bed. She looked sweaty and tired and was barely awake. Dulila took pity on her. Then she noticed her two younger sisters Lola and Lexie sitting with her mother on the bed. The family stayed in the room for several hours. Their mother didn’t get any better.

To be continued…

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by Itzel, age 9

      The night of the dance at the school, I went to pick up Lindy in my bumble bee mustang car. When Lindy got in the car, she said,“I feel something bad is going to happen.”

     “What?” I said.

     “I don’t know. I just feel something bad.”

     I was surprised. That afternoon, we had gone to the mall to buy clothes. I bought a light blue dress with flowers and Lindy bought a black skirt with this really cool dark blue shirt and light blue jacket. We had a lot of fun and went to the food court. I spilled a cup of coke on the table and on my pants and got really embarrassed in front of all those people. Lindy said, “It’s ok. I’ll get some napkins.”

 She helped me clean up and I felt much better. Now I’m worried for her.

     We got to the dance and danced but some guys didn’t want to dance with Lindy because she’s always pushy and mean to everybody except me. I think it’s because we have some sort of connection between us. Later on, there was a raffle with prizes so  Lindy and I bought raffle tickets for three dollars and…guess what? I won an Ipod. The party was over and I asked Lindy if she wanted a ride back home. She said, “No thanks.”

The next day, after I had breakfast, someone called. My mom said it was Lindy’s mom. She said that they found Lindy on the street dead. Someone had shot her in her heart last night. I was shocked.

      “ No, no, no, no,” I said. “Oh no. I just remembered that she felt something bad was going to happen after the party. That must have been the bad thing she thought was going to happen. She got killed.”

That night, I went to the street where they shot Lindy and brought all my ghost hunting supplies. Last summer, I went to ghost hunting camp. I learned all about it. So I brought my tape recorder, a camera, and a notebook. I tried to talk to Lindy.

     “I’m Lee, your friend. I need to know who killed you,” I said.

     “Ok, I’ll tell you who shot me,” said a voice.

      “Lindy, is it you?”

       “Yes, it’s me. The person who shot me was Rich.”

 Rich. He really hated Lindy and always tried to get back at her. Lindy used to hit him and trip him and make fun of him.

to be continued…

Moon Tail’s Quest

by Katie, age 10 

Part I

Moon Tail stalked through the night moving through bushes and bracken as he hunted his prey. Suddenly, Moon Tail  landed on the doe. With a swipe of his big paw it fell on the ground. He stuck his snout under the deer and flipped it on to his back and brought it back to camp.

Moon Tail was named for his tail. It was the color of the moon, hence the name. When he’s in the dark, his tail glows and it’s indestructible. His powers also come from his tail. One of his powers is strength. He could roll a boulder and run and run and run for hours and not get tired. Super-sniffing was another power. He could smell anything, anywhere in his world that had many different terrains and lots of magical animals.

Did I also mention he had wings? That’s right. He had two pairs of eagle’s wings. That’s why they were called Ea-wolves.

Part Two

As Moon Tail padded back into camp where there were several Ea wolves.

. Moon Tails two buddies,  Bracken Claw and Stump Tail noticed him.

“Hey” Bracken Claw said. “What’s up?”

“Not much,” Moon Tail answered as he dropped the deer on to the fresh kill pile.  “I went hunting. I caught a doe, two rabbits and a magpie.”

   “Cool,” Stump Tail said.

     Bracken claw was the color of squirrel, brownish-red and Stump tail was light tan on his legs and stomach. The fur on this tail and back and face was grayish-brown. But Moon Tail was all gray and bigger than the other two.

     Out of the blue, Sand Flecks, another ea-wolf, burst into camp. “Quick, get help!” He panted and couldn’t stand still. “We are under attack.”

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by Sam, age 10

Chapter One

 Big Bucks

Stuck in a cave, opening blocked off, little brother with asthma, back pack, mountain gear, flashlight, water, oxygen, tanks, rope…yep, that’s about all we had. You what? Let’s just start from the very beginning.

38 hours before…

Eleven Olympic medalist winner, Sam Nolan (that’s me) stepped onto his private jet, a Q-X 40. Trust me, it was my brother’s idea, not mine. I mean, I didn’t want to climb Mt. Pelia for 100,000 bucks! (Even though it was a lot.) As we sat down in our seats, I asked Brad, my brother, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Of course I do, I mean, who doesn’t want to get 100,000 bucks?”

“OK,” I said, unsure whether or not I really wanted to do it.

 Six and half hour flight. Just as I suspected. As we entered the Letan Hotel I noticed a lot of people checking in, probably for the competition.

Chapter Two

Up, Up and…Trapped!?

Two and half hour trip to Mt. Peila, Russia, just as I suspected…again. When we got there, there were about 60 competitors getting their gear ready. It’s a large mountain with a large forest at the top, going on for miles and miles. At the end of the forest, it goes straight back down. The trickiest part is the forest, which actually has animal inhabitants but I just knew we had this race in the bag. Apparently not.

About half-way into the race, a Spanish man named Zyfol Looctan passed us. Apparently, he wanted us out of the race, jamming his pick-axe into the rock. CRACK! Rocks started coming down, faster than horses! We quickly rushed to a nearby cave, about 5 yards away. But before we knew it, the entrance got blocked off by the rock avalanche. Trapped!

Chapter Three

Where’d Brad Go?

Good thing I already told you all that we had so I don’t have to repeat it. (Whew!)

We decided to find another way out. About ten minutes later, Brad started coughing. I have him an oxygen tank and we headed on. Soon, we came to a long, narrow bridge leading across a large empty pit. (Gulp!) We started across, hoping that it was an exit. About halfway, I suddenly heard a scream, the one thing I absolutely did not want to hear. I turned around and lunged for Brad and, to my horror, missed.

Chapter Four

Panic Time

The rest of the way, I was absolutely horrified, unsure whether to scream, cry or just do something crazy. Suddenly. I. Saw. Light. I rushed out, realizing at the other side, at the bottom of the mountain. Soon, I realized I had come in first. It had been a few days and I was hungry. News reporters flocked me, asking me so many questions. The only one I didn’t answer was: Where. Is. Brad? The question has echoed in my mind ever since.

The. End. For. Now.

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Historical Fiction

by Chloe, age 9

September 13, 1903

Today, I got yelled at by Mrs. Pannersye because she said I didn’t peel the apples properly. Then Mrs. Wolfe fired all the other servants and forbid all the other children except Grover to help.

“They mess up everything,” she said.

Mrs. Wolfe seemed sick today. When I asked her if she was feeling alright, she said, “Mind your own business!”

Ever since I’ve started working at the Old Kentucky Home my arms and and legs have been aching.

Bye journal,

Martha Huandassi

September 14, 1903

Mrs. Wolfe is sick. She went to the doctor’s today and she only goes there when she feels horrible. Then she came back and told me she was going to stop working for several days and that I’m supposed to do all the work myself except for Grover. But all Grover will do is get groceries. Mrs. Wofe is sick with polio. I don’t know what that is.

I will have to cook, do the laundry, empty the chamber pots, heat fires, garden, clean, take care of children, take care of Mrs. Wolfe and much more .

Stressed,

Martha Huandassi