Category: Fall 2022

PROLOGUE

Have you ever woken up thinking It’s going to be a great day, but as soon as you get out of bed, bad things start happening? Well, I know exactly what it feels like. My bad luck began on what I thought was going to be a lovely Monday morning….

CHAPTER ONE 

Sorry. I was so focused on my bad day yesterday that I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Isabell Hogginshwarts, but my students call me Ms. Hogginshwarts. I know, it’s hard to pronounce. 

I am a 4th grade teacher, and I take running the classroom very seriously. Even Matthew listens to me, and he is a real troublemaker. Last week he put fake poop by my desk! I got so mad that I had him in detention for a whole hour. That’s not the first time he’s done something like that. So far Matthew has not caused any more trouble. So not to brag, but I am one of the best 4th grade teachers in the school. Well, normally one of the best teachers. Yesterday I had a very bad day. Let me tell you….

CHAPTER TWO

I woke up on Monday morning with the Sun streaming through the window. I thought to myself, It’s going to be a great day. Boy, was I wrong. As soon as I got out of bed my bad luck began. I took one step and then BANG my head hit the floor.

“Is everything okay?” my husband called from my son’s room.

“I’m FINE!” I called back. I twisted myself around and saw my son’s toy by my feet. “Aarrg!” I said while heaving myself up. “How many times do I have to tell him to clean up after himself?” I said through gritted teeth. Luckily nobody was around to hear.

 I was still dizzy from falling flat on my face so I accidentally put cocoa powder into the coffee maker instead of coffee grinds! Blech! 

Finally, finally, I got out the door but unfortunately, my bus left at 8:00 and it was already 8:15! And the next bus doesn’t arrive for another 20 minutes, so now I have to walk 18 blocks to get to work! 

“Uggg!” I said, exasperated. I was so frustrated. “Why can’t this happen to my husband? Oh, wait, he works at home!” By now it was 8:20 and I ideally want to get to the school by 8:25, which is 10 minutes before school starts so I can set up the classroom. Well, no way that’s going to happen, I thought grimly to myself. I’ll just have to hope for the best.

CHAPTER THREE

Meanwhile, in the classroom…

 Music is blaring, chaos is everywhere. 

“This is the best day EVER!”

“Yeah, but I wonder where Ms. Hogginshwarts is”

“I don’t care! This is awesome!”

“Mathew, get off the table!”

“Jeez, Jessica, calm down, I thought you were Ms. Hogginshwarts,” Mathew yelled over the music. 

“Maybe I am!” Jessica laughed but still looked worried.

“Oh, shut up,” 

“I agree with Jessica.”

“Oh, shut up, Elise,” Mathew said as Elise looked around the room. The chairs were all knocked over and desks askew. Music was blasting and there was no order. Jessica followed Elise’s gaze across the room at the people cracking jokes. To the girls’ relief, Mathew left to join them. 

“This doesn’t feel right,” Jessica said. “ Ms. Hogginshwarts is almost never late and NEVER this late.” Just as Elise opened her mouth to respond, The door burst open.

CHAPTER FOUR

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?” Everything stopped. The music stopped, the jokes stopped, the laughter, singing, and dancing stopped. Time itself seemed to stop. 

“Well?”

“Well, what?” A stupid kid named Jacob asked.

“WHO? Who ever told you that it is okay to do this?!” I practically screamed. I was so mad that I could feel my face turning as red as a tomato.

“Do what?” Jacob asked, almost innocently. A small nervous chuckle went around the room.

“This!” I swept my hand around the room. “Who told you it was okay to knock over chairs, blast music, tell jokes, and worst of all, laugh?” I strode into the room, but I was only five steps in when BANG I tripped over a chair and landed on my arm.

 “Aaaarrg!” I was momentarily blinded by the pain. I could faintly hear voices. I finally had the strength to heave myself up. My left arm was trembling with pain. I hobbled over to the other side of the room to call for a substitute. I am so dizzy and I collapse into the nearest chair. I faintly hear someone call an ambulance right before I pass out. 

Next thing I know, I am lying on a hospital bed, dressed in a white hospital gown. I consider pulling myself out of bed to find my husband, but I’m so tired and sore and soon, the softness of my pillow pulls me back into another dreamless sleep.

CHAPTER FIVE

“Hello? Ms Hogginshwarts?” A soft voice murmurs in my ear.

I open my eyes and heave myself into a sitting position. 

“Who-who are you?” I stammer. It takes a lot of effort to speak.

“Oh, good, you’re awake. I am your doctor, Emily. You had quite the fall.” Emily hands me a cup of water. I take a shaky sip. 

Then I ask, “What happened?”

“When you banged your head, you got a minor concussion,” Emily explains. 

“Oh.” Now I feel sick. I reach up to my head with my good arm and wince. There is a huge bump on the side of my head. “What about my arm?” I ask. I try to raise my left arm, but that is met by a sharp pain near my wrist. 

“We don’t know yet,” Emily says. “We needed you awake to take the X-rays.” 

Ten minutes later the X-rays are done and my arm is in a cast. The X-rays showed that I had a hairline fracture in the radius, which is one of the two bones connecting the wrist to the elbow. 

As Emily and I made our way back to my room, a thought struck me. 

“Where’s my son and husband?” I must have accidentally shouted because Emily looked startled and quite taken aback. I quickly covered my mouth, embarrassed. 

“They are in the waiting room. We don’t like to have visitors around the patient if they are asleep,” Emily said. “But you can go see them now,” She added quickly. 

“Thank you,” I said as kindly as possible, hoping to make up accidentally shouting at Emily. 

I walked out to the waiting room and was greeted by happy smiles and hugs. For the first time today, I was happy.

CHAPTER SIX

The next day. I wake up to a sharp pain in my left arm. I must have accidentally rolled onto my broken arm in the middle of the night. I carefully roll over to my other side and doing so, I see my son’s toy truck lying by the foot of my bed, almost in the exact same spot as it was yesterday. Oh, no you don’t, I thought to myself as I fell back into my pillows, letting sleep carry me away once more.

EPILOGUE

The sun felt warm on my face, the waves cold on my ankles. My arm had not pained me all day. And best of all, in my opinion, my students have all behaved well since The Accident. They didn’t play loud music, turn over desks, and there was no fake poop on my desk. All was well.

“Mommy, Mommy!” My son’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts. 

“Yes, honey?”

“Daddy’s gonna swim with me!” I looked over at my husband and we exchanged a knowing smile. 

“Okay, have fun.” I turned away and walked back to our blanket and layed down on my back. The sun beat down on me with a blazing smile and the waves of the ocean washed away all worries. 

Eleanor Pitchal was born in Boston and now lives in Park Slope. She is in 6th grade. She loves to read and write realistic fiction, but also loves fantasy. Eleanor also loves to draw, and is a softball pitcher.

Chapter 1

I dragged my suitcase along the sidewalk. I already knew that magic wasn’t a thing here. Maybe that’s why Mom wanted us to move. Because I was always running off to the wishtree.

The wishtree was something only I knew about. It was the only magic tree – probably ever. Once I was so mad and ran off into the woods. I eventually sat down at a tree. I wished that I could just be happy. Then, I felt a shiver run down my spine. I felt really happy all of a sudden. I ran back home. 

Inside it was cold and dusty. My mom helped me get the blow-up mattress out of my bag. I shivered. I pulled a blanket out And tried to sleep in my dusty old room. Probably full of rats. But I lay down anyway. I stared blankly at the ceiling.

I woke up with a jolt. It was beautiful – the sight of the sunlight and the curtains blowing in the wind. It made the dust shine. I walked into the other room. My Mom handed me a piece of toast and an egg. I sat down at the table with one wobbly chair. “School today.” She said. I sighed. “Honey, I know it’s hard. Moving. But you’ll make friends.”

“Will I?” 

“You will. I promise.”

I arrived at school surrounded by kids screaming out to their friends and pushing through to be the first one there. I thought about going somewhere else, but decided I’d have to face it. I lived here now, and there’s no skipping school with a mom who would ask you about every second of your day. So I walked into the schoolyard and found one class who was obviously bored out of their minds waiting for “the new kid.”

“Okay class! Let’s go inside!” I walked to the back of the line, embarrassed that 24 kids were waiting for me out in the hot sun. The teacher led us into the classroom and everyone sat down. I sat at the empty desk in the back of the class. “Brooklyn, why don’t you come to the front, right here? Calvin, would you go sit in the back?” I grabbed my bag and stumbled to the front of the class. Calvin grumbled and slumped down at his new seat. I did the same. “So, today, we have a new student! Come on up Brooklyn. Brooklyn just moved here from New Jersey! She- er, why don’t you tell us about yourself?” 

The whole class stared at me as I fumbled with my hands. “I– um… I’m Brooklyn and- um… I’m 10.” I looked down at my feet. “I have a dog.” A hand immediately shot up. “Yeah?” I said, nervous about what they would say.

“Me too!” the hand said. Phew. A shy hand slowly went up. “You?”

I held my breath. “Um… what’s it’s-um- name?”  The girl said, obviously as nervous as I was.

“Oh. His name’s Snickers.” I replied with a sigh of relief.

I walked back to my seat. “Sam, would you show Brooklyn around the school? Why don’t you show her where the lunchroom is, and…”

“Sure.” Sam said. Although I didn’t see Sam, I knew she wasn’t too excited about anything. I stood up and so did she, and together we walked down the stairs. “That’s the- um, the cafeteria, and…” She gestured to a room with tables and benches, just like my old school. “That’s th-the music room, and the- the gym.”  I peered into the gym, with two basketball hoops, two soccer goals and an exhausted third-grade class doing jumping jacks. “The science– um, the science room is over here, and that– that’s the aud- auditorium.” Finally, we went back upstairs and the teacher looked at Sam in a, come on, it’s your job even though you don’t like it, way. She led me into the back of the classroom. 

A boy in a seat next to the book bins snickered. “Ooh, Stuttering Sam has a new friend-”

“Shut up, Ted.” Sam replied. “So, this- um, this is the class library, and, um… you can pick out– your book that you’re re– um, that you’ll read.”

At recess, Ted came up to me. “You know, you probably want to tell Ms. Kayla to pair you with somebody else. Nobody likes Sam.” I looked over at Sam who was sitting all alone, drawing in her sketchbook. 

“Go away.”

“Why?”

Sam looked at me. “Because.” Ted had walked away. I sat down next to Sam. 

“Because why?” 

“Because- Why do you- you keep-um- asking why? Nobody likes me. Nobody talks to you- I mean-um- me except you.” 

“Why?” I looked at Sam. “You know, Ted is pretty stupid.” She smiled. It was the first time I saw her smile. 

“Yeah.”

Chapter 2

I opened the door, expecting my mom to be there. But she wasn’t. “Brooklyn! I’m in here!” I took off my backpack and went to my bedroom. I had a real bed! “What do you want for dinner?” I stood there for a second, puzzled why she wasn’t asking me about school.

“Oh, um– whatever. I don’t care.” 

“You okay?” 

“Yeah.”

“Okay, how does macaroni and cheese sound? I wen-”

“Mom, that’s okay. I’m not that hungry anyway.” She walked over and hugged me. “Mom, I’m okay. I just- I’m just tired.”

She looked like she was going to burst.“School– did you meet anybo-”

“Mom! It was fine! I’m fine! Everything– School was fine. Fine!” I felt tears swelling up in my eyes. I knew I couldn’t stop them. So I stood there, in the doorway, crying.
“Honey, come here.”

I stood there. “No!”

I ran out. I needed to get out of this place. I had friends. I had a life and my  mom had to tear me away. If only Joey was here. Or Adrienne, or Amaya. So I ran deep into the woods. The trees made me hope. Hope one had– magic like my wishtree. So I sat down and cried. My mom would never understand.  Never! So I climbed to the top of the tree. I looked at my small city. I smiled. I have no idea why, and I never will. 

The next day at school I sat down at my desk. I looked at Sam. She was doodling on a piece of scrap paper. She handed it to me. It read:

Brooklyn, 

Do you want to be friends? Tell me at recess.

   From, Sam 

   I shoved the paper in my pocket just as the teacher glanced at me. At recess, I went up to her. “Yeah.” I said. “Sure…” I thought about it for a moment. My mom always says, “Friends tell each other.” Would I have to tell her my dad is still in New Jersey? Or about my wishtree? Or, about my friends and old school and everything? But I didn’t really care. “Of course.”

“Really?” 

“Really.”

Chapter 3

I scurried out the door and into the car. We were driving back to New Jersey! Just for a day though. But my Mom said I was having a playdate with Amaya! So first thing on Sunday, I was out the door and buckling my seatbelt, waiting for my mom.  She walked out the door and handed me a piece of toast. 

        “Why are you out here?”

        “I couldn’t wait.” My mom told me to come inside. She said she wanted to talk. When we got inside, she said she was so sorry. She said we couldn’t go. I don’t think she knew how mad I was.

I sat down at my desk (an old one) and started on my homework I didn’t do right. This school does it so differently than my old one. I just didn’t understand this problem. I didn’t understand a lot of things, like how me and Sam just became friends. Or like why we moved. So I did my homework the way I knew because I didn’t know any other way. 

Chapter 4

On Monday, Sam and I were assigned to be partners in reading. We needed to make a poster about our book. We were reading The Penderwicks because I told Miss Kayla about it. We needed to talk about the traits of our favorite character. Sam was writing about Batty and I was writing about Jane. I guess teachers put you with your friend if you don’t know anyone else. I also guess you could call Ted someone I know, but I didn’t want to. 

“Brooklyn, what- what is Batsy’s- Batty’s real name?” Sam whispered to me, her hands red from writing furiously.

“Elizabeth.” I replied, my hands not nearly as red as hers. 

That day was a good day. Tuesdays are the days I dread. P.E., afterschool, and of course loads of homework. Loads.

I ran to the forest and sat down at the wishtree. I wished for a friend and Sam appeared next to me. I wished for a friend again, but nobody else appeared. Sam smiled and I panicked. I woke up in panic, too. It turned out I was dreaming. I was so tired and exhausted that I slumped back down into my bed and fell asleep again to a dream.

I was home. Back home. My mom and dad and my dog Snickers were all there. I ran around until my mom called me in for dinner. I don’t completely remember, but at one point, I was at the wishtree. I was so happy to be there, yet not as happy as I was sitting with Sam on the playground, comforting her. Telling her that Ted was stupid and didn’t – shouldn’t – call her names. I wished to have a good, pure friend I could trust. Amaya came out of the woods. Now, I was happy, but that made me wonder – am I better friends with Sam than Amaya? Than Adrienne? Joey too?

I woke up, tears forming in my eyes. I wiped them aside and looked at the clock. 6:00. I got dressed and started to write in my journal.

Tonight I dreamt of Sam. She is my friend, yet I worry, too good of a friend?

I always write one line, then illustrate it. Today was not the day for drawing. I sat down on my bed. Then, with a sudden jolt of energy, ran to my bookshelf and pulled out, The Lake of Secrets, one of my favorites. It was poetry. I opened it up to her grandma’s favorite, The Only Tree Left.

                            The tree sat in the open field

         Buildings forming around it.

It frowned. 

Then I read more and more and more until my alarm rang at 7:00. My mom was waiting for me at the kitchen table. “Do you want to skip school and go to Amaya’s house?”

“Really?” I frowned. Something was wrong. “Mom, is everything okay?”

“Everything is fine, and do you want to or not?”

“Yeah.” I felt too tired to go back to bed, yet tired enough to sleep again.

“Get in the car. Now.” My mom was obviously not in a good mood. So I got in the car. “Honey, you sure? Ms. Kayla said you made a very good friend, and that she has no other friends…”

“Mom, Amaya is my friend. So is – Sam. But I haven’t seen Amaya in months!” She sighed. 

Later when I woke up in the car, I realized I had a dream. A strange being was telling me that I should not want to go back. That I could still visit my old friends but I should not abandon my new friend. I sat up straight. “Brooklyn, we’re here.”

At Amaya’s house we played secret spies and spied on her sister Annie. “ANNIE!!!” Amaya called out to her sister, then we ran out of the house and Annie had a furious look on her face.

Chapter 5

I was content.

I was happy.

I was amazed.

Sam raised her hand and spoke, something she never did. We shared our poster. We laughed. Ted humiliated himself. It was an amazing week, and I regretted nothing at all. My dad came, moved in and brought Snickers. I was amazed at how I followed the directions of the spirit and I was happy, and just how pure the world seemed. How I could hear the words so clearly. They sounded crisp, like the sharp scent of the rain on a spring morning.

The freshness of the world made me happy.

When my dad came made me content.

And how Sam was so proud and spoke up made me amazed.

On Wednesday, we presented our reading posters, and nobody did as awesome as me and Sam. Nobody could be as good friends, either.

When I visited my old house, the wishtree glowed with enthusiasm.

“Hey!” I said. “Nice to see you again.” I sat down at the wishtree and finally wished for all I would ever need: To always have friends.                

CHAPTER 1

“Hurry up, you slowpoke!” Beni cried. He flung his arms in the air and sailed high above to the gust of the warm wind that gave him that hearty boost.

He stared at the sky. The world, these powers, this ability…it almost felt cosmic, how a single step he could take could physically take him down a rabbit hole.

As I squinted in the November moonlight, I recognized Beni’s familiar figure soaring in the sky like a bird. One leap, and I was soaring too.

How could this have happened?  Well, I used to feel like a goner, in those weary, grimey days that sucked the present out of me, and lost me in the past. Those flashes and pops of lightning and thunder tore me away from my family. All I have now is my annoying brother, Beni.

Sweat crawled up my spine as I wove beneath the tall trees.

It’s crazy to fly. It’s like saying it’s the end of the world if your pencil broke in half.

But crazy doesn’t have to be a bad thing. In fact, it’s not.

If you go back a good ten years, my adventure could start. But my past is not my present. My life now, in the present, is awesome. I go out to soar in the fluffy clouds that drift gently by the bright sky. 

Fine, you want the story of my past? You got to be ready. You got to know it.

You’ve got to need the story of my past. Not just to want the past, but to need it. You have to need my past. 

Why would you need such a grim thing? 

I see. Because I am in the process of telling you this story, and by this story I mean the tall tale of my upsetting, dark past.

I trust you. I trust the press and the publishers and my fellow editor(s) to not make this more than it is, which stands in the category of being a piece of forlorn American literature.

Or not. 

Look, I can’t be just plain old fiction. I exist. You’re going to think that this is just some rip-off book of kids’ fairy tales until you meet me. And when you look into the past, and change it, it affects your present and your future. So if you really are the reason I look into my real past in order to change the amazing present, you better be ready to see me flying across the sky when you crawl under your mom’s bed because you think there’s a thunder storm and it’s actually me soaring like a jet plane at two in the morning.

Well, here’s my past and you won’t like it.

It all started when Mom called me to the breakfast table after a long sleep that night. “Coming, Mom!” I yelled. 

Mom raised her eyebrows and plunked a small pinch pot on the rusty table. My family used to be poor. In fact, they still are. My family is small, like really small. It only goes up about four generations, and there hasn’t been enough people in the family to make enough money to survive. 

I sat in the chair.

Sorry…I mean I stood while eating. As you might have guessed, we couldn’t even afford a single chair. The table, however, was donated to us from a rich family called the Meyers that somehow believed that they had too many things in their house. But the table was rusty, so you could think that they had it for a long time. Like, really long. Crazy long.

When the Meyers had first bought the table, it was actually purchased by the head of the family, Lucia Josephine Meyer. She was an elderly lady who had just retired from her job as a salesman. Every day, she would make about 2,000 dollars! The money would gradually pass down throughout the family and would make them richer and richer until they could probably purchase 20 cars. They were millionaires, maybe billionaires!  The family was cheerful and hopeful until Lucia Meyer died sadly of old age. Her husband, George Topaz Meyer lll, seemed to be affected the most out of all the family members from this big loss. Before George died, he insisted on being buried beside Lucia forever. Lucia and George’s son had become a wealthy salesman as well, and kept the big family going, generation after generation, salesman after salesman, rich houses were constantly being sold and purchased. 

Anyway, the pinch pot had been made from dirty clay from the lake where we got our water. It was our only cup. But we barely used it. Oh, did I mention that I have no father? 

My dad, John Schuyler Thompson, passed away when I was a toddler. Ever since, my mom has been going out with a man named Theodore Akler to fancy dinner parties and stuff. Theodore is not like my real dad at all. His grin is nothing compared to my dad’s friendly, toothy smile.

“So, why is everything so fancy? And how did you get those expensive lantern candles?”

“Well.” Mom smiled, “Mr. Theodore has asked me to marry him!”

I choked on my dirty water. I froze. 

“What?” I squeaked.

“I’m going to marry Theodore!” Mom yelled excitedly.

“Ew!” My many siblings chimed in with disgust.

  But I just gasped.

“Honey, are you all right?” Mom said, her mood switching to concern instantly. “How do you feel?”

The truth is, I didn’t know how I felt. “I’m…fine.” And without asking to be excused, I ran up to my bedroom and started to cry.

CHAPTER 2

“…Then we need to tell the caterer to buy good whipped cream, and I have to get my wedding dress, and we have to serve a million people, and on top of all that, we can barely afford a bouquet!” Mom yelled.

She was trying to plan a wedding with very little time (how is that even possible if you’re penniless?).

I rolled my eyes and sniggered mockingly. “Then just give him back the engagement ring and get un-married.” I joked casually.

“MORRIS MILTON SCHUYLER THOMPSON!” Mom shrieked furiously. “Go to your room now!”

I stormed up to my bedroom and slammed the door shut. I curled into a ball and wept until my pillow was soaked. Change was harsh. But I couldn’t control it. No one could.

“You can come out now.” My mom shouted up to me, like dad always would.

Mom patted a worn-out pillow, indicating that she clearly wanted me to sit there.

“Write down the names of people I tell you to invite.” Mom instructed. “Nana Bleeberg, Aunt Porsha, Rilenne Mackza-”

“Who’s Rilenne Mackza?” I asked.

“Just a kind French lady across the street. She met you when you were in kindergarten.” Mom said.

“Oh.” I replied. “Who else do we need to invite?”

“Let’s see…” Mom pondered. “George Fredrick Wisley, Roxanne Jenifers, Stanley Guatemungo, Madeline Raysyn, Choltiferr Jackobbs, Bostette Watsons, Margarette Lunston, and…”

You might think that that’s a small number of people to invite to a wedding. But the truth is, we couldn’t afford a crumb of Oreos if we tried. Our family was so poor, and we knew we were stuck that way. Living life to the fullest for us was only inviting about ten people to a wedding. 

“Nimbosteen Colsteeronni…and that’s about it.” Mom sighed. “Go set the table, Morris.”

I tossed the napkins onto the table.

All of a sudden, there was a horrid rumbling that could make me deaf. 

“EARTHQUAKE!”  Mom screamed. 

Mom and I huddled under the doorway. Beni and my grandfather did too. The last thing I heard before I blacked out was the frantic sobs of my mother and grandfather as they slowly died.

CHAPTER 3

Springfield, Illinois

Two years later, Beni and I moved into a house next to our friend Chloe’s. We built it out of mud and sticks and wood.

The roof was made of straw.

The forlorn massacre that had destroyed most of my beloved family had traveled to New Zealand – the atomic plates were still shaking. The world was still quaking.

One day, Chloe’s older sister, named Meradith, introduced me and Beni to her husband, Ralph. Ralph took me and Beni to the zoo.

Beni and I were fascinated by a mysterious silver hawk in a restricted room. Beni had trained in Karate for as long as I could remember, so I was not surprised when he blasted open the door to the locked restricted room titled “No Admittance”.

The bird had bit me and Beni. The glossy scar looked like a big deal. Ralph rushed us to the hospital immediately. We got several stitches. Let me tell you this, it wasn’t fun to get bit. But little did Beni and I know that it would end up being the reason we flew. One day when the stitches were removed, it was barely an injury anymore at all. I whooped with joy and sprung into the air. That was the day when I realized that I could fly.

After Ginger and Peter found out that they had the same secret, they decided to go on a trip together. They went from Giant Cat Town to Giant Cat California. They wanted me to share their journey with you. They packed up and said goodbye, but they almost forgot one crucial thing: to pick who will rule Cat Town while they are gone. So they asked their good friend Oliver. He was very nervous, because everyone would depend on him. They just wanted to have a good time and go on a vacation without having to worry about having a secret anymore. They told Oliver “You’ll be fine!” and set off. But…they accidentally took a spaceship instead of their plane to Giant Cat California and they ended up on the moon. Six fish and two snails were trying to trick Ginger and Peter, and since Oliver had no experience being the ruler, they tricked him and became the rulers themselves. But they didn’t know that Oliver was actually used to this, because they go on a lot of trips and they leave him in charge. So when the fish tried to become rulers, it really didn’t work. First of all, they were fighting for who would be the first determined ruler. Secondly, they forgot they were only one or two inches long, and Oliver is a cat.

So, they had a second try, and they barely came out alive because Oliver forgot to cut his nails. 

Now, let’s tell Oliver’s side of the story! 

“I saw a few fish on the floor out of water, so I tried to pick them up and put them in a glass of water. But I accidentally used my claws! Thankfully, I didn’t hurt them, but they were very frightened in my hands. So I quickly put them in a glass of water, and I went and ate lunch. When I came back, they were gone! And the glass was broken. I just hope they’re ok.”

Meanwhile, on the moon….

Ginger and Peter are enjoying the moon quite nicely by eating water cake. My mistake, actually milk cake. They also saw a squirrel pass by, waving to them.

“That’s quite interesting,” Peter said. Ginger agreed and nodded her head. It was very quiet on the moon….UNTIL!…actually, never mind, nothing happened. Yeah, the moon was very quiet and dusty.

Inside the rocket ship, there was a vacuum, so they decided to do the moon a favor, but they accidentally pressed the “blast off” button. Thankfully, they were holding hands, so they blasted off together and landed in Giant Cat California.

I guess the moral of the story is that love can push you through anything….even if you’re trapped on the moon!

Let’s go back to Cat Town.

The snails just told the fish that Peter and Ginger had escaped and were headed somewhere. They traveled halfway around the world by swimming, but they forgot that not everywhere is surrounded by water—and where Peter and Ginger were, in the middle of California, was nowhere near the beach! The fish could go nowhere near that far….their tails would get far too tired! So they found a slice of butter and a tiny stick and started rowing. Thankfully, one of the fish was a carver, so while they rowed, he carved a much safer bus in the butter. So they all went in the bus, 6 fish and 2 snails, and the wheels started sliding on the pavement. Since it was in California, though, the pavement was very hot and the butter started melting. They quickly found a cup and started rolling in it. Again, the carver fish carved a little train. And there were functioning seatbelts. And they were safe in the train. And they thought they had arrived at their destination, but they were wrong. The snails don’t have the best eyes, so they saw the wrong area. They tried again, except when they started rolling again, the train fell apart! Thankfully, they found some bottlecaps and slid down the hill in them, so they decided to have some fun and do what they were trying to do.

They finally got to the hotel, but Ginger and Peter weren’t there. They had left the hotel to go to lunch. One of the fish looked at the snail very oddly. They waited there, but they didn’t have to wait long. The only problem was they couldn’t get inside the hotel, so they thought of a plan as quickly as they could and tried it out. It did not work. They decided to try the next thing, but there was another problem: they had nowhere to stay. So they found a pond nearby, and stayed there for the night. The next day, the cats found flipper prints leading to the pond. They investigated, and found six fish and two snails. Then, they turned them back into good snails and good fish. At the very end of the story, they all went back to Giant Cat Town, and there, waiting for them, was Oliver. He was very tired for some reason, and then he told us why. Being the ruler of Giant Cat Town alone is really hard. Next time, he will ask his sister for help.

The End.

It was October 31st. All of the trick-or-treaters bustled throughout Old Hollow Town, demanding sugary treats. That all ended when they saw the dim outline of a figure next to the woods. It slowly shambled towards the children, lurching and limping. All of the people began to shriek as they realized that the zombie was real.

Unfortunately, one straggler was caught. The zombie bit deep into her flesh, snapping tendons and muscles. She let out one strangled, gurgling gasp then slowly sank to the ground. A few seconds later she rose back up, complexion mottled and green, skin torn and ripped.

All of the stragglers were picked off in that way, and soon, about twelve zombies were lurching through the town. They groaned and clawed at locked doors, knocking a few down. By midnight, thirty zombies were limping out of the town and back into the forest. What had once been a happy procession was now the remains of a grim spectacle.

Red liquid splattered the ground, and the village began rebuilding.

Every year after that, all the zombies would return at that specific time, pick off a few people, and go back to the woods. Visitors stopped coming, and the population dwindled. Soon, everybody died and the town became a horror.

Zombies walked everywhere, hungry for new human flesh. They only had dim flashes of memory from their last life.

What once was Old Hollow Town became known as Dead Hollow Grave.

There was an astronaut that had to go on a big adventure. Her name was Coco. She had to go to six different planets to find a missing alien. The first one was about music. She had to write a song to get past the first planet. The second planet was about dancing. She had to choreograph a dance. The third one was about adventure. She had to find an adventure on the planet. The fourth one was about drawing. She had to draw a self-portrait. The fifth one was about love. She had to find her true love. The last one was about fun. She had to make it fun to find the alien. 

For days, she was thinking about a song and she finally had it. Coco went into the planet, but the planet wouldn’t take it. Coco tried about five times, and then she picked it up, noticing something was wrong. It wasn’t the right paper. She went back into the spaceship and she looked all around. She found it underneath her pillow, and she put it on the planet. The planet finally accepted and let her move onto the next one.

A week later, she finally figured out her photograph for planet two. Coco danced all around, but the planet wouldn’t take it. Something was wrong. She had no more ideas, so she went back into the spaceship. Coco had the wrong boots. That’s what she was missing to be a good dancer. She looked all around and she found them in the bathtub. And then the planet took it. So, she went onto the next planet .

On planet three, Coco had to find an adventure. She thought that it would be impossible to find one. Eventually, she found one, and left. 

The fourth planet needed a drawing. It took Coco a very long time to draw herself but she finally did it. But she forgot one thing. She forgot to draw the nose. She put it on the planet, but the planet didn’t take it. She looked all around and she finally noticed it. She practiced the nose on a different piece of paper, and she messed up a tiny bit, but she still got it accepted.

The fifth planet. Coco thought it would be impossible to find true love on the planet. She looked for more than three months, but she still couldn’t find it. She finally found someone on the planet that was her true love. They danced; they made music together, which almost made her forget about the adventure. Her true love had to go straight to Earth. The planet accepted it, but she was sad that she had to leave her true love. 

The sixth planet. Coco tried for almost a year, but she couldn’t find something fun. After that year, she finally found a toy. She had no idea what it mean or what to do with it. But the toy had something written on the back. It said that if you shake it, something magical will appear. So she shook it about five times and finally found the missing alien. She went back to Earth, and everybody thought she would never return. But she did return, and she found her true love again. She experimented on the alien in her secret lab. She needed to find out why the alien went missing. She thinks it escaped and wants to go back to its own planet and that there’s probably more aliens. So, she went back up and found one more planet. The planet of sparkles. 

Coco was so amazed that she passed out and had to tell everyone. Now every time she goes to space she always visits her alien friends. Sometimes they put on musicals, and she sometimes does new adventures. Everybody in the neighborhood throws one big party for her. It was one party she would never forget. The end.

I stared out the window. The snow made the playground all white. It was lunchtime. We had recess after lunch. We would definitely have indoor recess. I stared at my lunch bag. Spaghetti and meatballs again. That was the only thing my mom had ever packed since we got back from Mexico. Even though my stomach grumbled like a hungry lion, I didn’t want to eat spaghetti and meatballs. I kept a chart of how many times my mom packed spaghetti and meatballs and I was at 19 days! But the days just kept coming: 20, 21, 22, 23, 24! I counted on and on each day. I was getting so tired of it.

Finally, no meatballs! Still spaghetti though. What were those things? I noticed they were moving. Not moving like rolling, but opening and closing. I was confused and hungry, so I started to pick up my fork. Suddenly I started to notice something bad. Wait a minute. 

“Are those clams?” I thought to myself, “Ahhh!” 

I ran to get school lunch. Nope. It was spinach with carrots and sweet potato fries. Gross! I tried not to barf. I found some crackers lying in the corner of the cafeteria. I gobbled them up. Ewww. They tasted like people’s feet. I didn’t know what to do. I asked my friend Hanna if she would share her salami with me. She only gave me one piece. I ripped it up into small pieces to last me the whole lunch period. I was still hungry. I wished I had something like pizza. 

When I got home, I could barely breathe. I slumped on the couch. 

When my mom got home from work, the first thing she said was, “Why the gloomy face, kiddo?” 

“You,” I breathed, “packed…me…clams…” I started, “For lunch!!! Ahhh!!!” I yelled. 

I ran all the way up two flights of stairs to my room. 

Mom ran after me screaming,” Aliela, come back!!!” 

I didn’t want to upset Mom. I think I mostly upset myself. Mom didn’t seem upset, I think she only wanted to talk with me, but I just wanted to be alone. 

Then, I heard the front door moan. My older brother, Kalub, was home. Kalub was in high school, and he participated in a world-wide famous high school football game. 

“My team won.” Kalub bragged. 

“I don’t think that is true,” Mom said, face buried in her computer. 

She probably searched it up. Kalub’s team was called Dark Hawks. The other team was Alley Champs. 

We had started eating dinner so I was glad that the subject had changed! 

“Mom,” I said. “May I be excused to get dessert?” 

“Eat a little bit more,” she said. “And then you can eat dessert.”

“Mom!” 

I decided not to bring up the subject of lunch, but I’ll bring it up tomorrow morning. I needed more time to forgive Mom in my head before I chose to talk about it. I just hoped Mom remembers to not give me clams for lunch tomorrow!!!