Star and the Dilemma

by Lucy Q., age 8
Star and the Dilemma Lucy lives in Brooklyn and has one sibling. Her favorite subject in school is art. Her favorite hobby is finger knitting. She likes writing fantasy stories and mysteries.

“Hi, my name is Star. I like to sword fight with my brother, Ash. I am a really good archer. I get a bullseye every time I shoot the arrow.”

Chapter One: Hi

Hi, my name is Star. I like to sword fight with my brother, Ash. I am a really good archer. I get a bullseye every time I shoot the arrow.

“Bullseye!” my dad shouted every time I shot.

Then Ash said, “Can you teach me?

So I said, “Not now.” But today I said, “Okay, Ash, but tomorrow, okay?”

“Fine,” said Ash.

“Oh, and did I tell you I am not allowed to use my bow without grown-up supervision?”

The next day I woke up to the delicious smell of pancakes and my brother jumping on me yelling, “Wake up! Wake up! Dad made pancakes!”

I was annoyed. “Did you have to wake me up by jumping on me?” I said.

“Yes, yes I did,” Ash said as he walked out of my room.

I got out of bed and put on my slippers, then went downstairs.

When I got downstairs, I saw a delicious looking plate of pancakes.

As soon as I saw the pancakes, I ran to the table and started to shove pancakes in my mouth.

Then Ash, rubbing his hands together and grinning evilly, said, “Time to teach me.”

I stopped shoving pancakes in my mouth and said, “Mumumumu,” but I meant to say, I’m going camping with my friends.

Ash said, “What? I thought you were going to teach me how to shoot the bow and arrow correctly.”

I said, “Sorry, but I already arranged the sleepover in the woods with my friends.”

Ash ran upstairs and slammed his door. Then I went upstairs into my room and started to pack.

Chapter Two: The Camping Trip

After I finished packing, I went to my friend’s house and knocked on the door.

She opened the door and said, “Hi.”

I said, “Hi, Julia. Is Abby here yet?”

Julia said, “Not yet, but she’s coming soon.”

I said, “Great!”

“Did you bring your equipment for the trip?” Julia said.

We heard a knock on the door, so we opened it. It was Abby!

Chapter Three: It Begins

We went outside into her backyard. We saw the path to the forest. As we stepped in, I realized that I forgot something.

I said, “Be right back,” and I ran home.

I grabbed my bow and arrows and snuck out of the house. Then I ran back to my friend’s house. Her mom let me in, and I went back to the forest. They had already set up camp. So we started to make dinner. We made pasta, corn, and salmon. And for dessert we had packaged cake. After we finished eating, we went to bed. I woke up first, and then I fell back to sleep. I woke up for the second time to the sound of a scream.

I stuck my head outside and said, “What’s wrong?”

And that’s when I saw it… a giant black bear. I went back into the tent and grabbed my bow and arrows. Then I remembered I wasn’t allowed to shoot it without grown-up supervision. Then I thought, Would I rather have a giant black bear chasing me? Or would I rather be safe? I went outside the tent and told them to go to the side of the forest. I raised my bow, and I shot. I got the bear right in the arm, and it got pinned to a tree.

Chapter Four: The Plan

The bear was pinned to the tree. I felt bad for it and so did my friends. So we tied the rope to the arrow. Our plan was to pack up everything that we had, get far enough away, and then pull the rope, so the bear would be set free. We started to pack up things, and then we started off toward the house. And then we tugged the rope. The bear was set free. It was scared, so it didn’t run toward us. It just turned around and ran farther into the forest. When we got inside, we were panting. We ran because we thought the bear would chase us. But luckily it didn’t. Julia’s mom gave us a snack. The snacks were chocolate cupcakes with marshmallow icing. Then I went home.

My dad saw me with my bow and said, “Why do you have that? I thought you left it in your room.”

I told him that I used it to save my friends.

Chapter Five: The Conversation

My dad told me that I shouldn’t have brought my bow and that I was grounded for a month. Then I told my dad that there would be a bear scratching at my window if I didn’t bring my bow. He still thought it was wrong, but he took back the punishment after a while. I went up to my room, and I unpacked. I ran over to my friend’s house, and I invited her to my house to camp in my backyard.

She said, “Okay,” and she started to pack.

She went to my backyard, and she saw that there was a tent, a campfire, and there was some food. We went inside, and we got a few snacks, like cookies, strawberries, whipped cream, and hot cocoa mix. We started to make dinner, and then we went to bed. The next morning we woke up, and it was 8:00 in the morning. All the lights were off in the house, and that was unusual for my family. Everyone woke up early. Neither my parents nor my brother were there. They always woke up early. I was the only late sleeper in the house. We went inside, and we heard nothing. We were scared.

“What do we do?” said Julia.

“I don’t know,” I responded, staring at the dark kitchen.


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