“I should really try to fall asleep, but I can’t stop thinking about Grandpa. What if he dies? Grandma and Mom will be so sad. Who would sing me that song he always sang me? Who would always say ‘What happened to the other 5 points,’ when I told him I got a 95 on my test?” Natalie’s nose started to run and her eyes started to water. “Life would never be the same,” Then Natalie really started to cry.
“Natalie, I have something to tell you,” Natalie’s dad said very caringly. He sounded like he was about to tell her something very important. “What is it Dad?” Natalie asked. “Last night,” he hesitated, “Grandpa was put to sleep.” “What?” Natalie asked her voice trembling. “I’m so so sorry Natalie.” The minute Natalie got to school, she ran into the building. Natalie pulled her hood over her eyes because all of the sudden it started to pour. The rain made her feel even sadder. She ran past all the people, the blue metal lockers and lots of classrooms. Then, she ran straight into the bathroom. “I can’t believe it,” she said. “He’s actually gone.” Natalie stared at the thick beaded bracelet he had made her. They had been really close. Her eyes were making tears as fast as electricity traveling through the air. When her red swollen eyes settled down, she went to class. Natalie stared at the bracelet her grandpa had made her all day. She didn’t pay attention one bit that day.
“But would he really want me to be sad? I know this a sad time, but still.” Natalie was in history class, and she just couldn’t get her mind off her grandpa. “I mean he always hated when I was sad, and wouldn’t I want him to be happy?” Natalie thought about this all day. The second Natalie got home she told her mom. “Mom, I’ve been thinking.” Natalie’s mom was in the kitchen standing next to the big metal sink chopping carrots for their dinner. “What is it Natalie?” asked her mom looking up from her cutting. “ I’ve been thinking all day and I don’t think Grandpa would really want us to be sad. I’m going to try really hard to overcome my sadness and maybe you can try, too,” she said. “Natalie,” her mom said. “You’re right. We should try that.”
“O.K., Natalie,” Natalie said to herself as she walked in the big glass doors and walked straight to her little blue locker. “Remember, don’t be sad. Grandpa wouldn’t want you to be.” She was doing great, but then she went to lunch. As she was walking she saw a kid with all her grandpa’s favorite’s. Salad no dressing, tomato juice, peaches, pistachio nuts and grapes. Almost instantly after she saw that, Natalie bursted into tears. She ran into the bathroom. “ I’m so so sorry grandpa,” she said looking up. “I’ve tried to be strong I really have. This is just too much for me. I miss you so much. ” When she felt a little better she went back to the cafeteria and ate her lunch. After that she was sad all day.
“Mom,” Natalie said when she got home. She walked into the living room, past the big brown chair that she always loved to sit in. “I’m so so sorry.” Natalie cried. “What happened Natalie?” her mom asked. “I cried at school. I couldn’t help it. We were so close and I loved him so much. I’m sorry Mom.” “Natalie it’s O.K. to be sad about it sometimes. Just not all the time.” Natalie’s mom walked over to her. “I’ll help you overcome this,” her mom said and already Natalie felt a little better. After she finished her dinner, she walked to the music room slowly and found the shinny wooden violin. She picked it up, put it in position under her chin and started to play. She felt so good to play her grandfather’s violin.
I sit on the chair and stare at my calender right in front of me. The rays of the sun reflection are laying on the floor of my room. I still sit on the chair and stare at the calender. I get up and walk staright to the window and I feel the heat.
“Haley, stop doing whatever you are doing and get ready for ballet,” Mom growled in an angry tone.
I got woried, so I quickly got dressed. I was all ready for the tryouts today. I had on my silk skirt with red roses, my shining pink tights, and my red leotard with the black diamonds. The people at my school all like black diamonds. I rushed down the stairs as quick as a chettah where I saw my mom wearing an angry face. “ Okay mom, I am ready for my tryouts,” I said nervously in a quit voice.
I ran out of the house quickly, so my ballet slippers wouldnt’t get wet because it rained last night.
I got to ballet and as quick as a lion, I ran outside. There, right in front of me, is Rita, under a dark flickering lamp. Rita is the meanest girl I ever met. I sat and waited on a red couch far away from Rita until my teacher called me in. “ Surprised you came back,” Rita rudely said.
Rita had never been nice to me and she thought I would never come back to ballet tryouts. I heard a loud roar of laughter. “ Why don’t they like me? I can be a good friend,” I said to myself inside my head.
I didn’t really know how to be a good friend because I have never had a friend.
I heard my name being called, “ Haley, please come in.”
I nervously went into the dance studio. All seven mirrors were showing me; just me. I saw my dance teacher sitting on a chair in the middle of the room. I quickly, but quietly ran to the barre. Walking on the dark grey floor, Ms. Patrice, my ballet teacher, went to the desk to get a pad of paper and a pen. She kept on looking at me dance and then writing how I did on the notepad. She wouldn’t stop writing. The sweat from my hair dripped past my eyes, past my nose, down my mouth and past to the floor.
I finally finished my tryouts. I felt like I would drop down dead because I was so nervous, but I didn’t. I stood up straight and waited at the barre for my ballet teacher to tell me how I did. Ms. Patrice never came back to tell me how I did.
I came out of tryouts and I saw my mom waiting right in front of me. I said shivering, “ Mom, I am glad tryouts are over. I was as scared as a person seeing a hungry lion, but I thought I did pretty well.”
I looked at my mom until there was a moment of silence. We went to back in the car and walked on the wet earth below us. Then I heard, “Great sweetie. I am glad you had fun.”
I made a confused face at her but she just smiled back. “ Was she not listening to me? I never said I had fun.” I quietly whispered to myself.
I never told my mom I had fun. I said I was nervous. Later that day, I heard the phone ring, but before I got to the phone, my mom picked it up. It seemed like an inportant conversation so I kept quiet My mom hung up the phone when she was finished and quietly came into my room while I was doing homework. My mom quietly whispered to me, “ Haley, you got the main part in one of the shows.”
I was amazed and I started dancing around my room and jumping on my pink bed. My mom quietly whispered, “ But you will be working with Rita.”
I heard a low buzzing noise in my head.
I went to school the next day and I saw Rita at recess. Rita was playing on the big open field. I acted as if I wasn’t there. Rita saw me though and came up to me and said, “ Haley, do you want to play with me?”
I was shocked. All my life I thought that this would never happen. So, I played with her. For this one time, I actually felt comfortable with Rita. We played around on the playground, and we went on the swings together. I wished this recess would never end, but unfortanatly, everything has to come to an end.
“Hey, Bruce!” I called out as I felt the cool summer breeze flow through my hair. “Hey, what’s up Tommy?” Bruce called back. “You play the bass rite?” I asked. “Yeah,” he said. “So maybe do you want to start a band with me?” “Sure. I never thought of having a band. I guess I will join.” It sounded more like a maybe than a positive sure. “I already got Paul to be our drummer,” I said. “The band is called The Void.
PRACTICE
“WawaAWAAWWAwawwaw,” went the music. It felt like I had a bomb in my ear. It was so loud. We were having practice. “Let’s make an album I said. 10 songs.” The band was doing well and sent the album to Casablanca records not knowing what was going to happen months later…
CASABLANCA
Months later the band got a letter from Casablanca. The band read it together and this is what happened. “May I?” I joked. “1,2,3” “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” the band yelled in union. Are you wondering what happened? I will tell you. The band just got signed to Casablanca records.
TOMMY VS. BRUCE
“The bands got to practice more!” I exclaimed. “The band practices enough!” yelled Bruce. “Once a week isn’t enough for a signed band. We need more songs,” I yelled. All the kids were cheering fight fight fight. Than, I felt a bullet at my nose. Red, that’s what I saw. The taste of blood tickled down my throat. I almost fell down hard on the hallway floor. I couldn’t belive we were fighting. Tommy vs. Bruce. We were so close and now we are fighting. I punched him in the eye, the chin, and the stomach. I also took some punches. One in the eye, stomach, and chest. Blood was what the floor looked like. At least all I could see. It was over. We were both on the hallway floor. I was tired of hearing everyone yelling fight fight fight. The band was obviously over.
THOUGHT OF COMPROMISE
Months later I realized I didn’t get what I want because I didn’t compromise enough. If I compromised with Bruce we wouldn’t have fought. I think I should try to get the band back together. But first I should apologize to Bruce.
I didn’t know how I did it but I did. The band was back. “That’s my story,” I said to the other musicians I was talking to. All those good and bad times eventually payed off. I had what I wanted; a band, good friends, and music everywhere.
THE END\
I was sitting in my room thinking about what I wanted to do over vacation. Thten I thought about a tennis tournament in Florida. In the bottom right hand corner of my right eye I saw my first tennis trophy. The trophy was shiny and it glittered in the sunlight. I won that trophy when I was 6 years old and it was my first tournament. I thought about how maybe I could play in that tournament again, because I hadn’t played in the tournament in four years.
I decided to ask my dad if I could play in that tournament over vacation. I went downstairs where my dad was reading his new book in our library. I questioned, “I was wondering if this summer I can play in the tournament I played in when I was 6 years old.” My dad then muttered, “I will think about it and I will tell you later.” He had a frown on his face and he wasn’t very inthusiastic because I lost last year.
Alittle later, I heard my dad’s legs pounding up the stairs. He opened the door and came into my room. He told me I could play in the tournament but, If I lost I could never play in the tournament again. “Why”? I asked. He said the tournament is expensive and it takes away a lot of my free time. He also told me, “Jack, you should be very thankful that you can play in these tournaments.”
I started practicing so I would do well and impress my dad. I was going to use the strategy my coach gave me. I was under a whole lot of pressure and the wind outside was blowing more and more. I practiced for hours every day. I was so tired one day I fell asleep in school.
My strategy was to hit behind the service line and keep the ball in play. I also pushed myself to do 100 push ups a day. After that I felt great.
We left on a plane for Orlando, Florida. Then we drove about twenty minutes to the place where the tournament was. I felt great and I stormed through every match except for the final match. It was the third set tiebreaker the score was 22-21 Iwas leading. On the next point I hit the ball at a speed of 90 miles per hour. It was an ace and I won the match. I had a great vacaion and I played in the tournament for many years to come.
Ferrari Tale
“That’s the most butiful car I’ve ever seen.” Schumacher loved all cars. Schumacher said to himself. One of the kids was getting picked up in a Ferrari. “Wow,” the Ferrari shot out of the pickup line like a bullet. Schumacher had never seen a Ferrari before. It reminded him of his grandfather’s racing carrier with Alfa Romeo. “Ferrari World.com, that’s the website I’ll go to.” Schumacher searched the 575m. “I want that car so badly.” Schumacher had fallen in love. “ I’ve got to have one!” Schumacher kept thinking to himself. “Dad?” “Yes?” His dad responded. “Can you get a Ferrari?” “Yes but you have to get better grades.”
Schumacher came into the classroom and started to study. “Hey do you want to study with me?” One of Schumacher’s friends asked. “Sure,” Schumacher responded. Normally Schumacher hated to study because he might get something wrong, but this time he had studied harder, because he wanted to do well. He wanted that Ferrari.
“Ok class put your study guides away,” the teacher said. “You have 20 minutes.” Schumacher took the test. “I hope I do well.” Schumacher thinking to him self, when the teacher brought out the tests Schumacher was hoping for 100 but all he got was 65. “What!” Schumacher was furious. “How could I get a bad score?” He slouched down in his chair and moped.
“I can’t believe that I didn’t do well on the test.” “I’ve got to study harder.” One week had passed and Schumacher was ready for the next test. He knew he’d do well. “Ok class, here are the tests.” “I hope I do well, I’ll do well.” Sure enough he passed. Now his dad will get the Ferrari. “Yes!” Schumacher couldn’t wait.
“Dad?” Schumacher wanted his dad to know that he had aced the test. “Yes?” “Can you get the Ferrari now?” “Did you get 100?” “Yes.” “Ok than lets go the Ferrari dealer.” Schumacher was so happy. His got the Ferrari; it was Nero Daytona with a red interior. Schumacher loved it. “I finally got my dream car.” Schumacher got what he wanted.
The End
“ Paul, do you want to come over to my house after school?” Jack asked, “ I can’t,” said Paul “ I have hockey practice.” His friend then said, “That’s the 10th time this month.” Paul feels really bad that he can’t go over to his friend’s house. Paul is very upset because he wants his friends to appreciate him.
“ Hey, Joe, did you get my invitation to my party.” He was turning 10 “ Yeah but I cant come I have something else to do.” So Paul goes to George to ask him. George can’t come because he has something else to do also. So the only person who showed up to his party was his best friend Dave. Paul new the reason his friends didn’t show up was because he never went to their parties.
Paul walked over to the hockey rink and saw the big gold trophy. Paul wanted to win that trophy so badly. Paul then remembered that his friend had invited him over to his party, which was the same day and time. Paul didn’t know what to do because he wants his friends to appreciate him but he also wants to win that big gold trophy that he had wanted to win since the begging of the year after that Paul thinks a lot but still doesn’t know what to do.
“ Paul is everything alright.”His mom questioned. “ No my friends are starting not to appreciate me any more.” So Paul and his mom have a minute of silence and they’re both thinking. Paul’s mom was thinking for a about 5 minutes in a dark room with one light dimmed Then Paul’s mom said I just remembered that your hockey season ends on Friday. Paul was relived.
“ Hey Paul do you want to come over to my house today.” said Adam “ I cant today because it’s the last day of my hockey season so maybe tomorrow. Paul starts to realize that his friends are starting to appreciate him. Paul didn’t miss a play date or party for the rest of the year and his friends had started to finally him again.
Paul could feel his mouth starting to grin as he realized that he was finally realized for sure that his friends were appreciating him.
~KATH~
The bread came and Mrs. Parker reached over while looking at the waitress and saying, “Thank you.”
“What is the event?” asked Kath in a puzzled way. The two parents looked at each other with a serious face and nodded.
“Well, honey, see your mother and I haven’t been working well with each other. Katherine, we want you to know that both of us are always going to be here for you when you need us,” said Mr. Parker as he was trying to get Kath’s attention from the dessert table. She had thought about eating the whole dessert tray before she started her dinner. “Your mother and I are getting a divorce.” Katherine’s eyes stopped looking at the desserts and stared right at both of her parents in shock of that word. She didn’t even know what that word meant. It was just the way he had said it. It must have meant something really bad that could change her life.
“What does that mean?” asked Kath in a stunned voice. She stopped playing with the lace at the bottom of her pink skirt anxiously a waiting to know what it meant.
“That means that your mother and I aren’t going to be living together in the same house anymore.” Just then, Kath didn’t even think about it. She just burst into tears. She felt like she was going to explode with fountains and fountains of tears. She didn’t want to do the family picnic that was going to be a surprise for her parents. Kath jumped out of her seat and began to run out of the restaurant in never ending tears. She ran down the parking lot and across the street to the parking lot of a big bookstore. She ran into the bookstore with her tears running down her face, about seven out of each eye a second. She ran and got the biggest book she could find in the bookstore and went into a corner and opened the book and set it up in the air in a way so no one could see her weeping face. She put her face in her lap and wrapped her arms around her knees.
Only a few minutes later, she heard footsteps coming down toward her.
“Honey, honey,” she heard the voice say. It was not just one voice. It was two. The two people were in front of her. She put her face down hard in her lap. A person picked up the book. She did not want to look. “Kath, where have you been? Why did you run off like that? I understand you do not like it, but your father will come visit a lot and you will spend a lot of time with the both of us.” Kath lifted her head up so her parents could see he red eyes and said, “But we will not be a family anymore.”
The next day was not just like any other. The sun was shining in Kath’s window with a bright yellow and pick color, that made a bright square on her pink bed sped, but she wanted desperately to stay in bed. What would she tell her friends? Would she be able to keep it a secret?
She arrived at school. The schedule was just the same in the morning. After lunch, recess came and she began to panic. Her friends asked, “What did you do yesterday?”
Kath did not know how to answer. If she told them the truth, tears would begin to fall and nothing would ever be the same again. The only way to keep it in was to lie. “Last night, I went to a fancy restaurant with my parents. The food was delicious. They had the best desserts I have ever tasted.” Tears started to run down Kath’s eyes. Just the memory of the place and the desserts made her sad.
“Kath, why are you crying?” asked one of Kath’s friends Alisa. Kath couldn’t do it. She couldn’t keep it from her friends, especially her best friend Alisa.
“Okay the truth is that last night my parents told me that they were getting a divorce,” said Kath as she put her head down. More tears came flowing down Kath’s face.
“Oh my, Kath. Are you okay?” asked Alisa while she went to go give her a hug.
Alisa’s parents have been divorced for a long time now.
When Kath got home to her house her dad was there for some reason. She burst into a sprint toward him and jumped into his arms. As Kath’s dad held her he asked, “How was school today, sweetie?”
Kath moved her head out from his shoulder and out straight to talk to him. “I told my friends that you and Mommy are getting divorced,” said Kath in a sad voice. Kath turned her head to look at her mother as she spoke to Kath,
“Sweetie, even though your dad and I aren’t together anymore, doesn’t mean that were not ever going to spend time together just the three of us.” “ But we all wont be with each other every day and night,” Said Kath as she tried to correct her mother. Kath turned her head back around so she could hear her father talk to her, “Kath, when your mother and I were together we still didn’t spend every day and night with each other because of my business trips everywhere.”
“Well, I guess your right.” Said Kath as she was confessing to her dad.
That night Kath’s dad had to go to Asia, for one of his business trips. Kath stood at the door holding her mom’s hand weaving goodbye to her dad as he got in the car. He said he promised that when he gets back, the three of them would go to the same restaurant that they did the other night. But this time there would be no crying and, most important to Kath, she would be able to eat the whole desert try (at least that’s what she thought) without eating her dinner first.
“Where the heck are we?” Rob complained as we trudged past the same clearing for the fifth time in a row.
“Ask that clearing,” I replied irritably. “As it appears to be following us.” We were lost. We were in the Catskills mountain range of the Appalachian Mountains. The sun shone through the leafy green canopy and dappled patterns on the ground made the forest floor look like an undulating, swaying hammock of green, brown, and grey. We had gone an exceptionally long way from camp today and couldn’t find our way back. A shiver ran down my spine. A shiver? NOBODY I repeat NOBODY shivers in summer, which it was now. The last person who shivered in summer died the next day.
“Help me,” I whispered. “We are dead meat.”
I awoke to a cold, wet feeling on my back and a dark sense of foreboding. All of a sudden a humongous wave smashed me from the leafy bed that I had made before. It roared like some primeval monstrosity and moved exceedingly fast for a wave. To fast for my liking. “Help!” I yelled but it was not forthcoming, and anyway it would have been notwithstanding. Rob and Dad were engaged in the same activity as me namely fighting to stay afloat.
“swim for higher ground,” Dad yelled, struggling not to go under. “it’s our only hope of survival.” Actually it was pretty long of a sentence for the circumstances.
“Get a move on Joe,” yelled Rob.
“Shut up” I replied. “ Your closer!” We swam. Oh how we swam. We finally made it to a small hillock just a few inches from the water, then surveyed the damage. It was in shambles.
“Okay,” Rob said. “Lesson one. Camp further away from the river.”
My nose twitched. I smelled smoke. Smoke! Dad was a late sleeper and Rob and I were not allowed make a fire on our own.
That meant… “Wake up!” I screamed. “Fire!”
Rob and dad were awake instantly. It was a week after the flood and no rain had fallen. The ground was as dry as flour. Dead twigs littered the ground like ciggarettes in New York, and logs lay on the ground, uprooted be the tumultuios flood.
What had started as the ashes on our campfire had been scattered and were now ablaze. It had started by my cheek. Good. If it hadn’t we would not have known until to late.
The whole clearing suddenly burst into flame. We ran. We ran faster than the flood, and dove into the river.
“Okay lesson two,” Rob proclaimed. “Bury the campfire.”
We awoke on the other side of the river. On the other there was nothing to eat or take shelter in but ashes. We had found some stepping stones and crossed it to the other side.
It was still green over on this side of the river and shadier from the hot summer sun.
“I have a great idea,” I said. “Why don’t we make a house.”
“Cool,” Dad crowed.
So we set to work. We hung boughs in a lean to and carved wooden bowls with slate knives that we had made. (Actually they were more like sharp pieces of slate than actual knives.)
When that was done we boiled pitch and resin into sticky glue. Then we stuck it in the gaps. When it dried we crawled in. We had a house.
When we awoke we were completely refreshed. We had big plans for today. Huge plans in fact. We were going to make an S.O.S fire. We put kindling in the shape of the letters. We used smoky stuff like pine needles as well. Then we put the logs on. Dad lit it. It was superb. Smoke and flames shot skywards in the clearing.
“If nobody sees that, nobody will ever find us,” Dad said.
We fed it every once in a while to keep it going and just went on with this unusual part of our life.
Soon we would be eating real food in a real house. We acted calm and tried to just go on as though nothing had happened. But nobody could quell the excitement built up in our chests. We could be out in a flash.
Also we kept sending out small patrols to find the camp. One day we stumbled across an empty campsite. It looked like our original camp but a bit weathered. We found the camp!
“There it is,” I whispered.
We found food, clothing and supplies. We even found a compass! Now we didn’t need to use the sun and stars to navigate the forest. And guess what? We found our car, a range rover with a G.P.S tracking system. Now we were already home. All we had to was type in our address and follow the directions indicated. We packed the gear and some of the bowls that we collected from the camp as a souvenir. We started to drive.
We arrived.
“Well, no more sleeping outside,” I thought. Then I added mentally. “And no more waking up to find out that mosquitoes ate my arms.”
I trudged down the driveway to our house. To home.
The End.
F.B.I. Warning
You must have a big imagination to read this story or you will be arrested by the F.B.I. like Troy’s parents.
You must read Couch Pato too under stand this story.
Well as you know Troy came home to a pigsty like home with mud and trash on the ground. He walked through the trash and mud all over the ground, that you couldn’t even see the floor. He call’s out for his dog, Max. He pulls out his homework from his stop and shop bag he Stoll from a hobo. Max comes running to Troy, as Troy rips up his homework and feeds it to Max. Then went over to the couch and sat down, as he sat he thought of how to be the best bully.
The next day Troy went to school at 12:00 when school starts at 8:00. His teacher Miss Cary said, “Were is your home work?” “My dog ate it,” Troy muttered. “Don’t tell me that agene,” Miss Cary said in a deep angry voice, as a squaw went on her face. Troy got so mad he said, “ I will,” and then punched her in the eye. Then troy ran to the arcade, as the thunder and lightning gets heaver.
The next day Mojo went to the library. He went right to the books and picked one out in 10 secends,
My Mom is Like a Kid
Many people don’t relize that my mom is like a kid, but I’ve come to know that she is like a kid. She is like a kid for many reasons. One reason my mom is like a kid is, she wathches Spongebob in the mornings with me. Another reason my mom is like a kid, is she always wants to make a puzzle with me. She is also enthuziastic about reading my books whitch are for kids. I feel she is a kid.
Once, on a saturday morning my mom whispered “ Let’s eat in the kicthen.” I whispered, “ o.k.” I wanted to see what was on T.V.While my mom made breakfast I wondered what she was making. It would probably taste good. I went into the T.V. room. It was Spongebob on T.V. We ate in the T.V. room, after all. We ate in the T.V. room because of Spongebob!
My mom is like a kid because she always wants to make a puzzle with me. When she wanted to get a puzzle. So, I told my dad we were going to get a puzzle. He said “ no.” My mom and I were sad.
My mom loves to read my books. Like a few weeks ago. She said get into bed so many times. She was so ready. We read the day before and the day before that. It seemed different this time. My mom couldn’t wait.
I relize my mom is sometimes more like a kid than I am. My mom thinks differentely from me even though were both kids. I still love her. Eventhough she gets crazy sometimes.