The Fairies By the Pond

Caroline Payne

I love fairies, and I love looking for them. One night, I crept out of my bedroom to go looking for them.

I slid silently between branches, bushes, leaves, and shrubs. I came to the banks of a small stream dancing merrily along, reflecting the full moon on its clear surface. It looked like very good drinking water. Then I saw a movement that made my heart stop. I had come to the right place. Though, I had not been looking for any one place. I saw tiny houses arranged in a semi-circle. All the houses had a thatched roof and wood-chip shutters. There were lights in all of them. I could hear curious music just audible over the stream. I could also see pearly figures dancing in a wholesome way.

Then I did something that I would regret for the rest of my life. I stepped on a twig. It made a tremendous cracking noise. The music stopped. There was a great rustling. The lights went out. Then I heard a voice. It was sharp and unforgiving.

“Why are you here?” he didn’t wait for an answer. “You have trespassed on the Land of the Sprites. You have stepped on the land of the ENDANGERED sprites!”

“But I…”

“I don’t want to hear any but I’s! I am the King of Sprites! I don’t have time for this. You are a prisoner! A servant of sprites!”

I couldn’t speak. I just turned planning to run but some kind of horrified trance held me back. I couldn’t move because I was rooted to the spot. Then the King of Sprites pulled out a stick. No, it was a wand and he pointed it at me. He then mumbled some words (something like mimblewhimble) and without me making myself do it, I began to walk forward.

I ended up before a gigantic tree. The King of Sprites had followed me. He tapped a certain piece of bark and a small door opened at the base. He then flicked his wand, and without wanting to, I crawled through the door to a small room with a dirt floor, no light, and no windows.

“You can stay here and rot!” he grinned and let out a low cackle. Then he turned and left. The door locked behind him.

That night, I cried myself to sleep. When I woke up, I stood up and stretched, perfectly miserable. I was very hungry, but I knew I wouldn’t get any food. That day, I kept boredom away by thinking of my family, ways to get out, and what my family was doing. I fell asleep that night very, very hungry.

A thundering of hooves, that sounded like it was coming straight for the tree, woke me up. I scuttled to a corner and crouched there, waiting for whatever was coming to crash. Pieces of bark flew everywhere. Something blueish appeared with a gold, sparkling horn. It was a Unicorn!

The Unicorn stood, head high, as if to say get on me, so I did. I know it sounds stupid to get on something as legendary and as wild as a unicorn, but I did anyhow. Then with amazing agility it turned with me holding on for dear life and cantered off. Its back was so sleek it felt like silk. Its legs flashed so swiftly that I was in a pearly blur. Its canter was so smooth that the only thing that allowed me to acknowledge the fact that I was moving was the branches that kept flicking in my face.

I arrived home at exactly 1:03 a.m., but wait a second, that was the time I had left. Where were the detectives and the police? Hadn’t anyone been looking for me? Hadn’t anyone noticed my absence? I went upstairs to my parent’s bedroom, but it was 1:03 up there too. My mother wasn’t crying, and my father was snoring, but in the same position he was when I sneaked past his door to go look for fairies! My mother was too!

My guess is as good as yours, but I think mortal time stopped, while fairy time continued! I was glad to be home!

The Lucky Bench

By

Ellen Opsal

Once upon a time, there was a girl named April. She was 16 years old. She had a miserable life. She wasn’t very pretty and was a big geek. She always came to school late. Her parents died when she was five years old. Now she lives with her aunt and uncle. Her aunt and uncle are divorced so she lives with her uncle. Her uncle is also very poor, and to make matters worse, her brother is in jail.

            One day, April went on a long walk. She was thinking of how miserable her life was. April was tired so she sat on a bench. Suddenly, she got happy thoughts! It was getting late so she walked home.

            The next day, April’s uncle told her that her brother had gotten out of jail. Josh (her brother) had been in jail for one year. She was so happy. When April went to school, people started to sit at her table at lunch. When she was in bed, she was thinking of how good her day was. It was probably the best day of her life! When she woke up, she took her daily walk and sat on the bench. April came back to her house after about an hour of sitting on the bench.

            “It’s Saturday and my show is on!” she shouted. Her television show was on every Saturday. Her show was about these people who called in and whoever was the third caller, won $ 5,000,000! April had never won before but she called every Saturday. She dialed the numbers as fast as she could. She heard her name on the television. April was the third caller!

            “I won! I won!” said April. Her uncle came down as fast as he could

            “What happened?”

            “Are you ok?” April’s uncle said.

            “Yes, I won the $5,000,000 on the TV show!” She went wild. She danced all over the room and was screaming. “I won!”

            April’s uncle had a puzzled face.

            “Huh?”

            “I won!!” She said

            “You won!” Her uncle replied

            “Yes, I’m going to get a makeover, new clothes, and maybe a new house!”

            “Don’t worry, I will give you about $1,000,” April said happily.

            Her uncle stared at her for a while and then said, “Only?”

            “Yes,” April said.

            “Fine,” her uncle said in a mad way.

            April got her money in two weeks. She got a makeover. April looked so pretty. She had no more pimples and no more glasses. She had sandy brown hair that looked like silk. She had nice clothes. April’s clothes were many different types and many different colors. April gave her uncle more money. He was so happy because now he could probably get a lot of things that he needed. He got a new job where he earned plenty of money. He also got a new car and house.

            On Monday morning, April woke up at 5:30 and took her uncle with her on a walk. She showed him the pretty bench. Then she went to school. At school, she was now the prettiest and most popular girl.

            The next day, April woke up early and got her uncle up too. They went on a walk to the lucky bench. It was her uncle’s first day of work so she wanted him to have good luck. April told him that the bench was lucky but he said that was nonsense. However, her uncle did sit on it. He had a great time at work. There were nice people working there. It was a nice place. He had a fun time.

            One morning, April got up at 8:55 and her school started at 8:15! That meant that she couldn’t take her daily walk to the lucky bench. She was wondering if her uncle went to the bench. When she came to school at 9:30, the teachers started shouting at her. Suddenly, she remembered it was picture day. She had knots in her hair and holes in her clothes. She felt so bad. When she came home, her uncle was already there. April told him about her bad day and he told her about his day. He was so happy. He went on and on about how great a day he had and how his work was the best work in the world. At last he said, “That bench is a good luck bench April. I was wrong and you were right.”

            April was surprised he said that. From that day, April remembered to get up early and go on her daily walk to the bench. April told everybody in her school and all her friends about the bench. April’s uncle told everybody in his work and everybody that he knew about the bench too.
            Many years later, April owns her own television show. She currently has a daughter that is 16 years old. Her name is June. Today the bench is in a museum and June, April, and her uncle have had good luck ever since sitting on the lucky bench.

The Magic Stepping Stone

By

Tierney Patton

I was walking down Sycamore Street when I saw a garden across the street. It looked over a hundred years old. Vines hung on the wall and ivy grew all over the door.

I decided to walk over and check it out. I got so excited that I turned the knob and the door clicked and cracked open. I could not help it! I had to look in and see what was there. I swung open the door. I stepped in and I started jumping on the stones until my foot got caught in a very narrow opening. I have always been unlucky and this situation seemed to support my theory of being unlucky. I tried to yank it out but it would not cooperate. I got very scared. I did not need help! NO! I got myself in this and I have to get myself out of it.

“My life is ruined!” I said aloud.

I heard a cracking noise. It sounded more like a loud pop! All of a sudden, my foot popped out. “That was weird,” I thought.

The garden was so interesting that I had to look around some more. You would have thought that I would have learned a lesson but not me. Soon I came to a wall. “This is it,” I said.

“No, it can’t be!”

I slammed my hands against the wall and started yelling. “NO, NO, NO, NO!”

All of a sudden, the vines broke and there was a tunnel. I walked through it for about an hour. Then, I came to a very dreary place. I looked left and then looked right. I looked again, and to the right, I saw a swing. “HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM,” I said.

“That was not there before.”

I decided to walk on very decorative stones until I saw the last stone. It was just plain but very interesting. I quickly jumped on the plain stone, picked my head up, and noticed a girl on a swing. She was just staring at me. “Hello,” I said. She said nothing.

“Hello,” I said again.

Then the girl disappeared. It was like magic.

The next day, I walked to the gas station to play the lottery. That night, I actually won the lottery! Could my luck be changing?

“Jessi,” my sister said in astonishment.

“Can we share the money?” my brother asked.

From that day on, I had tons of good luck. The first day of school, I won Bingo three times, got 768 people out in tag, and was chosen for class President.

“How did you get so lucky Jess?” Jeb asked.

“You won Bingo three times!” said Barbara.

“I did not really see a difference in you,” said Marrel.

“Can you tell us how you got so lucky?” asked Steve.

“NO,” I screamed.

“It’s private.”

“PLEAZZZZZZZZZZZZZ,” everyone yelled.

“Fine.”

I took them to the garden, through the tunnel, and to the swing. We all stepped on the plain stepping stone and . . .

Epilogue

From that day on, everyone who stepped on that stone with me had the greatest luck. Was it a coincidence?

The Lost Life of the Chimpanzees

By

James O’Duden

A long time ago, chimpanzees lived a lot like us. They lived in houses, had jobs, and enjoyed family life. They also had enemies like people have today. Here is a story about the ancient chimpanzees and their archenemy, the Hippos.

There was once a chimp named Ai (named after a chimp who learned to type). He lived with his good friend Congo (named after a country that chimpanzees lived in). One day, they decided to venture to another town just to see what it was like. However, when they returned to their town, their homes, friends, and family members were all gone. Ai and Congo took a walk to see what had happened.

They walked to a cave, and in that cave, they found their friends and family mining coal. However, they were not mining because they wanted to do it. They were forced to mine the coal by the evil Hippo Lord (leader of the hippos). The evil Hippo Lord and his army forced the chimpanzees to mine coal just so they could power their boats in the evil Hippo Navy.

Ai and Congo ran away and started to plan. They came up with the idea of starting a revolt to stop the Hippo Lord. However, this would mean having to somehow get into the mine.

They decided to pretend to be workers. It was their job to move the coal from the mine to the boats. One day, Ai and Congo got all the chimps in the mine together and tried to start a revolt. The first time did not work because they did not have the weapons to defeat the evil Hippos. However, the second time they realized that they could use the coal as a weapon. At night, they attacked the Hippo Lord and his evil soldiers. The chimps won the fight and the hippos never came near the chimps again.

After that, they built a big monument to honor their freedom from the Hippo Lord. They also made sure to honor Ai and Congo. Because without them, there wouldn't have been any freedom!

The Eternal Pond

By

Julia Arthur

There once was a pond in the Tuckahoe schoolyard, but it wasn't a regular pond. It was eternal! Whoever drank, swam, and lived there would survive forever! However, this was in the year 2020, which was millions of years ago. This story has been told throughout my family for generations and more generations alike. Now, I am telling it to you and let me tell you that what I say to you is true.

There once lived a turtle named Tess, who lived in the pond at Tuckahoe. As you can imagine, she had eternal life but she didn't know it at the time. Then one day, the sun blew up but Tess survived. Tess now knew that she had eternal life but she didn't know why.

One day, she decided to take a long walk. She traveled for a long period of time, and around two o' clock p.m., she saw something in the distance. It was moving but Tess was the only one living on the planet (until now). As she got closer, the image became clearer and clearer until she could make out the shape of an elephant. The two animals became great friends and it turned out that the elephant's name was Little Turtle but she liked to be called LT. One day, they were walking and they saw a dog. Well it was also sort of a platypus, so they decided to call it a platadog. The next morning, Tess woke up as something was poking her. When she got up, she noticed everything was green. It was all a dream! Tess quickly felt a sense of relief.

Bug City

By

Luke McCartin

            “Hi! I’m Bob and these are my friends Chomp, Billy, and Joe. We live in Bug City. Bug City is in a trash can. In Bug City, we make trash into homes, stores, restaurants, and all other sorts of places. We use thrown away food for our food. We pretty much eat, work, and sleep.

            Bug City has all sorts of bugs except termites. The termites are the bug’s archenemy. The bugs live in Arlington, Virginia. The termites live in Fairfax.

            One day, when everybody was on break time, President Tortellini yelled out that it was trash week. Chomp said, “That’s when they dump us out into the dump and grind us up!” So in a couple of days, they had to think of a way to get out of the overflowing trash can before they got dumped. It was up to Bob, Chomp, Billy, and Joe to save the day.

            First, Billy and Joe found out what time the trash guy was coming, which was 1:00 p.m. Then Bob and his friends got everybody to work and shoveled there way out. However, after about two hours of working, a boy dumped even more trash into the can.

            After 10:00, all the bugs stopped and went home. When Chomp was walking to a restaurant near the Black House where the President lived, he heard that the termites were going to attack. Now the bugs had to worry about the trash man and the termites.

            Chomp had a plan. When the termites came, they would eat through the overflowing trash can. Then the bugs would lure the termites to the bottom of the trash and then scurry back up the can quickly and get out just before the trash man came.

            Everything went as planned and the termites were killed by the trash man.

            The bugs lived outside until the trash can was fixed. When it was, they started living their own life again. However, there were still more termites.

            The termites and the bugs had a war for who got the trash can. Bob, Chomp, Billy, and Joe were fighting in the war. Joe died in the war and the termites won the war and took the trash can. The poor bugs became slaves for the termites.

            However, the termites were pigs. They ate everything. They actually started eating themselves. Soon the bugs took over again and President Tortellini made a cleaning program so there would be no more overflowing trash cans.

             Bob, Billy, and Chomp had a funeral for Joe. When Bob grew up, he became a security guard for the new President. Billy became a soldier and Chomp became a bartender.

The Column

Stephen Morrissey

Millions of years ago, armadillos ruled the earth. They had huge buildings in every city. In one city, there lived a column. He was very happy because the king lived inside the building he was supporting.

One day, he heard a sound. It was the slapping of beaver tales. The column was very scared. The beavers were rebels who had a huge war with the armadillos. At one time, the armadillos forced them into a big beaver dam, but now they were back. The king got his strongest forces together and started out.

The battle raged for a day. It was awful! He heard screams and the clash of tail and shell. After a day or so, he heard a bunch of sounds. It was the beavers! None of the armadillos made it. The beavers started burning houses and dug rivers to put their new dams in. The column was more terrified to see a big, brawly beaver coming toward him with an ax. There was nothing he could do.

When he was chopped down, the entire building came crashing down, but the column still heard whispering in his injured state. It was king armadillo and his strongest troops!

The king told him his plan. The beavers were nothing without their leader so they were going to lure their king over and roll the column down and crush him. Then, they would take the rest as slaves. The plan worked perfectly. The beavers were forced to fill in all the streams and build everything they destroyed. They all lived in peace until the humans came.

Tess Saves the Day

Griffin Adams

It was a quiet day in the pond. Everything was going fine. Then a police car drove up to Tuckahoe School and a police officer went into the office. There was a long conversation between the officer and the principal. Then finally, the principal made an announcement. “All students and employees must evacuate immediately,” he said. Everybody in the school started running out the door.

Tess went under the waterfall to the shell lair and turned on the television. There was a news report about how on the east coast of the United States, fish were coming up on land and attacking people.

Tess knew she had to do something. She put on her cape and flew off to save the people. She flew to the beach and found a group of swordfish chasing some people. She flew over and grabbed the swordfish and threw them back in the ocean. She cleared out the beach of all the fish but they kept on coming back out of the water. She knew she needed some back-up!

She called her friend Zap, the super robot. As Zap held the fish off, Tess thought of a plan. The people decided to follow Tess’ instructions. The people were told to bring out their grills and set up decorations. Tess called out to Zap to let the fish go. When the fish came back to attack them, they were chanting “fish-fry-fish-fry." The fish were so afraid of being cooked that they ran back into the ocean. The people were saved and it was all thanks to Tess. Tess returned to her pond, where she rested knowing that the fish war was probably just the beginning.

Parthenon

By

Bethany Yates

Once upon a time, long ago, on a day much like today, (except it was not long ago, and it was not a day like today) there was an island more beautiful then the most beautiful island!

Suddenly, the sound and smell of motors filled the air. Builders came trampling over the small plants and trees. Drills drilled into the ground, which sent all the animals running toward the stream.

The animals overheard the construction manager telling his crew that they were to build a copy of the ancient Parthenon. The animals were very angry when they heard the news. Where would they live while the construction workers were making a Parthenon? The animals had to move to the other side of the island. It would not be easy leaving their home.

Half a century later, the animals did not like their home. They were running out of food and needed to find another place. The grandchildren decided to see what the old part of the island looked like. They were told never to visit that side because of the humans, but they did not listen.

When they saw the built Parthenon, they could not believe their eyes. It was covered with vines and trees. All the needs of the animals were in the plant filled Parthenon. All of the animals quickly moved back to their original home and were thankful for the Parthenon.

The Parthenon that brought joy to the animals!

When Squirrels Attack

Annie Adair

One day, Inga Lincoln and her mom were driving down the highway when suddenly they heard a THUMP!

“What was that?” Inga asked her mom.

“I don’t know. I think we ran over a squirrel,” Inga’s mom said.

“Well that’s just one less squirrel in the world,” Inga said. Little did Inga know was that her mom and she had just run over the last Beige Buppered Bolcom Banted squirrel in the world.

“OOUUCCHH,” Inga screamed.

“What just happened?” her mother asked running up to her with two grocery bags on her arms. Inga had just fallen down on the sidewalk and scraped her knee. She and her mom walked up the stairs and into the doorway of the house.

“What happened?” Inga’s sister Lilli said as she walked past the doorway.

“I scraped up my knee,” Inga answered. Her mother went to the bathroom to get a Band-Aid .

“And I bet you it was that squirrel we ran over,” Inga said.

“Sweetie don’t be so superstitious,” Inga’s mother said.

. . .

“YES! Now my evil plot will work,” evil Dr. Hemwood said as he drove his black van up to the place where Inga’s mother had run over the squirrel.

“Now with the beige squirrel’s blood, my evil plot will work!” He said.

“So you are mixing it with that special chemical and then sticking it into hats? Once you put it on every single squirrel in the world, will they destroy everything except you and me that comes in their paths?” Dr. Hemwood’s lab assistant Mary asked.

“Lab assistants are to be seen not heard Mary,” Dr. Hemwood said.

“Okay, okay, just get back in the van,” Mary told him.

. . .

“Done,” Dr. Hemwood said as he squeezed the rest of the beige squirrel blood in the pot. “I’m done,” Dr. Hemwood sang as he came into the room where Mary was watching TV.

“Did you add the subtle cellophane?” Mary asked.

“Be quiet this is my project not yours,” Dr. Hemwood barked.

“Okay, chill,” Mary said calmly.

. . .

Six weeks later, Dr. Hemwood’s project was done and squirrels had taken over the world. Since Dr. Hemwood was the ruler of them, he was now the ruler of the world!

. . .

“Okay guys, here is the plan. First, we bring down the squirrel’s security system. Then, we defeat Dr. Hemwood and turn off all the little squirrelly hats and then the world should be safe again,” Inga said. Rocky, Cassidy, and Theo were with Inga and they were trying to stop Dr. Hemwood.

“Theo, you can crack the security code, right?” Inga asked.

“Yup,” Theo said.

“SO DO IT THEN!” Cassidy yelled.

“Shut up Cassidy,” Rocky said.

“Okay, Okay, you are so pushy,” Theo said as he cracked the code.

The four friends walked through a big metal door. “Wow!” Cassidy said. They snuck behind a big wall so that the squirrels could not find them.

“There he is,” Rocky said. Dr. Hemwood walked by with squirrels surrounding him.

“There are squirrels surrounding him, so how are we ever going to get past him?” Cassidy asked.

“Peanuts,” Inga answered.

“Pea – whats?” Cassidy said.

“Peanuts! Squirrels love peanuts,” Inga said. They walked up a flight of stairs and then Rocky heard thousands of little nasally voices saying “Must kill, must kill.”

. . .

After they defeated the squirrels, they tiptoed up the stairs “BOO!” They all jumped.

“AAHHH!” Rocky screamed.

“Chill, I’m on your side,” Mary, Dr. Hemwood’s lab assistant said.

“I’m Mary, Dr. Hemwood’s X lab assistant. I’ve created a potion that makes the squirrels good,” Mary said.

“Okay, we’ll do it with you,” said Rocky.

. . .

“Oh Mary, wonderful!” Dr. Hemwood said as Mary brought their prisoners in (the police squirrels had good helmets on)

“Actually, I’m on the good side now and these squirrels are wearing my creation. The good helmets!” Inga said keeping her cool.

“Book’em Charlie!” Inga yelled.

. . .

Mary made hot cocoa in the celebration of Dr. Hemwood going to jail. “Okay, so how do you turn this thing off?” Rocky asked.

“You turn off the ge- whooaaaaaaaa,” Theo yelled as he fell and got cocoa all over the keyboard that turns off the hats.

Epilogue

The cocoa turned off the hats and the world lived happily ever after.

The Tiny Village

By

Jessi Mitrovich

We were driving to our ski cabin like we always do for a two-week vacation. The cabin we stay in was near the mountains. Finally, we were there! I jumped out of the car, told my mom I was going to go ski, and ran off.

Three or four days later, I woke up and hopped off the bed and jumped straight back under the blanket. The loft was freezing! I slowly climbed back out of bed, pulled on my sweatshirt, and ran into the living room. My mom and dad were in the room starting a fire in the small fireplace

“Good morning Brin,” my mom said. “We lost electricity, so the heaters are off.”

Right as she said this, my sister came out of the room. “There’s no more electricity! Oh man!”

One day, while I was collecting wood for the fire, I stepped on a rotted piece of wood. It was half covered with leaves. I slowly slid the wood and noticed a crack. I could actually look through it.

There was a small village underneath the wood! There were small houses made out of sticks, wood chips, rocks, grass, moss, and mud. The sticks were piled on top of each other. The sticks looked like a log cabin with grass weaves in between the logs to hold them in place. Wood chips served as a door and window shutters. Rocks were held together with mud. There was even a chimney coming out of the roof. It was made of wood chips and mud. Moss was used to fill in the cracks. There was also a place that had a piece of paper that said in scraggly handwriting, meeting area. The meeting area was like a camp circle. There were rocks with tufts of moss on top for padding. I had guessed they were seats. In the center, there was a circle that spun around with a chair and a desk made out of wood chips. Then I heard the bell ring [that meant I had to come home] so I collected the wood I needed and ran home.
I spent most of my time at the village during the days without electricity. I made items for the little village and left them as presents. After we got electricity, it was safe to go skiing and I only visited the village now and then. However, on the last day we were there, I spent the whole day making everything from chairs to hammocks to tables to beds. Then it was time for us to go home. I said good-bye to the town and left.

Christina the Lonely Flower

By

Erica Nguyen

Picture of Christina

Once upon a time, there lived a lonely flower. Her name was Christina. She was always sad. Christina was always playing with her ball or with her jump rope but she always had to do it alone. She always took turns to either play with her jump rope or with her ball, but by the end of the day, she always was depressed.

One day, she saw another yellow flower moving in next door. This was her chance to make a friend.

Christina asked, “Do you want to be friends?”

The other flower said, “Sure,” and said her name was Lilly. She also told Christina that she was the same age as her.

They both played with the ball and Christina asked, “Do you want to stay for dinner?”

Lilly said, "Sure!”

Christina was so excited. She knew that she would not have to be alone anymore. Christina and Lilly lived happily ever after.



                                                                Picture of Lilly

Bridge to the Nennies

By

Ilana Brody

Once upon a time, at Tuckahoe Elementary School, when all the kids were on summer break, a humming bird named Ruby wanted some nectar.

She found the most beautiful flower on the other side of the courtyard. She stuck in her beak and drank. It was the best tasting nectar she had ever tasted.

Then, all of a sudden, she heard a tiny scream. She stopped drinking and looked in the flower. At first glance, it looked like a tiny fairy. When she took a closer look, she saw a very weird creature. It had two antennas, two fingers on each hand that looked like claws, a long gown with a flower on it, and wings in the shape of clouds. The rest of the body looked like a fairy.

“Umm, hi, my name is Ruby,” said Ruby.

“Shnumana,” said the strange creature.

“What?” wondered Ruby.

“I said, don’t go messing through my home,” yelled the creature.

“What species are you?” asked Ruby.

“I am a Nenny,” said the creature proudly.

“Do you have a name,” asked Ruby.

“Yes I do,” said the Nenny. “My name is Shimmer”.

“Nice name,” said Ruby.

“Thanks…. Wait, I shouldn’t be talking to you, SECURITY,” shouted Shimmer.

“Huh, you’ll pay for this,” yelled Ruby as the security Nennies carried her away. When the security dropped her on the other side and told her never to go back over the bridge, she told all of the other birds about the Nennies.

A couple of months later, when the birds and the Nennies had become enemies, a kid humming bird was playing and accidentally flew over to the other side of the bridge. Then the humming bird heard WARNING, BIRD ALERT, BIRD ALERT!

“Aaahhhhhhhhh,” screamed the little humming bird, as she flew over the bridge quickly.

“That does it,” said the Nenny Emperor. “Sprinkle in the Pink Nenny Powder (PNP).”

PNP is pink powder, and if you put it in any body of water, anything that tries to fly over it, freezes in mid air and become prisoners of the Nennies.

The next day, a spy humming bird tried to go across the bridge to the Nennies (that’s what the humming birds called the bridge now), but got stuck. He didn’t know what was happening. Then he heard “Ha ha ha, I have captured the humming bird’s top spy,” said the emperor Nenny.

“How did you know I was the top spy?” asked the humming bird.

“It says HBTS on your badge, and I know every abbreviation,” said the Nenny, “Now you shall do everything I say, Ha ha ha,” said the Nenny.

Ring Ring Ring

“Oh no, school is back and kids are coming. We must hide and release the humming bird!” shouted the Emperor Nenny. The humming bird was very lucky to have school start.

“School may be back in session but this battle is not over yet, said Emperor Nenny. “There will be a next summer and we will be ready for those humming birds.”

Little Cabin on the Prairie

Logan Stelck

Many years ago, a great cabin was built at a school called Tuckahoe Elementary. Many of the kids worshiped the cabin. Unfortunately, a tornado came and blew the cabin away. The cabin ended-up landing in the prairies, where a bunch of prairie dogs took over the cabin.

Inside the cabin, the prairie dogs built a log television, log couch, and some log plates to eat off of at mealtime. They decided to stay in the little log cabin overnight. Before they went to bed, they chose to leave the cabin to find some food. However, instead of finding food, they found a brick cabin.

The prairie dogs decided to go inside. Inside, they saw a brick television, brick couch, brick plates, and food! They started eating the food that they had found. The only problem was that all of the food was sticky and sour. The youngest prairie dog begged to go back to the other cabin to see if they could find something else to eat. Finally, they all agreed to leave the brick cabin and head back home.

When they arrived home, the wind was starting to kick up violently. Before the prairie dogs realized it, they were trapped in a funnel cloud that was throwing them and the cabin everywhere. Finally, when the tornado stopped, they had landed at Tuckahoe. The cabin was back where it belonged. The kids were very happy because they now had their cabin back with new pets! The kids at Tuckahoe made sure the prairie dogs never went hungry, and the prairie dogs made sure the kids always had company.

The Secret Bench Area

Amira Chamma

There once lived an 11-year-old boy named Charlie. Charlie’s father died when he was eight. Everyday Charlie would go to the cemetery and pray for his dad to rest in peace.

One day, when he went to the cemetery to pray for his dad, he found a new bench area by his father's gravestone. Charlie sat on the bench and put a plate of cookies on the table that he had poisoned. He poisoned them because he wanted to be with his father. He took one bite out of the cookie and another until he took his last bite. Nothing happened to him.

After he had finished praying for his dad, he prayed for himself. He went home, had dinner, and went to bed. Suddenly, he felt a great pain in his chest, collapsed, and died.

The next morning his mother found out her son had died. Nobody knew why. A week later his family and friends had a funeral for him. His family decided to bury him right next to his father. All of Charlie’s friends felt bad, especially, his best friend Eddie.

The next day Eddie went to the cemetery. Eddie sat on the bench in front of Charlie’s gravestone and ate a cookie that was left by Charlie. When he got home, his mother asked him where he had been. Charlie told his mother that he had been at the cemetery down the street.

That night, Charlie died in his sleep. No one knew why he had died that night. The doctor asked Eddie’s mother where he went the day before. She told them that he was at the cemetery down the street. A lot of people and detectives examined the cemetery. One detective named Joe examined the bench area. He picked up a cookie and took it to the forensic lab. While Joe was examining the cookie, he found out that it was poisoned with deadly chemicals.

Now everyone knew what had caused the death of Charlie and Eddie. However, they still didn’t know who had poisoned the cookies. Before they wanted to find out who had poisoned the cookie, they had to make the cemetery off limits.

A couple of days later, they went back to the forensic lab. Joe was looking at the cookie closely and saw that there were fingerprints on it. They took a DNA test on the fingerprints and found out Charlie was the person who poisoned the cookie. Charlie’s mother told the police that he always wanted to be with his dad’s soul. The case was solved. Charlie was the one who poisoned the cookie and killed himself and his friend.

They took the bench and the cookies and put them in the dump, so nobody would have any reminders of the great tragedy that took place. To this day, people often wonder how the bench and table got there in the first place. Could it have been Charlie's dad?

The Big War

By

Ben Stern

Once deep underground, a long dead Ancient Greek was touched by a sacred stone and came to life. Then he used the stone to revive other dead people. After that, they used the stone to blow a hole up out of the ground. Next, they climbed up out of the soil and found a Parthenon. They decided to put the stone in the middle of the Parthenon and made it their new home.

The next day, the Ancient Greeks had a meeting. In the middle of the meeting, they were kicked out by the modern Greek Government. They got mad at the Greek Government and decided to take over the new Greek Government.

That night, they used the stone to revive all of the remaining Ancient Greeks. They devised a plan and started attacking buildings. Soon the modern Greek Army came to the scene. The War of old versus new had begun.

The Ancient Greeks had the sacred stone and they knew it was a powerful weapon. However, the modern Greeks had technology. They fought for a long time before the United States came and helped defeat the Ancient Greeks. After that, the Greeks and Americans knew the stone had to be destroyed because of its destructive powers! They destroyed the stone and sent the Ancient Greeks to Mars on the space shuttle Tuckahoe. One can only wonder what Mars is like at this very moment.

The Adventures of Tess

Peter House

One fine day in the Tuckahoe schoolyard, there was a family of turtles. The mother (Tess) said to the babies, “I’m going to run an errand.’’ Unfortunately, the babies were asleep, and when they woke up, they went off in search of Tess.

After a day of shell-breaking work, VIT (Father) was eager to get home. When he got home, the babies and Tess were gone! VIT obviously went looking for them.

Tess had invited her friends Tucker and Toad to tea. So, Toad and Tucker followed suit and went out looking for the babies, Tess, and VIT after they found the house unoccupied. “Oh my!” gasped Toad “Where did they go?”

Meanwhile, a baby named Sean decided to search for Tess alone. He said, “I’m better at searching then all of you put together!” As Sean set up camp and prepared for the night, something hit

him on the head. He looked up and was surprised to see VIT clambering up a cliff “Yo! VIT! Get down!”

“Sean, boy am I glad to see you!”

VIT climbed down to Sean and they wordlessly continued their quest. Soon enough all were found.

When they got home, Tess had a fit.

“VIT! A good husband would have stayed home till I got back!” screamed Tess.

“B-But n-no o-one w-was there.” Stammered VIT.

“No buts! I’m filing a lawsuit for a divorce!” yelled Tess

“Uh, Mom? Don’t you have to get a separation first?” asked Sean.

“Your right.” Tess admitted, “Then I’m getting a separation!” screamed Tess.

“Jeez Ma, you don’t gotta yell.” said a baby named Rose.

“Well, I’m so sorry.” Tess said sarcastically. “What have I told you about gotta? It’s bad grammar you know!”

So Tess attempted in vain to get a separation. Although Tess seemed furious, she admitted that she overreacted.

One more thing came out of the lawsuit that Tess learned. Never file a lawsuit

unless you have a degree in law or can find a good lawyer!

Return of the Greeks

By

Caleb Rakestraw-Morn

            Nearly three millennia after the Greeks were defeated in the Trojan War, they wanted revenge! They sent archeologists to excavate ancient Troy. Fine, right? No, there was a problem. They did it without the permission of the government.

            The workers were working one day, when suddenly, 50-armed Special Response Teams came up and took them away. They were in custody for days.

A week later and after no return of the workers, Greek officials came to investigate. When they reached the prison doors, they were met by armed guards and then taken into custody.

After a series of these arrests, Greece became suspicious. Did Troy know something they didn’t? Well, they didn’t. They simply did not want others trespassing on their land!

After a few years of Greece officials being arrested, Greece declared war!

You could call it war, but it was not because the Trojans had Hovercrafts that made an F-15 look like the sound of music!  You can probably visualize the battle in your head, as the Greeks were no match. Luckily, this war only lasted three weeks, which was considerably shorter then the first Trojan War. However, the outcome was the same, as the Trojans prevailed.

The Magic Rock

By

Jane Roberts

I’m so sad my best friend Hanna had left her first life and has started her second. I just can’t believe it. It seems like just yesterday that we were playing. Even though it has been three years now, I can’t believe she is gone. If only we hadn’t been playing in the street or I had yelled louder.

I remember it so vividly. She was wearing her ruby red T-shirt with “Punk out Dude” on it with her sky blue polka-dotted pink skort to go with it. When suddenly, a green car with a New Hampshire license plate came out of nowhere. Maybe if the driver had honked louder or Hanna wasn’t almost deaf, she would have been able to avoid the car. Now all I have left to treasure is the “zebra rock” that she found for me. I put it on a necklace so I could remember it forever.

I’ll never forget the day I found out it was magical. It was a Tuesday and the first day of school and I was going to be late! I knew how mean the teachers could be if you were late. I even heard that one teacher got so mad at this one kid that she stuffed him in a closet for three days! His parents called the police and the teacher finally let him go. He didn’t squeal because he knew how much more trouble he could get into at the school. I knew I was going to be late! I wish I were at school. Suddenly, I was walking into my school only one second late, so I got lucky with only getting a warning.

I knew I wasn’t imagining things because a few days later my mom used my money to buy a lottery ticket. She promised me the money ($10,000) if I won. I wish I would win. A few days later, I won! I started to realize that whenever I wished for something, it appeared.

I wondered why this was happening. When I was in chorus, I didn’t get the solo even after I wished it. Also, I remember swimming and wanting a blue swimsuit instead of pink, so I wished for it, but it never came true. I suddenly realized it must be the rock.

That second, I vowed to make only unselfish wishes. I still had a few experiments though. The most useful one was with the class bunny, Jim. Donny A. and Timmy B. kept on hugging Jim. I thought it would be unselfish to make a wish. I wish they would leave Jim alone. I opened my eyes and Don and Timmy had stopped. I went over to Jim. Jim smelled like a dumpster. He was a home to thousands of lice, fleas, and ticks too. So I learned to be specific, as well as, unselfish. I made sure the smell, lice, fleas, and ticks went away. I was very proud of myself for only using my magical rock to help others.

Ten Years Later

I am a normal adult with two children, Amy and May. Of course, every now and then a few things appear out of “thin air” and no one knows why but me.

Hebe the Goddess of Youth

John Herrling

The new Goddess of Youth was elected and her name was Hebe. After the Goddess of Youth was elected, she told her committee she was going to make stricter rules in the town.

The very next day, we all got up early and made new rules like she told us to do. We knew we had to listen or we would face a grueling punishment. Then, she made us rename the town to Lactose Intolerant. The next couple of weeks the Goddess of Youth made us work rebuilding the entire town. She even made us build her 1,890 foot plank just so she could walk out and give us orders.

The next day, Hebe was able to see the Camelot warriors coming from a distance. It was a good thing we built her a plank or she never would have seen them coming to try to kill her. The warriors were after a crystal diamond that was supposedly promised to them after Hebe was elected. She refused to give them the crystal diamond because she knew how valuable it was.

When word had reached all of the people in the town of Lactose Intolerant, many were very angry with Hebe. They knew the elections were fixed! The Camelot warriors had bribed the people of the town to vote for her because they thought they were going to get the crystal diamond from her. When the warriors reached town, the people joined forces with them and overthrew Hebe. There was a new election and the new Goddess of Youth was elected fairly by the people. Her name was Zelda. Zelda treated her people fairly, and in return for the help the Camelot warriors gave the townspeople, Zelda gave the people of Camelot the crystal diamond.


		*25 of 25 pieces published* The Fairies By the Pond By Caroline Payne I love fairies, and I love looking for them. One night, I crept out of my bedroom to go looking for them. I slid silently between branches, bushes, leaves, and shrubs. I came to the banks of a small stream dancing merrily along, reflecting the full moon on its clear surface. It looked like very good drinking water. Then I saw a movement that made my heart stop. I had come to the right place. Though, I had not been looking for any one place. I saw tiny houses arranged in a semi-circle. All the houses had a thatched roof and wood-chip shutters. There were lights in all of them. I could hear curious music just audible over the stream. I could also see pearly figures dancing in a wholesome way. Then I did something that I would regret for the rest of my life. I stepped on a twig. It made a tremendous cracking noise. The music stopped. There was a great rustling. The lights went out. Then I heard a voice. It was sharp and unforgiving. “Why are you here?” he didn’t wait for an answer. “You have trespassed on the Land of the Sprites. You have stepped on the land of the ENDANGERED sprites!” “But I…” “I don’t want to hear any but I’s! I am the King of Sprites! I don’t have time for this. You are a prisoner! A servant of sprites!” I couldn’t speak. I just turned planning to run but some kind of horrified trance held me back. I couldn’t move because I was rooted to the spot. Then the King of Sprites pulled out a stick. No, it was a wand and he pointed it at me. He then mumbled some words (something like mimblewhimble) and without me making myself do it, I began to walk forward. I ended up before a gigantic tree. The King of Sprites had followed me. He tapped a certain piece of bark and a small door opened at the base. He then flicked his wand, and without wanting to, I crawled through the door to a small room with a dirt floor, no light, and no windows. “You can stay here and rot!” he grinned and let out a low cackle. Then he turned and left. The door locked behind him. That night, I cried myself to sleep. When I woke up, I stood up and stretched, perfectly miserable. I was very hungry, but I knew I wouldn’t get any food. That day, I kept boredom away by thinking of my family, ways to get out, and what my family was doing. I fell asleep that night very, very hungry. A thundering of hooves, that sounded like it was coming straight for the tree, woke me up. I scuttled to a corner and crouched there, waiting for whatever was coming to crash. Pieces of bark flew everywhere. Something blueish appeared with a gold, sparkling horn. It was a Unicorn! The Unicorn stood, head high, as if to say get on me, so I did. I know it sounds stupid to get on something as legendary and as wild as a unicorn, but I did anyhow. Then with amazing agility it turned with me holding on for dear life and cantered off. Its back was so sleek it felt like silk. Its legs flashed so swiftly that I was in a pearly blur. Its canter was so smooth that the only thing that allowed me to acknowledge the fact that I was moving was the branches that kept flicking in my face. I arrived home at exactly 1:03 a.m., but wait a second, that was the time I had left. Where were the detectives and the police? Hadn’t anyone been looking for me? Hadn’t anyone noticed my absence? I went upstairs to my parent’s bedroom, but it was 1:03 up there too. My mother wasn’t crying, and my father was snoring, but in the same position he was when I sneaked past his door to go look for fairies! My mother was too! My guess is as good as yours, but I think mortal time stopped, while fairy time continued! I was glad to be home! The Lucky Bench By Ellen Opsal Once upon a time, there was a girl named April. She was 16 years old. She had a miserable life. She wasn’t very pretty and was a big geek. She always came to school late. Her parents died when she was five years old. Now she lives with her aunt and uncle. Her aunt and uncle are divorced so she lives with her uncle. Her uncle is also very poor, and to make matters worse, her brother is in jail. One day, April went on a long walk. She was thinking of how miserable her life was. April was tired so she sat on a bench. Suddenly, she got happy thoughts! It was getting late so she walked home. The next day, April’s uncle told her that her brother had gotten out of jail. Josh (her brother) had been in jail for one year. She was so happy. When April went to school, people started to sit at her table at lunch. When she was in bed, she was thinking of how good her day was. It was probably the best day of her life! When she woke up, she took her daily walk and sat on the bench. April came back to her house after about an hour of sitting on the bench. “It’s Saturday and my show is on!” she shouted. Her television show was on every Saturday. Her show was about these people who called in and whoever was the third caller, won $ 5,000,000! April had never won before but she called every Saturday. She dialed the numbers as fast as she could. She heard her name on the television. April was the third caller! “I won! I won!” said April. Her uncle came down as fast as he could “What happened?” “Are you ok?” April’s uncle said. “Yes, I won the $5,000,000 on the TV show!” She went wild. She danced all over the room and was screaming. “I won!” April’s uncle had a puzzled face. “Huh?” “I won!!” She said “You won!” Her uncle replied “Yes, I’m going to get a makeover, new clothes, and maybe a new house!” “Don’t worry, I will give you about $1,000,” April said happily. Her uncle stared at her for a while and then said, “Only?” “Yes,” April said. “Fine,” her uncle said in a mad way. April got her money in two weeks. She got a makeover. April looked so pretty. She had no more pimples and no more glasses. She had sandy brown hair that looked like silk. She had nice clothes. April’s clothes were many different types and many different colors. April gave her uncle more money. He was so happy because now he could probably get a lot of things that he needed. He got a new job where he earned plenty of money. He also got a new car and house. On Monday morning, April woke up at 5:30 and took her uncle with her on a walk. She showed him the pretty bench. Then she went to school. At school, she was now the prettiest and most popular girl. The next day, April woke up early and got her uncle up too. They went on a walk to the lucky bench. It was her uncle’s first day of work so she wanted him to have good luck. April told him that the bench was lucky but he said that was nonsense. However, her uncle did sit on it. He had a great time at work. There were nice people working there. It was a nice place. He had a fun time. One morning, April got up at 8:55 and her school started at 8:15! That meant that she couldn’t take her daily walk to the lucky bench. She was wondering if her uncle went to the bench. When she came to school at 9:30, the teachers started shouting at her. Suddenly, she remembered it was picture day. She had knots in her hair and holes in her clothes. She felt so bad. When she came home, her uncle was already there. April told him about her bad day and he told her about his day. He was so happy. He went on and on about how great a day he had and how his work was the best work in the world. At last he said, “That bench is a good luck bench April. I was wrong and you were right.” April was surprised he said that. From that day, April remembered to get up early and go on her daily walk to the bench. April told everybody in her school and all her friends about the bench. April’s uncle told everybody in his work and everybody that he knew about the bench too. Many years later, April owns her own television show. She currently has a daughter that is 16 years old. Her name is June. Today the bench is in a museum and June, April, and her uncle have had good luck ever since sitting on the lucky bench. The Magic Stepping Stone By Tierney Patton I was walking down Sycamore Street when I saw a garden across the street. It looked over a hundred years old. Vines hung on the wall and ivy grew all over the door. I decided to walk over and check it out. I got so excited that I turned the knob and the door clicked and cracked open. I could not help it! I had to look in and see what was there. I swung open the door. I stepped in and I started jumping on the stones until my foot got caught in a very narrow opening. I have always been unlucky and this situation seemed to support my theory of being unlucky. I tried to yank it out but it would not cooperate. I got very scared. I did not need help! NO! I got myself in this and I have to get myself out of it. “My life is ruined!” I said aloud. I heard a cracking noise. It sounded more like a loud pop! All of a sudden, my foot popped out. “That was weird,” I thought. The garden was so interesting that I had to look around some more. You would have thought that I would have learned a lesson but not me. Soon I came to a wall. “This is it,” I said. “No, it can’t be!” I slammed my hands against the wall and started yelling. “NO, NO, NO, NO!” All of a sudden, the vines broke and there was a tunnel. I walked through it for about an hour. Then, I came to a very dreary place. I looked left and then looked right. I looked again, and to the right, I saw a swing. “HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM,” I said. “That was not there before.” I decided to walk on very decorative stones until I saw the last stone. It was just plain but very interesting. I quickly jumped on the plain stone, picked my head up, and noticed a girl on a swing. She was just staring at me. “Hello,” I said. She said nothing. “Hello,” I said again. Then the girl disappeared. It was like magic. The next day, I walked to the gas station to play the lottery. That night, I actually won the lottery! Could my luck be changing? “Jessi,” my sister said in astonishment. “Can we share the money?” my brother asked. From that day on, I had tons of good luck. The first day of school, I won Bingo three times, got 768 people out in tag, and was chosen for class President. “How did you get so lucky Jess?” Jeb asked. “You won Bingo three times!” said Barbara. “I did not really see a difference in you,” said Marrel. “Can you tell us how you got so lucky?” asked Steve. “NO,” I screamed. “It’s private.” “PLEAZZZZZZZZZZZZZ,” everyone yelled. “Fine.” I took them to the garden, through the tunnel, and to the swing. We all stepped on the plain stepping stone and . . . *Epilogue* *From that day on, everyone who stepped on that stone with me had the greatest luck. Was it a coincidence?* The Lost Life of the Chimpanzees By James O’Duden A long time ago, chimpanzees lived a lot like us. They lived in houses, had jobs, and enjoyed family life. They also had enemies like people have today. Here is a story about the ancient chimpanzees and their archenemy, the Hippos. There was once a chimp named Ai (named after a chimp who learned to type). He lived with his good friend Congo (named after a country that chimpanzees lived in). One day, they decided to venture to another town just to see what it was like. However, when they returned to their town, their homes, friends, and family members were all gone. Ai and Congo took a walk to see what had happened. They walked to a cave, and in that cave, they found their friends and family mining coal. However, they were not mining because they wanted to do it. They were forced to mine the coal by the evil Hippo Lord (leader of the hippos). The evil Hippo Lord and his army forced the chimpanzees to mine coal just so they could power their boats in the evil Hippo Navy. Ai and Congo ran away and started to plan. They came up with the idea of starting a revolt to stop the Hippo Lord. However, this would mean having to somehow get into the mine. They decided to pretend to be workers. It was their job to move the coal from the mine to the boats. One day, Ai and Congo got all the chimps in the mine together and tried to start a revolt. The first time did not work because they did not have the weapons to defeat the evil Hippos. However, the second time they realized that they could use the coal as a weapon. At night, they attacked the Hippo Lord and his evil soldiers. The chimps won the fight and the hippos never came near the chimps again. After that, they built a big monument to honor their freedom from the Hippo Lord. They also made sure to honor Ai and Congo. Because without them, there wouldn't have been any freedom! The Eternal Pond By Julia Arthur There once was a pond in the Tuckahoe schoolyard, but it wasn't a regular pond. It was eternal! Whoever drank, swam, and lived there would survive forever! However, this was in the year 2020, which was millions of years ago. This story has been told throughout my family for generations and more generations alike. Now, I am telling it to you and let me tell you that what I say to you is true. There once lived a turtle named Tess, who lived in the pond at Tuckahoe. As you can imagine, she had eternal life but she didn't know it at the time. Then one day, the sun blew up but Tess survived. Tess now knew that she had eternal life but she didn't know why. One day, she decided to take a long walk. She traveled for a long period of time, and around two o' clock p.m., she saw something in the distance. It was moving but Tess was the only one living on the planet (until now). As she got closer, the image became clearer and clearer until she could make out the shape of an elephant. The two animals became great friends and it turned out that the elephant's name was Little Turtle but she liked to be called LT. One day, they were walking and they saw a dog. Well it was also sort of a platypus, so they decided to call it a platadog. The next morning, Tess woke up as something was poking her. When she got up, she noticed everything was green. It was all a dream! Tess quickly felt a sense of relief. Bug City By Luke McCartin “Hi! I’m Bob and these are my friends Chomp, Billy, and Joe. We live in Bug City. Bug City is in a trash can. In Bug City, we make trash into homes, stores, restaurants, and all other sorts of places. We use thrown away food for our food. We pretty much eat, work, and sleep. Bug City has all sorts of bugs except termites. The termites are the bug’s archenemy. The bugs live in Arlington, Virginia. The termites live in Fairfax. One day, when everybody was on break time, President Tortellini yelled out that it was trash week. Chomp said, “That’s when they dump us out into the dump and grind us up!” So in a couple of days, they had to think of a way to get out of the overflowing trash can before they got dumped. It was up to Bob, Chomp, Billy, and Joe to save the day. First, Billy and Joe found out what time the trash guy was coming, which was 1:00 p.m. Then Bob and his friends got everybody to work and shoveled there way out. However, after about two hours of working, a boy dumped even more trash into the can. After 10:00, all the bugs stopped and went home. When Chomp was walking to a restaurant near the Black House where the President lived, he heard that the termites were going to attack. Now the bugs had to worry about the trash man and the termites. Chomp had a plan. When the termites came, they would eat through the overflowing trash can. Then the bugs would lure the termites to the bottom of the trash and then scurry back up the can quickly and get out just before the trash man came. Everything went as planned and the termites were killed by the trash man. The bugs lived outside until the trash can was fixed. When it was, they started living their own life again. However, there were still more termites. The termites and the bugs had a war for who got the trash can. Bob, Chomp, Billy, and Joe were fighting in the war. Joe died in the war and the termites won the war and took the trash can. The poor bugs became slaves for the termites. However, the termites were pigs. They ate everything. They actually started eating themselves. Soon the bugs took over again and President Tortellini made a cleaning program so there would be no more overflowing trash cans. Bob, Billy, and Chomp had a funeral for Joe. When Bob grew up, he became a security guard for the new President. Billy became a soldier and Chomp became a bartender. The Column By Stephen Morrissey Millions of years ago, armadillos ruled the earth. They had huge buildings in every city. In one city, there lived a column. He was very happy because the king lived inside the building he was supporting. One day, he heard a sound. It was the slapping of beaver tales. The column was very scared. The beavers were rebels who had a huge war with the armadillos. At one time, the armadillos forced them into a big beaver dam, but now they were back. The king got his strongest forces together and started out. The battle raged for a day. It was awful! He heard screams and the clash of tail and shell. After a day or so, he heard a bunch of sounds. It was the beavers! None of the armadillos made it. The beavers started burning houses and dug rivers to put their new dams in. The column was more terrified to see a big, brawly beaver coming toward him with an ax. There was nothing he could do. When he was chopped down, the entire building came crashing down, but the column still heard whispering in his injured state. It was king armadillo and his strongest troops! The king told him his plan. The beavers were nothing without their leader so they were going to lure their king over and roll the column down and crush him. Then, they would take the rest as slaves. The plan worked perfectly. The beavers were forced to fill in all the streams and build everything they destroyed. They all lived in peace until the humans came. Tess Saves the Day By Griffin Adams It was a quiet day in the pond. Everything was going fine. Then a police car drove up to Tuckahoe School and a police officer went into the office. There was a long conversation between the officer and the principal. Then finally, the principal made an announcement. “All students and employees must evacuate immediately,” he said. Everybody in the school started running out the door. Tess went under the waterfall to the shell lair and turned on the television. There was a news report about how on the east coast of the United States, fish were coming up on land and attacking people. Tess knew she had to do something. She put on her cape and flew off to save the people. She flew to the beach and found a group of swordfish chasing some people. She flew over and grabbed the swordfish and threw them back in the ocean. She cleared out the beach of all the fish but they kept on coming back out of the water. She knew she needed some back-up! She called her friend Zap, the super robot. As Zap held the fish off, Tess thought of a plan. The people decided to follow Tess’ instructions. The people were told to bring out their grills and set up decorations. Tess called out to Zap to let the fish go. When the fish came back to attack them, they were chanting “fish-fry-fish-fry." The fish were so afraid of being cooked that they ran back into the ocean. The people were saved and it was all thanks to Tess. Tess returned to her pond, where she rested knowing that the fish war was probably just the beginning. Parthenon By Bethany Yates Once upon a time, long ago, on a day much like today, (except it was not long ago, and it was not a day like today) there was an island more beautiful then the most beautiful island! Suddenly, the sound and smell of motors filled the air. Builders came trampling over the small plants and trees. Drills drilled into the ground, which sent all the animals running toward the stream. The animals overheard the construction manager telling his crew that they were to build a copy of the ancient Parthenon. The animals were very angry when they heard the news. Where would they live while the construction workers were making a Parthenon? The animals had to move to the other side of the island. It would not be easy leaving their home. Half a century later, the animals did not like their home. They were running out of food and needed to find another place. The grandchildren decided to see what the old part of the island looked like. They were told never to visit that side because of the humans, but they did not listen. When they saw the built Parthenon, they could not believe their eyes. It was covered with vines and trees. All the needs of the animals were in the plant filled Parthenon. All of the animals quickly moved back to their original home and were thankful for the Parthenon. The Parthenon that brought joy to the animals! When Squirrels Attack By Annie Adair One day, Inga Lincoln and her mom were driving down the highway when suddenly they heard a THUMP! “What was that?” Inga asked her mom. “I don’t know. I think we ran over a squirrel,” Inga’s mom said. “Well that’s just one less squirrel in the world,” Inga said. Little did Inga know was that her mom and she had just run over the last Beige Buppered Bolcom Banted squirrel in the world. “OOUUCCHH,” Inga screamed. “What just happened?” her mother asked running up to her with two grocery bags on her arms. Inga had just fallen down on the sidewalk and scraped her knee. She and her mom walked up the stairs and into the doorway of the house. “What happened?” Inga’s sister Lilli said as she walked past the doorway. “I scraped up my knee,” Inga answered. Her mother went to the bathroom to get a Band-Aid . “And I bet you it was that squirrel we ran over,” Inga said. “Sweetie don’t be so superstitious,” Inga’s mother said. . . . “YES! Now my evil plot will work,” evil Dr. Hemwood said as he drove his black van up to the place where Inga’s mother had run over the squirrel. “Now with the beige squirrel’s blood, my evil plot will work!” He said. “So you are mixing it with that special chemical and then sticking it into hats? Once you put it on every single squirrel in the world, will they destroy everything except you and me that comes in their paths?” Dr. Hemwood’s lab assistant Mary asked. “Lab assistants are to be seen not heard Mary,” Dr. Hemwood said. “Okay, okay, just get back in the van,” Mary told him. . . . “Done,” Dr. Hemwood said as he squeezed the rest of the beige squirrel blood in the pot. “I’m done,” Dr. Hemwood sang as he came into the room where Mary was watching TV. “Did you add the subtle cellophane?” Mary asked. “Be quiet this is my project not yours,” Dr. Hemwood barked. “Okay, chill,” Mary said calmly. . . . Six weeks later, Dr. Hemwood’s project was done and squirrels had taken over the world. Since Dr. Hemwood was the ruler of them, he was now the ruler of the world! . . . “Okay guys, here is the plan. First, we bring down the squirrel’s security system. Then, we defeat Dr. Hemwood and turn off all the little squirrelly hats and then the world should be safe again,” Inga said. Rocky, Cassidy, and Theo were with Inga and they were trying to stop Dr. Hemwood. “Theo, you can crack the security code, right?” Inga asked. “Yup,” Theo said. “SO DO IT THEN!” Cassidy yelled. “Shut up Cassidy,” Rocky said. “Okay, Okay, you are so pushy,” Theo said as he cracked the code. The four friends walked through a big metal door. “Wow!” Cassidy said. They snuck behind a big wall so that the squirrels could not find them. “There he is,” Rocky said. Dr. Hemwood walked by with squirrels surrounding him. “There are squirrels surrounding him, so how are we ever going to get past him?” Cassidy asked. “Peanuts,” Inga answered. “Pea – whats?” Cassidy said. “Peanuts! Squirrels love peanuts,” Inga said. They walked up a flight of stairs and then Rocky heard thousands of little nasally voices saying “Must kill, must kill.” . . . After they defeated the squirrels, they tiptoed up the stairs “BOO!” They all jumped. “AAHHH!” Rocky screamed. “Chill, I’m on your side,” Mary, Dr. Hemwood’s lab assistant said. “I’m Mary, Dr. Hemwood’s X lab assistant. I’ve created a potion that makes the squirrels good,” Mary said. “Okay, we’ll do it with you,” said Rocky. . . . “Oh Mary, wonderful!” Dr. Hemwood said as Mary brought their prisoners in (the police squirrels had good helmets on) “Actually, I’m on the good side now and these squirrels are wearing my creation. The good helmets!” Inga said keeping her cool. “Book’em Charlie!” Inga yelled. . . . Mary made hot cocoa in the celebration of Dr. Hemwood going to jail. “Okay, so how do you turn this thing off?” Rocky asked. “You turn off the ge- whooaaaaaaaa,” Theo yelled as he fell and got cocoa all over the keyboard that turns off the hats. *Epilogue* *The cocoa turned off the hats and the world lived happily ever after.* The Tiny Village By Jessi Mitrovich We were driving to our ski cabin like we always do for a two-week vacation. The cabin we stay in was near the mountains. Finally, we were there! I jumped out of the car, told my mom I was going to go ski, and ran off. Three or four days later, I woke up and hopped off the bed and jumped straight back under the blanket. The loft was freezing! I slowly climbed back out of bed, pulled on my sweatshirt, and ran into the living room. My mom and dad were in the room starting a fire in the small fireplace “Good morning Brin,” my mom said. “We lost electricity, so the heaters are off.” Right as she said this, my sister came out of the room. “There’s no more electricity! Oh man!” One day, while I was collecting wood for the fire, I stepped on a rotted piece of wood. It was half covered with leaves. I slowly slid the wood and noticed a crack. I could actually look through it. There was a small village underneath the wood! There were small houses made out of sticks, wood chips, rocks, grass, moss, and mud. The sticks were piled on top of each other. The sticks looked like a log cabin with grass weaves in between the logs to hold them in place. Wood chips served as a door and window shutters. Rocks were held together with mud. There was even a chimney coming out of the roof. It was made of wood chips and mud. Moss was used to fill in the cracks. There was also a place that had a piece of paper that said in scraggly handwriting, meeting area. The meeting area was like a camp circle. There were rocks with tufts of moss on top for padding. I had guessed they were seats. In the center, there was a circle that spun around with a chair and a desk made out of wood chips. Then I heard the bell ring [that meant I had to come home] so I collected the wood I needed and ran home. I spent most of my time at the village during the days without electricity. I made items for the little village and left them as presents. After we got electricity, it was safe to go skiing and I only visited the village now and then. However, on the last day we were there, I spent the whole day making everything from chairs to hammocks to tables to beds. Then it was time for us to go home. I said good-bye to the town and left. The Weird Waterfalls By Henry Nye One cold winter day in Tuckahoe Elementary’s courtyard, three ducklings decided to slide down the courtyard’s tiny waterfalls. However, it was freezing outside and very slowly it was getting even colder. Right before the ducklings got over the edge, the temperature was 32.000001 degrees F. Then, a split second later, it turned 32 degrees F. The waterfalls froze and they were stuck! The ducklings cried for their parents and they finally came. They pulled the ducklings out. Since the waterfalls weren’t cracked at all, the ducklings thought that they might be able to have some fun with them. They broke one off and put it upside down and the other sideways! Then a couple of months later, when the water had melted, a school class went out to the courtyard and they saw a waterfall with water falling up and the other falling sideways! Picture of the waterfall just before it froze! The waterfall is shown falling up! Christina the Lonely Flower By Erica Nguyen Picture of Christina Once upon a time, there lived a lonely flower. Her name was Christina. She was always sad. Christina was always playing with her ball or with her jump rope but she always had to do it alone. She always took turns to either play with her jump rope or with her ball, but by the end of the day, she always was depressed. One day, she saw another yellow flower moving in next door. This was her chance to make a friend. Christina asked, “Do you want to be friends?” The other flower said, “Sure,” and said her name was Lilly. She also told Christina that she was the same age as her. They both played with the ball and Christina asked, “Do you want to stay for dinner?” Lilly said, "Sure!” Christina was so excited. She knew that she would not have to be alone anymore. Christina and Lilly lived happily ever after. Picture of Lilly Bridge to the Nennies By Ilana Brody Once upon a time, at Tuckahoe Elementary School, when all the kids were on summer break, a humming bird named Ruby wanted some nectar. She found the most beautiful flower on the other side of the courtyard. She stuck in her beak and drank. It was the best tasting nectar she had ever tasted. Then, all of a sudden, she heard a tiny scream. She stopped drinking and looked in the flower. At first glance, it looked like a tiny fairy. When she took a closer look, she saw a very weird creature. It had two antennas, two fingers on each hand that looked like claws, a long gown with a flower on it, and wings in the shape of clouds. The rest of the body looked like a fairy. “Umm, hi, my name is Ruby,” said Ruby. “Shnumana,” said the strange creature. “What?” wondered Ruby. “I said, don’t go messing through my home,” yelled the creature. “What species are you?” asked Ruby. “I am a Nenny,” said the creature proudly. “Do you have a name,” asked Ruby. “Yes I do,” said the Nenny. “My name is Shimmer”. “Nice name,” said Ruby. “Thanks…. Wait, I shouldn’t be talking to you, SECURITY,” shouted Shimmer. “Huh, you’ll pay for this,” yelled Ruby as the security Nennies carried her away. When the security dropped her on the other side and told her never to go back over the bridge, she told all of the other birds about the Nennies. A couple of months later, when the birds and the Nennies had become enemies, a kid humming bird was playing and accidentally flew over to the other side of the bridge. Then the humming bird heard WARNING, BIRD ALERT, BIRD ALERT! “Aaahhhhhhhhh,” screamed the little humming bird, as she flew over the bridge quickly. “That does it,” said the Nenny Emperor. “Sprinkle in the Pink Nenny Powder (PNP).” PNP is pink powder, and if you put it in any body of water, anything that tries to fly over it, freezes in mid air and become prisoners of the Nennies. The next day, a spy humming bird tried to go across the bridge to the Nennies (that’s what the humming birds called the bridge now), but got stuck. He didn’t know what was happening. Then he heard “Ha ha ha, I have captured the humming bird’s top spy,” said the emperor Nenny. “How did you know I was the top spy?” asked the humming bird. “It says HBTS on your badge, and I know every abbreviation,” said the Nenny, “Now you shall do everything I say, Ha ha ha,” said the Nenny. Ring Ring Ring “Oh no, school is back and kids are coming. We must hide and release the humming bird!” shouted the Emperor Nenny. The humming bird was very lucky to have school start. “School may be back in session but this battle is not over yet, said Emperor Nenny. “There will be a next summer and we will be ready for those humming birds.” Little Cabin on the Prairie By Logan Stelck Many years ago, a great cabin was built at a school called Tuckahoe Elementary. Many of the kids worshiped the cabin. Unfortunately, a tornado came and blew the cabin away. The cabin ended-up landing in the prairies, where a bunch of prairie dogs took over the cabin. Inside the cabin, the prairie dogs built a log television, log couch, and some log plates to eat off of at mealtime. They decided to stay in the little log cabin overnight. Before they went to bed, they chose to leave the cabin to find some food. However, instead of finding food, they found a brick cabin. The prairie dogs decided to go inside. Inside, they saw a brick television, brick couch, brick plates, and food! They started eating the food that they had found. The only problem was that all of the food was sticky and sour. The youngest prairie dog begged to go back to the other cabin to see if they could find something else to eat. Finally, they all agreed to leave the brick cabin and head back home. When they arrived home, the wind was starting to kick up violently. Before the prairie dogs realized it, they were trapped in a funnel cloud that was throwing them and the cabin everywhere. Finally, when the tornado stopped, they had landed at Tuckahoe. The cabin was back where it belonged. The kids were very happy because they now had their cabin back with new pets! The kids at Tuckahoe made sure the prairie dogs never went hungry, and the prairie dogs made sure the kids always had company. The Secret Bench Area By Amira Chamma There once lived an 11-year-old boy named Charlie. Charlie’s father died when he was eight. Everyday Charlie would go to the cemetery and pray for his dad to rest in peace. One day, when he went to the cemetery to pray for his dad, he found a new bench area by his father's gravestone. Charlie sat on the bench and put a plate of cookies on the table that he had poisoned. He poisoned them because he wanted to be with his father. He took one bite out of the cookie and another until he took his last bite. Nothing happened to him. After he had finished praying for his dad, he prayed for himself. He went home, had dinner, and went to bed. Suddenly, he felt a great pain in his chest, collapsed, and died. The next morning his mother found out her son had died. Nobody knew why. A week later his family and friends had a funeral for him. His family decided to bury him right next to his father. All of Charlie’s friends felt bad, especially, his best friend Eddie. The next day Eddie went to the cemetery. Eddie sat on the bench in front of Charlie’s gravestone and ate a cookie that was left by Charlie. When he got home, his mother asked him where he had been. Charlie told his mother that he had been at the cemetery down the street. That night, Charlie died in his sleep. No one knew why he had died that night. The doctor asked Eddie’s mother where he went the day before. She told them that he was at the cemetery down the street. A lot of people and detectives examined the cemetery. One detective named Joe examined the bench area. He picked up a cookie and took it to the forensic lab. While Joe was examining the cookie, he found out that it was poisoned with deadly chemicals. Now everyone knew what had caused the death of Charlie and Eddie. However, they still didn’t know who had poisoned the cookies. Before they wanted to find out who had poisoned the cookie, they had to make the cemetery off limits. A couple of days later, they went back to the forensic lab. Joe was looking at the cookie closely and saw that there were fingerprints on it. They took a DNA test on the fingerprints and found out Charlie was the person who poisoned the cookie. Charlie’s mother told the police that he always wanted to be with his dad’s soul. The case was solved. Charlie was the one who poisoned the cookie and killed himself and his friend. They took the bench and the cookies and put them in the dump, so nobody would have any reminders of the great tragedy that took place. To this day, people often wonder how the bench and table got there in the first place. Could it have been Charlie's dad? The Victory of King Hara By Peyton Wilson On February 13, in the year 500 A.D, King Hara and his soldiers went to battle with the Red Foxes. The evil Red Foxes were strong and fought a bloody and painful war. They were an enemy that had better weapons then the Rabbits. However, the Rabbits had one thing that the Foxes did not have. They were allies with the mighty Porcupines, who helped them win the war. The Porcupines were glad to help the Rabbits because they liked their carrot sign. The carrot sign was on the Rabbit’s armor, swords, and shields. It was also on their proud sign of the double carrot. After their victory, the Rabbits and the Porcupines celebrated with a vegetarian feast with sugar-glazed carrots for dessert. The Big War By Ben Stern Once deep underground, a long dead Ancient Greek was touched by a sacred stone and came to life. Then he used the stone to revive other dead people. After that, they used the stone to blow a hole up out of the ground. Next, they climbed up out of the soil and found a Parthenon. They decided to put the stone in the middle of the Parthenon and made it their new home. The next day, the Ancient Greeks had a meeting. In the middle of the meeting, they were kicked out by the modern Greek Government. They got mad at the Greek Government and decided to take over the new Greek Government. That night, they used the stone to revive all of the remaining Ancient Greeks. They devised a plan and started attacking buildings. Soon the modern Greek Army came to the scene. The War of old versus new had begun. The Ancient Greeks had the sacred stone and they knew it was a powerful weapon. However, the modern Greeks had technology. They fought for a long time before the United States came and helped defeat the Ancient Greeks. After that, the Greeks and Americans knew the stone had to be destroyed because of its destructive powers! They destroyed the stone and sent the Ancient Greeks to Mars on the space shuttle Tuckahoe. One can only wonder what Mars is like at this very moment. The Adventures of Tess By Peter House One fine day in the Tuckahoe schoolyard, there was a family of turtles. The mother (Tess) said to the babies, “I’m going to run an errand.’’ Unfortunately, the babies were asleep, and when they woke up, they went off in search of Tess. After a day of shell-breaking work, VIT (Father) was eager to get home. When he got home, the babies and Tess were gone! VIT obviously went looking for them. Tess had invited her friends Tucker and Toad to tea. So, Toad and Tucker followed suit and went out looking for the babies, Tess, and VIT after they found the house unoccupied. “Oh my!” gasped Toad “Where did they go?” Meanwhile, a baby named Sean decided to search for Tess alone. He said, “I’m better at searching then all of you put together!” As Sean set up camp and prepared for the night, something hit him on the head. He looked up and was surprised to see VIT clambering up a cliff “Yo! VIT! Get down!” “Sean, boy am I glad to see you!” VIT climbed down to Sean and they wordlessly continued their quest. Soon enough all were found. When they got home, Tess had a fit. “VIT! A good husband would have stayed home till I got back!” screamed Tess. “B-But n-no o-one w-was there.” Stammered VIT. “No buts! I’m filing a lawsuit for a divorce!” yelled Tess “Uh, Mom? Don’t you have to get a separation first?” asked Sean. “Your right.” Tess admitted, “Then I’m getting a separation!” screamed Tess. “Jeez Ma, you don’t gotta yell.” said a baby named Rose. “Well, I’m so sorry.” Tess said sarcastically. “What have I told you about gotta? It’s bad grammar you know!” So Tess attempted in vain to get a separation. Although Tess seemed furious, she admitted that she overreacted. One more thing came out of the lawsuit that Tess learned. Never file a lawsuit unless you have a degree in law or can find a good lawyer! The Apple Tree By Olivia August I sit in the yard and watch my rabbit play. As he hops from here to there, my eyes follow. I watch as he hops from the garden to the small evergreen bushes in front of my house. He then hops to the small apple tree to the left of my house. An apple falls from the top and my rabbit happily starts snacking away at the meat of the fruit. As he nibbles, I let my eyes rest on the apple tree. It’s so beautiful when it’s full of apples. As my gaze lies upon the tree, another apple falls, this time it falls on my rabbit’s head! With a silent laugh, I scoop him up and walk inside. Just another day completed with my apple tree. Return of the Greeks By Caleb Rakestraw-Morn Nearly three millennia after the Greeks were defeated in the Trojan War, they wanted revenge! They sent archeologists to excavate ancient Troy. Fine, right? No, there was a problem. They did it without the permission of the government. The workers were working one day, when suddenly, 50-armed Special Response Teams came up and took them away. They were in custody for days. A week later and after no return of the workers, Greek officials came to investigate. When they reached the prison doors, they were met by armed guards and then taken into custody. After a series of these arrests, Greece became suspicious. Did Troy know something they didn’t? Well, they didn’t. They simply did not want others trespassing on their land! After a few years of Greece officials being arrested, Greece declared war! You could call it war, but it was not because the Trojans had Hovercrafts that made an F-15 look like the sound of music! You can probably visualize the battle in your head, as the Greeks were no match. Luckily, this war only lasted three weeks, which was considerably shorter then the first Trojan War. However, the outcome was the same, as the Trojans prevailed. The Magic Rock By Jane Roberts I’m so sad my best friend Hanna had left her first life and has started her second. I just can’t believe it. It seems like just yesterday that we were playing. Even though it has been three years now, I can’t believe she is gone. If only we hadn’t been playing in the street or I had yelled louder. I remember it so vividly. She was wearing her ruby red T-shirt with “Punk out Dude” on it with her sky blue polka-dotted pink skort to go with it. When suddenly, a green car with a New Hampshire license plate came out of nowhere. Maybe if the driver had honked louder or Hanna wasn’t almost deaf, she would have been able to avoid the car. Now all I have left to treasure is the “zebra rock” that she found for me. I put it on a necklace so I could remember it forever. I’ll never forget the day I found out it was magical. It was a Tuesday and the first day of school and I was going to be late! I knew how mean the teachers could be if you were late. I even heard that one teacher got so mad at this one kid that she stuffed him in a closet for three days! His parents called the police and the teacher finally let him go. He didn’t squeal because he knew how much more trouble he could get into at the school. I knew I was going to be late! I wish I were at school. Suddenly, I was walking into my school only one second late, so I got lucky with only getting a warning. I knew I wasn’t imagining things because a few days later my mom used my money to buy a lottery ticket. She promised me the money ($10,000) if I won. I wish I would win. A few days later, I won! I started to realize that whenever I wished for something, it appeared. I wondered why this was happening. When I was in chorus, I didn’t get the solo even after I wished it. Also, I remember swimming and wanting a blue swimsuit instead of pink, so I wished for it, but it never came true. I suddenly realized it must be the rock. That second, I vowed to make only unselfish wishes. I still had a few experiments though. The most useful one was with the class bunny, Jim. Donny A. and Timmy B. kept on hugging Jim. I thought it would be unselfish to make a wish. I wish they would leave Jim alone. I opened my eyes and Don and Timmy had stopped. I went over to Jim. Jim smelled like a dumpster. He was a home to thousands of lice, fleas, and ticks too. So I learned to be specific, as well as, unselfish. I made sure the smell, lice, fleas, and ticks went away. I was very proud of myself for only using my magical rock to help others. Ten Years Later I am a normal adult with two children, Amy and May. Of course, every now and then a few things appear out of “thin air” and no one knows why but me. Hebe the Goddess of Youth By John Herrling The new Goddess of Youth was elected and her name was Hebe. After the Goddess of Youth was elected, she told her committee she was going to make stricter rules in the town. The very next day, we all got up early and made new rules like she told us to do. We knew we had to listen or we would face a grueling punishment. Then, she made us rename the town to Lactose Intolerant. The next couple of weeks the Goddess of Youth made us work rebuilding the entire town. She even made us build her 1,890 foot plank just so she could walk out and give us orders. The next day, Hebe was able to see the Camelot warriors coming from a distance. It was a good thing we built her a plank or she never would have seen them coming to try to kill her. The warriors were after a crystal diamond that was supposedly promised to them after Hebe was elected. She refused to give them the crystal diamond because she knew how valuable it was. When word had reached all of the people in the town of Lactose Intolerant, many were very angry with Hebe. They knew the elections were fixed! The Camelot warriors had bribed the people of the town to vote for her because they thought they were going to get the crystal diamond from her. When the warriors reached town, the people joined forces with them and overthrew Hebe. There was a new election and the new Goddess of Youth was elected fairly by the people. Her name was Zelda. Zelda treated her people fairly, and in return for the help the Camelot warriors gave the townspeople, Zelda gave the people of Camelot the crystal diamond. Magic Parthenon By Jake Marshall On August 17, 2005 in the woods behind my house, was something magical and beyond belief. It was an amazing Parthenon! You could only go in it from 6:00 to 6:30 P.M. If you were still in there after 6:30, you would disappear into the unknown for a month. How do I know? It was a bad experience that happened to me on October 27, 2001. I was playing around 6:00 P.M. in the stream behind my house when I saw something white. It was a Parthenon. I thought it would be cool to play inside of it, so I played in it for 30 minutes. When I was about to leave, it happened. I was sucked into a dark hole and landed in a cell. There were two lights, a bucket of food, a mat, a jug of water, a pack of cards, and some blocks. After about 5 minutes, I fell to the ground and cried. Would I ever get out of here? For a while, I played, ate, and drank. I slept on a mat on one side of the cell. After 3 weeks in the cell, I was running out of food and water. I had only a gallon left! I only drank 2 cups for the last week. On November 27, 2001, I was sucked up through a light hole and was free. I quickly found my mom and dad and told them the whole story. I still enjoy looking at the Parthenon but will never go inside of it again! The Walnut By Nathan Young There once was a walnut at Tuckahoe Elementary that Bart Simpson put in Homer Simpson’s underwear but Homer didn’t know it. Homer drove to work at the nuclear power plant. Once he got there, he found the walnut and threw it into the nuclear liquid. He was very angry with his son, Bart. The walnut gained nuclear energy and came to life! The walnut was very intelligent. He made a complete army of walnuts to help him destroy the world. However, he made one big calculation error. He forgot that he was a walnut. One day, he and his army were walking through the woods. They were looking for their next target. Suddenly, they became the target of squirrels. The squirrels came out of the trees and started eating all of the walnuts. The world was saved thanks to some hungry squirrels.







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The Magic Stepping Stone

By

Tierney Patton

By

James O’Duden

By

Julia Arthur

By

Ilana Brody

Ring Ring Ring

There once lived an 11-year-old boy named Charlie. Charlie’s father died when he was eight. Everyday Charlie would go to the cemetery and pray for his dad to rest in peace.

After he had finished praying for his dad, he prayed for himself. He went home, had dinner, and went to bed. Suddenly, he felt a great pain in his chest, collapsed, and died.

The next morning his mother found out her son had died. Nobody knew why. A week later his family and friends had a funeral for him. His family decided to bury him right next to his father. All of Charlie’s friends felt bad, especially, his best friend Eddie.

The next day Eddie went to the cemetery. Eddie sat on the bench in front of Charlie’s gravestone and ate a cookie that was left by Charlie. When he got home, his mother asked him where he had been. Charlie told his mother that he had been at the cemetery down the street.

Now everyone knew what had caused the death of Charlie and Eddie. However, they still didn’t know who had poisoned the cookies. Before they wanted to find out who had poisoned the cookie, they had to make the cemetery off limits.

They took the bench and the cookies and put them in the dump, so nobody would have any reminders of the great tragedy that took place. To this day, people often wonder how the bench and table got there in the first place. Could it have been Charlie's dad?

The Apple Tree

By

Jane Roberts

Hebe the Goddess of Youth

On August 17, 2005 in the woods behind my house, was something magical and beyond belief. It was an amazing Parthenon!

You could only go in it from 6:00 to 6:30 P.M. If you were still in there after 6:30, you would disappear into the unknown for a month. How do I know? It was a bad experience that happened to me on October 27, 2001.

I was playing around 6:00 P.M. in the stream behind my house when I saw something white. It was a Parthenon. I thought it would be cool to play inside of it, so I played in it for 30 minutes.

The Walnut