Ex-Friends

Jack Danielson and Judy Osmett were very good friends until Carl Frankby, the local bully teased Jack.

They had a week off from school in honor of when their school was built. They we re walking together to the park when Carl zoomed past them on his bike. "Well, well, well!" Carl sneered, "Look who we have here. If it isn't lover boy and his bride-to-be. Where's your little teddy bear with hearts all over it?!"

Judy snorted. "How would you know teddy bears have hearts all over it if you don't own one yourself?!" she shot back.

Carl growled. He held his fist up to Judy's face. "Welcome to the punchline!"

Judy didn't even flinch. Suddenly, Mrs. Jefferson, who is good friends with Carl's mom, stepped out onto the porch Carl Frankby, your mother is going about this!" Then she turned to Judy. "Judy, are you all right?"

Judy smiled, "Yes, I'm fine."

Wow! Jack wished that he was as brave as Judy, daring to stand up to the local bully. But to make matters worse, Carl was right, Jack needed to find more guy friends. He stood there, uncomfortably and told Judy that he needed to help his little brother in first grade with his homework during vacation.

Judy shrugged, "Sure."

Jack gave a weak smile and headed home.

As Jack jogged back, he thought about how to have more guy friends. He telephoned Thomas, who doesn't even know any girls outside his class besides his sister and Lilly.

"Yo, what's up?" Thomas asked Jack.

Jack replied, "Thomas, how do I get more guy friends? Carl Frankby's been teasing me about hanging out with Judy. What should I do?"

Thomas frowned. "Who's Judy?"

Jack sighed. "Top student in Mr. Nooran's class, of course."

"Oh! That girl. I never knew her name. Anyway, back on track. We can hang out at my house for the rest of the week if you want. Try avoiding Judy but don't act suspicious or she'll know something is up."

Jack grinned. "Thanks, pal! 'I'll tell mom that I'll be hanging out at your house."

Thomas nodded, "Sure!"

Jack trotted into the kitchen, searching for his mom. He found a note that read, 'Jack - if you are reading this, I've gone to the market. If you're going out, please sign below.'

Jack printed Jack and left. He stayed undercover all the way to Thomas' house. It was a good thing he did too, Jack saw Judy going to the library with Victoria. When Jack was at Thomas' house, they played Clue.

Meanwhile, when Judy was at the library with Victoria Black, she just thought of something. The LIdo Elementary School where Jack's brother Nathaniel goes to never gave homework during break. Something funny was going on. And Judy didn't mean funny ha-ha or even funny ho-ho.

Victoria interrupted Judy's thoughts by shoving a book called Nighttime Animals in front of her. "Judy, Judy!" Victoria cried, "This will help me write my report, the incredible owl!"

Judy shrugged. Victoria started blabbering away about her report. After she finished, Victoria whispered to Judy, "There's been a rumor going around in the 8th grade. Carl started it."

Judy perked up. "What?" she asked eagerly.

"Carl says that Jack,--" Victoria started.

Judy turned to Victoria sharply. "What is he saying about my friend?! Does Frankby want to end head-first in the dumpster?!" Judy interrupted.

Victoria started again. "You mean your ex-friend."

Judy couldn't believe her ears. "Ex-friend? Ha, ha. You must be joking. Jack and I have been friends since third grade! We're in eighth grade already!"

Victoria shook her head, "Carl says that Jack isn't your friend anymore. Carl prefer to use the word 'dumped' or 'broke-up'. Jack's been hanging out with Thomas, Vans - that boy who plays soccer."

Judy scowled. So that was what was going on. She left the library and went to talk to Mary, who detests boys.

Ding, dong! The doorbell rang. Mary poked her head out. "Hey, Judy. What's up?"

Judy explained everything the way Jack did but the opposite way.

Mary nodded slowly. She thought for a moment. "Did you ask?"

"Ask what?" Judy replied.

"If Jack's not actually your friend. I mean, he could've have Thomas for a science partner, like at at school."

Judy shook her head. "Nope, Jack told me that Perry Flynn was his partner.

Mary shrugged and asked, "Want to play Operation?"

Judy took that as a 'want to be my friend?' and replied,"Sure!"

And so it was. When it was time to go back to school, Jack tried to avoid Judy and played soccer with Thomas, Kenny, Gregory a.k.a. Greg, and Ben.

Judy realized that the rumor really was true. Jack had stopped playing monkey bars with her like they usually did. So, instead of trying to let Jack be her friend again, she hung out with Mary and her friends.

Neither Judy nor Jack spoke a word to each other until Michael Anderson, the rich kid invited everyone in 8th grade at the Larkin Middle School to his birthday party. It was his 15th birthday.

Best of all, the invitation read that they can swim in the indoor swimming pool.

Everyone knew Michael and wanted to be his friend because he was nice, generous, and funny. If they had siblings, they would brag about it. Jack stuffed every detail down Nathaniel's throat. Judy crammed it into her big sister in 10th grade, Carol's head. All the 8th graders were as happy as a clam. All, that is but Carl Frankby.

He was green. He was jealous. Michaelhad invited him except he was grounded for being accused of punching Judy in the face although he didn't. All the proof was against him.

Carl punched his pillow so hard that a few feathers flew out of it. He took out his little green notebook and wrote I hate Judy ten times.

On his 8th sentence, his little sister Hillary who also goes to the Lido Elementary School but is in 4th grade burst in.

"What are you doing here, weaselhead?" Carl growled.

Hillary answered, "Mom wants to have a talk with you, snotboy."

"What is wrong with you, Carl Frensky Frankby! Why in the world did you hit Judy!" Mrs. Frankby shouted.

"I didn't do it, Ma! It looked like I did but I didn't!" Carl insisted.

Meanwhile at Michael Anderson's party, they were all playing water tag in the pool. It was Holly Taylors turn to be it and everyone swam as fast as they can away from her because 1. They didn't want to be it and 2. She was the 5th fastest swimmer in 8th grade at their Middle School.

Michael made some rules. When you're completely surrounded and no place left to go, you have to quickly say Peter Piper picked a peek of pickled peppers 3 times and if you don't mess up, the it person has to wait 5 seconds before he/she zips out again. It's sort of like base but you can't do it unless you're absolutely trapped.

Holly tagged Perry Flynn and Perry tagged Jack. It wasn't easy because Jack was the 3rd fastest. He almost got Lilly Tang but he missed by barely 2 inches!

Jack took a deep breath and cranked his body on to full speed which he calls 'Mako Extreme' because the Mako is the fastest shark.

He trapped Judy into the corner of the pod and looked like that he was going to pounce on her.

Judy started to say the tongue twister but Larry Mantis, one of Mr. Anderson's servants accidentally fell into the pool by slipping on a puddle of water from when the kids jumped in and a wave of water splashed over Judy's head. Jack ducked down into the water just in time but Judy got drenched without warning because she was so concentrated on saying the tongue twister right.

When Jack heard her choking and sputtering, his head bobbled above the water. Everyone else swam over to see while Michael helped Mr. Mantis out. "Judy, are you all right?" Jack whispered, forgetting all about avoiding her. Apparently, Thomas forgot too. "Is she still alive?" he whispered to Greg.

"Yes, I'm fine." Judy hoarsely whispered.

Michael held out a hand but Larry Mantis beat him to it. "I know what it feels like. I know." said Mr. Mantis gently. He took her into the guest room to dry off.

When Judy came back, they had already changed and were having a 3-legged race. She saw Charlie Stewart and Amanda Starling cross the finish line. Then, it was time for Michael to open his gifts.

First, he got a soccer ball from Thomas. Next, he got a dart game from Lilly. And so on. Hats, wristbands, action figures, books, toys, calculators, etc. He even got a watch from Perry that glows-in-the-dark! Everyone had a great time.

Soon, Jack and Judy were friends again and Thomas and Mary seemed to forget what had happened. Everything was back to normal.

THE END

The Pool

Derek Walter didn't have a best friend until Emily and Doug Pretson moved into his neighborhood.

Emily, Doug, and their parents had just moved into Derek's old neighbor Mr. Johnson's house. Derek saw the whole scene from his bedroom window. He used his telescope (he got that for a birthday gift since he was fond of astronomy) and looked out the window with it often.

When Derek was doing his daily looking, he saw Mrs. Grandby, the real estate person put a sold sing in front of the sale sign and she drove off.

Derek raced downstairs and shared with his parents about the news. "I hope they have kids y age!" he eagerly said after he explained it.

His dad chuckled. "If they have kids your age, then I hope their father is interested in hockey!"

A couple of hours later, Derek was looking through his telescope again. He saw a blue convertible drive up with two moving trucks following directly behind. "It's the new people!" he thought excitedly.

Derek peered closer. He saw a man in the front and , two kids in the back of the convertible! "Yippee!" Derek shouted happily.

He ran down to his front yard to greet them.

A week later, Doug and Emily invited Derek to go swimming at the pool downtown. "Sure!" Derek exclaimed. "Great! We'll meet you on Friday." Doug promised.

Derek rushed home and told his parents. Suddenly, Derek's big sister, Mindy Walter skipped down the stairs. She sneered. "Ha! You don't even know how to swim! How are you going to learn by Friday!?"

Derek's shoulders drooped. "Darn, I forgot all about that. Now what am I going to do?"

Mr. Walter slapped Derek's back. "If you try your hardest, I'd be glad to train you until Friday!"

Derek grinned "Gee, thanks a whole lot! But do you think I can learn in only 3 days?"

Mr. Walter smiled, "If you try your hardest."

Mindy snorted, "Mindy," Mrs. Walter said sternly, "if you'd like me to send you to your room, I'd be glad to." Then she said to Mr. Walter, "Ken, I think that will be a great idea! You can take Derek there this afternoon!"

Mr. Walter glanced at his watch. "We can go now, if you'd like!"

Derek whooped. "YAHOO!" he screamed.

Mindy came out of the kitchen carrying a cellphone. "Can you puh-leeeese stop screaming? You're ridiculous!"

Mr. Walter stood up. "Derek," he ordered, "get your swim trunks and goggles. Meet you here in a minute?"

Derek flashed a thumbs-up sign and bolted up the stairs with Mr. Walter trotting behind.

Derek leafed around in his drawer and fished out his goggles and swim trunks. Then, just Derek and his dad went to the pool to help him practice.

By Friday, Derek was all set and ready. He headed up to Doug and Emily's house after school. Ding Dong. Emily poked her head out. "Come in." she said.

Derek asked, "When are we going swimming? Where's Doug?"

Emily sighed. "Look. I want to make it up to you, but Doug caught a cold when we went to that museum, The Museum of Natural History. Sorry, but my folks said that I have to stay home."

"Oh," said a disappointed Derek, "but can I still visit him?"

Emily shook her head. "Nope. Mom won't let visitors see him 'till he's better."

Derek headed out the door and walked home. He played soccer in the backyard by himself, feeling lonely.

But, he cheered up when his dad offered to swim with him and Derek had a great time.

The Missing Picture

On December 15, 2108, my great granddaughter will look through a box of old family things and discover my school photos.

Her name is Abby Ming, III. She called her brother - my great-grandson Sebastian Ming, Jr. to come up and see. Abby pointed to our class picture. "Look! Our great grandmother's class picture when she was in third grade, like us!" Sebastian peered at it. "Wow!" he whistled softly. "I wonder which one's great-grandmother Amy?"

Abby grinned. "Good question! Let's find out!" Sebastian carefully took out the picture from its envelope. Then, they studied it. "Hey," Abby said, " how come some people are so short?" Sebastian shrugged. "They're probably in a 2nd & 3rd grade class, like us."

Abby looked on the bottom, with the names, while Sebastian looked on the top, with the pictures. He wrinkled his nose, "Wow, they dressed so old-fashioned! And I can't believe the picture doesn't pop out. Ours always does."

"Look!" Abby exclaimed, simply ignoring him. She pointed to me in the picture. "There's Amy! Top row, right corner."

Sebastian examined it closely. "Yup! What weird last names they had!" Abby rolled her eyes. "Dude! You've go to chill out! They're not all Chinese, like we are." Sebastian shrugged.

"Kids! It's Wednesday- a school day! Get your things ready." my granddaughter Abby Ming, II called. "Okay, mom!" Sebastian called back. "C'mon! Let's go!" he said to Abby.

Abby cried, "Wait! Let's bring this picture to school for Show-And-Tell! It'll be worth a fortune!"

Sebastian grinned. "Great, I repeat, great idea!" then, he carefully slid the picture back into its envelope.

They quickly gathered their stuff and set off.

They got the teleportinator (which teleports you to wherever you want) and teleported themselves to school.

When they got to school, Sebastian met his friend Michael Wang. Abby met her friend Angela Lee. They played until the first bell rang. Michael and Angela lined up at Mr. Tang's class while Abby and Sebastian lined up at Mrs. Huang's class.

A minute later, Mrs. Huang came out and led the class inside.

When everyone was inside and seated, Mrs. Huang clapped her hands twice, "Class, I have exciting news. On Friday, we're going to the little space museum and learn about astronomy!"

Lots of kids cheered, especially Warren Chang, the smartest kid in class, age 9. But Issac Wu, the class bully just snorted. "Ha! Astronomy is boring!"

Mrs. Huang gave him a strict look. "We're in school. We're not here to fool around. We're here to learn and improve your education."

Emily Tang frowned at Issac. "It'll be fun!" she protested. "Anyway, our science unit this month is about the depths of outer space." Issac frowned.

"Anyway, let's begin our day with Show-and-Tell!" Mrs. Huang suggested. "Who would like to go first?"

Lots of kids raised their hands except Issac who called out, "Me! Me! Me!"

Linda Chen, a 2nd grader raised her hand politely. "Linda." Mrs. Huang said.

Linda smiled and skipped to the front of the room while clutching a bag in her hand. "This," she explained, "is a volcanic rock. I got it when I visited Hawaii in the gift shop." Linda pulled out a rock about the size of a wristband.

Issac laughed and blurted out, "You went to a gift shop and visited Hawaii? Hawaii is too big to fit in a shop, dummy!"

Linda's face grew red. Mrs. Huang's lips formed a thin, white line. "Mr. Wu! Your are staying in for recess. I will not allow bullying in this class. Apologize to Linda right now."

"Sorry," Issac muttered under his breath.

"Okay, who would like to go next?" Mrs. Huang asked as she wrote Issac's name under RECESS. Several hands shot up. "Okay, how about you, Sebastian?" Mrs. Huang asked.

Sebastian replied, "Abby and I are sharing our show-and tell. Is that okay?" Mrs. Huang smiled, "Sure." Abby jumped up and walked to the front of the room while Sebastian carefully took the envelope and joined her.

Abby cleared her throat. "This class picture was from the year 2008, a hundred years ago."

Sebastian nudged Abby and pointed to me. "This is our great-grandmother."

The class oohhed and ahhed. "I bet that's worth a lot of money!" a 2nd grader named Isabell Yu exclaimed.

Abby and Sebastian nodded proudly. "Yup!" Abby put it back in Sebastian's leather book bag and returned to her seat.

After Show-And-Tell was over, they did a little math. Then they went out to recess.

When Sebastian was getting his snack, he noticed that the picture was gone. He also checked Abby's pack but it wasn't there either.

Sebastian tapped Abby. "Where did you put the picture?" he whispered. Abby whispered back, "In your book bag. Why?" "'Cause it's missing!" Sebastian cried.

Mrs. Huang overheard Sebastian yelling "'Cause it's missing!" and she asked, "What's wrong?"

Sebastian began, "Our-" but Abby interrupted, "Our picture of great-grandmother's class picture from third grade."

Mrs. Huang nodded slowly. "I can see why it's possible for someone to take it since its' so valuable. We'll look after recess."

Abby shrugged and headed out to recess with Sebastian following right behind. They played for about 20 minutes before the bell rang. Michael was testing out his new speed watch. it can make you run as fast as you can. Lot's of kids were watching him. You would too, if that had been invented already.

When they got back in class, Mrs. Huang got everyone's attention, including Issac's, when she flicked the lights on & off.

"Class, we are sad to say but Sebastian and Abby can't find their photo. Please empty out your desks and backpacks to see if it got misplaced." announced Mrs. Huang.

People started to empty out desks and backpacks except for my great-grandchildren who waited patiently. Unfortunately, the kids didn't find it.

Sebastian and Abby sighed. "We'll be busted! I told mom about the picture this morning all bout it."

The rest of the day was a real drag for Sebastian and Abby. Finally, school was dismissed but Abby and Sebastian took a bus instead of the teleportinator because they would be afraid of what their mom will say.

While Sebastian was emptying out his leather book bag for his homework, he found the photo! It was just in the outer layer instead of the inside.

He felt reeeally foolish like Alan did in the story The Garden of Abdul Gasazi. He told Abby and everything was just fine.

THE END

The Christmas Fair

Stephanie was really looking forward to the Christmas Fair. Unfortunately, she was grounded. A day ago, her little brother Freddy accidentally knocked over a new plate at dinner. Stephanie was going to stop him, so she quickly put her hand by Freddy's but it was too late. He knocked over the plate and her parents thought that she had done it because her hand was there. So there she was, grounded. For one week.

The only problem about that was the Christmas Fair was on Saturday and she was grounded 'till next Wednesday and Stephanie couldn't go to the fair. She could hear Freddy watching T.V. downstairs. It was his favorite show - Superhero Luniac!

Stephanie stared at a bird outside the window. It gave her an idea! She paused. Her parents were at the mall. Good. She sneaked out of her room and into her parent's room. No one was there except for her cat, Noodle. "Phew!" Stephanie thought. She got her parents' laptop and sent an email to her friend. Dear Amelia, Help! I'm grounded! Bring the ladder here on Saturday for the fair. Sincerely, Stephanie Lew.

She pressed send and closed the laptop after she exited. Stephanie sneaked back to her room with Noodle following. Then, she shut the door. Stephanie heard the T.V. shut off and Freddy munching on something.

"Freddy! Can you bring me two cookies?" Stephanie called. Freddy grinned. "Since you're grounded, each snack I bring you will cost 25 cents. So give me 50 cents and I'll bring it!" "Fine, fine!" Stephanie mumbled as she took 2 quarters out of her piggy bank. A minute later, Freddy came up with two Oreos. "50 cents please!" Freddy said, holding out his hand. Stephanie glared at him. Freddy walked away, whistling and jingling his two quarters. "You're the one who got me into trouble the first place!" Stephanie thought. Instead of eating the cookies, she ate one of them and saved the other one for something else. Since Mr. and Mrs. Lew left Freddy in charge of the garbage and snacks, they made him clean up everything that's messy because they were afraid that Noodle will eat it and get sick. While Freddy was in the bathroom, Stephanie ran out of her room and into the living with the other Oreo cookie quietly.

Then, she crushed the cookie with her hand and made crumbs on the carpet. When she heard Freddy flush the toilet, she hurried back up the stairs.

When Stephanie got back to her room, she went into the bathroom that was built in to her room and washed her hands. Then she flopped onto the bed beside Noodle and read a book. The book was called It's Itchcraft!

Soon, Mr. and Mrs. Lew came home. They had two shopping bags. As soon as Mr. Lew saw the crushed cookie on their carpet, Freddy got busted! "But I'm only in third grade, pa!" Freddy had whined. "And I ain't do that!" "Who else could've done it?!" Mrs. Lew questioned. "Stephanie's grounded!" Stephanie grinned when she heard this. Freddy had to clean it up while complaining, "But Noodle isn't even here! He's in Stephanie's room!"

Freddy also had to have a time-out. Noodle was just playing with Stephanie's ball of yarn.

A few days, it was time for the Christmas Fair! At exactly 2:30 p.m., Amelia came with the ladder. At first, Stephanie was playing Chess with herself. Amelia knew that she had to be quiet, so she threw a small pebble up at Stephanie's window. Stephanie looked out. There was Amelia, waving. Amelia pointed to her ladder and set it against Stephanie's window. Stephanie flashed a toothy smile at Amelia. She quietly opened her window and climbed down. Stephanie opened the garage and got out her bike. Then she closed it.

Stephanie and Amelia rode on the sidewalk to the Christmas Fair. Stephanie an Amelia both had a big handful of quarters. (from selling girl scout cookies)

Suddenly, Freddy showed up, zooming on his skateboard. He was also going to the fair. Freddy's eyes grew wide when he saw Stephanie and Amelia. "I'm telling mom!" Freddy smirked. Then he started going toward the house. "Don't you dare!" Amelia growled, Freddy didn't dare to move. He was afraid of 7th graders except for Stephanie.

"Listen up, wimp!" Stephanie said. She nodded at Amelia. "You say a word about Stephanie escaping and I'll call my mom!" challenged Amelia. "Oh, no you did-n't!" Freddy said. "Oh, yes I did!" Amelia threatened, pulling out her cellphone. Freddy laughed. "Tell her what?" he questioned.

Amelia didn't have a chance to finish before Mrs. and Mr. Vernon's bull dog Randy started barking. "Yikes!" Freddy cried as he leaped behind Stephanie. Randy showed his sharp teeth. Freddy whimpered.

"Here doggie! Come get Freddy! He wants to play with you!" Stephanie called, pulling Freddy out from behind. Randy pawed at the gate, leaping up and down barking. Freddy turned to face Stephanie. "Please, help me. I'll do anything! ANYTHING!" he pleaded. Stephanie smiled slyly. "Let's see. Don't tell my parents about me escaping." Freddy quickly nodded, Stephanie tugged on Freddy's sleeve. "Let's go."

Stephanie and Amelia hopped on their bikes and rode to the end of the block. Freddy and his skateboard zoomed after them. "This is what you call a plan?" he questioned. Amelia laughed. "Okay, listen up, kid. That gate was locked and there is no way, I repeat no way that Randy could get out."

Freddy's face got red. "You mean I'm not telling on you for nothing?" he said, feeling foolish. His feelings went up when he saw a payphone. He grinned. He took a quarter out of his pocket and went to call Mrs. Lew. "Wait!" Stephanie grabbed his arm. "You promised." Freddy grinned. "I had my fingers crossed," Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Listen! I'll give you 50 cents if you don't tell."

Freddy pointed a finger at Stephanie. "You've got a deal!" Stephanie gave him 2 quarters.

Then, Stephanie and Amelia zoomed to the fair with Freddy trying to catch up a block away.

When they got to the fair, Stephanie and Amelia each bought 30 tickets. They had about 20 quarters left.

First, they went on a roller coaster and the cart was shaped like Santa and his reindeer. That cost 3 tickets. Next, they went on the ferris wheel with elf carts. That only cost 1 ticket. They looked around the Christmas Fair. Then, they saw the photo booth. "Let's have our pictures taken!" suggested Amelia. "Great idea!" Stephanie exclaimed.

Since each picture costs 50 cents, they both put in 2 quarters and got two pictures. "One for you and one for me!" Stephanie said. They stepped out and Saw Freddy stuffing his face with cotton candy. His friend Herbert was doing the same thing. "Let's go get some cotton candy!" Stephanie suggested, licking her lip. Amelia nodded.

They spent a dollar each on the cotton candy. Now they only had 13 more quarters. Then they started working on their snacks.

They still had a whole bunch of tickets when they finished. "Hmmm" Amelia thought. Suddenly, Amelia grabbed Stephanie's arm. "Look," she whispered, "aren't those your parents?" "Yikes! Let's hide!" Stephanie panicked. They were just about to run off when Freddy made Stephanie's parents notice them.

He had called, "Hey, Steph!" and waved. before Stephanie knew it, Mrs. Lew grabbed her hand and pulled her close. "We saw the open window and the ladder! And I thought I could trust you! Hand over those tickets!" Stephanie slowly gave them to her. Mrs. Lew handed them to Mr. Lew and he jogged off with them to ride the roller coaster.

Mrs. Lew led Stephanie home. Then, Mrs. Lew had a loooooong talk about honesty and respect.

So there was Stephanie, grounded once more.

THE END

The Land Beyond the Bookcase

As the class sat quietly on the rug, suddenly Ray, noticed that there was something moving behind the bookcase. "Hey, look!" he said, pointing. His teacher, Ms. Sampsen frowned. "No talking in class. You'll have a 5-minute time-out at recess." "But,-" Ray started. "No buts!" Mr. Sampsen ordered strictly as she wrote Ray's name on the board which was Raymont -- 5 min. Ray sighed.

Finally, recess arrived. Frankfurt, the class bully, stuck out his tongue. Ray ignored him. His friends, Selena and Robert whispered good luck to him. Ray just looked at the bookcase. It suddenly jolted. Ray winced. "Raymont!" Ms. Sampsen snapped. "Write I will not talk in class 20 times and then you may go out to recess." Ray started writing. I will not talk in class. I will not talk in class ... After, Ms. Sampsen let him go.

Selena and Robert were waiting for him at the swings. "Hey," he greeted. They nodded. "I just want to check something out in class." Ray said. "Sure," Robert shrugged. He followed Ray and Selena followed him. When they were trudging up the stairs, Ray told them, "I saw something moving behind the bookcase. I wanna go check it out." "It was probably just a rat. " Selena said. "I doubt it." Ray simply said.

They peered in through the window. This time, Robert and Selena both saw the bookcase move. They jumped back a foot. "What'd I tell you?" Ray asked. "Oookay, we believe you," stammered Robert, "I'm outta here!" But Raymont held on firmly to his hood. "No, you're not. You're staying with me until we solve this case!" Selena nodded. "Yup. I'm sorta frightened but we can't let Ray go in by himself." she said. "And bring your Swiss Army knife," Ray added, "it might come in handy." "Come on, Rob!" Selena pleaded, "Just this one time." "Fine." They opened the door.

Robert led the way towards the bookcase. Their class pet, Manny the hamster looked up. Selena gave him another carrot. Ray grew excited. Ray and his friends studied the bookcase carefully, Robert looked at the picture of their school in a frame. He picked it up. "BOOM!" went the bookcase. That was the last thing Robert remembered before he blacked out.

When he awoke, he found himself lying on the ground with Ray and Selena shaking him. "Where am I?" he groaned. "Why am I here?" Robert sat up, rubbed his eyes, and looked around. "Remember?" Ray asked, "when you picked up the picture, there was this weird flash of light, you blacked out, and now we're here!" Robert looked puzzled. "Listen, we don't know how this happened either." Selena explained. They looked back and saw the bookcase, "It must be a new, weird world!" Ray exclaimed. "Or it might be old and never been discovered yet!" Selena pointed out. "Hmm, that's true," Robert said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. "Hey! there's a sign!" Ray shouted. "Rockwell. Population - 300 Thief population - 10" Robert read out loud. "We'd better be on the lookout for thieves." Ray warned. They started walking.

"Hey!" Selena said, "Where is everybody? Ad why are there so many rocks?" "We are people," grunted a rock, "rock people." "Whoa!" exclaimed Ray. The rock held out a teeny little hand. "I'm Roscoe," he grunted, "the boss." Robert rolled his eyes. Ray stuck out his pinky and shook Roscoe's hand. He pulled on another rock. "This is my secretary, Rosie." Rosie smiled, "Hello." "Hi!" Selena greeted. "Girls," Robert muttered under his breath.

Suddenly, there was this huge booming noise. Then, a little pebble (which was probably a kid) ran down the street, calling, "Sir! Sir! Rocky reported that he saw the Boulder Thieves coming this way! We must all hide!" "Uh, oh!" Roscoe said, looking worried. He waved his hand in the air. "Go! Everyone! Hide!" he ordered as the rocks began scurrying away. Roscoe looked at the kids thoughtfully. "Hmm. Where should I hide you?" he grunted. "That's okay," Ray said boldly, "they can't really hurt us." "Are you sure? They capture every living thing in the path and holds them slaves." Selena nodded. "Just hide! They're coming closer!"Roscoe scurried off.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The boulders thundered. Ray gulped. As the boulders thundered closer and closer, Ray, Selena, and Robert grew more and more scared on the inside but tried to look fierce on the outside. Was this the end?

But, as they saw the boulder Thieves, they realized that they were only about as big as a T.V. To Selena's surprise, she laughed out loud! All this time, she had been scared that they were the size of Moro Rock at King's Canyon National Park, but instead, they were about the size of her baby sister! Soon, Ray and Robert were laughing, too.

"WHO DARES LAUGH AT THE TEN DEN B. THIEVES!" The biggest one boomed. "YEAH!" its sidekick agreed. Ray looked down. He had won the schools' weightlifting program so he knew what he wanted to do. He picked up the smallest of the ten and hurled it towards the ocean. The biggest one's eyes flared with anger. "HOW DARE YOU DESTROY MY ASSISTANT!" It boomed. "So you're the boss," Selena smirked, "your 'assistant' is slightly smaller than my little sister. HA!" The chief's lip formed a thin, white line. "WHO DARES MOCK THE LEADER?!!?" His voice thundered with rage. "We do," Robert answered calmly. "Ahhhhhhh!" The chief yelled as Ray began hurling on boulder after another into the ocean.

Finally, Ray had thrown every boulder into the ocean except the chief and his sidekick. Ray was gasping for breath. "Way to go!" Robert held up his hand for a high five. Ray smiled weakly and shook his head. The chief growled. Then, he whispered something to his sidekick. The sidekick nodded. He began rolling himself really fast towards Ray, Selena, and Robert like a giant bowling ball. "Yes! Yes!" the chief screeched wildly and evilly. Just as they were about to be doomed from the sidekick, Robert reached into his pocket, grabbed his Swiss Army knife, flipped out the sharpest knife, (and strongest) and hurled it at the sidekick. It actually split Mr. Sidekick in half. It screamed with agony. Robert grabbed his Swiss Army knife before the chief could get a hold of it.

"Phew!" Selena breathed with relief, "Thank you. You just saved us!" She said, giving Robert a pat on the back. Robert smiled shyly as Ray took care of the chief. First, he wrestled him down to the beach. Next, Ray stood at the edge of the water and did the cukoo sign to the chief. That made the chief so mad that he lunged toward Ray but Ray stepped out of the way just in time so the chief accidentally ran into the water and drowned. Ray held up two fingers in a victory sing. "Let's get outta here!" Selena said as she threw the two halves of the sidekick into the ocean. When they got to the sign, they crossed out Thief Population-10. After, they entered the bookcase (never mind how) and returned safely to recess.

THE END

The Junior Band

"Hey! Look at this!" my friend excitedly shouted. My friend was Carrie and she lived in Houston, Texas. "What?" I asked. Carie pointed at a poster. It was summer vacation, so my parents and I went to Texas to visit Carrie and her family.

On the poster, it read, 'Junior band tryouts! If you're lucky enough, you might perform in City Hall on Saturday 10:00 am. Tryouts are in the second floor of the symphony hall. Room 2G. To sign up, please call: 810-4627 or sign up at the information center in the symphony hall.'

I shrugged. "So?" Carie rolled her eyes. "I play the violin! I bet I could be in the junior band." I laughed. Big deal. I've been playing piano for over two years now!!! But Carrie wasn't listening. She was rubbing her hands together. "I'll bet I could get my parents to let me join that band!" she said, "It'll be great!"

We walked back to her house. As soon as we walked in, Carrie's head swiveled around. "Dad!" she yelled. Her father came into the living room where my parents were making travel plans. "What is it?" he asked in Chinese. Carrie pulled the poster out of her pocket, "Can I join?" Carrie asked pleadingly. "It'll be super!" Carrie's full name was Carrie Pin Yu Zhou. so I'll just call her dad Mr. Zhou.(j-oe). Mr. Zhou rubbed his chin. "I'll think about it," he said in Chinese finally. Then he went and talked about it to both of our families.

"Come on!" Carrie said, "I'll go show you my violin!" We went upstairs to her room. She dug around in her closet and came up with a black case. Carrie opened it up and picked up the violin. "Ta, da!" she grinned, "Cool, huh?" she asked me. I shrugged. "It's just a regular violin," I said, "nothing special." Carrie frowned. "But I got it when I was seven!" she insisted. "Whatever!" I muttered.

"Carrie!" her dad shouted in Chinese. "We agreed that you can join. The junior band is playing the original Ode to Joy. We called the symphony although you're performing at City Hall!" "Yes!" Carrie cheered. She put her violin case in a black gym bag. Suddenly, my mom's voice rang up the stairs. "Amy! You're also joining the band, so start practicing piano!" she called in Chinese. "I didn't bring a piano!" I complained. "You're going to practice at Symphony Hall! They have a spare grand piano!" my mom ordered.

Carrie and I trotted down the stairs. Carrie was carrying her black gym bag. The adults were chatting something about money and fairness. Then, I followed Carrie to the book room and she began to play. The moment my father heard it, he said, "Amy, go to the symphony hall with Carrie for tryouts!" I replied, "No problem!" Carrie's face twitched, "Wait a sec. I gotta go to the bathroom." she left her gym bag next to the sofa. I waited in the kitchen.

When Carrie came back, she couldn't find her gym bag. "Hey! That's funny. I left my bag next to this sofa. It's gone now." "Huh?" I said. I looked down. It was gone. "Mom!" Carrie called, "Have you seen my bag?" Her mom looked up. "No, I haven't." Mrs. Zhou replied. "Just go for tryouts!" my dad grumbled. "They've got extras."

We headed towards the hall. I noticed that Carrie was gloom. "What's wrong? I thought you wanted to come!" I asked. Carrie answered in two words, "My violin." I tried to cheer her up. "Come on," I said cheerfully, "they've got extras." Saying this made Carrie's shoulders droop. "That's my only one!" she grumbled. "Look!" I pointed, "There's the symphony hall!" That seemed to brighten Carrie up a bit. "Race ya there!" she said as she took off.

She had started earlier although I beat her there by 3 seconds. "I won!" I cried gleefully. All the running must have made Carried tired and she seemed to forget all about her violin. We walked upstairs to room 2G and knocked on the door. A man with glasses and short hair opened the door. He smiled down at us. "Hi! Must be here for band tryouts?" He guessed. "I'm going to be your trainer. You can call me Richard." Richard told us. Carrie informed him, "I can't, uh, find my violin so do you have any extras?" Richard shrugged, "Sure, come on in!" We followed him in.

Richard went to a supply shelf and pulled out a violin. "Here you go!" Carrie beamed. "Gee, thanks!" Richard rubbed his chin. "Ah," he pointed at me, "what are you playing?" I stared at him blankly. "Ode to Joy on the piano." I shrugged. Richard pointed at the piano. "Let's hear you play. Here's the script." After I played it perfectly 3 times, Richard clapped. "Brassizmo!" he cheered. "But next time, do it with the metronome." He turned to Carrie. "Now let's hear you play." Carrie began to play Ode to Joy on the violin. After she played it three times, Richard clapped. "Great! But next time, watch the dynamics." We did what we were told to do. Richard smiled. I think you'll be darn-tootin ready for the performance." He looked down at his checklist. "Hmmm. You dudettes are the last one!" Richard exclaimed, "Now, y'all will just have to memorize it before Saturday. Think you guys can do that?" he asked. "No problem!" Carried said. "Although, I want to use my own violin."

Richard shrugged, "you can use this one 'till ya find it!" "Thanks," Carrie said sadly as we headed out the door.

When we were out, we slowly headed towards Carrie's house. I really wanted to find Carrie's violin so she'd be like her old self again, so I tried to find the violin. Carrie helped. When she was digging in the upstairs storage room, she found it! "Hey! I found it!" Carrie cried out gleefully. "Really?" I said hopefully. Carrie held it up with pride and honor. She unzipped it and found her mother's gym clothes. "WHAT!" she cried in horror. "Wait a minute," I said suspiciously. "I know where your violin is." "Where?" Carrie asked hopefully. "Ask you mom where she put the black gym bag. These are exactly alike, so your mom probably thought that your bag held her gym clothes," I said matter-of-factly. "You're a genius!" Carrie cheered. She ran downstairs, tow at a time. "Mom!" I heard her shout. "Where did you put a black gym bag?" "In my bedroom," Mrs. Zhou answered, "Why?" "You took my violin by accident and my violin was inside." Carrie quickly said.

She hurried to her parents' room and came back with her violin.

Two days later, we memorized Ode to Joy and did perfectly on the performance. Everything was back to normal again and my family and I moved back to San Francisco.

THE END

Bald Eagle

If I could wear an animal costume, I would choose the Bald eagle because it's the U.S. national bird. It's also one of the most endangered birds of prey. It eats birds and small animals, but particularly likes to feed on fish. It scoops the fish from the surface of the water and flies off, holding them in a powerful grip from its claw.

The Bald Eagle is often seen in Alaska, where many other wild animal species live. That is why I would want to have a Bald Eagle costume.

THE END