Student Created Haiku

Many haiku of quality combine unexpectedness with inevitability
- that shock of mild surprise, followed immediately by the felt-significance of,
"Of course, that's just as it is."                                    - Robert Spiess


A single flake
On a cold morning
tumbles through the air      

- by Sebastian
                                                 The autumn wind
                                                  ruffles the ground
                                                  littered with leaves
                                                                       - Sebastian

On a frigid morning

Smoke blossoms from my mouth

My breath visible        

                               - Sebastian

                                           Wishing the bell would ring

                                           Freezing outside

                                           Feeling the cold     

                                                                          - Sebastian

Not wanting to

go outside in the Y

      -it's freezing.    

                           - Sebastia
                                                                          
                                                         Snow-

                                                        Happy snowflakes
                                                        dancing in the wind.
                                                        On a mitten melting.

                                                                                        - Valeriy

An ugly caterpillar-
leaves its cocoon-
 gorgeous butterfly.

        -Valeriy          

-Rain

small, gloomy droplets
Beating against theSummer ground

                                            - Valeriy

Teamwork

   brings glory.

                                            The golden medal shines in the sun.

                                                                                                               - Valeriy

Tropical beaches,
dreamy skies
Screeching gulls fly by                                  

 -  Michelle

The frog leaps
Touching the meadow grass
Swaying in the breeze      

  -  Michelle                            

The glowing peach
Says good-bye
The day comes to its  end -  Michelle                                 

Kids are fast asleep.

Presents under Christmas trees.

Santa is coming!

- Alex P.

The tree with ten leaves.

One by one each leaf falls off.

Ready for Winter.

- Alex P.

THE STORM

Please leave your weather impressions.

Writing Prompts using piclits

Check out this interesting website for a multitude of cool writing prompts.  I found the photographs and words lists really helpful in generating new ideas for stories and poems.  Look through the gallery until you locate a picture that speaks to you in some way. 

Write a short story as a Word document so you can revise, edit, spell check, save etc.  Then copy the whole short story or best parts of your story as a comment under this post.

Also, I would love for you to e-mail me a copy of your Inventory of Beings as I would be thrilled to add them to this blog!

Have fun and enjoy!

Love,
Little Sardine
P.S.  Grade 5s, you can show off your new learning about dialogue and the use of quotation marks if it suits the style of the story!

P.P.S.  If you think this is a useful site, let me know and I can set up an account for the class.  That way, we can save right on the piclits site.

WEB SITE:
 http://www.piclits.com/compose_dragdrop.aspx


HOW TO VIDEO:

Story Prompts

YET ANOTHER COOL LINK FOR CREATIVE WRITING PROMPTS.

CHECK IT OUT AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/story-starters/science-fiction-writing-prompts/

Immigration Story by M.R.

My Immigration Story

     There was a little girl named Tela whose dad (named Taren), Grandpa (named Tyler), Grandpa (named Tanner) and five brothers Tom, Tim, Tao, Trent and Taleo (in the order of oldest to youngest) were in the army.  Tela was the youngest of the ten kids.  She had to stay at the house with her mom (named Tea), four sisters Tabby, Tally, Tayca and Taillike (in order of oldest to youngest), Grandmama Tina and Grandma Tink and the two cats Tamara and Tyron. 
    
     They lived in Greenland.  They spent all of their time dusting, cleaning, vacuuming, sorting, moping, wiping, washing the dishes cooking, doing laundry, shopping, sweeping and folding. 

     Then her family came back from the war and said that they were moving to Canada! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” squealed Tela. 
     “We are moving to the land of the free?!
      “Yes,” said Taren, “the land of the free. 

     In addition, they were moving there in eight and a half months. This was for sure the best day of their lives.  They celebrated to almost no end.  The next day they found that Tamara and Tyron were going to have kittens!  And even better mom was pregnant… with twins.  They decided if they were girls, they would be called Tilce and Talic.  If they were boys, they would be called Talo and Tony. 

     Seven months later they were taking all their money out of the bank and had it turned into Canadian money and waited there until the kittens were born.  The cats Tamara and Tyron had four kittens named Tala, Timmy, Teny and Talea.  A month and a half later they were on board the ferry to Canada from Greenland. 
   
     They arrived in Newfoundland and were overjoyed to be there, to be a part of Canada and to start a new life. A couple of weeks after they arrived in Newfoundland, Tea gave birth to the twins Tony and Talic. 

     Years later they got their Canadian citizenships and were very happy with their lives.  Their journey happened thirty years ago.  The third youngest child Tela is now in her twenties and they are still in contact. 

     Mine is a different story.  This is Marla Carina signing off.

                                                                                                      

Immigration Story bu N.R.

Sept. 18, 2012
An Immigrant Story

     Life is good! Yeah, right! Totally!! At least that’s what I think living in this part of the world, where the sun rises and sets like in any other place. But it is not any other place. Life in Afghanistan is more of an existence, hardly what you would call living. Added to that I am a girl. I hate being a girl. I cannot go to school. The village only has a school for the boys. Instead I stay at home and make myself ‘useful’. I collect water from the nearby well and rush home. Wandering outside poses danger. Everyone talks in whispers these days. The adults don’t say much to the younger ones. The little I know puts me in further despair. The kind of loss our village has known can only be found in stories. The blasts of gunfire and bombs are part of our daily life. The terror of the ‘big birds’ in the sky is always looming over us. The blue sky is somehow lost. Fear fills the air, misery pervades our life, and the dark clouds have taken over.

     As I stepped out of the house for water, there was not another soul outside. In fact there wasn’t a sound except for a slight buzzing. When I had barely taken another step, there was a sharp whizzing sound and right before my eyes the well exploded, with water and stone and wood flying everywhere. For cover I had only one thought in my head. "Duck!" There were no remains of the well in sight. I dashed home and on the way I looked at Aisha’s house who is my best friend. Nothing. Except for some wood remnants here and there, everything was flattened to the ground. Then, the men came. Ten or twenty armed men. I did the likely. I ran. The moment I got home I gave a sigh of happiness, for my hut was still standing. But at that second my parents rushed out, grabbed me and we ran never looking back.

     We had to find someplace safe, someplace where the insurgents would not find us. It was not safe to go back, there was no place to call home. Those who did not join the cause of the insurgents, would be killed. So on we trekked, through forests and mountains, night and day. We depended on nature to survive those harsh, long days. When we rested, the memories came flooding back, the sounds of the explosions still buzzing in my ears. I would lie there and watch the birds and animals. They were free to go where they wanted. Someday, I promised myself, I would be free too.

     Days had gone by. I lost count. There is always light at the end of a tunnel. Our light came in the form of a refugee camp. Watching the tears of joy slip down my parents cheeks I realized that I had tears of my own. I scanned the group and who should I see but Aisha! The tears wouldn’t stop. That night I slept a peaceful sleep with no dreams to haunt me.
The Red Cross has provided the essentials for us, but even more importantly they have arranged for us to be settled in Canada! I have heard stories from the other refugees, of that place far away. Everything took what seemed like forever to prepare but eventually details were sorted out and we were there.

     The day arrives and we are in Canada. I look up, the sky is blue, no looming clouds of dread. A clean slate, a new life. I smell freedom.

Immigration Story by V.F.

Immigration Story by V.F.

The rain beat down the cobble road. The shattered glass from the shops littered the ground. People were fleeing because the Nazi forces were advancing. Austria was in despair. Romain, his wife Clara and their 2 sons: Jans and Ruben were also preparing for their journey.

"We will leave at night and cross the border," said Romain.

"But papa"- said Jans, "we will have to face the German patrols".

"We will say that we were just visiting Austria and are now on our way back to Switzerland". "Actually you will say it, "- said Romain pointing at Ruben.

"No! Why?" - yelled Ruben .

"Because you are the youngest, they will believe you," said Clara. It was the first thing she said in days because she was really depressed by the whole war.

At a Quarter to midnight they headed out. As they proceeded, they were stopped right at the border by a German. "Hello sir," said Romain. The German only grunted. Then he noticed something in Ruben's hand. He grasped it open. "A ha! Austrian currency - we have an Austrian!".

"No sir you see I am a big coin collector since and since we were visiting Austria I thought it would be neat to take at least one coin. The journey is long we had to leave our backpacks behind so I had nowhere to carry it in," said Ruben.

The patrolman yelled, "Öffnen Sie die Tore" and the gates were suddenly opened. The family advanced not only to a new country but to a new life.

When I was finishing my story I thought that immigration is mostly associated with something painful, when people are running from something bad and looking for a better life. In my case it is different. I moved to Canada 6 years ago because my parents were adventurous and wanted to experiment. They decided to move to Canada and expose a different life for me. We really liked being here so we stayed and became a part of the country. In a word we are sort of Ukracandians or may be Candukrainians. And I love it!

An Immigration Story by M.L.

Whenever my grandfather comes over, he sits with me at night and always tells me stories about how hard his life was on the farm in Croatia.

“Life was definitely NOT easy,” he would exclaim, “two bedrooms, one for my parents and one for all SIX kids. We would often argue over which four would sleep on the bed and who would sleep on the floor. As the oldest I was always in charge of the other kids and let me tell you what we had to do in the day.”

I see a small frown growing on his face as he continues, “our mother would wake up at four in the morning to milk the cows, but by that time my father had already left to work at the labour mill, but on some lucky days he would go to work around lunchtime and spend all morning teaching us how to clean the cow, pig, sheep and chicken stables, how to chop firewood and how to feed all the animals. On regular days us kids would do all of our chores and would often not be done until dinner, that is if we had enough food to feed the whole family.”

My grandfather’s face lifted into a small but joyful grin as he tells me more about his bittersweet memories, “the first day of school, I was ten years old, my parents had finally gotten enough money to send us all to school. About ten years later I started my job alongside my brother as a car mechanic. I admit that it wasn’t the best job but we only needed enough money to feed the family because our dad had retired and now both parents worked at home around the farm. About seven years later I had earned enough money and wanted to immigrate to Canada. My parents thought that it was the right decision but my siblings disagreed so they stayed in Croatia to help out on the farm.”

My grandfather took a deep sigh and then continued, “the first few years I lived with my uncle then I met………Stanka the love of my life! We were at Croatian church when my uncle introduced me to Stanka, his close friend from Croatia’s daughter, who had recently immigrated to Canada. We instantly fell in love and three years later we wed and she gave birth to a child and named her Carol. Two years later came the second girl, Renata.”

My grandfather looks at me and smiles, “and throughout my whole life I regret nothing.” He kisses my head and says good night I close my eyes and realize how lucky I am to live in such a peaceful place.

Prairie Smoke by Jim Brandenburg

Flying in the air
Like long soft hair.
Arcs of lightening free to grow.
Free to fly with the wind
To a new world.
by N.R.

The crimson fire errupted
from the stock.
Its brightness set it aside
from the emerald field.
Flames waved like branches
in a gale.

by C.A.

The blood red torch set off sparks in the emerald green field. byV.F.

Blazing flower bending in the wind,
Blossoming fire,
Blossoming flame. By J.L.

The Olympic Torch’s blazing to signal
the beginning of something new and amazing!

The Mad Scientist with his crazy red hair
tainted by his past failures.

The injured man, his blood flowing out
like the water in the Great River Nile.
by T. V.

The Sunflower by B.K.

The Sunflower by B.K.

The sunflower was growing in a field. A bird came along
to eat the seeds and ended up scattering them everywhere.
The next year the farmer came out to harvest his crops and
was surprised to see seven sunflowers instead of one. Year
after year there were more and more sunflowers. Eventually there were
so many sunflowers the farmer needed a whole new field.
He couldn`t handle so many sunflowers so he moved out of
the country. The bird sat on a tree branch and admired his work.

The Sunflower by S.L.

The Sunflower


The sunflower grew
in the morning dew
Petals, the crimson flame
so beautiful that God is to blame
shining yellows & crimson reds alive
pollen attracts bees from the hive
flower follows the sun
on earth’s surrounding run

Plume of fire

The Plume of Fire!

The cicada trilled out. A low blurb at first gaining finesse and volume. The noise soon rocked the valley with rattles of cold winter blues and tales of old and new. The valley was clad with forests and ponds, a lush paradise with decadent trees and serene ponds. Although the appearance was immaculate, the valley was a death trap, there were no people, the plants were poison, the fruit corruptive, the water acid, nothing in it was safe. The valley itself had succumbed to darkness, although in the shadow of the amazons the valley was known throughout the world. Deaths in greater numbers then by the devil himself. It was cursed as entirely as the plume of fire, the greatest treasure that had touched the valley with impurity. Cold shivers and broken promises cloud the valley with whispers of death and distortion. The plume was sacred to the Incas and made them forget how important their gods were. One day an Inca Lore master put out of business by a blasted feather. The tales that he told, submerged by the magic of the feather. He sought out the existence that was the substance of anti - matter. Found in a shattered golden cup, he dipped the plume in it, cursing the plume, not only corrupting it, but killing him as well. The Incas found him dead and used the feather to reincarnate him. He disappeared into ether and became the trilling cicada that was in the valley hoping for redemption...

untitled

By: Somebody

CHAPTER 1

The soft glowing moon washed over the skinny bare trees. The glorious crescent moon soaked up the dim eerie fade of the sunburned ground and shingled the forest with an eye-blinding beam of light. The pale bark of the trees stood like soldiers on the military grounds, marching to the strong beat that vibrates the pavement floor. Suddenly, the clouds began to close in and the moon was being attacked. The moon was locked up and the clouds began to take over. They were playing hopscotch. Thunder boomed. Lightning cracked like a new born chick. The clouds sobbed and poured their buckets of cool crisp dozing water onto the once pure and peaceful wilderness.

The trees shook violently and it felt as if the world did too. Thunder blared loudly and lightning struck, resulting in a burning tree of ash. The tree branches clashed and new born twigs snapped. The tempest’s anger popped. Demolishing. Sabotage. Fresh spring bushes brown and burning. Flowers? Caked in mud and flecked with the smell of blushing smoke. I had two choices, stay and be chomped up and bathed in a lake of rain and mud, or run. My head told me to stay, but my common sense told me to flee. I fled. Running against the wind. Twigs scraping against my skin. Blood drips down my face and I know I must look like a wreck. I continue running at a brisk pace. The warm but shivering air around me, I stop and take a break against a tree and catch my breath. I puff, feeling that my lungs will never catch up to the beating of my speeding heart.

The rain soaks my hair in a combination of water and sadness. I almost fall unconscious until I hear the sound of footsteps on the gentle floor of the forest. I stumble for my bow, but I find that I have dropped on the escape attempt. I gaze blindly behind me and find a pair of blood shot eyes behind me, having a sneak peek at its dinner. Right away I know what it is. From all the days in the meadow, from hunting food that our family is so scarce of, from hiding in the woods. A wolf.
I gather up my senses and run as fast as I can run, my ears pounding. The monster right at my heels. Ignoring everything that’s in my way I run with one thought in my head. Stay Alive. I turn around and get a glimpse of my predator.

Shiny glossed fur, brown and streaked with smeared bits of blond and grey. Its body was small but powerful, muscles rippling under its thick shining coat. Blood shot eyes staring into my sea green eyes. I ran and glanced around, looking for escape. We are facing each other now, waiting for the first move. The wolf watches me for a while, then pounces on me and attempts to sink its teeth in my juicy flesh. I grab what’s left of my knife and slash at it’s nose. It rips open and the flesh and it howls in agony, as blood sprays on my face. Now it’s my turn. It reveals its deadly claws and lashes at my neck. I wince in pain and bite my lip for not wanting to scream. I bite my lip so hard that ruby red jewels start to run down my chin. It grins in satisfaction, then makes its final move. It sinks its razor sharp teeth in my leg. I scream and try to get away. It waits for a minute, then relaxes its jaw bone. I feel the agony and know that I’m done. But, I don’t give up.

I manage to get up and run so fast I don’t feel the pain. The wolf is bouncing right behind. I find a good tree, covered in maplely syrup, and scramble up. I’ve always had a talent in climbing trees. I grab the last branch and it snaps. I panic, lashing furiously at random, trying to save my life. Something flashes before my eyes. A branch. I think. I get a grip and yank myself up the pain is killing, but I ignore it and collapse onto a sturdy branch.

First I inspect my body. My face is dripping with blood. Cuts and scars are covering my whole body. My neck has flesh ripped out and blood is glossing my skin. But my leg is the most injured. Flesh scattered. Teeth marks visible. And blood. Blood is everywhere. Camouflaging my sun burned skin. Rippling down my scalp and down my forehead. Oozing. The wolf is growling below me. I grab my knife, and throw it down. It pierces the wolf in the eye. Dead. I wonder what to do with it. Wolf skin was worth a fortune in the village. But I dismiss that thought. It deserved to die honourably. It's clan or whatever would come find it.

Just that thought made my stomach ache. Would someone ever find me? I would probably die on the spot right here right now if I was a bit more wounded. There I was, lying limp and weak on the sturdy branch of a maple tree. No one would ever find me. The birds began to chirp again and the squirrels began to chatter. The storm was over. My eyes began to droop and I fell into a dreamy daze. I didn’t want to fall asleep, for I might never wake up. Heavier and heavier my eyelids began to droop.
Suddenly my arm slipped on the sticky sap and my legs were in mid air. The whole world was spinning. Blurry clouds and flock of sheep. Orange bubbles floating around. All I remember was the branch snapping and releasing me to freedom, and me falling to my unknown future of doom.

The Dark By C.K.

The Dark
Chapter 1

I ran through the yellowing leaves as it chased me. I jumped over boulders and climbed into thorn bushes but I was just not fast enough to get away. All the pine trees were staring, watching my every step. The branches rustled. I knew it would get to me, but I wasn’t about to give up. King of twilight, Emperor of fear, it was darkness itself chasing after me through the woods at dusk. I tumbled across a rocky ledge.

One more step and I would fall into everlasting terror. I was just about to make my fall when something far into the distance got my attention. It was like a shining gate of pure white, happiness. I kicked dust off the sandy rocks and burst like a rocket. I tripped over a fallen log and fell face first into dried leaves and dirt. I was being pulled in. A tear dropped from my eye but it didn’t hit the rocks. The dry bark was suddenly bright and moist. The pure white energy was coming towards me. It pushed back the dead, lifeless darkness that curled up and crumbled into nothingness.

I watched in amazement and couldn’t believe I was seeing the power of light, and goodness, destroy all that is evil. Wonderment filled my face.
There was no more Dark.

My mind went blank, the light was shivering, disappearing out of existence. I saw black as I realized the light was only a trick of the darkness. My eyes closed and I was too weak to fight, the darkness pulling me, blackness
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Chapter 2

My eyes suddenly opened. I thought and thought but my mind was just too full of dark, evil energy. I was floating in a black void. It felt, far away, separate from earth. Wait, separate from Earth? What was I thinking. I had to still be on planet Earth. Not floating in some other galaxy. Only, it felt like I was. I struggled to move my arms only they were locked tight.

I could feel the evil inside me. I was definitely not alone. I could feel the grip loosening. But I seemed to notice something. It was like Earth, but grey, and dull. Could that be earth? How long was I out? Why did the darkness take me? I was so confused. I saw a shadow come at me. The closer it got, the less like a shadow it looked. It gave me a gentle push towards the grey planet. It looked around like before crossing a road then sped off in some direction.

→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→
I felt like a meteor as my arms and legs became free and I “flew” towards the planet. It had a weaker gravitational pull. I thought, “this is really gonna hurt.” Before I could think about it I was blacking out again.

I woke up on a broken sidewalk, gasping for breath. I jumped to my feet. I spied around the area, making sure I was safe. I was in the ruins of a modern city, wondering what to do. It was going to get dark soon, so I needed somewhere to stay. I noticed it was extremely hot, and the sun was red. Where am I? That’s the real question. It was still the same as the day I was taken by darkness. I tried to put logic into it but then I heard a scream from around the corner and I jumped into chasing the noise.

This place was a crumbling civilization. I had to be careful. I panted as I skidded around a sharp corner and saw an evil black shadow. There was a boy laying on the ground, being attacked by the shadow. It was probably going to kill him so I thought fast and picked up a large stone and chucked into the centre of the shadow. I heard a high pitched howl as it turned its silky black head. It looked as if it was staring into my soul with its deep, purple eyes. I stood still. I saw the boy get up slowly. The shadow noticed nothing. But the boy picked up the big stone I had thrown and smashed the back of the shadow’s head. It let out another ear-breaking howl before it flew away. The boy I could see more clearly. He had dark hair and brown eyes. He was taller than me, and he had pale skin. He looked at me. I looked at him. I turned to leave but he said to me, “where are we?”
I stopped. “I thi- think earth,” then I realized he must’ve been brought here by shadows as well.
→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→
We decided to stick together and find a way out with each other. We walked through fields outside the city for hours, picking up things like berries and leaves. Then, when the sun started going down we found a good cave-like area to stay in. We layed some leaves on the rocky floor and sat down. I ate a couple of berries, explaining to the boy (who I now knew as Felim) how I got here. His way of getting here was much the same. We slept on leaves for the night. I was exhausted, so I fell asleep right away.
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Chapter 3
I woke up to the sound of running through tall grass. My eyes shot open and Felim was still fast asleep beside me. I came to my feet and ran to a nearby tree outside the cave. There was one of those black shadows, chasing a girl a little older than me. She was panting, And the shadow was catching up. I broke a nearby tree branch and ran in. I repeatedly swung the branch in the shadow’s direction. It growled at me and pounced. I moved the first time but it got me on the ground the second. It felt like all the happy moments in my life were being destroyed. All I could think of was sad moments, things I regret or hate. I let a scream escape my throat. Then out of nowhere the girl sprinted with a rusty stone axe and whipped at the shadow. It howled one of its signature high-pitched growls before disappearing.
“That,” I started, “was close."
She looked at me.
I turned to walk away before I had an idea.
“Would you like to come with me and my friend?”
“To where exactly? The candy store,” she muttered, not amused.
“Well, me and Felim are going to find a way out Mrs. Smarty-pants,” I told her.
“A way out? Where?” She was suddenly interested.
“Well, we’re looking,” I sighed.
“I can help..maybe,” she smiled.
I led her back to Felim. He had woken up and was looking for me.
“And then she said she would help us,” I finished telling Felim about our new friend, Larianna.
→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→→

“Lance, they are getting stronger,” Felim told me. Me and Felim were out collecting more berries to eat. I had Larianna’s axe with me so I chopped a small tree down for material. I dragged the log back to our cave-base. I was exhausted. My legs feel like fresh Jelly, ready to be swallowed by a hungry child. I collapse on the rocky floor, resting.

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Chapter 4
I wake up to Larianna and Felim cutting the log into smaller pieces and using it for a doorway in our cave. They also have used the axe to smash some stone in the back of our cave for us to use as even more material. I get up and they greet me good morning. Apparently I was asleep for a while.

“We have to find out more information about the shadows,” I said to them over a breakfast of wild blueberries.
They both nodded.
“All I know is they have been taking people like us from the past into this, well horrible future,” Larianna explained.
“But we need to know why,” Felim put in.
I wondered why they brought people our age. Why not adults? It’s confusing. I wonder about others here. It had to be more than us. Right?
I sighed.
“We have to look around,” Larianna said.
“It’s hopeless if we just stay here,” she muttered on...
“I guess you're right,” Felim stated.
“Alright, alright, lets head.....THIS WAY!” I started to march towards the city.
“Lance, we can’t go to the city! It’s too dangerous. We have to go AWAY from the city!” Larianna yelled at me.
“Oh, umm right,” I muttered. We then walked farther away from the city.

We started to walk up a mountain. We didn’t talk much. I carried a couple of berries and Felim brought materials. Larianna was on look out. We made it to the top of a hill where we decided to stay. We set up a small base. I used the wood we had to put together a small sharp dagger-like object. It could come in handy. I also sharpened Larianna’s axe. We would be ready if someone, or something attacked. I lay down and wonder about how my life would be, even after we find our way back to earth (if we even survive to make it back to our time and planet). I would love to forget, but I know that’s not going to happen.... So I fell asleep.
—————————————————————————
Chapter 5
My eyes fluttered open as all I take in is a big, hairy, big, growling, big, creepy, big, Monster! (Did I mention big??) It was as tall as my old 3-story house back in Stratford! I quickly looked to my side. “Umm, guys.” I saw them both wake up simultaneously. Larianna’s axe immediately flew out of her hand, jabbing the left shoulder of the monster.
“Let’s hope he’s left handed,” she cried.
I gulped.

I tried to run around the monster, Felim, who is quick and light, distracting the evil....thing. I took my dagger out of my pocket and climbed up its back, stabbing it every few seconds, making it turn around, confused. It wasn’t really a smart animal, because if something’s on your back, and you turn, you're not going to catch it. Anyway, I climb on its head and reach out for the axe. He shakes around, feeling me, and I am thrown off. I lay there, pretty much useless. I did move the axe a little, and when he shook it fell off and slashed the weak mountain peek. The monster closed its threatening claws on my leg and I could feel the pain inside my bones.

Suddenly the monster screamed in agony and let go. I used my hands to pull myself onto grass. I could see Larianna trying her best to avoid it. Felim came over to help me. He tried to help me get up.
“It’s useless,” I explained to him. I tossed him my dagger and he ran into battle, stabbing each leg of the monster. Larianna and Felim were too much for the monster and it fell over, crashing a tall oak tree.
“Yeaah!!!” They screamed in Unison
“That was fast,” I smiled. They help me up and I get my strength back a few hours later. I’m not too strong, but I can walk and hold my weight.

We were having a snack when the beast's body started to glow white. Then purple. Then red. Then yellow. Then green. Then it repeated it self. White purple red yellow green. And again. Then I heard a roar. The monster's arms moved. Then it, multiplied?? No, it was just getting bigger. A lot bigger. And it was alive! “I knew that was too easy,” Felim muttered.

I had made a stone dagger for me and Felim with all my free time, since an axe like Larianna’s would take me days. All three of us charged. Bad idea, the monster just roared. The amazing power blew me into a tree. Larianna was knocked back a few feet, and Felim barely jumped out of the way of most of the blow. It was now about three times the size it previously was, and it’s about ten times stronger. I tried doing my last trick, climbing around with my dagger, But as soon as I grabbed it’s HUGE legs, the hair lengthened and grabbed me! I quickly cut the hair and fell back. I then tried to stab its leg so it would fall over. Also a horrible idea. He flicked his foot and I was ten feet in the air. Now I was out of ideas. I just started to randomly stab and guess what? THAT WORKED!!!!

Untitled (for now) by KP

A lone dog howled, a cry deep enough to wake up the souls of the underworld. At night, the Forgotten Forest was grim, forever shadowed in a thick cloak of black. Not many a soul would dare to venture into its depths during day, much less during the night.

But, Julia West was not the same as you and me. First of all, Julia West was not quite alive. She was a spirit, a ghost. The moon, a day past full, had awakened her and countless others. When all the dead realized what had happened, they strolled into town to reunite with their loved ones. But, being risen from the dead, Julia was a sight of sheer horror for many. All the men of the village had grabbed their pitchforks and knives, and chased her to the Forest. Their cries, filled with hatred, shouted, “Demon!” and “Beast!” She was running straight and forward, constantly glancing over her shoulder in spite. Her loved ones hated and despised her, and after all she’d been through.

Soon Julia could run no farther. She skidded to a halt, thick brambles sewn like spiderwebs in the mess of forest. Turning around, she slowly raised her palms in a gesture of peace, allowing them to see her face. A face of a girl, a daughter, a friend. A large, bearded man’s face slowly came to relization. Quickly though, Julia’s murderer quickly remembered who she was, too. He acted quickly. “Come, thou brave villagers, and let us rid our beautiful homelands of this devil!” He howled, and like that, Julia left both worlds. The living world, and the dead.

Pride by KP

Sunlight dappled the drought ridden land, its ochre grasp reaching in between the thinnest of cracks. A flat, copper skinned adder glided along the rocky surface, its pale belly tracking dust and dirt. Meanwhile, a small, lithe lioness slowly stalked towards the snake, its feather of a tail swinging briskly from left to right. She pounced, crushing the adder with a single swift death blow. It was poor food for a pride of lions, but food was scarce in the Wastelands ever since the Grace Pride had lost their territory to the Basilisk Pride after a savage and unjust attack.

Here is a link to photograph and related information. Does anyone else make this connection?

EC's Story

I awake to the sound of my growling stomach. As I get out of my small piece of carpeting, I walk across the room and see my brother who looks so quiet and peaceful. I let him sleep. I go outside and scavenge through the forest and grab some dry wood, which I take back to the house and make a fire. Using the fire, I start boiling some water. As the bubbles start to grow and pop, it wakes up Jonah my little brother.

He gets up and ever so gracefully walks to me and asks what I am cooking. I say to him, “The old meat from a week ago.” In response he gives out a cheer. I grab some small bowls, the only ones we have, and pour a bit into each bowl. I give one to Jonah and immediately he starts scooping it into his mouth. I tell him to have a good day. I walk to the door and put on my tattered jacket.

I go out to the village and everyone is beginning to wake up. Today is the day that we plan to show that we are not alone. Today is the day that we show that everyone is equal and that we will not be shunned ever again. I grab my small cap and walk to the garage on the far side of the village. Along the way I meet a few shopkeepers and I greet them. Once I get to the hanger I open it and I see Kent, my second in hand. Without him I don’t know who I would be, because of him this plan would have never worked. I exclaim, “Today is the day,” and we open up two large steel doors that like a sloth, crumble into the sides.

There in front of us there is a large shiny machine with sleek under cuts. The sun reflects off of it and its wings are as soft as silk. In the front there are two places for a harness to go. There is a joystick near the beak of the machine and it has a silicon tail. Grabbing on to the wing with my hand, I pull it out of the hanger on its two slick black wheels.

As we draw it outside, everyone begins to come to the middle of the town. I spot Jonah in the front row, I run up and hug him. Slowly the crowd settles down and I begin talking, “Good morning everyone. We are here to address something that has been a concern for some time. Roana has been ruling over us and been pushing us around. We are here to show that we are important and not expendable and that we have great minds like them. We will not go down without a fight.”

With loud cheers being emitted from the crowd I introduce our glimmering creation, “Here I show to you the Treker.” Kent grabs my hand as we point at the sleek framed bird-like creature with long magnificent wings. Then Kent comes to the front and with a shout says, “Roana will fall today!” Kent and I grabbed the machine and begin wheeling it to the air strip, as we pack what little food is left in the town.

Kent and I get into the front of the machine with us stacked on top of each other. We strap ourselves in and grab onto the small stick with which to control the creature. A push of a button and the wings began to flap effortlessly and we begin to move forward. I grip the controls and pull the creature off the ground. The wings flap in entrancing patterns as the silver bird soars above the clouds gracefully flying into the heavens and swooping down again into patterns. Above me Kent tells me that I need to keep going straight to get to Roana.

If you have any suggestions for a title leave it in the comments.

Nightmares by JL

Nightmares!!!

It was the fourth of July. In the pitch black of the hot night I thrashed through the soft wall of the sweaty comforter only to find my fate..........

Boom, Boom, Boom.

The sound gets closer and closer. The explosions spewing their venomous sparks. A few metres farther the gigantic firey flames touching precious lives of helpless heads. Fighting, struggling I am stuck in the spot I want to run but there is no chance I could move. I just came here for a dare, the reason why I would do it was unknown. All I knew was that I couldn’t move.

The thundering footsteps getting closer, I just wanted to scream but then I would have no chance of surviving. Cob webs were tangled in my hair. I was hiding in an old wine cellar, not a great place to hide when you’re dealing with sailors! I see a large black spider crawling toward me I yelped and then swatted the spider to the floor and crushed it.

All of a sudden I remembered where I was! I quickly locked the door I’m not sure why I didn’t do that before, but than again there was no logic here! Even though that man probably had a key it would buy me a little time. Before I could say donut the door was unlocked and it flung open. I squeezed under a shelf, the hairy man glanced around, grabbed a bottle of rum. As he was about to leave a shard of glass sliced my leg. I screamed in pain. The hairy man’s big green eye stared right into my hiding place. I swear it was like he was shooting me with a lazer. He grabbed me by the scruff of the neck, I wanted to say, “I’m not a cat!!!.”

Luckily for me he was a little drunk so I was able to escape, and the race began. I darted past the captain quarters, who was shaving with only a towel for clothes. Scared for life, I kept on going and going until I got to the main deck. Guards were absolutely everywhere. Several of them grasped my pajamas hard. ( Yes I was still wearing my Pj’s.)

They dragged me to a guillotine and dropped me in it. At this point I would’ve rather have walked the plank! The Captain strolled to the front of me thankfully wearing some clothes. With a surprising gesture he yelled, "OFF WITH THE HEAD!” The blade flew down the string like a rocket. I could see the explosions getting closer. I squeezed my eyes shut, the blade touched the hairs on the back of my neck and sent shivers down my spine. This was my end, my fate. I didn’t even get to say good bye or anything. I, I, I, woke up in a cold sweat panting for air. I glanced around. I was in by bedroom all was quiet and peaceful. Everything was safe. I slowly layed back down and shut my eyes.

Short Mini Poem by FB

The Hot Blazing Sun - F.B (Short Mini Poem)

The hot blazing sun scorched Venus
as it trotted along its quarterly hike
across the sun's surface.
Making no spots,
or it would become a pile of ash,
floating through space like an asteroid.
Venus,
scared as can be,
panting for hours,
had finally finished this painful trek.

Mt. Olympus By FB

Mt. Olympus By FB

The Threatening Lightning and the roars of Zeus,
Swimming in The Waves of Poseidon, there was no use.
Bottom of the mountain, a rocky cave.
Upon the peak, great gods lay.
So powerful and great.
Ruling all of earth, they never get a break.
Hidden and secret, never seen by a human soul,
You can’t see them when they're watching,
Even when you got that goal....

Wringer- Book:2 Not all days are Welcome to Excitement by LC

Wringer- Book:2
Not all days are Welcome to Excitement

The Transit of Venus looked like the eye of Palmer’s pigeon, Nipper while he waddled along and a 10 year- old boy picked him up and he was gone from Palmer’s reach and could do no more.

Palmer was in tears. There was nothing he could do except cry and think about all the good things that had happened to Dorothy, Nipper and himself. Palmer bit his lip as he was trying to hold back tears. He didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of his friends.
“ What have I done?” Palmer thought.
His dad had shot Nipper during that summer that he had most feared.
“I’ll get that pigeon Snots!” Beans shouted.



The next day Palmer would never want to show himself again. Except to Dorothy. He couldn’t be brave, he couldn’t be strong he couldn’t do anything without Nipper. He stared at the ball with the words: Nipper’s ball, on it.
“ Why did you write that on the ball?”, he said to Dorothy.
“ Well, since he liked taking things out of people’s ears you could pull out a tiny bit of it each day and put it in your ear to play with Nipper.”, replied Dorothy.
“ I can’t do that can I?”, Palmer yelled.
He wanted his pigeon back to play with him. Dorothy decided she would go back home. It was getting late now. Palmer decided to go downstairs and eat dinner. It was just cold sandwiches.
“ That’s it to eat?”, Palmer said.
“ Yes it got cold when you were playing with Dorothy,” his mom replied.
He ate his dinner quietly in complete silence. Usually he would eat his dinner with Nipper upstairs but since he wasn’t with him he was about to cry. He threw the sandwich in the garbage and ran upstairs. Palmer put his: DO NOT ENTER sign on his door so no one would come in. Knocking.
“ GO AWAY!!”, he yelled.
All he heard was silence.

Thinking About the Passage of Time by T.F.

Are we in a time machine

because we are

hyperspeeding through time?

Crazy, we had too little spring!

The Things I Noticed by L.K.

1. The most beautiful thing that I learned is the the ENTIRE world stood up and worked together to stop Apartheid, no matter what arguments they'd had in the past.
2. The most interesting thing that I learned is that 4 million whites ruled over 23 million blacks for 46 years!
3. The most troubling thing that I learned is that in an uprising of an "all-blacks" school, more than 270 children were massacred!
4. The most mysterious thing that I learned is that Stephen Biko mysteriously died and then the white government declared that it was a freak accident of falling down stairs, when eye-witness accounts saw Stephen Biko get killed.
5. The most difficult thing that I learned is that apartheid existed at all!
6. The most exciting thing that I learned is that the world's leaders worked as one to stop the South African government!
7. The most dangerous thing that I learned is that is was deemed a law to have racial segregation!
8. The most tragic thing that I learned is that more than 270 children out of 400 children in a black school were killed!
9. The most compelling thing that I learned is that apartheid went on for 46 years before finally stopping!
10. The most fascinating thing that I learned is that blacks weren't allowed to enter the same stores as whites!
11. The most devastating thing that I learned is that blacks were beaten and tortured, if not killed for speaking their minds!
12. The most precious thing that I learned is that apartheid finally came to an end in South Africa!

Apartheid Poem by LK

Apartheid

we share this Holy earth

our blood is the same blood,

so bleed compassion!

The eyes all dry and swollen from crying,

Pleading for help because the colour kept dying,

Stuck with nothing - no toys, no books,

Nothing to hide in the crannies and nooks,

But to shame on them for whipping them all,

No "coloured" trespassing in a mall,

You'd be tortured and punished,

And then they'd look at you like you're last night's rubbish,

The world heard these cries and pleas,

As the mocked were all being teased,

They tried to run but something stopped them,

Perhaps the guns that were aimed at 'em,

But soon words fought through all the lies,

And the world took note and started to rise,

Stop this cruelty, stop this punishment,

Why are all the blacks all in a tent,

Or homeless with nothing else but a can,

We can put a stop on this right now, we can

And so they did, ending it now,

It is time to go, and time to woe ...