“I know a song that gets on every body’s nerves, every body’s nerves, every body’s…Mommy! She hit me!” That was Rebekah and Hayley’s annoying little sister banana head, I mean Bannah. She was singing that annoying stupid song at 2:00 in the morning on a Saturday, so they had a very good reason to hit her. And before we go any farther, Rebekah and Hayley are 12 year old twins.
Their mom came up the stairs. You could tell she had just gotten up. Her eyes were half open, and her hair was sticking up like she got electrocuted. Her voice sounded sleepy.
“What’s going on?” she said, “Oh never mind, I’m going back to bed and don’t bug me again,” Then there was a slam, then a click as she locked the door, and then like 2 seconds later snoring.
“Now we we’re trapped with Banana head, or not,” Rebekah and Hayley said at the same time. They opened the window and stepped onto the window sill.
“Okay, so we’re going to land right…” Rebekah started to say and all of a sudden they were flying, I mean falling, unfortunately. They were planning to fall onto the trampoline, but they grabbed onto a tree branch just before they hit the ground.
“I’m alive,” said Rebekah in relief.
“It’s a miracle,” said Hayley, also in relief.
“I think you missed!” Bannah called, or should I say, banana head. Then she threw down all of their stuff and they ended up sleeping outside. It was something like camping except they were fighting until morning about what they were going to do to get revenge on Banana head.
The next morning they woke up to their baby sister, Liza, screaming. They walked over to pick up the phone but when they picked it up they heard their mom screaming for help to the hospital lady.
“I know, I know you have a rule for children. I’ll just get my older kids to baby-sit…..BEEEEPPPP.” Then the girls hung up the phone and stared at each other in disbelief. They couldn’t believe they had to baby-sit their little sister who had pushed them out a two story window and nearly killed them! Who knows what she would do next.
Rebekah and Hayley came into the kitchen to find a note that was mostly scribbles. The only thing they could read was Rebekah, Hayley, baby-sit Bannah, and Mom. They looked at each other. “So it is true,” whined Hayley, just before they fainted.
Hayley and Rebekah woke up to Bannah singing at the top of her lungs, “I’m going to have a party; I’m going to have a party, oh look! It’s my party!”
The door bell rang, and before they could get the door, it flew open. Tons of kids marched in. “I don’t even know half of them,” Rebekah whispered to Hayley.
“Buggily, boggily, boo! Buggily, boggily, boo!” shouted the kids.
“I’ve got it!” said Hayley, “We can take the kids on a long walk to the park, and then they’ll get tired and not get into mischief,”
“And we can get our revenge,” added Rebekah.
So they rounded up the kids and started walking. “This is the song that never ends; it just goes on and on my friends! People started singing it not knowing what is was, they’ll continue singing it forever just because this is the song…hey look! It’s the park!” And the kids took off running. They jumped all over the play structure.
“Time for our revenge!” whispered Hayley and Rebekah. And they ran back home.
“I know we could sneak out right now, but I really want to swim in the lake,” Rebekah was saying to Hayley back at home. “Besides, you know how much trouble we would be in if Banana head told mom,”
“Oh fine,” Hayley said “Just let me get my swimming suit,”
Both girls stepped into the murky water and walked deeper until they were almost swimming. Then suddenly a dark fin appeared. Then another, and another, and before more than a few seconds there were at least 20. “Sharks!!” screamed Hayley.
“Run!!” Rebekah yelled. They splashed back, until they were almost out of the water when they tripped, fell, and broke their arms. They looked up to see if the sharks were following them, but now instead of sharks there was Bannah and her friends. They were wearing goggles that had shark fins attached to the back.
“You’re going to pay for this!” Hayley and Rebekah shouted. Then they had to call the kids’ parents to tell them the party was over because their mom wasn’t there and they had broken their arms.
“Sharks! Ouch, ooh, you’re going to pay for this, Sharks! Ouch, ooh, you’re going to pay for this, Sharks! Ouch, ooh, you’re going to pay for this, Sharks! Ouch, ooh, you’re going to pay for this, Sharks! Ouch, Hey stop kicking me!” Banana head sang in mimicking voice all the way home. Well, until the kicking part, because Rebekah and Hayley really had kicked her.
“I don’t get why she has to make such a big deal about the whole thing,” Hayley said.
“Yeah, it’s not like she hasn’t played a trick on us before,” agreed Rebekah
Suddenly Banana head ran to the door and slammed it.
“What was that all about?” asked Rebekah. Hayley shrugged and reached out to open the door. But it wouldn’t budge, it was locked! The girls ran around and tried the other doors.
“What about the windows?” suggested Hayley. They tried those, but they were locked too.
“Great,” said Rebekah sarcastically. But Hayley didn’t seem to be listening.
“I’ve got it!” she shouted.
“Huh? Got what?” asked Rebekah.
“Our revenge, what else?” Hayley said. Then she told Rebekah her plan.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Goodinger, Hayley and Rebekah’s mom, was sitting in a chair in the waiting room. Finally, after what seemed like hours a nurse came up to her to report on Liza. “We’ll keep her here overnight and see how she’s doing then,” the nurse said. Then quick as a flash, she was gone.
Mrs. Goodinger pulled out her cell phone to call Hayley and Rebekah. The phone rang eight times and a kid’s voice came on. “Hello, if you want to talk to Hayley or Rebekah, they’re down in the dungeon. If you want to talk to mom or Liza, they’re having brain surgery. And if you want to talk to Bannah, she’s a beautiful princess and is too busy to talk to you,” Mrs. Goodinger hung up and started pushing buttons again.
Bannah looked out the window down at her silly sisters. They were running around, trying all the doors. Then they went over to the neighbor’s house and rang the door bell. “Uh-oh” she whispered to herself, and ran for a place to hide. Under the kitchen sink? Too dark. . . If there was one thing Banana head was afraid of was being alone in the dark. The clothes hamper? Perfect. After crouching under dirty clothes for about an hour, Bannah decided Hayley and Rebekah hadn’t been getting the neighbors to come inside and get her.
She decided to make a trap for her sisters. First she tied a rope across the bottom of the door, so when Rebekah or Hayley walked in they would trip on the rope and fall splat into the transparent-extra-sticky-slime that she had spread all over the floor. But now she needed something to make sure they didn’t look at the rope. So she went into the kitchen and took out the ketch-up, mustard, and a banana. She squirted the ketch-up and mustard all over the wall you would see first when you opened the door. Then she took the banana and smashed it on the wall with the ketch-up and mustard. Bannah reached to unlock the door, but then changed her mind. She would let Hayley and Rebekah sleep outside, and then let them trip on her rope and fall into the slime. In the meantime, she had some other tricks to get ready.
Banana head dashed up stairs. Then she ran back down stairs, with a bottle of shaving cream in her hand. She made two ice cream sundaes. But instead of whipped cream she put shaving cream. Next she set out two sodas. She dumped half a bottle of olive oil into each soda.
Then she went upstairs and dug around in her room until she found two whoopi cushions. Bannah placed those under Rebekah and Hayley’s pillows. Banana head ran back into her room to find some more slime to pour all over Hayley and Rebekah’s double bed. She was just reaching for it when there was the sound of breaking glass. She turned around just in time to see a big, dark, scary, arm-less monster float in through the window. She screamed and screamed and screamed, but nobody came to help her. Then as suddenly as it had appeared, the monster was gone. But now bugs flew in through the window. Spiders, cockroaches, worms, centipedes and lots of other bugs. And she ran screaming the whole way down to the kitchen.
Hayley was trying not to laugh as Rebekah moved the big armless monster puppet they had borrowed, around in Bannah’s room. They smiled at each other with satisfaction as they heard her screaming. There were two reasons Hayley couldn’t laugh. One was that she would give them away and two was she might let go of the rope that held Rebekah up to Bannah’s window on the second floor, and then Rebekah would come crashing down. Apparently Bannah had gone as far as the monster puppet could go so Rebekah pulled the monster puppet back through the window and Hayley lowered her down then strapped the rope to herself as Rebekah pulled her up to the window where she could throw the rubber bugs. “She ran into the kitchen,” Hayley whispered as Rebekah lowered her down. So they took off.
Bannah kept running and screaming until she was in the kitchen. “This song goes on forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever, this song goes on forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever, this song goes on forever and--what was that?!” Bannah sang softly to her self, until she heard a loud creaking noise. There it was again. And again. Now there was a scraping noise. Then a twig breaking, and now a ghost “Boo”ing. Then as suddenly as the noises had started, they stopped. Bannah looked around and spotted two ice cream sundaes and sodas. They were the very same ones Bannah had set up as a trap, but she was too freaked out to think clearly. So she sat down and took a big bite, then she spit it back out. The whipped cream tasted like soap for some odd reason. She shrugged and took a sip of the soda. Yuck! Banana head choked and coughed. Then it came to her. This was the trap she had set out for Hayley and Rebekah. But she was too scared to fix it now.
Rebekah and Hayley dashed around to the kitchen. They took out the tape player they had borrowed and put in the tape of creaking noises, then switched it off. Then Rebekah scraped the side of the house with her finger nails. When she stopped, Hayley carefully broke a twig in half. Then they took the tape player again and popped in a tape with ghost noises. Then they watched, trying not to laugh as Banana head took a bite of the ice cream sundae in front of her then spit it out. Next she took a sip of soda, and Rebekah and Hayley watched as she gagged and coughed.
“Hey look, the phone’s right next to her,” Rebekah turned to Hayley “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” she said.
Hayley took out her cell phone “uh-huh,” she said. And then she started dialing the Goodinger’s phone number.
Bannah jumped as the phone rang. Cautiously she made her way over to the phone and picked it up on the 4th ring.
“Hello,” said the person on the other line “Is your toilet running?”
“Um, well, yes,” Bannah said.
“Then you’d better go catch it!” the other person said and hung up. Bannah had just put the phone down when it rang again.
“Hello,” she said.
“Come out side or you’ll be sorry,” the other person on the phone said in a ghostly voice. Bannah hung up the phone and stood there trying to decide what to do. But it turns out, she didn’t do anything. Well, other than collapse on the floor and faint.
Sunlight was just starting to stream in through the windows when Bannah woke up. She suddenly remembered her plan, and went to unlock the door. After she did that she remembered last night’s ghostly experience. So she ran upstairs to hide in the laundry hamper.
Hayley peaked through the window just in time to Bannah run and disappear into the laundry. “That was the last trick, right?” she said.
“Yeah, too bad, those tricks were fun,” Rebekah said.
Then they heard the sound of a car driving up. Their mom got out, and left Liza in the back seat. Mrs. Goodinger flung open the door and gasped. Rebekah and Hayley crept closer to see what was so surprising. Then they saw it too. The wall was covered with ketch-up, mustard, and smashed banana. Mrs. Goodinger took a step forward, her eyes still on the wall. Then suddenly she screamed as she tripped over a rope tied to the bottom of the door and fell right into a pile of super sticky invisible slime.
Bannah ran downstairs at the sound of her mom screaming. “Oh, sorry mom, I forgot to tell--, I mean how did that rope and slime get there? I don’t have that much sticky slime--, I mean; I don’t have any slime,” she said, trying to look innocent.
“Bannah,” Mrs. Goodinger said in a warning voice. She was about to say something else when she noticed Hayley and Rebekah’s arms were in casts. “How did you break them?” she asked.
“After you left Bannah called up a bunch of friends without permission. We took them to the park,” Hayley explained.
“And they put on goggles that had shark fins on the back, so we thought there were sharks and we ran and fell,” Rebekah added.
“I would never do a thing like that,” Bannah said.
“Yeah you would,” Hayley and Rebekah said.
“No I wouldn’t,” Bannah said.
“Uh-huh!”
“Nuh-uh.”
“You would too.”
“I would not!”
“Yeah you would! We have proof--just search her room,” Hayley and Rebekah said.
So Mrs. Goodinger searched, and she found all kinds of stuff: sneezing powder, bottles and bottles of slime, a couple ropes, some dirty jeans, a bottle of shaving cream, a disappearing ink pen, a pair of shark goggles, Mrs. Goodinger’s missing cell phone and its phone bill, just to name a few. Plus there were the rubber bugs Rebekah and Hayley had thrown in the night before. Mrs. Goodinger made sure everything that Bannah might use for pranks was cleared out.
So that night Rebekah and Hayley went to bed laughing to themselves about how well their revenge had worked out, and about how Bannah was probably going to be grounded until she was 35.
Bannah went to bed angry and frustrated because all of her favorite pranks had been taken away, and she was going to be grounded for 3 years, maybe more.
And Mrs. Goodinger went to bed feeling relieved that she had sorted out the problem.
So Rebekah and Hayley never had to be worried about Bannah again, except, maybe for her annoying songs.
THE END!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Friday, September 2, 2005
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
The Knight in Shining Armor
1
You are at the library. You pick up a book about castles. Then you check it out and bring it home. You flip through the pages. It looks pretty boring. But then you turn to page 47 and you see a knight fighting a terrible dragon. “Wow,” you whisper, just before you find yourself getting sucked into the book. Suddenly you are the knight, and the dragon is coming towards you. What should you do?
If you turn and run, turn to page 2. If you try and fight the dragon, turn to page 9.
2
You start to run. The dragon is after you, and the armor is really heavy. It makes clanking noises, and really slows you down. The dragon is gaining on you, and you’re getting really tired. What should you do?
If you stop and take the armor off, turn to page 4. If you keep running, turn to page 3.
3
You keep running. The armor is still on. The dragon is coming. It’s getting closer. You are getting more and more tired, and you are going slower and slower. Suddenly you step on a trap door. You fall down into a dark room.
“Who’s there?” a voice bellows. A bright light shines in your face. It is the jailer, and you just landed in the prison.
“Well what do we have here? It’s another prisoner,” the jailer says.
“Wait, I’m not a prisoner! I got sucked into a book,” you try to say, but the jailer chains you up. “I wish I never picked up that book,” you grumble.
The End
4
You stop and quickly pull the armor off. Then you take off running. You are surprised at how light and energetic you feel. It feels like you just got charged. You run and run. The dragon gets confused because he can’t hear you.
“Good,” you mutter under your breath. Suddenly the dragon charges at you. You put on a burst of speed and race around the corner. But it just leads to a dead end. The dragon is rushing at you, and you left your sword with your armor so you can’t fight him.
“Jump on his back!” a voice says.
If you jump on the dragon’s back, turn to page 6. If you run, turn to page 5.
5
You start to run. But the only way to run is right towards the dragon. So you run towards the dragon. You run right into its leg. Then everything goes black. Suddenly you wake up, in your own bed. The book on castles is lying next to you. “I’m going to the library!” you call. And then you go and dump the book.
The End
6
You take a running start, and then leap onto the dragon. It throws back its head and you tumble down to its tail, where you hang on for your life. Then suddenly with a flick of the dragon’s tail you are in the king’s chamber. His oldest child is there too. “Oh daddy!” the kid says. “Isn’t that person so cute?! Let’s get married,”
“Yes, yes, I’ll arrange the wedding for…this evening!” the king says. And before you know it you are walking down the aisle with the king’s child. It seems like you’re walking in a dream. Then the king’s child’s voice brings you back to life. “I do,” the child is saying. Then the minister turns to you. What do you say?
If you say I do, turn to page 7. If you say I don’t, turn to page 8.
7
“I do,” you hear yourself say. And suddenly you are in charge of everybody, and you are married to the king’s oldest child. The dragon doesn’t ever bother you any more, because you live on the 15th story and the dragon never goes there. So you all live happily ever after.
The End
8
You say “I don’t”.
“Daddy!” the king’s child screams, looking offended.
“I wasn’t even old enough to get married,” you mutter as the king throws you into prison. And you live there for the rest of your life.
The End
9
You pull out your sword and stab the dragon. But the sword won’t even touch the dragon. The dragon seems to have some kind of magic surrounding it. You try again and again, but it won’t work. Suddenly you look up and another dragon charges at you. Then another. You are trapped. There are dragons on three sides, and the moat on the other. You back up, closer and closer until you fall into the moat. The water is freezing. You see a dark shape. It’s an alligator! And it’s coming towards you.
If you try to get out of the way, turn to page 10. If you try to get on the alligator, turn to page 13.
10
You try and swim out of the way, but you are frozen and tired. You wish you had paid more attention at swimming lessons, because you can only do the dog-paddle, which isn’t very fast. Suddenly something grabs your leg and pulls you under water.
If you try and see what’s pulling you, turn to page 11. If you fight against whatever it is, turn to page 12.
11
You look around but the water is too dark, you can’t see anything, and you are getting colder and colder by the minute. Then you see sparkles. You feel your self changing. And before you know it, you are an alligator.
The End
12
You wiggle and squirm and kick. Your foot hits something and the thing lets go of you. You quickly swim to the other side and climb out. Mist rolls in, making it very hard to see. It’s getting dark, and there are creepy sounds around you. Suddenly you step on some leaves covering a pit and down you fall. But you land on a very bouncy trampoline. You fly up, up, up, and right out of the world, then out of the solar system. You land on a small rocky planet. There are other people there too, other people who stepped on the trampoline. You live there for the rest of your life.
The End
13
You jump on the alligator. Then with a flick of its tail, you are on top of the castle. You swing around a flag pole. Suddenly a helicopter comes and lands on the roof. A bunch of men in black jump out.
“That’s the king’s child, right there,” they say to each other. Then they grab you. You are thrown in to the helicopter. They take off. What should you do?
If you jump out, turn to page 14. If you fight the men in black, turn to page 15.
14
You jump. There are a few seconds where you are flying, then you land splat on the castle roof. Suddenly you wake up, in your own bed. It was all just a dream.
The End
You kick and punch, but it doesn’t do anything. The helicopter is flying right over the dragon when the dragon reaches up and grabs the helicopter. You jump and land on the dragon’s back, right before the dragon throws the helicopter with the men inside, into the moat. Suddenly the dragon starts shrinking until, hey wait a minute. Was that really your pet lizard the whole time? You pick up your pet lizard, and suddenly you are in your own house holding your pet lizard. Then you go to the library and return the book.
The End
Saturday, June 4, 2005
Neighpunzel
Once upon a time there lived a very unhappy young mare named Neighpunzel. She hated her name, but most of all, she hated the witch that kept her locked up in the high barn that was hidden in the dark, spooky forest. Let me tell you about Neighpunzel. She is a white Lipizzaner horse. She was captured right after she turned three, her last year as a filly. But the strangest thing about Neighpunzel is her long tail. It reaches almost all way down the tall barn so it is two feet off the ground. Now the story…
THUMP! Neighpunzel jumped as she heard the thump of the witch kicking the door. Oh no! she thought, I haven’t finished dusting or done the dishes. If her tail was the same length as a normal horse dusting would be easy. But instead she had to put the awful-tasting duster in her mouth and move her head around. And the dishes, well, they were always hard, especially when you had to use your front hooves to wash and your back hooves to stand.
“Neighpunzel, Neighpunzel, let down your long tail!” The witch crackled. “No,” Neighpunzel answered stubbornly.
“Then we’re having horse meat tonight!” The we meant the witch and her weasel, which Neighpunzel hated. So she gave in and threw down her tail, which was still sore from the last time the witch climbed up it. The witch inspected the table. “This hasn’t been dusted,” she said. Then the witch ran to the sink. “And the dishes haven’t been washed.”
“But-but your Majesty, you were home early!”
“Shut- up, you fool! Not another word from you, and finish your work or you won’t be having any supper.” Just then a mail- bird flew by and dropped a paper. It landed so quietly that only Neighpunzel could hear it. “I’m leaving tomorrow morning, and I won’t be back until the day after tomorrow, in the afternoon.” The witch continued. “Now get to work.” Her weasel hissed, making Neighpunzel jump and knock a vase over. “Neighpunzel, you clumsy, worthless horse!” the witch shouted angrily. “No supper for you!” and with that she stormed into her room.
Neighpunzel ran out to see what the paper was. It was an invitation to a horse show. A horse show! Neighpunzel though excitedly. She burst through the door. “Your Majesty!” she called. “Can I ask you a question?”
“What is it?” the witch said grumpily.
“This horse show, Can I go?”
“No!!” the witch barked, “you will be busy making this barn/ house perfect while I’m gone.” Neighpunzel walked out of the witch’s room. If she didn’t make the barn/house perfect like the witch wanted, she might as well be dead.
The next morning, Neighpunzel woke up to find the witch and her weasel gone. Good, she thought, but I still wish I could go to the horse show. Then she saw a light. It was the magic fairy donkey! “Is there any thing I can do?” the magic fairy donkey asked.
“Yes! I mean No! Well not unless you can get me out of here.” Neighpunzel said. “I’m afraid my magic won’t be able to break the tower or lift you out of here, but I can go get another horse and his owner to get you out,” the Magic Fairy Donkey said. And then she disappeared. She came back a few minutes later. “A horse Prince is coming” the Magic Fairy Donkey said. “And he’s bringing his owner. Now let’s get you ready for the horse show.”
“But Fairy donkey, the witch wants the barn/house perfect when she comes back,” Neighpunzel said, looking worried.
“I think I can manage that,” The Fairy Donkey said with a smile. Then there was a poof! And the barn/house was perfect. Pretty soon Neighpunzel was too.
Then Prince and his owner came. “How are we going to get up there?” Prince wondered.
“I’ll climb,” his owner said. “How?” Prince said.
“Um, I haven’t thought of that part yet,” the owner said, looking embarrassed.
“What about my tail?” Neighpunzel called, throwing her tail down. And the owner climbed up. “You’re light,” Neighpunzel said when he got to the top.
“And you’re beautiful” the boy said.
Prince snorted. “Enough mushy-gushy stuff!” he said “Let’s get going!”
“How?” Neighpunzel asked. The owner, who’s name was James, looked for the Fairy donkey for help, but she had disappeared.
“Um, I guess we find some rope and lower you down.” There was a mad search, until they finally decided to tie the ropes they had already found together, to make a 75 foot rope.
“You’re going to fall about 5 feet when Prince unties you,” James told Neighpunzel. But he had forgotten that horses can’t untie knots. So James had to climb down the rope until he got to Neighpunzel, where he untied her and slid down the rest. Then they ran off to the horse show.
As it turns out, Neighpunzel and Prince won 1st and 2nd prize. Then they ran back to the high barn to figure out what to do about the witch. Finally they decided to steal the witch’s broom when she came back, and that would get rid of all her evil magic, locking her in the tower forever. Their plan was a little disorganized, but what do you expect from a 12 year old boy and two horses? Neighpunzel stole the broom and James lowered her down. Then he slid down. But so did the witch. James jumped to the ground. So did the witch. “You, you, you…” the witch started to say, but then there was a terrifying roar of a grizzly bear. The horses and James ran off, leaving the witch with the bear.
James, Prince and Neighpunzel became famous. They were even invited to stay at the White House for a few weeks, where they ran around, ate the most delicious food they had ever tasted, and Prince and Neighpunzel were invited into the ballroom for a big dance.
And what became of the witch? She managed to convince the bear not to eat her, but she ended up spending the rest of her days as a servant.
And they all (except for the witch and her weasel) lived happily ever after.
THUMP! Neighpunzel jumped as she heard the thump of the witch kicking the door. Oh no! she thought, I haven’t finished dusting or done the dishes. If her tail was the same length as a normal horse dusting would be easy. But instead she had to put the awful-tasting duster in her mouth and move her head around. And the dishes, well, they were always hard, especially when you had to use your front hooves to wash and your back hooves to stand.
“Neighpunzel, Neighpunzel, let down your long tail!” The witch crackled. “No,” Neighpunzel answered stubbornly.
“Then we’re having horse meat tonight!” The we meant the witch and her weasel, which Neighpunzel hated. So she gave in and threw down her tail, which was still sore from the last time the witch climbed up it. The witch inspected the table. “This hasn’t been dusted,” she said. Then the witch ran to the sink. “And the dishes haven’t been washed.”
“But-but your Majesty, you were home early!”
“Shut- up, you fool! Not another word from you, and finish your work or you won’t be having any supper.” Just then a mail- bird flew by and dropped a paper. It landed so quietly that only Neighpunzel could hear it. “I’m leaving tomorrow morning, and I won’t be back until the day after tomorrow, in the afternoon.” The witch continued. “Now get to work.” Her weasel hissed, making Neighpunzel jump and knock a vase over. “Neighpunzel, you clumsy, worthless horse!” the witch shouted angrily. “No supper for you!” and with that she stormed into her room.
Neighpunzel ran out to see what the paper was. It was an invitation to a horse show. A horse show! Neighpunzel though excitedly. She burst through the door. “Your Majesty!” she called. “Can I ask you a question?”
“What is it?” the witch said grumpily.
“This horse show, Can I go?”
“No!!” the witch barked, “you will be busy making this barn/ house perfect while I’m gone.” Neighpunzel walked out of the witch’s room. If she didn’t make the barn/house perfect like the witch wanted, she might as well be dead.
The next morning, Neighpunzel woke up to find the witch and her weasel gone. Good, she thought, but I still wish I could go to the horse show. Then she saw a light. It was the magic fairy donkey! “Is there any thing I can do?” the magic fairy donkey asked.
“Yes! I mean No! Well not unless you can get me out of here.” Neighpunzel said. “I’m afraid my magic won’t be able to break the tower or lift you out of here, but I can go get another horse and his owner to get you out,” the Magic Fairy Donkey said. And then she disappeared. She came back a few minutes later. “A horse Prince is coming” the Magic Fairy Donkey said. “And he’s bringing his owner. Now let’s get you ready for the horse show.”
“But Fairy donkey, the witch wants the barn/house perfect when she comes back,” Neighpunzel said, looking worried.
“I think I can manage that,” The Fairy Donkey said with a smile. Then there was a poof! And the barn/house was perfect. Pretty soon Neighpunzel was too.
Then Prince and his owner came. “How are we going to get up there?” Prince wondered.
“I’ll climb,” his owner said. “How?” Prince said.
“Um, I haven’t thought of that part yet,” the owner said, looking embarrassed.
“What about my tail?” Neighpunzel called, throwing her tail down. And the owner climbed up. “You’re light,” Neighpunzel said when he got to the top.
“And you’re beautiful” the boy said.
Prince snorted. “Enough mushy-gushy stuff!” he said “Let’s get going!”
“How?” Neighpunzel asked. The owner, who’s name was James, looked for the Fairy donkey for help, but she had disappeared.
“Um, I guess we find some rope and lower you down.” There was a mad search, until they finally decided to tie the ropes they had already found together, to make a 75 foot rope.
“You’re going to fall about 5 feet when Prince unties you,” James told Neighpunzel. But he had forgotten that horses can’t untie knots. So James had to climb down the rope until he got to Neighpunzel, where he untied her and slid down the rest. Then they ran off to the horse show.
As it turns out, Neighpunzel and Prince won 1st and 2nd prize. Then they ran back to the high barn to figure out what to do about the witch. Finally they decided to steal the witch’s broom when she came back, and that would get rid of all her evil magic, locking her in the tower forever. Their plan was a little disorganized, but what do you expect from a 12 year old boy and two horses? Neighpunzel stole the broom and James lowered her down. Then he slid down. But so did the witch. James jumped to the ground. So did the witch. “You, you, you…” the witch started to say, but then there was a terrifying roar of a grizzly bear. The horses and James ran off, leaving the witch with the bear.
James, Prince and Neighpunzel became famous. They were even invited to stay at the White House for a few weeks, where they ran around, ate the most delicious food they had ever tasted, and Prince and Neighpunzel were invited into the ballroom for a big dance.
And what became of the witch? She managed to convince the bear not to eat her, but she ended up spending the rest of her days as a servant.
And they all (except for the witch and her weasel) lived happily ever after.
Monday, April 25, 2005
The Three Little Penguins and the Big Bad Walrus
One day a mother blue penguin laid three eggs. When the eggs hatched, the penguin’s names were Flipper, Flapper, and Feather. They lived with their mom for a year, and then their mom told them to go and build their own houses. “But watch out for the big bad walrus!” She warned. Then Flipper, Flapper and Feather were off.
The first little penguin (Flipper) dug a hole in the snow. Then he covered it with snow. The second little penguin (Flapper) cut down millions of icicles and piled them in a house shape. Then they danced around and slid and splashed in the water. Meanwhile the third little penguin (Feather) was busy making her house perfect with rocks sealed together with solid ice and snow. “Forget the house and come play with us!” they shouted. But Feather ignored them. Finally Flipper and Flapper went to bed. But not Feather. She stayed up late and finished her house.
The next day there was a thump at Flipper’s door. “Little penguin, little penguin, let me in!” a voice shouted. Flipper had been in such a hurry to finish his house that he forgot to make a window, so he poked a hole in the roof. The thing outside was the biggest, ugliest walrus Flipper had ever seen. It was the big bad walrus!
“Not by the feathers on the top of my head,” Flipper answered.
“Then I’ll whack and I’ll smack and I’ll knock you’re house down!” And with that, the walrus started to whack and smack.
Flipper dashed off, with the walrus at his heals. But Flipper reached Flapper’s house first.
Then there was a thump at Flapper’s door. “Little penguin, little penguin, let me in!” A voice bellowed. Flipper and Flapper peeped out through a space in between two icicles. There was the meanest, maddest walrus Flapper had ever seen.
“Not by the feathers on top of my head,” They answered.
“Then I’ll whack and I’ll smack and I’ll knock your house down!” And with that he started to whack and smack.
“Ahh!” the penguins screamed as the thin icicles shattered. Then they waddled as fast as they could, with the walrus at their heels, to Feather’s house. They reached her house just before the walrus, and they barely had time to push the ice door closed, but they made it in one piece.
“What are you doing here?” Feather asked “I thought you would be off playing,”
“The Wa-,” Flipper and Flapper started to say, but they were cut off by a thump at the door.
“Little penguins, little penguins, let me in!” a voice roared. The penguins looked out the window, and there stood the biggest, meanest, most furious walrus.
“Not by the feathers on top of our heads,” Flipper, Flapper, and Feather answered.
“Then I’ll whack and I’ll smack and I’ll knock your house down!” the walrus shouted, getting angrier by the minute. He started to whack and smack, but this time the house did not fall down. The walrus tried again and again and finally slunk over to the water shouting “I’ll be back and I’ll get you, you just wait, you’ll be sorry!” And finally he was gone.
“Yea!” all the penguins shouted “stone and ice is the best!” And Feather helped Flipper and Flapper make houses like hers for next time the big bad walrus came, though he never did. So they all lived (you guessed it) happily ever after.
The End!!!!
The first little penguin (Flipper) dug a hole in the snow. Then he covered it with snow. The second little penguin (Flapper) cut down millions of icicles and piled them in a house shape. Then they danced around and slid and splashed in the water. Meanwhile the third little penguin (Feather) was busy making her house perfect with rocks sealed together with solid ice and snow. “Forget the house and come play with us!” they shouted. But Feather ignored them. Finally Flipper and Flapper went to bed. But not Feather. She stayed up late and finished her house.
The next day there was a thump at Flipper’s door. “Little penguin, little penguin, let me in!” a voice shouted. Flipper had been in such a hurry to finish his house that he forgot to make a window, so he poked a hole in the roof. The thing outside was the biggest, ugliest walrus Flipper had ever seen. It was the big bad walrus!
“Not by the feathers on the top of my head,” Flipper answered.
“Then I’ll whack and I’ll smack and I’ll knock you’re house down!” And with that, the walrus started to whack and smack.
Flipper dashed off, with the walrus at his heals. But Flipper reached Flapper’s house first.
Then there was a thump at Flapper’s door. “Little penguin, little penguin, let me in!” A voice bellowed. Flipper and Flapper peeped out through a space in between two icicles. There was the meanest, maddest walrus Flapper had ever seen.
“Not by the feathers on top of my head,” They answered.
“Then I’ll whack and I’ll smack and I’ll knock your house down!” And with that he started to whack and smack.
“Ahh!” the penguins screamed as the thin icicles shattered. Then they waddled as fast as they could, with the walrus at their heels, to Feather’s house. They reached her house just before the walrus, and they barely had time to push the ice door closed, but they made it in one piece.
“What are you doing here?” Feather asked “I thought you would be off playing,”
“The Wa-,” Flipper and Flapper started to say, but they were cut off by a thump at the door.
“Little penguins, little penguins, let me in!” a voice roared. The penguins looked out the window, and there stood the biggest, meanest, most furious walrus.
“Not by the feathers on top of our heads,” Flipper, Flapper, and Feather answered.
“Then I’ll whack and I’ll smack and I’ll knock your house down!” the walrus shouted, getting angrier by the minute. He started to whack and smack, but this time the house did not fall down. The walrus tried again and again and finally slunk over to the water shouting “I’ll be back and I’ll get you, you just wait, you’ll be sorry!” And finally he was gone.
“Yea!” all the penguins shouted “stone and ice is the best!” And Feather helped Flipper and Flapper make houses like hers for next time the big bad walrus came, though he never did. So they all lived (you guessed it) happily ever after.
The End!!!!
The Babysitting Nightmare
Chapter 1 Once upon a time, I was babysitting
“Lulu, you’re babysitting for the Mellonjellys!” said my mom.
“No!!!!” I shouted. The Mellonjellys are three 5 year old triplets, April, May & August. Plus they have a little sister named Springy. Well anyways, my friend babysat there once, and she says she still has nightmares about it. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.
I walked over to the Mellonjellys after school. “Hi Lulu!” said Mrs. Mellonjelly. “The kids can have peanut butter & jelly sandwiches for snack. Well, have fun!” and she shut the door behind her.
“We want snack!” the Mellonjelly kids chanted.
I ran into the kitchen and started making sandwiches. Seriously, those kids must have a hollow leg. We used up the whole loaf of bread.
I was so busy I didn’t notice Springy taking apart her sandwich and smearing it on the wall. Well, that is, I didn’t notice until April, May & August started doing it too, and they smeared some on me. I screamed and sent them outside while I cleaned up the mess. Soon I heard shrieks of laughter. I raced outside to see what they were up to. August was burying Springy, while April and May were digging through their mother’s zinnia garden, looking for worms.
Then I had an idea. The Mellonjellys have a pool in their backyard. That would get them clean and give them something to do while I finished cleaning the kitchen. After all, there wasn’t that much they could do in the pool, was there?
Chapter 2 The Pool
“Come inside and get your life jackets!” I ordered. They did just that, tracking mud all over the house. I made sure the life jackets were on tight then let them jump into the pool. Then I started cleaning. Now where was the vacuum? I thought.
Crash! I jumped around and looked outside. All I could see was a bunch of splashing. I looked at my watch. “Out of the pool!” I called. Well, I ended up having to get in the pool and pull them out. But when I took a closer look, I saw that the lawnmower was on the bottom of the pool. The kids had pushed the lawnmower into the pool!
I was beginning to lose my patience. “Inside all of you and get dried off!” I shouted. August had a sneaky look on his face, so I gave up on trying to figure out how to get the lawnmower out of the pool. Then we walked inside, unaware of the surprises that lay ahead of us.
Chapter 3 The Games
“Let’s play some games,” I said. Now we were upstairs.
“50 million pick-up!” shouted May, running in the opposite direction. I turned around just in time to see ten decks of cards thrown all over.
“Yeah!!” the others cried. Then they began flinging cards.
“Let’s play something else,” I said.
“I know!” shouted August, as if he were the smartest person in the world, “Let’s play follow the leader!”
“I’m first!” screamed April.
“No. Me!” shouted August.
“Nuh-uh!” said May. “I’m first”.
“Are not!”
“Are too!”
“Are not!”
“Are too!”
“Three-eyed-monster!”
“Evil alien!”
“Meany brat!”
“Unfair badguy!”
Then they started kicking and hitting each other. “I know a fair way to decide who goes first!” I said suddenly. The Mellonjelly kids froze, hands and feet in mid air. I did eeny-meeny-minny-mo. It turns out, August won. He started by making farting noises. Then burping. The others laughed and imitated him. But something seemed wrong, I thought. Then it came to me. Where was Springy?
Chapter 4 The Big disaster
“I’m going to look for Springy” I announced. Then I took off. Suddenly I heard a voice.
“Yes, I will make it the perfect size for you, Mrs. Tippy,” the voice said. The voice was coming from Mr. and Mrs. Mellonjellys’ bedroom. Slowly I walked inside. And there was Springy, sitting on her parents’ bed, with her mother’s best dresses. And, to my horror, a pair of scissors. “I a sewing person” she said, as she ripped and cut up the last dress.
“NO!!!” I screamed, but it was too late.
“All done!” she said happily. I’m sure my face had turned red by then.
“Get out and give me the scissors!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. It didn’t quite work out that way, so I took the scissors from her and grabbed her hand and together we ran to the room where the triplets had been playing. No one was there. Well except for May, that is. And when I took a closer look I saw that she was ripping pages out of a bunch of books.
“May!” I cried.
“I don’t like those pages,” she said innocently.
“Well, whether you like them or not, you do not tear pages out of a book!” I said, grabbing her. I heard something bang downstairs, so that’s where we went. There was August, with a bunch of plants lined up. (The Mellonjellys have about 40 in the kitchen).
He kicked one of the plants. They all tipped over like dominoes. “Oop-sies,” he said when he saw me glaring. I grabbed him. So now I had May, Springy and August. Where was April?
I looked all over the house. But she wasn’t there. So she had to be outside. When I got outside, I screamed. April had gotten at least six buckets of paint around her, and she had painted the whole front of the house as high as she could reach, with pink, blue, purple, green, yellow, orange and red.
“Isn’t it so prettyful?” she said. I grabbed her, too, and dragged all four kids into the house.
“You guys are in so much trouble,” I said. But before I could think of a good punishment, the phone rang.
Chapter 5 The Deal
I answered the phone.
“Hello Lulu,” the person on the other end said. “This is Mrs. Mellonjelly. I just remembered that I forgot to tell you that if they get in trouble, punishing them won’t work. They always find some way to enjoy it. Well, I’ve got to go! Bye!”
“Okay, bye.” I said.
Now what was I going to do if I couldn’t put them in time out or anything. Then I had an idea.
“Come over here,” I said, trying to make my voice sound happy. And surprisingly, they did just that. “We need to talk.” They didn’t say anything, so I kept going. “Let’s make a deal, okay?”
They nodded. I had never seen them so quiet. “I promise to take you to the park…”
But then August cut me off. “You mean the park with the rides?!” he shouted, jumping up and down.
“Yes,” I said, “now let me finish. But you guys have to do something for me.”
“Okay! What do we do?” shouted May.
“Well, you made a big mess, so you have to help me clean it up,” I said. “So first we need to get the paint off the house.”
“I saw some clear stuff next to the paint,” April said. “Will that work?”
We ran out to the garage. The clear stuff turned out to be paint remover! “Now let’s just hope the paint hasn’t dried yet,” I said. We took the paint remover and five paintbrushes outside. I started reading the instructions. “It says here that you paint this over the wet paint you want to take off, then you let it dry, and when it’s dry, you scrape the paint off,” I said. Then I opened the lid and we started painting.
“This is almost as fun as painting!” April said.
“Yeah!” agreed May, “except no pretty colors.”
So we painted for half an hour. Then we cleaned up the sandwiches and plants in the kitchen, and fixed the zinnia garden, taped the pages back in the book and picked up the cards. We decided there was no way we were going to get the lawnmower out of the pool or to fix Mrs. Mellonjelly’s dresses, so then we went outside to scrape off the paint. That paint remover really worked! You just had to run the thing over the paint, and it came off! When we were finished with that, we still had an hour to play. So I grabbed a little snack, and we were off.
Chapter 6 The Park
Well, we had to walk to the park, since I’m not old enough to drive yet. But when we got to the park, I said, “What ride do you want to go on?”
“ Let’s go there!” they all said together, but they all pointed in different directions.
“Uh-oh” I whispered. They all looked at each other.
“There!”
“No, there!”
“Nuh-uh! There!”
“Scaredy-cat, scaredy-cat!”
“Dare-devil!”
“Baby!”
“Meanie-pooh!”
“You guys! Let’s not waste all our time fighting,” I said.
“But who goes first?” asked August.
“I’ll make a list of the rides we want to go on,” I said.
So I did that, then I ran my finger down the list with my eyes closed. When I opened my eyes I was pointing at the Lilly pad ride. So we did that one first. We went on seven more rides. Then I looked at my watch. “Okay, time to go home!” I said.
“NO!” the Mellonjelly kids shouted.
I looked at my watch again. “Okay, we have time for one more ride,” I said.
“Who gets to pick the ride?” asked May.
“Me,” I said quickly. And before they could argue, I said, “Let’s go on the screamin’ eagle.”
“But that ride’s scary!” said Springy.
“Then you’ll sit next to me.” I said.
After the screamin’ eagle we walked home. We got there ten minuets before Mrs. Mellonjelly. When she rang the doorbell, April got the door.
“Hello!” was all Mrs. Mellonjelly was able to say, before April interrupted her by saying, “No soliciting, Bye-Bye!” And she slammed the door.
“Who was that?” I asked as April marched into the kitchen.
“A person trying to soliciting,” answered April. “But I told her to go away.”
“Oh really,” I said as I ran to the door and opened it. Sure enough, it was Mrs. Mellonjelly.
She stepped into the house and looked around. “They didn’t make a mess?” she said, looking surprised.
“Well, um, they, um,” but luckily she interrupted me before I could say anything else.
“Well, I’ll have to get you get you to baby-sit again!”
Now would you look at the time! I have to baby-sit for the Mellonjellys again. Bye!
“Lulu, you’re babysitting for the Mellonjellys!” said my mom.
“No!!!!” I shouted. The Mellonjellys are three 5 year old triplets, April, May & August. Plus they have a little sister named Springy. Well anyways, my friend babysat there once, and she says she still has nightmares about it. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.
I walked over to the Mellonjellys after school. “Hi Lulu!” said Mrs. Mellonjelly. “The kids can have peanut butter & jelly sandwiches for snack. Well, have fun!” and she shut the door behind her.
“We want snack!” the Mellonjelly kids chanted.
I ran into the kitchen and started making sandwiches. Seriously, those kids must have a hollow leg. We used up the whole loaf of bread.
I was so busy I didn’t notice Springy taking apart her sandwich and smearing it on the wall. Well, that is, I didn’t notice until April, May & August started doing it too, and they smeared some on me. I screamed and sent them outside while I cleaned up the mess. Soon I heard shrieks of laughter. I raced outside to see what they were up to. August was burying Springy, while April and May were digging through their mother’s zinnia garden, looking for worms.
Then I had an idea. The Mellonjellys have a pool in their backyard. That would get them clean and give them something to do while I finished cleaning the kitchen. After all, there wasn’t that much they could do in the pool, was there?
Chapter 2 The Pool
“Come inside and get your life jackets!” I ordered. They did just that, tracking mud all over the house. I made sure the life jackets were on tight then let them jump into the pool. Then I started cleaning. Now where was the vacuum? I thought.
Crash! I jumped around and looked outside. All I could see was a bunch of splashing. I looked at my watch. “Out of the pool!” I called. Well, I ended up having to get in the pool and pull them out. But when I took a closer look, I saw that the lawnmower was on the bottom of the pool. The kids had pushed the lawnmower into the pool!
I was beginning to lose my patience. “Inside all of you and get dried off!” I shouted. August had a sneaky look on his face, so I gave up on trying to figure out how to get the lawnmower out of the pool. Then we walked inside, unaware of the surprises that lay ahead of us.
Chapter 3 The Games
“Let’s play some games,” I said. Now we were upstairs.
“50 million pick-up!” shouted May, running in the opposite direction. I turned around just in time to see ten decks of cards thrown all over.
“Yeah!!” the others cried. Then they began flinging cards.
“Let’s play something else,” I said.
“I know!” shouted August, as if he were the smartest person in the world, “Let’s play follow the leader!”
“I’m first!” screamed April.
“No. Me!” shouted August.
“Nuh-uh!” said May. “I’m first”.
“Are not!”
“Are too!”
“Are not!”
“Are too!”
“Three-eyed-monster!”
“Evil alien!”
“Meany brat!”
“Unfair badguy!”
Then they started kicking and hitting each other. “I know a fair way to decide who goes first!” I said suddenly. The Mellonjelly kids froze, hands and feet in mid air. I did eeny-meeny-minny-mo. It turns out, August won. He started by making farting noises. Then burping. The others laughed and imitated him. But something seemed wrong, I thought. Then it came to me. Where was Springy?
Chapter 4 The Big disaster
“I’m going to look for Springy” I announced. Then I took off. Suddenly I heard a voice.
“Yes, I will make it the perfect size for you, Mrs. Tippy,” the voice said. The voice was coming from Mr. and Mrs. Mellonjellys’ bedroom. Slowly I walked inside. And there was Springy, sitting on her parents’ bed, with her mother’s best dresses. And, to my horror, a pair of scissors. “I a sewing person” she said, as she ripped and cut up the last dress.
“NO!!!” I screamed, but it was too late.
“All done!” she said happily. I’m sure my face had turned red by then.
“Get out and give me the scissors!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. It didn’t quite work out that way, so I took the scissors from her and grabbed her hand and together we ran to the room where the triplets had been playing. No one was there. Well except for May, that is. And when I took a closer look I saw that she was ripping pages out of a bunch of books.
“May!” I cried.
“I don’t like those pages,” she said innocently.
“Well, whether you like them or not, you do not tear pages out of a book!” I said, grabbing her. I heard something bang downstairs, so that’s where we went. There was August, with a bunch of plants lined up. (The Mellonjellys have about 40 in the kitchen).
He kicked one of the plants. They all tipped over like dominoes. “Oop-sies,” he said when he saw me glaring. I grabbed him. So now I had May, Springy and August. Where was April?
I looked all over the house. But she wasn’t there. So she had to be outside. When I got outside, I screamed. April had gotten at least six buckets of paint around her, and she had painted the whole front of the house as high as she could reach, with pink, blue, purple, green, yellow, orange and red.
“Isn’t it so prettyful?” she said. I grabbed her, too, and dragged all four kids into the house.
“You guys are in so much trouble,” I said. But before I could think of a good punishment, the phone rang.
Chapter 5 The Deal
I answered the phone.
“Hello Lulu,” the person on the other end said. “This is Mrs. Mellonjelly. I just remembered that I forgot to tell you that if they get in trouble, punishing them won’t work. They always find some way to enjoy it. Well, I’ve got to go! Bye!”
“Okay, bye.” I said.
Now what was I going to do if I couldn’t put them in time out or anything. Then I had an idea.
“Come over here,” I said, trying to make my voice sound happy. And surprisingly, they did just that. “We need to talk.” They didn’t say anything, so I kept going. “Let’s make a deal, okay?”
They nodded. I had never seen them so quiet. “I promise to take you to the park…”
But then August cut me off. “You mean the park with the rides?!” he shouted, jumping up and down.
“Yes,” I said, “now let me finish. But you guys have to do something for me.”
“Okay! What do we do?” shouted May.
“Well, you made a big mess, so you have to help me clean it up,” I said. “So first we need to get the paint off the house.”
“I saw some clear stuff next to the paint,” April said. “Will that work?”
We ran out to the garage. The clear stuff turned out to be paint remover! “Now let’s just hope the paint hasn’t dried yet,” I said. We took the paint remover and five paintbrushes outside. I started reading the instructions. “It says here that you paint this over the wet paint you want to take off, then you let it dry, and when it’s dry, you scrape the paint off,” I said. Then I opened the lid and we started painting.
“This is almost as fun as painting!” April said.
“Yeah!” agreed May, “except no pretty colors.”
So we painted for half an hour. Then we cleaned up the sandwiches and plants in the kitchen, and fixed the zinnia garden, taped the pages back in the book and picked up the cards. We decided there was no way we were going to get the lawnmower out of the pool or to fix Mrs. Mellonjelly’s dresses, so then we went outside to scrape off the paint. That paint remover really worked! You just had to run the thing over the paint, and it came off! When we were finished with that, we still had an hour to play. So I grabbed a little snack, and we were off.
Chapter 6 The Park
Well, we had to walk to the park, since I’m not old enough to drive yet. But when we got to the park, I said, “What ride do you want to go on?”
“ Let’s go there!” they all said together, but they all pointed in different directions.
“Uh-oh” I whispered. They all looked at each other.
“There!”
“No, there!”
“Nuh-uh! There!”
“Scaredy-cat, scaredy-cat!”
“Dare-devil!”
“Baby!”
“Meanie-pooh!”
“You guys! Let’s not waste all our time fighting,” I said.
“But who goes first?” asked August.
“I’ll make a list of the rides we want to go on,” I said.
So I did that, then I ran my finger down the list with my eyes closed. When I opened my eyes I was pointing at the Lilly pad ride. So we did that one first. We went on seven more rides. Then I looked at my watch. “Okay, time to go home!” I said.
“NO!” the Mellonjelly kids shouted.
I looked at my watch again. “Okay, we have time for one more ride,” I said.
“Who gets to pick the ride?” asked May.
“Me,” I said quickly. And before they could argue, I said, “Let’s go on the screamin’ eagle.”
“But that ride’s scary!” said Springy.
“Then you’ll sit next to me.” I said.
After the screamin’ eagle we walked home. We got there ten minuets before Mrs. Mellonjelly. When she rang the doorbell, April got the door.
“Hello!” was all Mrs. Mellonjelly was able to say, before April interrupted her by saying, “No soliciting, Bye-Bye!” And she slammed the door.
“Who was that?” I asked as April marched into the kitchen.
“A person trying to soliciting,” answered April. “But I told her to go away.”
“Oh really,” I said as I ran to the door and opened it. Sure enough, it was Mrs. Mellonjelly.
She stepped into the house and looked around. “They didn’t make a mess?” she said, looking surprised.
“Well, um, they, um,” but luckily she interrupted me before I could say anything else.
“Well, I’ll have to get you get you to baby-sit again!”
Now would you look at the time! I have to baby-sit for the Mellonjellys again. Bye!
Saturday, April 2, 2005
The Runaways
“Marigold, wake up.” I whispered, shaking her.
“Why?” she mumbled.
“Remember? The plan,” I said.
When she heard that, she shot up and jumped onto the floor with a soft thud. “What do I do?” she said, running to the closet to get her dress.
“Go get the horses ready,” I answered.
Marigold stopped in her tracks. “You’re the one who loves animals, why don’t you do it,” she snapped.
“Shush!” I hissed. But Marigold was right, I did love animals, especially my horses, Maple, Snowdrift, and Pebbles. But I had to get ready to leave. So I said “Your birthday is in three months, remember?” she nodded. “And stepmother is going to make you wear a corset when you turn seven, like me.” Marigold just stared at me, wide eyed. Then she turned and ran out to the stables.
What did I mean by the plan? You might be wondering. Well first of all, my name is Buttercup Gaggle. And I’m thirteen. The plan, well, it’s a long story. But if you really want to hear it… it started when our dad died, two years ago. Then we had to live with our step mom, and we absolutely hate her. She’s way too old-fashioned and makes us wear dresses, and I have to wear a corset. And she makes us work all day, every day. So we decided to run away. We were going to ride in the one present our stepmother gave us, a little wagon, pulled by Maple, Snowdrift and Pebbles. In case you’re wondering who I mean when I say we I mean me and my sisters Marigold, Violet and Rose.
“Violet, time to get up.” I said.
“Is it morning?” she mumbled, getting ready to pretend to be sick, so she wouldn’t have to work all day, even though she’s only three.
“No,” I whispered, “we’re running away, now go get your dress.” I tiptoed over to Rose’s crib. I didn’t want her to start crying, so I just picked her up and grabbed her dress. Then I took Violet’s hand and we ran into me and Marigold’s tiny room to get my bag. And we walked out to the stable, where Marigold stood smiling proudly at how she had hooked up the horses. Well, sort of. The bridle was on backwards, the reins all twisted up, and she hadn’t put on the blinders.
“Get in the cart,” I said, and handed Rose to Marigold. Then I started to fix the things on the horses. I heard a noise. It was stepmother, getting up to get dressed. That would take her twenty-five minutes. I should be able to get out of here by then. I straightened the reins, then slapped them and the horses took off.
We drove for five hours, then stopped to eat breakfast and let the horses rest. “Did you bring some eggs?” Violet asked.
“No, They would crack in the bag.” I said. “We’re going to eat mush.” And I handed out the mush.
“My mush is cold,” whined Violet.
“Shut-up, you baby,” snapped Marigold
“Why should I?”
“Because I said so!”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah!”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah!”
They started flinging their mush at each other and throwing dirt. Rose thought it looked fun, and she babbled “Apa-dafa-dafoo!” And did it too. I stared at them and realized that there was only one way to stop them. So I picked Marigold up, then Violet, and dropped them into the river we were sitting by.
“Hey!” the yelled together.
Then Marigold splashed Violet. “This is all your fault!”
“Nuh-uh! Yours”
“No you started it!”
“Yeah, but if you hadn’t snapped at me, this never would have happened!”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah!”
“ Don’t start again!” I said, picking up Rose, who was trying to squirm out of my arms. Finally we all waded out of the river and drove off in the wagon. A police officer was checking for four runaways, but luckily we had enough time to put on tons of make-up.
Then after three more hours of driving, we came to the house that stepmother said was our Uncle Ivory’s house. “Stay here.” I told my sisters. Then I went and knocked on the door.
“Who’s there?!” a deep voice bellowed.
“B-B-Buttercup.” I said, getting more nerves by the minute.
“What do you want?” the voice said, not so harshly.
“We came to see Uncle Ivory.” I said. The door opened. It was Uncle Ivory!
“You fell for my trick!” He laughed. Then his face became serious again. “Why aren’t you at your stepmother’s house?” he said, looking puzzled.
“We ran away,” I said calmly.
“Well, uh,”
“We were wondering if we could live with you.” I interrupted him.
“Well, um, sure!” Uncle Ivory said.
“Marigold, Violet, Rose! Come on!” I called. And we all sat down to eat dinner in our new home.
“Why?” she mumbled.
“Remember? The plan,” I said.
When she heard that, she shot up and jumped onto the floor with a soft thud. “What do I do?” she said, running to the closet to get her dress.
“Go get the horses ready,” I answered.
Marigold stopped in her tracks. “You’re the one who loves animals, why don’t you do it,” she snapped.
“Shush!” I hissed. But Marigold was right, I did love animals, especially my horses, Maple, Snowdrift, and Pebbles. But I had to get ready to leave. So I said “Your birthday is in three months, remember?” she nodded. “And stepmother is going to make you wear a corset when you turn seven, like me.” Marigold just stared at me, wide eyed. Then she turned and ran out to the stables.
What did I mean by the plan? You might be wondering. Well first of all, my name is Buttercup Gaggle. And I’m thirteen. The plan, well, it’s a long story. But if you really want to hear it… it started when our dad died, two years ago. Then we had to live with our step mom, and we absolutely hate her. She’s way too old-fashioned and makes us wear dresses, and I have to wear a corset. And she makes us work all day, every day. So we decided to run away. We were going to ride in the one present our stepmother gave us, a little wagon, pulled by Maple, Snowdrift and Pebbles. In case you’re wondering who I mean when I say we I mean me and my sisters Marigold, Violet and Rose.
“Violet, time to get up.” I said.
“Is it morning?” she mumbled, getting ready to pretend to be sick, so she wouldn’t have to work all day, even though she’s only three.
“No,” I whispered, “we’re running away, now go get your dress.” I tiptoed over to Rose’s crib. I didn’t want her to start crying, so I just picked her up and grabbed her dress. Then I took Violet’s hand and we ran into me and Marigold’s tiny room to get my bag. And we walked out to the stable, where Marigold stood smiling proudly at how she had hooked up the horses. Well, sort of. The bridle was on backwards, the reins all twisted up, and she hadn’t put on the blinders.
“Get in the cart,” I said, and handed Rose to Marigold. Then I started to fix the things on the horses. I heard a noise. It was stepmother, getting up to get dressed. That would take her twenty-five minutes. I should be able to get out of here by then. I straightened the reins, then slapped them and the horses took off.
We drove for five hours, then stopped to eat breakfast and let the horses rest. “Did you bring some eggs?” Violet asked.
“No, They would crack in the bag.” I said. “We’re going to eat mush.” And I handed out the mush.
“My mush is cold,” whined Violet.
“Shut-up, you baby,” snapped Marigold
“Why should I?”
“Because I said so!”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah!”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah!”
They started flinging their mush at each other and throwing dirt. Rose thought it looked fun, and she babbled “Apa-dafa-dafoo!” And did it too. I stared at them and realized that there was only one way to stop them. So I picked Marigold up, then Violet, and dropped them into the river we were sitting by.
“Hey!” the yelled together.
Then Marigold splashed Violet. “This is all your fault!”
“Nuh-uh! Yours”
“No you started it!”
“Yeah, but if you hadn’t snapped at me, this never would have happened!”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah!”
“ Don’t start again!” I said, picking up Rose, who was trying to squirm out of my arms. Finally we all waded out of the river and drove off in the wagon. A police officer was checking for four runaways, but luckily we had enough time to put on tons of make-up.
Then after three more hours of driving, we came to the house that stepmother said was our Uncle Ivory’s house. “Stay here.” I told my sisters. Then I went and knocked on the door.
“Who’s there?!” a deep voice bellowed.
“B-B-Buttercup.” I said, getting more nerves by the minute.
“What do you want?” the voice said, not so harshly.
“We came to see Uncle Ivory.” I said. The door opened. It was Uncle Ivory!
“You fell for my trick!” He laughed. Then his face became serious again. “Why aren’t you at your stepmother’s house?” he said, looking puzzled.
“We ran away,” I said calmly.
“Well, uh,”
“We were wondering if we could live with you.” I interrupted him.
“Well, um, sure!” Uncle Ivory said.
“Marigold, Violet, Rose! Come on!” I called. And we all sat down to eat dinner in our new home.
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
The Amazing, the Incredible, Dolphins and Whales
It’s time to learn about the incredible, the amazing, the most wonderful creatures, Dolphins and Whales! So let’s get the facts. We hopefully all know that dolphins and whales are mammals, animals that breath air, give birth to live babies, (not eggs) feed their babies milk, have hair or fur, (dolphins have a little hair on their snout when they are first born) and are warm blooded. But did you know that Bottlenosed dolphins have 88-100 teeth? Now that’s a lot of teeth. Here are some other interesting facts. Dolphins eat their fish whole. (No chewing.) And dolphins don’t have to drink ocean water; they get their water from the fish they eat.
Dolphins can sort of see in the dark; they use something called eco-location. How does it work? The dolphin makes a sound. It bounces off an object like a fish or a wall, and the sound comes back to the dolphin, telling it where the thing is.
But a dolphin can see, just not in dark water, and a dolphin is color blind. Dolphins’ herd (group of dolphins) can have 200 members. Dolphins weigh between 100 to 20,000 pounds. You want to know how to tell a boy bottlenosed dolphin from a girl bottlenosed dolphin? You look at their belly. A boy has a mark like a exclamation point on it’s belly. A girl has a mark like a division sign.
Scientists believe that dolphins’ ancestors were furry four-legged land mammals. If you look at a dolphin’s skeleton, you’ll see that it’s probably true. Dolphins have five finger bones in each flipper. And they have little extra bones where legs might have been. And another thing you might see is that a dolphin has no bone in its tail. There are over 30 different kinds of dolphins.
So a dolphin must have ears, because they use eco-location. But where are they? They are little holes right behind a dolphin’s eyes. You want to know how to tell a dolphin from a porpoise? Well, a dolphin has pointy teeth while a porpoise has flat teeth. And a porpoise’s dorsal fin is sort of triangle and a dolphin’s dorsal fin is more curved. Now that we’re talking about porpoises, did you know that porpoise means “pig of the sea” because it’s so chubby?
A dolphin uses its tail to swim, its flippers to steer, and its dorsal fin to keep them from spinning around while they swim. A dolphin doesn’t have a sense of smell, because if you think about it, a dolphin’s blow hole is like a nostril on the top of their head. Dolphins and toothed whales have one blowhole and baleen whales have two.
Bottlenosed dolphins that live in the ocean are bigger than bottlenosed that live near the shore. Baby spotted dolphins don’t have spots. As they get older they get more and more spots until they’re one big blur.
Spinner dolphins are the only ones who spin when they jump. That’s probably why they’re called that. And there are more common dolphins than any kind of dolphins. Striped dolphins look like common dolphins except they have a stripe.
Now let’s talk about things whales and dolphins do a lot. Porpoising is when dolphins leap out of the water and practically fly. (Big whales don’t normally porpoise, because they’re too big and heavy). Breaching is when dolphins or whales throw themselves into the air and fall back into the water. Log-tailing is when whales go upside down in the water, stick their tail in the air and wag it then smack it on the water.
A killer whale’s dorsal fin can be 6 feet tall! (A killer whale is also called an orca). Dolphins have 8-250 teeth! Some people consider toothed whales (like an orca, pilot whale or beluga whale) dolphins.
You may think that dolphins only live in the ocean. It is true that ocean whales and dolphins will die if they are in fresh water, but there are such things as river dolphins. One example of river dolphins is the Amazon River dolphins. Get ready to learn a lot about Amazon River dolphins. Amazon River dolphins are also called botos. Botos are gray when they are born, and get pinker when they get older. Ones that live in dark muddy water are pinker than botos that live in clear water, because botos in clear water get something like a suntan, since they get more sun. Botos also get pinker when they are more active. A boto is very flexible. It can turn its head 180 degrees from side to side. It can paddle one flipper forward while it paddles the other one backwards. During the rainy season, the rain forest floods and botos swim through the trees, chasing fish.
Marine dolphins can’t get pregnant when they are still making milk for their calves. That’s because their pregnancy lasts almost a year. Amazon River dolphins’ pregnancy doesn’t last that long. Botos also don’t get stranded very often, because they are strong and flexible and can wriggle themselves out.
Here are some more whale facts: The fastest whale is an orca. Gray whales dive down and scoop up a mouthful of mud, send it out of their baleen and eat what’s left. Humpback whales make a bubble net and trap tiny fish, then they lounge at them. They make noises that kind of sound like singing, and some people actually listen to humpback whales singing. Humpback whales have bumps all over their heads.
Dolphins have sensitive skin. Unfortunately, dolphins’ and whales’ skin cracks when it gets too dry.
Baby dolphins are born tail first. If they are born head first, they usually die. And dolphins rarely have twins. If they do, both babies or even the mom normally die.
I hope you’ve learned a lot from this book. And as you can see, dolphins and whales really are wonderful creatures.
Dolphins can sort of see in the dark; they use something called eco-location. How does it work? The dolphin makes a sound. It bounces off an object like a fish or a wall, and the sound comes back to the dolphin, telling it where the thing is.
But a dolphin can see, just not in dark water, and a dolphin is color blind. Dolphins’ herd (group of dolphins) can have 200 members. Dolphins weigh between 100 to 20,000 pounds. You want to know how to tell a boy bottlenosed dolphin from a girl bottlenosed dolphin? You look at their belly. A boy has a mark like a exclamation point on it’s belly. A girl has a mark like a division sign.
Scientists believe that dolphins’ ancestors were furry four-legged land mammals. If you look at a dolphin’s skeleton, you’ll see that it’s probably true. Dolphins have five finger bones in each flipper. And they have little extra bones where legs might have been. And another thing you might see is that a dolphin has no bone in its tail. There are over 30 different kinds of dolphins.
So a dolphin must have ears, because they use eco-location. But where are they? They are little holes right behind a dolphin’s eyes. You want to know how to tell a dolphin from a porpoise? Well, a dolphin has pointy teeth while a porpoise has flat teeth. And a porpoise’s dorsal fin is sort of triangle and a dolphin’s dorsal fin is more curved. Now that we’re talking about porpoises, did you know that porpoise means “pig of the sea” because it’s so chubby?
A dolphin uses its tail to swim, its flippers to steer, and its dorsal fin to keep them from spinning around while they swim. A dolphin doesn’t have a sense of smell, because if you think about it, a dolphin’s blow hole is like a nostril on the top of their head. Dolphins and toothed whales have one blowhole and baleen whales have two.
Bottlenosed dolphins that live in the ocean are bigger than bottlenosed that live near the shore. Baby spotted dolphins don’t have spots. As they get older they get more and more spots until they’re one big blur.
Spinner dolphins are the only ones who spin when they jump. That’s probably why they’re called that. And there are more common dolphins than any kind of dolphins. Striped dolphins look like common dolphins except they have a stripe.
Now let’s talk about things whales and dolphins do a lot. Porpoising is when dolphins leap out of the water and practically fly. (Big whales don’t normally porpoise, because they’re too big and heavy). Breaching is when dolphins or whales throw themselves into the air and fall back into the water. Log-tailing is when whales go upside down in the water, stick their tail in the air and wag it then smack it on the water.
A killer whale’s dorsal fin can be 6 feet tall! (A killer whale is also called an orca). Dolphins have 8-250 teeth! Some people consider toothed whales (like an orca, pilot whale or beluga whale) dolphins.
You may think that dolphins only live in the ocean. It is true that ocean whales and dolphins will die if they are in fresh water, but there are such things as river dolphins. One example of river dolphins is the Amazon River dolphins. Get ready to learn a lot about Amazon River dolphins. Amazon River dolphins are also called botos. Botos are gray when they are born, and get pinker when they get older. Ones that live in dark muddy water are pinker than botos that live in clear water, because botos in clear water get something like a suntan, since they get more sun. Botos also get pinker when they are more active. A boto is very flexible. It can turn its head 180 degrees from side to side. It can paddle one flipper forward while it paddles the other one backwards. During the rainy season, the rain forest floods and botos swim through the trees, chasing fish.
Marine dolphins can’t get pregnant when they are still making milk for their calves. That’s because their pregnancy lasts almost a year. Amazon River dolphins’ pregnancy doesn’t last that long. Botos also don’t get stranded very often, because they are strong and flexible and can wriggle themselves out.
Here are some more whale facts: The fastest whale is an orca. Gray whales dive down and scoop up a mouthful of mud, send it out of their baleen and eat what’s left. Humpback whales make a bubble net and trap tiny fish, then they lounge at them. They make noises that kind of sound like singing, and some people actually listen to humpback whales singing. Humpback whales have bumps all over their heads.
Dolphins have sensitive skin. Unfortunately, dolphins’ and whales’ skin cracks when it gets too dry.
Baby dolphins are born tail first. If they are born head first, they usually die. And dolphins rarely have twins. If they do, both babies or even the mom normally die.
I hope you’ve learned a lot from this book. And as you can see, dolphins and whales really are wonderful creatures.
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