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 15^th 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

15

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

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.