Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Aww...bunny! by FireNinja

Too cute!

Art by Niara!

Love it!

Defeating the Bully by Gabrielle

Here's a story from Gabrielle. I like the line about the bully's pink boot heel - very descriptive! Also, I decided to use another lovely piece of art from Mary to illustrate it.

Defeating the Bully
by Gabrielle

"OOF! Eloise fell to the ground dropping her tray of warm gooey macaroni and cheese. "Don't cry this happens all the time." she thought. Eloise got up on her hands and knees gathering up everything. 

No one rushed over to help her up. Finally she stood up and looked at the girl and her crew who had tripped her in the first place. Her names Lola group name the Sassy's. They ruled the school and Eloise had this happen to her all the time. "So Eloise same thing tomorrow I thought so? "Lola put her hands on her hips and snickered. Eloise watched her sashay away her other group members following her like dogs. Suddenly the bell rand DING A LING A DONG.

Eloise looked at her plate of macaroni and sighed. She didn't feel like going over to the lunch lady who would probably sigh and put some kind of fruit plate with 99% of it strawberries and peaches two fruits Eloise despised.  So she tossed her tray in the trash and headed to the bathroom where she tried to get the sticky yellow cheese off her sweater.

Science class- Eloise sat timidly at her desk but jumped up to see a giant wad of gum stuck to the bottom of the chair. It was a note that said "who's the biggest looser of all time dirtier than year old gum stuck to a sidewalk? Eloise!!!!!! Love, LOLA." Signed with a heart. Eloise sighed and her face crumbled. She felt horrible. She wasn't good enough. She smelled. No one liked her.

She knew all this was true because it was told to her by Lola multiple times and everyone ignored what was going on. Tears rolled down her face like a well yet the teacher named Mr. Wells hardly saw anything. He was a tall teacher in his late 30s with brown hair and sandy colored eyes.  "Hello class time for science today we will have partner work." Eloise closed her eyes as everyone chose partners Eloise sighed. She would always end up having to work with an immature boy who never did any work.

She neatly got out her materials and sheet just in case maybe someone would work with her. She twirled her brunette hair around her finger chewing the sides of her nail. None came and Eloise went over to the teacher who was busily grading papers circling the grades in a bunch of circles. "Um I don't have a partner."

Mr. Wells didn't look up but pointed over to Lola's group. Lola twisted her head around toward Mr. Wells swishing her blonde hair with blue highlights. Then a smile came unto her face.  "Let her work with us." Wells smiled and said "Thank you Lola." Eloise slowly walked away from the desk scared. She felt like she was about to be thrown to lions the leader capable of tearing her apart. Eloise slowly tried to sit down but Lola put her pink high heeled boot on the chair "seats taken." Eloise moved over to a seat next to Judy a skinny girl with short hair long enough to shake. "Sorry this seat is taken too." This left one seat at the end of the table. It was rickety and next to the table where nose picking Robert sat.

Lola giggled as Eloise sat down. Robert was picking his nose as usual. The rest of the hour was spent with Eloise being left out in every way. She could hardly get a pencil without her things being knocked to the floor or without getting kicked or punched. By the end of the hour Eloise was ready to go home but she still had one class the only one she liked Home EC.

Eloise quickly rushed over to her seat by the window and watched the birds chitter outside. Ms. Honey a lady in her early 20's with fiery red hair that tumbled down her back entered. She smiled. Even though she looked mean Ms. Honey was nice. "Come in class." The children filed in Home Ec were the only class Lola wasn't in.

Eloise watched Ms. Honey. Today they were learning about the right temp. To cook meat at. Everyone groaned but Eloise. She was quite fascinated with cooking. Sometimes she felt like it was the only thing that dints change. Her mom had left when she was young and her father worked a million jobs to support her brother. 

She watched people yawn. when the class finally ended Eloise decided to walk home so she texted her dad and walked home alone. A slight breeze ran through the air and it smelled fresh like bread.  Eloise hummed under her breath.  It was perfect. Walking made Eloise forget about Lola and her group of bullies.

She was surprised. Bullies she had never thought of that word. She decides to look it up at her house. Suddenly she rammed into someone and fell to the ground. "Ouch sorry." She rubbed her head and looked up. It was a boy. He had dark brown cocoa skin the color of cocoa beans. He smiled and pulled Eloise up to her feet. Thanks. Eloise said blushing. "Welcome. So uh you ok." Eloise nodded. "My name is Stewart." "Mine is Eloise." 

The two shook hands. "So are you from around here?" Stewart asked. Eloise nodded "I go to Kingston you know" Stewart laughed "I go there too." It was awkward for a moment and then he said "I'd better go." "Me too." Eloise ran the rest of the way home. She finally ran up her sloping driveway and burst into the house after using her key to open the door. 

She had to journal about Stewart.  She had just finished writing when her little brother Johnny came in from school. He was running and Eloise went down to meet him. He gave her a huge smile and tackled Eloise in a hug. "How was school?" Johnny frowned and said "I got pushed down today."  Eloise asked "By whom?" He brother explained about a boy and Eloise was sad to find this wasn't the first time. Looked like they both had bullies to conquer.

Weeks went by. Things at school got worse instead of better for Eloise
Monday she got tomato soup dumped in hair by Lola
Tuesday she got pushed off the stage by Lola
Wednesday got notes in her locker with curse words by guess who
Thursday she got her gym bra and shoes stolen from her leaving her uncomfortable (one of Lola's bffs did it) she was snickering too.
Friday she was absent from school. Her stomach hurt and she thought that if she even had to look at Lola she would collapse.
But everyday Eloise saw Stewart on her way home they became friends.
ON the other hand things weren't better for her brother either. On Tuesday he came home holding his eye he would not even look at Eloise. When she finally got him to tell by giving him a fat sugar cookie she was horrified. He had a black eye. What happened was the dude who kept pushing Johnny got mad when Johnny took his purple crayon and he punched Johnny. 

Eloise snatched some peroxide and proceeded to fix her brother's eye she had to do something about this bully. It reminded her how she let Lola control her. She threw away the used things and Google what is a bully. It came up as:
Bully: a person who bees mean to someone repeatedly. Suddenly Eloise heard a knock at the door and saw her dad. He was dressed in a suit and tie. He enwrapped Eloise into a hug. Johnny who was playing jumped up and hugged his dad. "I said I would come visit my 15 year old. I left some meals in the fridge I have been working all day and night. He came in and made a real dinner. As they sat down he said "SO I see Johnny has a black eye."

Eloise frowned and watched Johnny start to explain. Her dad's face fell. "I must go to school and stand up for my son. Now bedtime." As Johnny and his dad disappeared Eloise rinsed the dishes ad thought stand up for me. She had a plan to get rid of Lola the bully.
Eloise ran out of Home Ec class and toward the park where Stewart was waiting. They sat next to each other. "I was thinking maybe we could give Lola a taste of her own medicine by teaming up. We can stand up to her by ourselves. For example when I have my lunch and she is about to trip me you scream loudly "Lola why are you pushing her." And we can defend each other. "Maybe we can even turn her in." Stewart smiled. "I like this Eloise. So we just have to stick by each other." They hi fived and went separate ways.
NEXT DAY
Lunch- Stewart and Eloise stood next to each other. Lola came over and was about to dump orange juice on Eloise. Suddenly Stewart yelled "Lola is about to dump juice on Eloise." Lola was so startled she held the juice slightly opened over Eloise's' head. The lunch lady tromped over took the juice and said "Lola you know better go eat NOW." Lola stuttered and clamored back to her seat.

Days went by and the threats seemed to finally be settling down. Lola was actually able to relax with Stewart by her side. Lola seemed defeated. That was until one day Stewart was absent. It was a horrible lunch day with the food of Jell-O and soup with hard vegetables. Eloise came to the lunchroom kind of scared trying to avoid Lola who would surely be waiting on her.  Yet she ended up bumping into her. "Watch it little ugly girl." Lola said sashaying away.

Suddenly courage welled up inside and she said "Lola you and your group THINK you own everyone here. You are just insecure and jealous of me." Lola sneered and said "why would I be jealous of you?" Eloise shot back "Because I heard that bullies are always insecure also I heard that your mom and dad divorced." Lola stammered and glared.  Her tray tilted and the soup fell on the floor.

She stepped toward Eloise her heel hit the soup and she slid her books fell and she ended up trying to get everything. Eloise still angry pushed the books to her. Then she walked away.
After school- Joshua ran in and said "Guess what I told the teacher about the bully and he got in trouble!" He smiled a wide toothed smile. Eloise laughed. As she warmed up the night's dinner she had a feeling in her heart that she had done the right thing. Suddenly the doorbell rang it was Stewart. He had a little boy with him.

"I was wondering if you and Johnny would like to visit the park with me."  "Sure." She turned off the oven and went outside. Johnny and the boy got along.

"I heard you stood up to Lola." Stewart said "Yeah." Stewart smiled and said "Looks like someone has hidden courage."

They both laughed. Now Lola was positive she had done the right thing.

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Story by Jocelyn with art by Mary

Wow! Great story and I love the pastel art, too!

Chapter one:
Summer's beginning

Summer's in a CRISIS already, and we were just dismissed for Summer break! " Has anyone seen a pink cat bookmark anywhere!? No one!? Awww man. We're already leaving for Summer! " I exclaimed. It reminded me of my BFF, Ananya, already moving away on June 28th, and it was freakin' MAY 22ND!!! Could it get any worse?

Chapter Two:
The ultimate STAYCAY!!!!

Well... since nothing EXCITING is happening in my life currently. I have to stay home, and do this SUMMER WORKBOOK FOR SIXTH GRADERS!!!!!!! I'm only going to 5TH grade, and I'm supposed to be in 4TH grade! I know my standards are high, but the purpose of Summer is to RELAX AND REWIND FROM SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT MORE HOME WORK!!! It's not like my life isn't as tough to handle!

But at least there 's two things to cheer me up: Reading the FABULOUS PLS books and going to a sleepover with my cousin. She's like the only one who understands me. :(

Chapter Three:
The Sleepover

" Hey girlie! " is what I first said when I arrived at cousin, Rachel's, house. This is actually the first thing I did this Summer with A TON of fun. Besides emailing Ananya, you know? Who doesn't like talking to their BFF? ( I haven't exactly gotten to the PLS series yet. If you know what I mean.... )

We've been trying to make youtube videos on my cousin's account. We failed miserably because the laptop had horrible quality. Then, we realized we could do videos on my cousin's IPOD! It was too late to make a video. I left for home again before I knew it.

Chapter Four:
Mom's B-day AKA SUMMER SOLSTICE!

June 21st, a horrific/ wondrous day! What makes it wondrous, read chapter title. What makes it horrific, did you keep in mind the date Ananya's moving on!!!????

She's moving in a week!!!!!!!!!! Total Summer crisis!!!!! I cried a little, then sucked it up. I knew I had 3 more BFF's here. 1st, a pair of twins (2nd grade) 2nd, Jackson (3rd grade, no, we are NOT dating).

At least my Mom's B-day party was awesome!

Chapter Five:
Skipping 4th of July to go to an AWESOME wedding!

My Aunt has a wedding, big deal, right? NO! I'm a flower girl, and the wedding's on A BEACH IN CANCUN, BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!a LUXURIOUS 5 day 4 night stay. There's even a WATER SLIDE in ONE of the THREE pools! There's also a heated exercise pool, and a BAR/ ALL YOU CAN EAT POOL, ALL INCLUSIVE!!!!!!!!!!! It was awesome!!! Also, there was a JACUZZI IN THE ROOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I even got to swim with a DOLPHIN straight in the ocean! after that, I went to an AWESOME water park!

Chapter Six:
Summer wrap-up :(

Well, this is the end of my story. I signed up for violin class for next year, got a Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet, had another sleepover, went to the dentist, and FINALLY got to the last book of PLS series, Girls in Charge. Well, I guess this goodbye :(

BYE!

Monday, June 17, 2013

A story by Eri!

Here's a great story from Eri. You really feel like you're there!


chapter 1


BEFORE SCHOOL.

I run through the door and everyone gasps.  I mean everyone. Even Puck, my
best friend, stares with his mouth gaping.  I keep running and stop at

my locker.  I twist the number lock to my combination and throw my stuff
in. I climb inside and sit down on the metal bottom. Everyone is still

staring.

Alice, my sister, comes over and looks puzzled.

"Tylar!", she whispers,"Where were you? You're over-" she checks her watch-
"you're over four hours late!"

"So what." I whisper back, while shutting my customized locker door.

"So what?! It' s halfway through lunch!", she says. "All the teachers are
looking for you!"

Puck races over right before I slam the locker door shut.  "You need your
sketch pad for art class in -" he checks his watch "- in 15 minutes!"

"Why don't I have a watch?", I moan while twisting the lock to '274318'.

 "I'll get you one for your birthday." Puck says reassuringly.

"But Puck, that's in July, five months from now, in the summer!  You don't
need a watch in the summer!"

"Good point."

"There's four months of school left! I can't get to school four hours late
for four months!"

"You can borrow mine," Puck says with a smirk, "because I always get to
school on time, and you can just tell me what time classes are."

"Very funny." I say. "But can I still borrow it until summer?"

"Sure." He says, handing it to me. "Now lets get to the cafeteria."

* * *

Little Red Riding Hood comes over and asks with a smirk; "You having fun
sharing lunch with your ... boyfriend?"

"Like you think you're so great." I mutter.

"Excuse me?" Red says.

"Nothing."

"It better be nothing."

"Don't listen to her," my friend Goldilocks says, sitting down beside me,
"she's just trying to make everyone think you're scared."

"I know Locks, but what if she means it?"

"Trust me. She doesn't." Puck says.

"Okay, good." I say fluttering my wings.

I take a bite of my sandwich.  Puck with his chicken nuggets, and Locks
with her Spaghetti.

"Eww!" We all exclaim in unison. "This is gross!"

We all take refreshing big sips of 'Blast', the new favorite soda.

"Ahh." I say, totally refreshed.

"Ditto." They say.

From now on, I am making my lunch at home.

"5 minutes 'till art," I say, checking 'my' watch.

"I hope we don't get another sub." Locks says.

"Me too." I say.

Me 3," Puck says.







chapter 2
WALKING TO ART.

As we walked to class I noticed two boys staring at me.  I glare, and they
start to whistle and pretend to be looking at the clock that's  beside

me.

"Can you blame them?" My friend Snow says. "I mean, they're pretty dumb to
like you."

"Uh, thanks alot." I say.

"No, I mean they're dumb to think that you're open to boys."

"Because we're only 12?" My other friend Briar asks.

"Prob'ly." I answer.

We walk in and head to the 3 seats at the back, like we usually do.  But
today,  Sabrina and Daphne Grimm plus their friend Evalynn were sitting

there.

"Well well well.  Look who took our spots." Briar says moving closer.

"We can move if you want," Sabrina says.

"Oh thanks Sabrina, but it's fine. We'll sit in the front." I say, shooting
Briar a look.

We walk towards the front.  "Briar! Sabrina's a year younger than us!" I
say.

"Sorry."

We sit down and unzip our backpacks.

"Shoot!  I forgot my eraser and pencil!"  Snow says.

"It's fine," I say, "I always keep a spare pencil in my bag."

"And I have 2 erasers." Briar says as we hand her the stuff.

"Thanks." She says as Mr. Skencacer walks broadly through the door.

"Shh." Briar whispers.

He strides towards his desk.

"Today, class, we are going to draw the scenery.  To preform this action,
we must go outside with the clipboards supplied on your desks." We

glance at the desks, pick up the clipboards, grab our stuff and line up at
the door as he counted down from ten.

He hands out papers and we walk towards the school front doors.

* * *

"I like your drawing." Briar says as she leans over to get a better look.

"Thanks.  I like yours too."  I say glancing at her drawing of trees
swaying with the sun partly hidden by the wisps of clouds.  Her's is so
much

better.  Mine is just a simple sketch of the academy.  Snow's is better
too.  Her's is of our magical playground including the floating swingset

and the talking See-saw.

 "Okay class! Time to go inside!" Mr. Skencacer booms.

As we march in I see those same 2 boys eyeing me.

I look at them in a nausiating way.

They start whistling again.
I groan.

We walk back in class and hand in our drawings.

"Now we are going to draw who is beside us." He says.

Now it's Snow's turn to groan.  "I have to draw Nerdy Nickie." She whispers
to me.

"I'm willing to change spots with you," I say.

"No, it's fine." She replies.

***

My drawing turns out to be good, but Briar's ears are a little big.

I look at her's, and it's about the same as mine on a scale of 1 to 100.
 It's about a 69.

Snow's turns out to be pretty bad. Well actually, that's just how Nerdy
Nickie looks.




chapter 3
I grab my bag, run through the door and race to the girl's restroom.  As
I'm running I pull out my purple elastic and let my long, red hair fall

loose around my elbows.  I run through the door signed "Girls" and stick
myself infront of the mirrors.  I comb my fingers through my tangled

hair, pull it to the top of my head, and wrap the elastic around it.  I
leave and rush through the twisting hallways, bumping into my twin sister.

"Tylar!" She says, obviously annoyed, "watch where you're going!"

 "Can we switch?" I say.

"Um... ok. But just for one period. My next class is Math. What's yours?"
She asks."

"My next is ELA.  Yay! I love math!"

"And I looooove ELA!!"

"Perfect!" I say.

We walk to our trading spot, The Janitor's Closet.

I take my hair out, she puts hers in. We trade clothes and Tote bags,
phones and cuffs.

I look through the peephole. The coast is clear. I walk out of the closet,
looking both ways, to make sure it's clear.

I peek back inside the closet. There is Emma,(dressed as me) reading her
book.

I drag her out and put her bookmark in her book, the close it.

"Aww! I was just getting to the good part!" She says.

"We gotta get to classes!" I say.

"Fine." She says peeking in her book again.

 Soon I walk in to Math dressed as Emma, and no one seems to notice except
for Emma's friends, as they always do.  We've only been caught once,

and that was a couple years ago. We were ten and we attempted to switch for
the whole day, but I accidentally let something slip at home about how

Snow and Briar wanted me to come over.

"Tylar? Why did you switch?", Emma's friend Jack whispers as I slip in to
the seat beside him.  "I like math and she likes English Language Arts.

Actually I don't really know." I whisper back.

"What do your friends think?", Prince (Ironic, isn't it?), another one of
Emma's friends asks.

"Well, actually I don't really know," I admit.  "I wish I had a twin to
switch with," Emma's friend Gretel says while looking up from tying her
runners.

We snap back to attention as soon as Emma's math teacher Ms. Flora
fluttered to the front of the class.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

More art from Eva and hatlover!



A poem: The Banyan Tree

Pinkprincess wrote this poem. We love it, especially the last line.

The Banyan Tree

Once upon a time in my garden, loved by me,
By seeing which garden I always became glee,
With its wide spread branches and dark colored leaves,
There stood a magnificent Banyan Tree.

From the time I was young I saw it grow,
But who planted it I didn't know,
Although it protected me in summer from the sun
And in winter from the snow.

The Banyan Tree was a world in itself.
I was a part of it myself.
Many birds and small animals lived in it,
And it bore their weight all by itself.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Geekchic's drawing - love the flowers in her hair!

Poem by Kaelah

As I daydream
Hoping one day he will
Take me
With him.
Love me
Not like a friend
But more
I realize
I am too
Crazy
Silly
Young
Falling into the deep abyss
Of one sided
Love

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Wings by Jill

Terrific story by Jill. My favorite line is when she says something has happened zero times and then she says, Look at the big lonely 0, all alone. Clever writing, there!

Wings
by Jill Zerkowski

Prologue           
As Alyssa and I just finished our best prank of all time, we needed to decide when and what elevator…


Hi, my name is Megan Peter, the all-time trouble maker of Brookside’s history.  I’ve pulled 632 pranks at my time at Brookside, 6 years of evil mean hurtful pranks; some of which I regretted a lot!

I could have done them without my best friend of all time Alyssa Anderson, I would have done 0. I say 0. Look at the big lonely 0, all alone.     

Chapter 2
Abigail’s meanest prank

This is why we hate Abigail Peterson.  And this is how my best prank was created…   You know how my name is Megan Peter? Everyone makes fun of me because I have two first names.  Alyssa hates it more than me when anyone teases me when she is around. She says, “If you say that again, the fist will visit you soon.” Then she walks away.  People never mess with her. 

Okay, so when our nemesis, Abigail Peterson -  I hate she almost has the same last name
as I do and then she thinks her last name is so awesome even thou they are almost identical!!  –So Abigail said it but then ran off and the principal was there!
    
Chapter 4
The Plot

This is why Alyssa wanted to do this one. Don’t ask me why but after she does something wrong, she wants to hurt the same person. Precisely, at 2:30, this prank will be pulled.  Alyssa and I were put in different classes this year, so at 2:36, we both said, “Ah, I think I might puke and bent down.”

As expected the teacher will came running over and said go down to the nurse now. Our plan worked perfectly and we met in the hall for a consult and to go down to the elevator.
Our plan worked almost perfectly.
  
Chapter 5
MRS HAGG

I was hoping to get from the spacey secretary, but as I found out, she is not spacey. Actually, she is the complete opposite as spacey. When I tried to steal the key, she said, “I knew you were planning a prank with that Alyssa Anderson!”

Then she said that she should have suspended us the last time we pranked someone.

“So tell me the truth. Were you planning a prank?? I will find out the real answer!”  While that was happening, guess what Alyssa said she needed to finish up a test!  So much for being best friends, she was the creator of this prank and if I got in trouble for it, oh I would be mad!

“The truth please!" Mrs. Hagg hollered. 

I ran and as soon as I did the principal saw me!

Ding! It was the sound of when the key hits the emergency stop, and traps whoever is in there down there! The plan sort of worked; at least he was in there.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Daisy Pearl's Poem

Note: Daisy Pearl, 13, says she's new to the Pink Locker Society blogs. Welcome! And thanks for your poem, which shows some deep thinking about what girls' lives are like.

THE GIRLS
by DAISY PEARL 

THE THINGS A GIRL NEEDS
TO CHEW A BUBBLE AND TO READ
AND TO PLANT THE SEED
TO HELP MOTHER
TO MAKE SMILE OF EVERYONE
AND TO FINISH WORK AND SAY IT'S DONE
SOME PEOPLE THINK THERE IS NOTHING TO DO FOR GIRLS
THAT'S WRONG
THE WORK OF GIRLS IS LONG
THE GIRLS ARE LIKE PEARLS
B/C THEY ARE LIKE A BIRD
THEY MAKE NEST FOR FAMILY AND THE REST
THAT'S WHY
                          

Monday, March 11, 2013

Dahhhhling, read this!

Note: This story has nothing to do with pigs, but Posey likes pigs. Hence her logo. Great story, too!
The Two Vicious "V"s
by Posey
It was two weeks before the pet contest, and Veronica and Venessa were bragging … as usual.
“Veronica, did you finish the five spelling pages?” Venessa asked.
“Of course, I did. Who do you think I am – that weird girl?” Veronica said, a little too loudly.
Emily marched right up to them and said, “That weird girl has a name, you know. Or are you two too buried in your studies?”
(V and V were mean girls, but they got all “A”s.)
“How dare you, weird girl!” Veronica shot back at Emily.
RING, RING, BANANA PHONE!
It was time to switch classes and that was their middle school’s very unusual bell. Some schools have a ding-a-ling-sounding bell. Other schools have an electronic sounding BEEP, like on an alarm clock. But they had something altogether different - RING, RING, BANANA PHONE!
“There’s the bell. Got to go!” the two “V”s said in unison.
And just like that, they sashayed off to home room.
“Where were you during study hall?” Emily’s best friend, Kat, asked.
“Oh, nowhere. I was just…” Emily said, her voice trailing off.
“You couldn’t be nowhere,” Kat said, “because all the time you’re somewhere. And-”
“OK, thank you, Kat,” Emily said.
“OK, claaahhhs, settle down,” their teacher, Mrs. Martin, said in her crisp British accent. “Please haaaahhnd in your book reports.”
Before anyone else could react, Veronica and Venessa rushed to the front of the room with their reports in their hands.
“Here you are Mrs. Martin,” the two girls chorused.
Then everyone else handed in their  book reports. Everyone except Emily.
“Did everyone haaaahhnd in their reports?” Mrs. Martin asked.
“Yes,” said the entire class, even Emily.
The rest of the day went by in a flash with the double “V”s taking every opportunity to tease and bully Emily. In other words, like every other day at school – except at the very end of the day. That’s when Mrs. Martin asked Emily to stay behind as everyone else ran out to the buses.
“Sh-sh sure,” Emily said.
Once the class cleared out, Mrs. Martin said, “Emily, I noticed that you didn’t hand in your book report. Do you have anything to say?”
“Mrs. Martin, I am very sorry. I just tend to fall behind and I promise it will never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, NEVER happen again.”
“Thaaahhht’s fine, but I know a couple of tutors who would be available three times a week. Whaaaahhht do you say?”
Emily said nothing.
“I’ll ask for only one day a week and I’ll let you sleep on it,” Mrs. Martin said.
“I’ll talk about it with my parents,” Emily said.
When Emily came home, her mother asked, “How was school today?”
“Good,” Emily said, a typical answer for hiding your feelings.
At dinner, Emily only poked at her food and went upstairs early before watching TV.
Emily’s mom was worried about her because earlier that day she had received a phone call from Mrs. Martin.
Emily’s mom knocked on her bedroom door.
She heard a muffled voice said “OK, come in.”
Emily’s mom saw Emily lying on her back facing the ceiling.
“Honey, I just want to talk about school.”
“I already said it was fine, OK?”
“Well, I got an phone call from Mrs. Mar-“
Emily’s tears interrupted her.
“Mom, I really don’t want to get a tutor,” Emily sobbed.
“Honey, Mrs. Martin said you admitted that you tend to fall behind. I think it might be best.”
“Maaaaahhhm,” Emily whined.
“Honey, I just want you to understand that I’ll be right down the hall if you want to talk. Now, get some sleep. See you in the morning and don’t let the bedbugs bite.”
Emily’s mom left and Emily fell fast asleep.
In the morning, Emily asked her mom if she was getting a tutor.
“You can tell Mrs. Martin to call us and I’ll talk to her about it, all right?” Emily’s mom said.
Emily walked to study hall that morning and found her place next to Kat.
“I called you after school and your mom said you weren’t home yet. What’s going on?” Kat said. “Be straight with me. No more “I’ll tell you laters.”
“Kat, this is really embarrassing and well-“
Kat cut her off, saying “We’re best friends, right? We’ve known each other for 12 years. I tell you everything, and you’ve told me everything, up until now. If you don’t tell me, there will be a chance of breaking up even if it’s something super, duper, luper, kuper, tuper, nuper embarrassing. Really, tell me please!”
“OK,” Emily said, “But can we go somewhere, um, you know, well … more private?”
Kat and Emily went to the girls’ restroom and Emily started, “Ever since I entered the pet contest, Veronica and Venessa have been bullying me sooooooo much. Also, since my new baby brother was born, I feel like there’s no one I can talk to at home. On top of that, I haven’t finished my book report and Mrs. Martin thinks I need a tutor but I signed up for soccer on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. So is there anything I missed … um, oh yeah, Mr. Lyn is being so mean to me in math. He said I was a slow poke. I thought teachers were supposed to help you!
“Wow,” Kat said, “I-I-I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize how much you were dealing with. I mean-”
“Thanks” Emily said.
“Thanks for what?” Kat asked.
“That felt really good to be able to tell all about my worries, troubles, and burdens. Just to get it out.”
RING, RING, BANANA PHONE!
“Let’s go,” Kat said, and they walked together to Mrs. Martin’s class
“Emily, did you talk about it with your parents?” Mrs. Martin asked.
“They said for you to call them and talk about it,” Emily said.
The class was abuzz. People were getting up for all different reasons: to feed the fish, to feed the hamster, to do the attendance sheet, or answer the phone.
 “Settle down, settle down, settle down,” Mrs. Martin told the noisy class.
“Let’s get started. First, get out your homework so that I can check it. This time, I’ll start with Veronica and Venessa’s table.”
CLAP!
It was the sound that no one didn’t know: the sound of the two girls’ hands high-fiveing.
DID EMILY HAVE HER HOMEWORK OR NOT – ANOTHER SIGN SHE’S FALLING BEHIND?
Next up was Math. “Good morning, slow poke,” was what she expected, but Mr. Lyn was calmly sitting on his desk with his blue folder out on his lap.
Now, everyone knows Mr. Lyn color codes his folders and everyone knows that his blue folder means test.
GULP!
“Take your seats, everyone,” Mr. Lyn said. “Quickly, quickly, I want to get started.”
Mr. Lyn started handing out papers.
“This test is a 30-minute timed test. You may write “DK” for “don’t know” if you’re not sure. Your test begins … right now!”

A couple of days later Mr. Lyn handed the tests back and Emily almost burst out crying when she saw that she got none right. Ten days before the pet contest Emily talked to Kat, “Kat I really need you help today. I want my husky to win first place in the contest. All I need you to do is bring over everything you have- wigs, dresses, ties, tuxedos- everything!”
“Kay, I’ll be right over, but when you say everything, do you mean like even my couch?”
“What do you think, Kat? Stop being a smart aleck.”
You see, Kat’s mom makes clothes for animals and she had some old husky mannequins and really good cloth.When Kat arrived they got right to work and didn’t waste a minute. Snip, snip, cut, cut, trim, trim- that’s all you could hear behind Emily’s closed bedroom door.
“Knock, Knock!”
“Come in- what is it?” Emily said with agitation in her voice.
“It’s just me,” her mom defended as she stepped into the room. “Mrs. Martin called and we just confirmed it every Thursday afternoon for one hour after school.”
“Whatevs. I don’t care,” mumbled Emily as her mom retreated.
“You’re really getting a tutor?” Kat asked.
“Yeah- it’s arranged, so there is no way I am getting out of it.”
By the end of the afternoon, Emily and Kat had made a super cute outfit that looked fabulous on Coco, Emily’s husky. But the costuming had to wait- for the rest of the week, Emily met four different tutors. On the first day, a boy came and obviously never had grammar lessons walked in and said “Okay like lets like get like to like work like do like you like know like what like two like plus like one like is like? Because like I’ve like heard like that like you like are like stupid.” On day two, it was a tall blond girl with a stack of math worksheets who strode in with a sour look on her face, she dumped the worksheets in front of Emily and said “GET TO WORK!!!!!!!!!!!” Day three turned up an all-black clad kid playing a weepy violin. Finally, on the fourth day, a really nice girl arrived.
“OK, so let’s get started,” she said as she tossed an overflowing book bag onto the library table. “What do you think is the hardest subject for you?”
“Probably math,” Emily replied. 
 “Oh, I love math…”
“How can you love math when Mr. Lyn is constantly calling you a slow poke?”
“You have Mr. Lyn? He’s my favorite teacher. Plus, here’s a tip: the best way to do something is to do it when you love it.”
BUZZ!! It was the library door, and who walked in? None other than V and V. Emily ran behind a bookshelf quickly dodging the two Vs. Emily spent much of their time hiding, getting nothing done, and forcing her new tutor Jane to follow her into the fiction section.
“Come on; I promise there is nothing to be afraid of.” But just as she uttered these reassuring words to Emily, the two Vs rounded the corner into their aisle.
“OMG! Venessa, come over here! It’s book buddy time. Or even better,” she went on, “it’s tutor time!”
“HA HA HA. Very funny. Be mean and sassy again, and I’ll report you and you’ll get into big trouble!” Jane was a small girl, but at that moment she sounded big.
“You’re too little to report us.” Veronica tried to sound like she wasn’t worried, but there was doubt in her voice.
“Oh yeah? Well guess what: I’m in eighth grade. You are only in sixth - there’s a big difference.”
The two girls backed up slowly and ran out of the library. “See, I told you there was nothing to be afraid of.”
After long days of people picking on her, Emily was so glad when the day of the pet contest finally arrived.
She wore a new outfit that matched Coco’s: a neon green dress and a neon blue shrug and platform heels. Kat wore a blue dress, a green shrug, and green platform heels. Her outfit matched her Doberman Marshmallow’s costume.
The auditorium was packed. Every group did their dance and everyone did a great job.
“Now for the prizes!” One judge boomed out after everyone had performed. He handed out prizes one by one: cutest, smallest, biggest, craziest and on and on until he was ready to announce the grand prize.
“And Top Dog goes to… no one!” the shocked audience listened as he went on to explain, “no one really knocked our socks off, but to make up for that, we’ve come up with a new prize: The Best Loved Animal! And this goes to Emily and Kat with their loving animals Coco and Marshmallow.” One lone sound echoed through the auditorium: CLAP it was the sound that no one didn’t know: the sound of two girl’s hands high-fiving. And at that very moment, in a land far away, some high-tech technology made a pig fly. (And that’s the truth.)
EPILOGUE
Everyone lived beter than ever . Emily mastered math, Kat turned out to be a great violinist, and Veronica and Vanessa never bullied again!
Sorry to say but it’s …
THE END
Hope you enjoyed the story

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Sarah's beautiful story!

Note: Wow-this story is not only well written. It comes at the perfect moment. Thousands of people this week pledged to end use of the "r" word. More info HERE: R Word

“Where are we going to sit for lunch, Ellie?” Heather’s shoulder bumped mine as we entered the overwhelmingly crowded cafeteria.

“I don’t know yet, just give me a second. I’ll figure something out,” I sighed. Another new school, the second time in three years. My twin sister and I stood at the entrance to the cafeteria and looked for empty seats. I spotted a table that looked like it had all the popular girls sitting at it, and there were two empty seats. This was our chance to actually make some friends, unlike at all the other schools. I started walking up to the table before I freaked and changed my mind. I recognized a girl at the end from my English class. She had on a green skirt and a tank top, and her sleek black hair was perfectly straightened. “Hey,” I started. She turned around.
 “Aren’t you the new girl?”

“Um, yeah. And you’re Jennifer, right?” I asked, while I twirled the bottom of my shirt around my thumb. “Hey, can we sit here with you guys?”

“You can... but not her!” She pointed distastefully at Heather who was half hidden behind me, clutching her lunch bag. This was just like last year. I had to choose. I glanced back and forth between Jennifer, who was looking at me with her startling green eyes, and Heather, who was staring at the ground. I took a deep breath and twisted my blond hair around my finger.
“Heather, can I talk to you for a sec?” I pulled her over, just out of earshot of Jennifer and her posse. “Do you remember Amanda? And how she didn’t want to be friends with you?” I winced. That didn’t come out right.

“Yes,” Heather looked at me with expectant blue eyes.

“Well, Jennifer is like that too. She doesn’t want to sit with you.”

“So are we going to sit somewhere else today?”

“Um, well, I am going to sit with Jennifer, but you can go sit at that table over there.” I pointed to the table in the corner where a few other girls I didn’t know sat.

“But why? We always sit together. And Jennifer is mean!” Heather’s eyes filled with tears, and my heart filled with guilt.

“B-because I wanted to tell Jennifer that she should let you sit with us. Plus, there isn’t enough room for me at the other table,” I Iied. Heather started walking over to the table after I reassured her that I would sit with her tomorrow. Another lie. I watched her sit down at the other table, until I was interrupted.

“Hey, are you gonna just stand there? Or are you gonna actually sit down?” Jennifer asked, with a hint of annoyance. I sat down.

“Who was that girl? She’s so weird! Is she new too?”

“You mean Heather?” I couldn’t believe how rude they were being.

“Is that her name? How do you know her, anyway?” I stared at her, confused. Then I realized that she didn’t know we were sisters.

“She’s my sister,” I muttered quietly, sure they would kick me out of the group now.

“So you two are like, twins?” I nodded in response.

“What’s wrong with her? She looks so weird. And I heard she’s retarded.” My face flushed with anger, but I quickly regained composure. I wasn’t going to blow it this time. I was going to make friends.

“She has Down’s Syndrome. But it’s not a big deal. Compared to other people, her’s is actually pretty mild. And she isn’t retarded, she just learns differently.” I repeated what had been drilled into my head since the moment I could understand what it meant. I could hear my mother saying, Stand up for your sister, She just learns differently, blah, blah, blah. Even though I loved Heather, I’ve started to get sick of always making sure she’s comfortable, making sure everyone was nice to her. I was basically her stand-in mother whenever we left the house. I always sacrificed my social life for her. This time, that wasn’t going to happen.
I was jerked from my thoughts by Jennifer’s laughter. The girl to my left said, “She certainly seems retarded.”

“Well she’s not!” I snapped.

“Woah, calm down, we were just joking. Geez, don’t be so sensitive.” She rolled her eyes. I needed to stop jumping to her every defense.

“Let’s just drop it, okay?”

 “Whatever,” Jennifer changed the subject to the new magnetic nail polish she got.

The rest of the day, I pretended not to see Heather whenever we passed in the hallways. This wasn’t difficult, considering how crowded the hallways were between classes.

I threw my math binder into my already full backpack, when I looked up and saw Jennifer leaning against my locker. “I’m having a party on Friday. Wanna come?”
I couldn’t believe my luck! Friday was just two days away! “Sure,” I replied, trying to sound indifferent.


“Here’s my number. I’ll text you more info later. Oh, and don’t bring Heather.” I didn’t respond, and she walked away.

 I always do my best thinking while I lay in bed, so thats exactly what I did. I tried to sort out my feelings, but to no avail. I couldn’t decide whether I should stay true to my sister, or to go to Jennifer’s party. I really, really wanted friends, and I really, really wanted to act like a normal thirteen year old girl. Heather always stopped me from this. I remembered last time, when I stood up for Heather and basically ended up with no friends. That would mean that Heather owes me one... but is that really fair? I flipped my pillow over to the cold side and rolled over. My tired eyes told me that I should just go to sleep and figure things out in the morning.  “Ellie?” Heather called out from the bottom bunk in our shared room.

“Yeah?”

“Can I sit with Jennifer now?”

“I didn’t ask yet,” I replied, knowing that it would never ever happen, even if I asked a million times.

“But you said you were going to!”

“I know, I just didn’t get to it. Go to sleep now.”
I woke up at five thirty the next morning, even though I didn’t need to get up for another hour. I needed to have a talk with Mom.

I found her getting her papers ready for work on the kitchen counter. Everyone else in the house was still asleep.

“Hey, kiddo. Why are you up so early? Is everything okay?

“Yeah, everythings okay,” I decided that maybe I shouldn’t tell her what’s going on. She’d probably be disappointed. “I got up because it’s so hot in my room.”

“We need to finish unpacking and find your air conditioner. Sorry I couldn’t get it out sooner. There’s a lot going on. Hey, how’s Heather adjusting? Are people being nice to her? Is she making friends?”
I sighed. Its always about Heather. My whole life revolves around Heather. What about me?

Does anyone care if I’m making friends? Just because I don’t have Down’s syndrome doesn’t make my life automatically perfect. It doesn’t mean people flock to me, wanting to be friends.

I would never dare say these things out loud, though. “She’s doing great. I think she’s made a few friends.”
“That’s good. Make sure you keep an eye out for her, okay?” I nodded, and went to get a bowl of Rice Krispies.
After my mom left, but before the rest of my family woke up, I snuck into the bathroom. I wanted to try straightening my hair, like Jennifer.
The next day was pretty tough. Again, I avoided Heather and hung out with Jennifer and her friends. They liked my hair. It was nice to be part of a group.

At lunch, they talked about Heather. The more they made fun of her, the more I realized that she was  kind of weird. I was even a little embarrassed to be related to her. The way Jennifer and her friends talked about Heather changed my whole view of Heather. I knew that I couldn’t be seen with her at the party, or anywhere else. My decision was made. I would go to the party- without her.
Another school day of looking away whenever I passed my sister came and went. All the talk at lunch was about the party. What were we going to wear, who was going, and other stuff. I was getting excited, but a little nervous at the same time. I hadn’t told my mom yet. Would she let me go?
As soon as Mom walked through the door, I asked.
“Of course! I’m glad you two are making friends. What time do I need to drive you and

Heather?”
“Mom, Heather isn’t going.”
“Why wouldn’t she?”
“Well, she wasn’t invited. See, the girl who invited me is in my English class, and Heather isn’t in the same class. She and Heather haven’t really met.”
“Are you sure? Why doesn’t Heather go anyway? You can introduce her!”
I twisted my shirt.
“What’s wrong?” My mom knew that was my nervous habit.
“Uh, it doesn’t really work like that. I just don’t think Heather should go. She might feel uncomfortable.” It wasn’t a total lie. If Heather came, Jennifer would probably do her best to make her feel more than uncomfortable.
“Okay, if thats what you really think would be best for Heather. I’m so proud of you for looking out for her all the time. I don’t know what she would do without you.” A knot formed in my stomach. My mom’s answer had made me question my decision. I pushed the thought aside.
My phone buzzed against my thigh. I pulled it out of my pocket. It was a text from Jennifer:
Hey, R u cuming?
I glanced at the clock. 6:00. I was late!
On my way. B there in 5 min
I explained to my mom that we had to go, and she put her shoes back on. I did the same.

Heather watched us from the top of the stairs. “Where are you going?” she asked.
“To a party.” I saw the hurt in her eyes. Now or never, I thought. “You wanna come?”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Go get ready.” What was I thinking? Jennifer would kill me! It doesn’t matter. A voice in my head whispered. Heather is family. I can’t avoid her forever. Jennifer was just an annoying girl. When I grew up, she wouldn’t be in my life anymore. Heather would. That is, if I didn’t let her slip through my grasp.
We pulled up in front of Jennifer’s house, and walked up towards the door. Heather tried to rush up the steps, but I held her back. We went up the steps together, out shoulders bumping just like on the first day of school. Heather rang the doorbell. Jennifer opened the door, and stared at Heather in shock. “I thought I told you not to bring her!”
“She’s my sister, and my best friend. I wouldn’t go without her.”
“But she’ll totally ruin my party!” She complained, hands on her hips.
“Heather is standing right next to me. Don’t talk like she isn’t. She can understand you too, even though you might think otherwise. Heather will not ruin the party, she’ll do the exact opposite. I’ve done some of my most memorable things with her!” I shouted, my face red with anger. Who did she think she was, talking about my sister like that? “I’m sick of you being a total jerk and making fun of Heather. She’s a real person, just like you. She might even be more real than you. You try to fit in, hide behind make-up and pretty clothes. It doesn’t work. Anyone can see that behind your mask, you aren’t so perfect. Heather is herself, and I like her better that way!”
Jennifer turned red, then pale, then muttered, “Fine, j-just go away.” She seemed ashamed.

Serves her right.
Right then and there, Heather, who at been stand silently, turned and hugged me. I would have been embarrassed a few days earlier, but now I didn’t care. All I cared about was that Heather and I were together, without anybody standing between us.

Art by geekchic!

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Angel's Miracle by Maia

Note: Maia wrote a moving story about a baby girl. She also was brave and was the first girl to read her work at the workshop reading for parents!    
Angel’s Miracle
by Maia 
          “Henry, wake up we got to run to the hospital your mom’s having the baby,” shouted my dad
          I looked at the clock it was 4:53 am. I dragged myself out of my bed.
          “Dad…is it a boy tell me please!”
         “Henry, that is a question that cannot be answered until we see the baby - it’s a surprise. Go grab something to eat out of the pantry. We have got to hurry. Now.”
         When we were in the car going to the hospital, there was dead silence. Finally, when we got to the front doors of the hospital, Mom quickly waddled to the front desk while my dad was sprinting behind.
        “We need to get to the ER my wife’s having her baby!” he yelled.
        My mom and dad were in the ER while some nurse started asking me a load of questions. How in the world would you be able to answer about 13 questions at 5:16 am?!!!
                3 hours later
My dad shook me awake.
“Henry. Wake up Henry……
“What” I said sleepily. I got up and started running toward room 206.
“Is it a boy?!!!”
“Henry, wait. It’s a surprise.”
A Month Later
“Valerie” shouted my dad
“What Michael, I am burping baby Angel.”
“Mom, why is Angel a girl? Why can’t she just be a boy? It’s so annoying why is she so sick.”
“Henry, she is 6 weeks too early and she hasn’t fully developed.”
“Mom, you say that every time.” 
I ran outside to my new neighbor Amy.
“Hi, Amy” I said, “Angel is so sick and…”
“Can I see her, can I see her?” asked Amy”
“She’s uh, yeah sure, one second.”
I went into the house and heard my dad screaming “Valerie… she stopped breathing Val!” My mom was running up the stairs.
“Get In the car, Michael!”
“Henry! We need you to go to Amy’s now! We’ll call you in a bit!!” Mom yelled to me as they were driving away.
“Amy” I yelled
“Yeah” she said.
“Uh, can I stay with you for a while my mom and dad run to the hospital? Angel stopped breathing.” I said, with a sigh.
“Oh my gosh, Will she be OK?” Amy asked.
“Yeah, I think so…they said they’d call me in a bit” I said.
“Henry, uh, you can stay as long as you need. I hope Angel’s OK.”
We walked into Amy’s house. It was very modern and weird looking. All different shapes, but only black and white, with a lot of pictures of a man.
“Amy, who is this?” I pointed to the picture of her and the man with three other kids.
“He’s my Dad. He died three years ago, and those kids are my brothers and sisters. They’re at their friends’ house. Maybe you can meet them tomorrow.”
“And you can meet my sister, Angel, as soon as she’s OK,” I said with worry in my voice.
Amy’s Mom was at the kitchen counter. Her house was so big.
“Hi Henry. How are you?”
“I’m OK. I guess.”
“What happened?” she answered. Amy whispered something in her ear, probably about my sister.
“Henry,” she said. “I hope Angel is OK and you definitely can stay as long as you need.”
“Thanks,” I said.
We walked around Amy’s house.
“And this is my room.” Amy said.
It was big with a wall full of windows. There was one mirror on the other wall. She had a really big room: a lot nicer than mine.
“Your Mom’s pretty nice,” I said.
“Thanks.”
                The Next Day
I woke up to the phone ringing. I realized where I was. I was at Amy’s house, hoping it was my Dad, but of course it wasn’t. It was a phone company. But five minutes later, the phone rang again. This time it was actually my Dad. He said that Angel was fine, but she would need surgery the next day.
My Dad and I were heading to the hospital to see Angel. She had a lot of tubes and wires stuck to her chest. She wasn’t OK. She wasn’t doing fine. I tried to go in the room where she was, but my Mom told me I wasn’t allowed to. My Dad and I stayed a couple of hours more.
Finally, we went home, ordered out Chinese. Me and my Dad didn’t go to sleep until 1. The entire night we watched movies and just laughed since we hadn’t had a laugh since Angel was born.
That morning we went to the hospital again. My Mom said that she had a dream that some sort of invisible person was trying to pick the baby and just hold her. She said she tried to get out of bed, but she couldn’t. Angel was just looking at the person, laughing and smiling.
A little later on, I was wandering around the hospital, seeing all different patients. Doctors were running in the opposite direction, saying “Hurry! Go to room 206! Code red!”
Angel had stopped breathing again. When I got to the room, they were wheeling out Angel in her incubator.
“Dad! Mom! What happened?” I yelled.
“Henry, the doctors decided that Angel will have to have an open-heart surgery,” Mom sobbed. Her face was full of tears.
That afternoon, we all waited for hours during the surgery. My Mom said that I should call Amy, since she and her mom were probably worried.
I called Amy and told her everything. And she told me everything would be OK. Then she put her mom on. It was kind of awkward, but eventually my Mom started to talk to her while we were discussing hospital food.
When we came back up, Mom was off the phone, laying in bed. We ate dinner, went to sleep and were woken up in the middle of the night by a nurse coming in to bring Angel back to us. Her heart was beating normally. We heard the monitor going up and down. Up and down.
But later we woke up to the sound of no monitor. It had stopped! She was gone! We were all hysterically crying and hugging. About three minutes later, we were still crying.
Suddenly, we heard the monitor wildly beeping.
Mountains were appearing on the screen. She was OK!
We were all still crying, but happy crying! She was OK! Maybe my Mom’s dream was real! Later that day we took Angel home, and finally Amy got to see her everything had turned out OK.
Thank you invisible person you are an Angel who saved our Angel!


Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Red Blood Cells to the Rescue! by Anya

Note: Another fine story from the Winter Writers Workshop. Excellent, Anya!
Red Blood Cells to the Rescue
by Anya Chan
There was a 9-year-old girl named Molly. She was a very humorous girl and she loved to study the body. Unfortunately, one day she was riding on her bike and she was on a hill. She tried to slow down but her brakes just wouldn’t cooperate! The next day, she ended up in the HOSPITAL! (I put “hospital” in all caps because even though Molly loved the human body…she HATED HOSPITALS!
She saw her mom talking to her doctor and soon she wished she hadn’t opened her eyes at all! Because as soon as her mom saw that she was awake, she ran over and hugged her until she passed OUT!

She woke up in a big confuzzle! (A word which here means puzzled and confused all mixed or morfed together!) At first, she didn’t know where she was but very soon she found out and the answer was intimidating! She was in someone’s own BODY! She realized that she had shrunk immensely. Everything around her was gigantic!

Her mom was probably freaking out at this point! She walked around and then remembered that her health teacher said that whenever you are in a bad situation you should NOT panic! So she didn’t panic. She stayed completely CALM. (Although she DID think she would DIE!) She saw a little elevator just the right size for her. Even though she thought that it was very unusual to have a small elevator in someone’s body. But since she was adventurous, she went in it.

Once she got in, she pressed the button that said “Brain.” The elevator zoomed up, she looked out of its little window, and Molly got an amazing view of all the body parts. It was like a roller coaster!

Finally, she saw where she was. She was traveling in between the left and right side of the brain! Molly looked around and saw different thoughts going by like “3X21=63” and intricate words.

Molly took a walk in the brain and saw all the nerves and nervous system. She saw something that was very surprising. It was another person in this weird body! She was so happy she thought she would faint! She walked closer and realized it was her teacher Mrs. Collen.

“Mrs. Collen!” Molly cried.

“Yes,” she said. “It’s me.”

“How did you get in here?” Molly asked.
“Just the way you did, with the elevator!” Mrs. Collen said.

“I mean, how did you get into this person’s body?”

“Oh, I can’t answer THAT. I don’t know how I got into this body,” Mrs. Collen said. “Now it’s time to learn about the brain.”
“OK,” Molly said. “I’ve always been interested in the brain.”

“Ask any question you like,” Mrs. Collen said.

“Why are we so tiny?” Molly asked.

“Not those kinds of questions,” she said.

“Oh, fine. What is this sponge next to us?”

“That, my dear is the brain, which you should have known. It helps you blink, do your math, and do all kinds of other stuff.”

Molly looked ahead of her and saw a TANGLE of nerves and it looked like they were fighting each other. She heard something crunch beneath her feet. There was a BIG hole. And she saw a nerve. He foot got stuck and she started SCREAMING! Instead, of panicking, Mrs. Collen said, “Oh, goody. Another adventure!”

With that, Mrs. Collen pushed Molly in and jumped in after herself! Molly closed her eyes and felt curves and turns. She opened her eyes and saw little things that looked like Life Savers, the candy. Mrs. Collen saw what she was looking at and said the Life Savers were actually brain cells.

“They’re also called neurons and they transmit signals to and from the brain,” Mrs. Collen said.

Molly felt a little tingle behind her and screamed because she saw a dendritic cell wrapping its tentacles around her. Mrs. Collen tried to save her, but another dendritic cell came and attacked Mrs. Collen, too!

Now what have we gotten into, Molly thought to herself. The dendritic cell was drowning her in the brain’s blood, but also asking her, “Who are you?”

But Molly knew dendritic cells can’t talk. As she fought to keep from going under, she felt some kind of smooth material. She grabbed onto it and it kept her afloat. A red blood cell
was acting like a life preserver! It was saving her life! Mrs. Collen had one, too. They floated along together to the cerebellum. They hopped off there. Molly wiped the sweat off her forehead and Mrs. Collen said, “What a trip!”

You might think Molly was crazy, but she was beginning to like this trip!

“Where are we again?” Molly asked.

“The cerebellum. It helps you think, eat, sleep, and many other simple things,” Mrs. Collen said.

We walked around the cerebellum at the back of the brain. Molly thought about all the things she could tell her friends when she got out of the brain. If she ever got out.