Final Part of My LA Story

"I don't know how to thank you enough. I'm finally free!" He explained that, eight years ago, the evil enemy of his kingdom had kidnapped him from his bedroom at the palace and had brought the young boy to this abandoned factory. Every day he had been given bread and water through a magic box. He used empty bottles and his magic throwing arm to send help messages to the area around the factory, but us girls were the first to answer a message and come to his aid.

Then the prince had an idea. "How would you girls like to come back home with me?" Arthur asked hopefully. "You could live in the palace, never go to school, and have fun all day. I also have two sisters that you could be friends with. What do you think?"

I considered it for a minute, all of the possibilities swirling through my head. "That would be fun," I agreed. "But I want to be with my family.

"I do too," said Reagan reluctantly. This was a big decision because I knew that she wanted to play sports all day and never go to school.

"And me,"  decided Elsie.

"Then I think that it's time for us to part ways," said Prince Arthur. "But I'll never forget how you saved my life. Goodbye, newfound friends!"

5 months later, a letter exchange is going on between us girls and Arthur. This time it is by envelopes and the post office, though, and not Gatorade bottles!  And we have a visit planned to his castle during the upcoming summer break. Now I realize that staying home is better than traveling, and adventures can be found in your own area.

LA Story Part 3

Then, a Gatorade bottle appeared out of nowhere, and it dropped on the ground right by my feet. As usual, there was a message inside. It read "Don't be surprised if the factory disappears. It is still there, just camouflaged. Keep moving, you're almost there. -Prince Arthur"  Encouraged by the note, we kept walking.

A few minutes later, Reagan, who was in front, hit her head on what appeared to be just air. "Ouch," she said, laughing. "But I think we found the factory!"

Just then, the factory reappeared right in front of us. We laughed because my hand was just inches away from a doorknob on the tall building. I glanced at my friends, suddenly unsure about the whole adventure. What was lurking inside this building? Elsie looked as nervous as I did, but Reagan said: "Let's go!" I opened the door cautiously, not knowing what to expect.

Whatever I was expecting, I didn't find it. We stepped into a giant room. It must have once been the main room of the factory. At first, the dusty old room looked empty, but then I spotted something. In the far back corner, there was a surprisingly large cage, with metal bars around it. Nervously, I tiptoed over, Reagan and Elsie right behind me. Inside the cage were a bed, a small desk and chair, and a young man who looked just a few years older than me. The man looked up at us from the desk where he was sitting, and at once I knew that he must be the prince. His face had a sad look to it, but still a brave face, like I had always imagined a king should look.

"My rescuers!" he exclaimed, clearly happy to see us. "But you must move fast. Five minutes after the outside door is opened, the locks close on my dismal prison for five weeks before opening again. You must act now, or never save me."

I looked quickly at the locks and then spoke to my dependable team, who was waiting for instructions. "There are three locks. Elsie, try to open this one. Reagan, the second one, and I'll take the third one. Quick!"

Reagan was the first to open her lock. Three sports-related questions had to be answered correctly.  Elsie opened hers next by reciting five lines of a song from memory. "One minute," cautioned the prince, who was timing us.

"I got it!" I called. To open my lock, I had to correctly name all of the capitals of the South American countries. All of my reading and dreaming about travel helped, I guess. The prince pushed open the door to his cell, with tears of joy in his eyes.

LA Story Part 2

This is part of the middle of my LA story. It should be the second of 4 parts.


Three days later, we were ready to go. All three of us had packed backpacks, stuffed with food, water, and clothes, hidden in our closets. That night, Reagan and I climbed into our bunk beds earlier than normal. Even so, I could barely sleep because of excitement.

At midnight, a soft alarm woke me. Always-energetic Reagan handed me my backpack and tennis shoes with a smile on her face. After putting them on, I silently climbed out of our first-floor window, with Reagan following. We had left a note on the bottom bunk to explain our disappearance to our parents, but I still was sure that we would get in trouble when we got back, probably by being grounded for life. Still, we were traveling!

The message in the bottle had told us to set off from Riverside Park, about 2 blocks from our house. As we neared the park, I saw the play equipment, where I had found the message. It seemed to be sleeping, getting ready for another day of young visitors. Elsie was already waiting, her dark hair dancing in the light breeze. True to his word, the prince had arranged for a boat to be left at the dock; it was a sleek silver canoe with paddles already inside. After climbing inside, we were off! I started in the front, with Elsie behind me, and Reagan in the back. We had agreed to switch spots every two hours, because the person in the back has the hardest job since they are in charge of steering.

As the sun began to light the sky, we traveled on, but slower than before. Even super-athlete Reagan was looking tired."My arms hurt," she groaned.

Elsie agreed, "My back aches."

They were right. One hour of canoeing may not seem that bad, but eight hours is very exhausting. "Why can't we just go home, Summer? We don't even know if there is a real prince. What if this is all for nothing?" asked Reagan. Elsie agreed.

"Why would we do that?" I asked. "We're almost there, and what do we have to lose by continuing? Today would just be the same old day if we stayed home. Even if this doesn't turn out, we'll have memories to last us for a long time. Don't you want adventure?"

"When you put it that way, I guess you're right," said Reagan reluctantly.

"If only I wasn't so sore, I'd be having the time of my life," admitted Elsie.

"Let's keep going, then," I said, happily.

Twenty minutes later, we tied the canoe to a rickety dock and jumped out, happy to be on land again. The prince had sent us another letter that night via a Gatorade bottle, telling us where to land, but even without the help, I think that we could have found it. The Gatorade factory loomed like a giant grey concrete monster up ahead. We decided to have a quick breakfast break, eating some snacks we had packed, before continuing. Ten minutes later, we began the walk to the factory. But right as we approached it, the factory disappeared into thin air, as if it were a mirage.

"How can a factory just disappear?" asked Reagan.

We just stood there for a minute, wondering what to do. Was this whole plan a trick? Elsie looked ready to turn back.

LA Story Part 1

This is the beginning of my Language Arts Story. I will post a new section every Friday for 3-5 more weeks.

"Landon, come back!" I ran to catch my two-year-old cousin before he fell off the colorful playground equipment. Our small town may not have many things, but it does have great parks, including Riverside Park, where we are now. I love to bring my cousin here on sunny days.

I had agreed to babysit this energetic boy for the summer, but I would have rather been at home doing nothing, reading about faraway places, or off traveling on exciting trips. I love to travel, but my family just doesn't have the time or money for vacations. Speaking of money, there were two reasons why I took this job. One, for money to buy school supplies, and two, because no one else wanted to, and I felt bad about that. There were two other people who might have taken the job, but they both could not. My 12-year-old cousin Elsie would have to be gone at music camps or on family vacations for half of the summer, and Reagan, my 13-year-old twin sister, was always at practice for one sport or another, or playing games in the yard with her friends.

Snapping out of my daydream, I saw that Landon was toddling towards me with an old Gatorade bottle in his hand. "Summer, look," he said, with excitement in his baby voice. I gently took it from his chubby hand and was about to throw it away when I noticed a piece of paper inside. I was curious, so I opened the lid. Inside was a message that read, "Help me!" I turned it over to see if there was anything written on the back. There was another note, but I couldn't read it; it was in some type of code. Then, I had an idea; in many of the mystery books I had read, the characters used mirror message codes. I was eager for the morning to end quickly so that I could find out if this was a coded message.

Two hours later, after bringing Landon home, I checked the message in my mirror. It was a coded message! It told me about a prince stuck in an abandoned Gatorade factory, who needed to be rescued. Directions were listed, and I was told to bring friends along. Right away, I was set on going, and I already knew my companions, Reagan and Elsie. Finally, an excuse to travel!

Game For Milton Bradley

If I were to make a game for Milton Bradley, it would be a game similar to Monopoly. It would be similar to Monopoly in that there would be many things to do on the way to winning, this will be in the form of many different things to achieve to get each token. In a few ways, though, this game would be different. One, this game would be a lot shorter than Monopoly. This is so that if you only have time for a quick game, you can play it, while competitive people can play multiple rounds. It would be a multi-player game, probably allowing around 4-8 players to play, but there will also be instructions for a two-player modified version.  The object of the game will be to collect some sort of tokens from around the board. Each person will have to go to different locations and try to collect all of the tokens before the other players can. The game will have a theme, such as a famous city or other places, but there will be many versions of the game available. The game will be somewhat challenging so that it is fun to play multiple times, but there will be a modified version stated in the rules. There will be no point system, because sometimes I feel that that takes over the game.

That is all of the rules that I can think of right now. I cannot come up with a name for the game, though. If you think of a name, you can comment below. I know that was a lot of words packed into a little space. Sorry!

A Night Divided Beginning

Yesterday we started to read A Night Divided. The main character is a girl living in East Berlin during the Cold War. Her name is Gerta. So far, the story is telling about the first four years after the wall went up. The night the wall went up, Gerta's father and brother were on the other side of the wall, looking for work, and later, they planned for the rest of the family to join them. Now, the family is separated by the wall. I think that the problem in the book might be that Gerta and her mom and brother try to find a way to get over the wall to join her father on the American side of Berlin. I am excited to see what will happen in the rest of the book.

Cross Country Meet

As some of you may know, there is a Cross Country meet today after school. It will be our first one of the season, so it is only 1 mile. Most other meets will be two miles. I am excited. If you are in a sport, please tell me in the comments how you feel about a game/meet. 

New School Year

Hi everyone! Are you glad to be back for another school year? I am! Aside from learning, some of my favorite things about school are getting to see my friends every day, and (this year) school sports.

As you may have already guessed, I have Miss Anderson again. Otherwise, I probably would not be writing this in the middle of the school day. I am glad that I am in her class, because she is nice and because we get to do fun things like write on our blogs.

As I said above, I am excited about school sports this year. I am in Cross Country. When some people hear that, they say things like "It's too hard." and "I would never do that", but I think differently. Mrs. Puffet is a nice coach, and there are a lot of my friends in XC. Yes, I am sort of sore and tired, but it is really fun.

Have a good new school year!

End of the Year

As the end of the year comes, I have mixed feelings. I am happy that it is summer, and that I am done with another year of school. I have overall had a good year in 6th grade, and I liked it more than I thought that I would.  I have had good teachers who made the transition into middle school easier. Next year will have some new things, like new teachers and the ability to be in sports, and I think that 7th grade will be fun. What are your feelings about the end of the year? Please share in the comments below. Have a fun summer and a fun year in 7th grade!

Image found at: sacredheartlynd.com

Homophone Story

"Let's go!" My sister yelled. We were off on a vacation to a beach in Florida. We would take a plane to get there, and then we would stay in an inn, rather than a hotel, with an ocean view. We would be staying for a week, and then coming home on Friday. 

When we got there, we checked into the inn, and then went to see the beach. When we got to the beach, we saw the most beautiful fish. Their scales were bright blue and shimmered when they swam.  The rest of the week was spent swimming, sleeping in late, and checking out the local attractions. Friday came way too soon.

On our last day, we stopped at a small gift shop that we had seen earlier in the week. My parents established some guidelines for souvenir buying. "You may each buy as much as you want, but the total price has to be under $3. Does that make sense?" We all nodded. 

I searched around for a little while, but then I found some things that I wanted. I bought a keychain for two dollars, and 2 pencils for 50 cents each. After we had paid for our things, we boarded a bus to the airport. As we left, I couldn't help but smile, remembering all of the fun things that we had done that week. 

My School Can Fly!

My school is just a normal school and has been that way for who knows how many years. But one day, it was able to float! Yes, it sounds strange, but it can happen! Here's the story...

One day I walked into the school like normal and went to Band (it was a Monday).  We had all of the music stands and chairs set up and started class like normal. But when Mr. Burchfield came on the announcements, instead of doing words of Wisdom like normal, he said: "Everyone look out of the windows." 

I got a quick glance before everyone crowded around them, but I couldn't see anything. Then someone yelled, "We're flying!!"  That was why I couldn't see anything! We were up in the air! 

Then Mr. Burchfield came on again. Mr. Schumaker quieted everyone down, and this is what I heard, "I am guessing that you have noticed what I noticed. The school can now fly! I was talking to Mrs. Wubbena, and she mentioned that she was going to go on a vacation to Hawaii. A display popped up in front of her, and she pressed the GO button. So we are now off to Hawaii, folks!"

3 minutes later, our classroom landed on a Hawaiian beach. Since we were still in class technically, Mr. Schumaker had us play one song before heading outside. Some people went in the water with their clothes on, but I preferred to stay on the beach. 

The rest of the day was a blast! Some students tried to control the school, but apparently, it only works on teachers. Every teacher took us somewhere that was connected to that subject. In Science, since we were learning about energy, we went to different power plants and learned about renewable energy. Mr. Meester took us to Washington DC, while Miss Anderson flew us to libraries around the globe. My Art class got to see famous paintings, such as the Mona Lisa. In Math, we got to go to different stores around the world and learn about the type of money that they use.

CADET Time was the best class of all, though. Since we had no homework to work on, we got to vote on where to go. The place that won was Disney World. We were 30 minutes late getting home, but so was every other class.

That is pretty much how every class went for the rest of the week. But sadly, whatever controlled the school/plane, didn't work anymore. Still, that was my most memorable week of school ever.

The Missing Locker

This is a story that is somewhat like the one that Caitlyn Archer wrote called The Incident at the Library. If you are blamed (by me or anyone else) please write a story saying why you didn't do it, and who really did. Thank you!

Now, from the title, I know what you are thinking. How can a locker go missing? But it really can, and it has been happening to many lockers in our school. The door of the locker is taken off, and so are the other three walls. Whoever has been doing this has put all of the pieces of metal in the band storage cubbies. I was questioned by Mr. Burchfield and a man who I assumed was a detective about the incident.

"Annika, I brought you here to question you about the locker theft that is going on in the school, that I'm sure you have heard about and seen. Someone suggested that you might be behind all of this."

"Oh, no, I'm not!" I said. "Can't you just look on the security cameras?"

"That is a good idea", said Mr. Burchfield, "But whoever it was is smart enough to wear a disguise. Every day they stash it behind the locker pieces. We have taken it away, but there are always new ones. So far, there has been Superman, a pirate, and a fairy/butterfly."

"I think that I know who it is," I said. "Sometimes in class, Caitlyn Archer has been leaving for long periods of time. She always makes up some excuse, but some are not very realistic, like having to get a pencil but being gone for 20-30 minutes."

"I think that that is a good clue, Miss Nelson," said the detective. "We will look into this further."

Did Caitlyn really do it? If not, who is the real culprit? That's up to Caitlyn to decide on her blog. You can follow her at CCA News.

Summer???

Is it summer already? That is what I, and probably lots of people here are wondering. This weekend was so warm that I wore a t-shirt and shorts. But today, it is cold and rainy. I know that in some parts of the state, it is actually snowing! Please come fast summer!     
Image from storm2k.org

Mr Schumaker is Crazy!

One Monday morning, I went into the band room like normal. No one had their instruments out, and I couldn't figure out why. Then, I saw that there was a note on the whiteboard. "Don't get your instruments out. I will be here soon."

I was confused, so I went to ask Caitlyn and Olivia what they thought. Just as I got to them, Mr. Schumaker walked in. He was wearing a black wig and a police outfit! He walked to the front of the room and said "get out your Social Studies books and open them to page 189. Get through as many problems as you can, and if you need help, I'm in my office."

This was getting stranger and stranger. Caitlyn and I walked to our lockers to get our Social Studies books. Then, we came back and got to work. The weird thing was, page 189 had science problems on it! So, our band teacher was dressed as a policeman, and we were working on Social Studies that was actually science! When it was almost the end of class, Mr. Schumaker handed out math sheets to do as homework.

The next day in Choir, I went up to give Mr. Schumaker my homework. He was a normal band director again! When I asked him what happened, he said: "My brother and I traded jobs for the day!"

Spring Break

Last week, we had Spring Break. Over break, many people went somewhere warm, like Florida. I was crazy. I went to a place that had more snow!

On Friday, I left school before lunch, because we were going to see our family, a four-hour drive. On the way, the farther we got away from home, the more snow that there was. Friday night, we stopped to see my great-grandma. Then, we went to my grandma and grandpa's house.

At their house, the snow was so deep that when I stepped in it, I sank down past my knees! And that night it snowed 6 more inches! Some of the piles by the road were taller than me. That Sunday, their church got canceled because of all the snow.

Sunday night, we drove 30 miles to my other Grandma and Grandpa's house. It was my grandma's birthday, so we sang to her and ate cake. My aunt, uncle, and three cousins were there too. The girls are 8, 6, and 2.

The next day, the girls had school, so we just hung out. The snow there wasn't as deep, but there was still more than here! We made a snowman about as tall as Mariah. For the eyes and buttons, we used bright orange spray paint, so you could see it from the window.

On Wednesday, we came home. For the rest of the break, I just hung out at home. What did you do over break?

The Incident at the Library (My Version)

If you follow Caitlyn Archer's blog CCA News, you might have seen that she posted a story called the Incident in the Library. She blamed me, so I am going to tell my side of the story.

I was just sitting in CADET Time, doing my homework as usual, the day after the big celebration when Mr. Burchfield came over the announcements. 

"Sorry for the interruption, but will Annika please come to the office."

I was kind of nervous, but I told Mrs. Merklin and went down anyway. When I got there, Mr. Burchfield was standing next to a man I had never seen before, who was wearing a police uniform.

"Hello, Annika. Come in and have a seat at my desk. This man just wants to ask you a few questions."

The police officer sat down and got right to business. "Where were you yesterday, during the party in the library? Did you go anywhere near the fire alarm?"

"I was just in the library, hanging out with my friends. And, no, I didn't go near the fire alarm."

"But your friend Caitlyn said that you were with them at first, and then you left. Where were you for the rest of the party?"

"I went to get a pencil from my locker because Julia wanted to show us a trick she could do, but then Makayla wanted me to play a game with her and some other girls. I went over to play with her, and we played one game before I started walking back over to give Julia the pencil. But on my way over, I saw Karen standing over by the door. She was looking around like she was scared of something. I bent down to tie my shoe, and that's when the alarm went off. I would question Karen to see if it is her." 

Where Do Our Pencils Go?

Where did it go? That is what I am always saying about my pencil. That is also what this story is all about.

When you lose a pencil, where does it go? Most people would say that it goes wherever you lost it at, but I know that's not true. When you lose a pencil, it goes to WriteLand.

When a pencil goes to WriteLand, they can't just stay there however long they want. There is a 5-month limit for normal pencils and a 2-week limit for special pencils (such as mechanical pencils). This is because normal pencils can be switched out for each other, while special pencils can only go back to the same person.

What do pencils do while they are in WriteLand? Some pencils decide to take a vacation, while others want to have fun with other pencils. Others go to the doctor to get new erasers. When pencils get together, it is a very silent group, because pencils can't talk. All of the ground in WriteLand is paper that gets switched out hourly. When their time in WriteLand is up, the pencil goes down a magical tube and lands somewhere that it is needed.

The best way to stop a pencil from going to WriteLand is to keep it by you all the time, but since that is really hard, why not let a pencil have a vacation once and a while?

P.S. This was not written using a pencil.

The Underground Surprise Part 2

Then she saw a pale light, and a shadow coming towards her...........

Katie jumped out of bed. What if the shadow was a creepy underground creature that ate kids? The shadow came closer and closer.

 Now she could see that the shadow was carrying a flashlight. "Who are you?" it asked. "Why did you fall through my ceiling?" 

"I...I.....who are you? I was just at my locker, and now I'm here, in this cave." Katie said nervously. The creature was blue all over, with a spiky tail and cat ears.

"But what is your name? That is what I said, and you did not answer." 

"My name is Katie, and I am 12 years old. Where am I, and who are you?"

"Well, Katie-who-is-12-years-old, my name is A. I am not a human as you can tell, I am an A. My daughter found you on the floor of her room and brought you here."

"Can I go back home, please?"

"You may only go home if you can get home by yourself before lunch. That leaves you two hours. I will not help you. If you cannot get out in time, I keep you here forever. Now, go!!"

"Okay," Katie said, and she ran off to find an exit. 

An hour later...

"I will be stuck in here forever! I have solved escape rooms before, but I have never actually had to escape! There are not any clues to help me, either."

At the end of the two hours...

"5...4...3...2...1!!! Time's up, Katie-who-is-12-years-old! I guess you're stuck here forever! I'm going to go tell my daughter to get another bed for her room. See you later."

Then she heard a voice calling, "Katie, Katie. Wake up."

Katie opened her eyes. She was in a bright room that seemed familiar to her. "My head hurts."

"Oh good, I was wondering when you were going to wake up." said a kind voice that Katie recognized as the nurse at her school. "The janitor found you laying on the floor in the basement. It looked like you had fallen through the floor of your locker and hit your head on the floor."

"B-But I thought that I was in a cave, and I needed to get out before lunchtime."

"You must have been dreaming honey. Now, go back to class. Do you need an ice pack?"

"No thanks. But I am sure that I was in a cave."

What should I do next?

Hi everyone! I am wondering about what should happen to Katie in The Underground Surprise series. Comment below if you have any ideas.