“Well, What are we going to do now?” said Paula. “Here we are, stuck in the middle of the ocean with a crazy pirate who thinks he’s the King of Driftwood island.”
“And to make it worse, we’re all tied up,” said Peter.
“But hey! Not all of us are tied up! Look at Salty the dog! He’s still free!” exclaimed Paula. “I have a great idea!”
She whistled to Salty quietly so the pirate wouldn’t hear.
When Salty came, she whispered, “Bite at the rope!”
He bit the rope as if he were as hungry as a wolf. It snapped. The pirate turned.
“Hey, dog!” he said. Peter and Paula jumped up and ran. Even though it was a small island, they could still climb the tree. When they got to the top, they saw the pirate’s helper was already there now.
“Hello,” he said. “It’s time to bring you down.”
“Stop it!” Paula said as he began to drag them away from the tree.
When they got down, they saw the pirate had tied up Salty too.
“What are we going to do now?” said Peter.
“Hmmm. I don’t know,” said Paula. Then she saw that the pirate forgot to clasp one of the chains down to the ground.
“Look! The clasp!” said Paula. “The clasp! We can get out that way.”
When it was as dark as a crow outside, they quietly slipped out past the sleeping guard.
“Let’s take the pirate’s hat and sword!” said Peter.
They sneaked over and took the hat and sword. Then as quickly and quietly as they could, they pushed him over to the tree. This time they remembered to push together every single clasp.
The next morning, he woke up and saw that he did not have his hat or his sword and that he was all tied up.
“I’m going to die at lunchtime!” he said.
Peter and Paula remembered what he had said on the boat to his helper,: he was a magical pirate and would lose his powers if anyone took his sword or took off his hat.
Peter took the sword and said to the helper, “Take us to your boat or else!”
The pirate helper promised that he would be good. And when Peter, Paula, and Salty were finally home again, they lived happily ever after, without any more pirates.
The Earth is too crowded in the year 3029, so we went up to the moon to live.
The thing I did not like is that we have to wear air tanks day and night. So I decided to make oxygen on the moon. I made a big box and put a motor in it. I put a rod in it. The motor was so fast the rod turned and turned and turned. It was so fast that the rod made oxygen come out. The oxygen came out of little slots on the top and then we could breathe. We put a lot of oxygen all over the moon so everyone could breathe.
Our houses are weird. The bed has straps that we have to hook over ourselves so we don’t float away in the night. In our bathrooms, we have to hold on to grips so we don’t float away.
We made a whole city on the moon. Maybe next time, someone will make a colony city on Mars!
Violet was new to town. She and her two siblings and her mom and dad had just moved here. She was nervous that she did not know anybody in her new town.
One day, her mom went with her dad to a week-long business review. Violet watched her siblings, Sunny and Klaus, when they were gone. They went to the beach. It was a cloudy day. They liked it that way. If it wasn’t cloudy, the beach would be busy, and they did not like it busy.
Violet liked to skip rocks. Like most 14-year-olds, she was right-handed. Klaus liked to read books. He liked looking at animals and researching about them in books. Sunny, who was barely out of babyhood, had unusually sharp teeth that let her bite anything.
Someone was coming toward them on the beach. They did not know who it was. Since there was fog, they did not see the person. It was a man in a weird disguise. The shirt was too long, so they could not see his hands. He grabbed Sunny and Klaus by the arm and dragged them to a nearby car. He pushed them in. He came back for Violet.
Violet tried to scream but he grabbed her and put one hand over her mouth. But then she realized they were not hands at all. They were hooks! The metal was freezing against her skin.
He drove them to a house and stopped. It looked like a dismal place. It looked like the house was leaning and at the very top, there was a tower. The window was shaped like an eye.
“Let’s take you inside to meet Count Olaf!” the hook-handed man said.
Violet was already holding Sunny, so he led Violet and Klaus to the door. The hook-handed man knocked and the door opened.
None of the children wanted to look up. They looked down. This person had shoes, but he didn’t have socks. Between his pants cuff and his shoes, the children saw a tattoo of an eye.
There was another surprise on his face as they looked up. Most people had two eyebrows, but this person had one long eyebrow across his face, and his eyes were really shiny.
“My name is Count Olaf,” he said. “You are going to live here. I don’t think it is wise for three little children to stay home with no mother or father.”
“I’m 14,” Violet said in a shaky voice. “I am watching my siblings while my parents go on a business review.”
“How did you know that we were by ourselves?” asked Klaus.
“Well, my assistant here saw you at the beach and thought you should not be all by yourselves,” replied Count Olaf. “Shouldn’t your parents be there?”
“Gak!” said Sunny. That meant We shouldn’t be talking to strangers.
“Sunny, you are right. He is a stranger,” said Violet.
“Well, I am not exactly a stranger. I am one of your relatives,” Count Olaf said.
“We don’t know you. How can we be relatives?” said Klaus.
“Well, I am an actor,” said Count Olaf. “And aren’t you new to this city?”
“How can you be an actor? Your name is Count, so you must be a count too?” said Klaus.
“Well, I can be two things at once,” said Count Olaf. “And I need Violet to be in my play, The Marvelous Marriage, next week. Violet will be my bride. You other children are going to stay in your bedroom and not make any mischief.”
The kids felt a shiver go down them.
“How about you step inside my humble home?” said Count Olaf. “Don’t forget to wipe your shoes so you don’t get any mud in my house.”
When the children stepped into the house, they realized how silly that comment was. The house was messy with mud. It would not have even mattered if they had mud on their feet.
“I will show you to your room,” Count Olaf said.
The children walked up a creaky staircase after him. As they were walking, Count Olaf gave them a rule.
“You may not go in the tower room. That is forbidden,” he explained.
When they went into the bedroom, they were surprised that there was only one bed. Instead of a pile of toys, there was a pile of rocks.
During the next week, the children had to clean the whole house! The only happy point was meeting the neighbor, Justice Strauss, who talked to them whenever Count Olaf wasn’t around. She let them take books from her library.
Klaus found a book called “Natural Law” and discovered that Count Olaf was going to be truly married to Violet! Klaus told Violet this right before it was time to leave for the play.
Violet and Count Olaf piled into the car and headed to the theater. The hook-handed man put Klaus and Sunny in a room and locked the door so they wouldn’t come out and make any mischief.
At the play, Violet peeked out from the curtain when she had a white dress on. How could she get out of the situation? She did not know any of the people, and she wasn’t sure where her mom and dad were. And who is this madman named Count Olaf?
When she went on stage, she knew her only words should be “I Do.” But she had a plan. She pulled back her black hair to think before she went on stage. Maybe, just maybe, if she did her left hand instead of her right, it would work! She did the trick perfectly, and when the curtain dropped, she knew she wasn’t really married.
“Now, my bride! Let’s go back home!” said Count Olaf.
“I’m not your bride!” said Violet.
“Yes, you are,” said Count Olaf.
“I used my left hand, and I’m right-handed,” said Violet.
“Let me look in this book and see if this is true,” said Justice Strauss. “It says you have to use the hand that you write with.”
“What! Now I will never get the Baudelaire fortune!” said Count Olaf. Count Olaf must have been spying on them since they had moved there! He wanted to get their fortune.
When Justice Strauss realized that Count Olaf had tried to really marry Violet and that he was just a bad man wanting their fortune, she took Violet, Sunny, and Klaus back to their own home. It was raining. Just then, their mom and dad came home. They ran to their children.
“One of us will stay home with you next time!” said their mother.
Today I explored our new home. Brickzomia has three moons and flying spiders everywhere! When it snows, the snow makes snowballs on the ground. I was playing around and then it started snowing. It was freezing! I tried finding my way back but the wind was too hard so I couldn’t get home. Someone was behind the tree.
“Are you lost?” she said.
“Yes!” I said. She helped me get back to the mine where we stay if it gets too snowy. My parents were really worried, but they were glad to have me back home.
May 1: Exploring and getting lost!
May 2
I couldn’t leave the mine today. It was still snowing, and it looked like some of the air was freezing outside. People worked all day in the mine to find jewels. I played with my friends in the tunnels. It was really fun, even though it was cold.
May 2: Playing in the mines.
May 3
We went outside today. Snow was everywhere. Some of the houses were blocked. We couldn’t get in because there was so much snow. But by lunchtime, the snow had all melted. I couldn’t say if I am happy or sad. Snow is too cold, but now it will be too hot. Brickzomia is very weird.
Once upon a time, there were two knights who lived on opposite sides of a deep valley. They were the best of friends until the day a beautiful princess moved into a large castle that lay deep in the valley below them.
The two knights became more and more competitive.
One day, the two knights rode to the castle donning their finest armor in a bid to win the princess’s favor and affections.
“Pick me! Pick me!” said the dark-haired knight. “My glittering armor is strong and silent, and I will hold your hand quietly forever.”
“Pick me! Pick me!” said the red-haired knight. “I’m the king’s champion jouster and will always protect you from harm!”
But the princess just couldn’t make up her mind. The two knights became more and more competitive with each other until Princess Sally was fed up.
Princess Sally visited her mermaid friend Kasey.
She went over to the river that winded up to the ocean, where her mermaid friend Kasey lived. When Kasey arrived up at the surface of the water, Sally told her about the problem.
Kasey gave Sally a shell. Inside was a glittering heart jewel.
Kasey gave Sally the shell with the glittering heart jewel.
“This will help you on your journey,” said Kasey. “Over on the other side of the valley is a knight that is the wisest of them all. But you must make sure to be careful of the fire-breathing dragon who guards the gates. When you throw the jewel by the gates, a secret passageway will form so you can get past the dragon.”
The next day, Sally set off to go to the mountain to seek the wise knight. She climbed up the mountain. When she was about 10 feet away from the dragon, she threw the jewel into the dirt on the ground and a hole formed, just big enough for Sally to jump through.
When she got in, she followed the dirt path to the castle, where the wise knight was. Sally told him her name and they went back to Sally’s castle and lived happily ever after.
Moral: Don’t fight or you won’t be chosen.
The End
Note: The text in pink was the extended story started written by the teacher. Caroline got to finish the story!
Once upon a time, in a kingdom far away, there lived a kind princess named Eliza. She lived a happy life in the castle, but there was one problem. She didn’t have any friends.
One day, she was walking in the woods, when she saw a patch of ice on a tree. It was the middle of summer, and so she was curious. Eliza went farther and farther into the woods until she was in a winter wonderland. Then she saw a cottage. She hid behind a tree.
“I’m not supposed to be here. I’m probably trespassing,” she whispered to herself.
Suddenly the door opened and a woman came out. She had creamy colored hair and a beautiful white skirt. She carried a black cauldron. It must be a witch!
The woman had creamy colored hair and a beautiful white skirt. She carried a black cauldron. She must be a witch!
Eliza clapped her hand over her mouth to stop herself from screaming. It must be the evil Snow Queen! Her father had said that he had had a fight with her many years before. He had banished her from the kingdom, but she must have been sneaking in the woods.
Eliza crept back out of the forest, but near the entrance of the winter wonderland, a little fairy fluttered down from the trees.
“I’m Katie,” the fairy said. “You should not be here. That’s the Snow Queen over there.” Katie gestured toward the Snow Queen.
Eliza met Katie the fairy in the forest near the cottage.
“That’s what I thought,” said Eliza. “I thought my father banished her.”
“This is a part of the kingdom,” said Katie. “She must have come when no one was looking. You should get out.”
“I know,” Eliza said.
She hurried home to the castle. That night, Eliza could not sleep. She was thinking about the Snow Queen. What would happen? The Snow Queen had unusual powers. She could make ice and snow come out of her hands and feet. It freezes people in their tracks. Eliza feel asleep thinking about the problem.
The next morning, Eliza ate her breakfast fast. She slipped back into the woods. Once Eliza arrived at the cottage, she saw an entire booby trap in the path. Katie flew up beside her.
Now Eliza saw an entire booby trap in the path.
“I thought no one saw me yesterday!” Eliza exclaimed.
“She must have seen you,” Katie said. “That’s why this trap is here.”
There were little thorns. Eliza had heard of them in books. Once you step on one, you will die in an hour from the poison that is inside it. There was a huge sticky spider web too, which would keep you stuck forever. Eliza had heard of that in books too. Two owls, one on each tree, must have been there to alarm the Queen if someone came trespassing.
“Hello, little girl,” a voice said.
Eliza jumped a foot in the air. The witch was just behind her.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t see you. Is this your cottage?” Eliza said nervously.
“It is,” said the witch. “And you are far away from your home. I am the Snow Queen.”
“OK, then, I’ll go home,” said Eliza calmly.
“Me too!” said Katie.
The Queen stopped them. “How about you stay and have a drink of juice?”
When they got to the traps, the Snow Queen exclaimed, “Bob Stoppers!” and all the booby traps disappeared.
The queen’s poison!
In the cottage, the Snow Queen offered them some of the drink to Eliza and Katie. Katie whispered, “I think that is poison.”
“I think so too!” whispered Eliza. Aloud, she said, “Oh I’m not so thirsty, thank you.”
“I’m not that thirsty either,” said Katie.
“You must,“ insisted the Snow Queen.
“We know you are the Snow Queen, and you are not nice,” said Eliza crossly.
“Oh, I forgot about my wings,” said Katie. “Let’s go!”
Eliza grabbed onto Katie’s little hand and they flew upward magically out of the cottage.
“Hey, you got the poison!” Eliza noticed. It was poking out of Katie’s pocket.
“You need to give it to the Snow Queen, but you might need my wand.” Katie handed a pink sparkly wand to Eliza.
When they landed out of the forest, Eliza noticed a dark figure darting through the trees.
“Excuse me!” Eliza yelled and the dark figured stopped. “Who are you?”
The dark figure pulled off his cloak. “I’m sorry to have hidden from you. I am Arnold, the Royal Prince from the nearby kingdom. I’m here to help you with the evil Snow Queen. That’s my fairy, Katie.”
“Katie, you didn’t tell me all this,” Eliza said to the little fairy.
“I was too shy to explain,” Katie said.
“I have an idea,” Arnold said.
“I know what this is going to be!” said Katie. Arnold grab Katie’s hand, and Eliza grabbed the other.
They flew right over the cottage, which had no roof. The Queen was angry and stomping about.
“Let’s pour it on her,” Arnold said. “We might need to get lower.”
Katie swooped down a little lower. When the Snow Queen saw them, she was about to freeze them with her hands. Eliza pointed the wand and said, “A-micky-a!” She knew how to do that from books. The Snow Queen froze with her hand up and her mouth gaping in anger.
Arnold handed Eliza the potion and she aimed well, pouring it right into the Snow Queen’s mouth.
The Snow Queen started melting and began talking again.
“You!!” she said coughing. “You have killed me! I am done for!”
“We don’t want you to take over the kingdom and be the ruler of the world!” Katie yelled. “So we got you! I’ve been spying on you!”
When Katie, Arnold, and Eliza landed in the courtyard, Eliza and Arnold finally had time to play together.
After a few years, Eliza and Arnold got married. Eliza was glad she now had friends.
“‘Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.”
Dad sat in his worn-out armchair by the roaring fire, reading the famous Christmas tale to Jenny and Franklin. Jenny sipped steaming hot cocoa at Dad’s feet, listening intently as the story unfolded about Santa Claus and his eight reindeer on the roof. Franklin stared drowsily at the glow of the crackling fire in their fireplace. They loved Christmas Eve.
Franklin was beginning to nod off when a large gust of wind and snow suddenly blew through the chimney and down into their living room. The fire went out and Dad, startled, jumped from his chair. The three of them looked at one another curiously.
“What was that?” Jenny asked nervously, her eyes as round as sugar cookies.
“I don’t know but I better find out,” Dad replied. Then slowly and cautiously, he peeked up the chimney. He couldn’t believe his eyes!
A wolf was growling down at him.
“Aw, you! Just help me get out of here!” he growled impatiently.
Dad’s mouth opened speechlessly.
“What’s there?” asked Jenny cautiously. Jenny peeked over her dad’s shoulder. She screamed.
“What is it?” said Frank.
“It…it….it…is…a wolf!” Jenny said.
“There’s a whole pack of the people!” said the wolf grumpily. “Just help me get out of here.”
Dad finally found his words. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh, well, it’s the night before Christmas, so…” The wolf stopped. “Wait, why aren’t you in bed?”
“Because we are reading our bedtime story,” Jenny answered.
“Every kid needs a Christmas bedtime story,” Frank added.
“Who are you?!” Dad said loudly.
“Well, I am Santa Claus,” said the wolf.
“Whoa!” said Jenny and Frank at the same time, excitedly.
“And when I was doing my errand of presents, a zap of light hit me and I turned into a wolf. I think tomorrow at Christmas I’m going to turn in to a wolf completely, and then Christmas will be ruined forever!” the wolf said, worriedly.
Dad had too much for the day. So he went to bed.
But Jenny and Frank had a mission to accomplish. First, Jenny got the chimney brush and Frank climbed on Jenny’s shoulders. They were worried that they might fall, because Frank wobbled.
Next, Jenny gave Frank the chimney brush and Frank put it up the chimney. The wolf grabbed on and Frank slowly climbed down with the wolf. The wolf jumped down out of the chimney.
“Now we must go outside and figure out how to save me,” the wolf said.
Jenny and Frank bundled up and slipped outside. It was snowing hard. They jumped on their sled and hurtled down the hill toward the forest.
When they were there, Frank pulled the sled. When they were in the heart of the forest, they saw a little light, far away. As they got closer, they saw a box. The wolf said that must have been the box that kept the magic.
Suddenly, a glowing light appeared and a person came out of the shadows, dressed like Santa Claus.
“Thank for giving me my magical power,” said the mysterious person to the wolf, meanly. “I used to be a wolf, but now I am Santa Claus and I can bring people whatever they want.
“You can’t do that. All you will give to the children is coal!” said Jenny.
Meanwhile, Frank had found a stick. They used it to pry the lid off the box. A light filled the forest. A huge bolt of light hit the wolf and turned him into Santa Claus. The mysterious person was now a wolf.
Jenny and Frank had saved Santa! Now they ran back home, and the real Santa Claus went on the roof.
“Merry Christmas!” he said joyfully as he flew away.
The End
Note: The pink section at the beginning was an extended story starter, written by the teacher!
Amy and Josh were outside. They did not know what to do. Amy and Josh wanted to play winter Olympics. No one else had come out. When they were about to go home too, Amy spoke up.
“Maybe we can play something like hockey,” she said. “We both have hockey sticks and I have a puck. I bet we can go over to the frozen lake and play hockey.”
After a quick errand home to grab their hockey sticks and puck, they met at the lake. Amy put her puck in the middle of the frozen lake. They both got on and started to play.
It was a little hard because it was only two people. But it was still fun because they just wanted to play some sports. While in the middle of the game, Josh hit the puck and it went zooming past the goal and into a cave.
The puck went zooming past the goal and into a cave.
“Whoops!” he said. “Now we don’t have a puck!”
Amy and Josh went over to the cave. They heard breathing in the cave. There was a sleeping animal in there. They peeked inside. It was a fox, and it was curled up asleep. The puck was curled up between its legs. If they grabbed the puck, they might wake up the fox.
Then Amy found a large stick. It had two branches on the end, so they could grab something. They just needed some vines. Luckily, there were some vines near the lake. When they tied the vines around between the two branches on the stick, they had some extra vines hanging down so they could pull the sticks in together to grab things.
Amy stood at the front of the cave. She leaned forward with their tool they made and grabbed the puck.
“Hooray!” Amy said when she grabbed it.
“Now we can play!” they said together.
When they turned around, all their friends were out there. They wanted to play hockey now too! The Kids Winter Olympics were starting!
