RUNDLE ACADEMY

WRITING ANTHOLOGY

2012-2013

Kara Sikora, Grade 12

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This anthology recognizes exemplary writing from students in all grades at Rundle Academy.

A special thanks goes out to Mrs. Guy-Macdonald and her art students who contributed many of the images incorporated throughout the collection.

Much credit is given to the teachers who help their students to continually develop their skills and inspire students to reach new heights in their writing every day.

Above all, we wish to congratulate the students who continue to surprise, delight, and impress us with their effort, skill, and creativity. Keep up the great writing!

You fail only if you stop writing.

Ray Bradbury

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Table of Contents

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PAGE 3

JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL PAGE 33

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL PAGE 80

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ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Jared Hamilton, Grade 6

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EMERALD

Jessie Stewart, Grade 4

I shimmer and shine

More fragile than a diamond

And shine like a star

BATS

By Jessie Stewart and Charlotte Warme, Grade 4

I soar like a bird

My domain is the nightfall

I am a black bat

STONE

By Charlotte Warme, Grade 4

I lay all day long

I go through the long winter

I look at the stars

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There once was a dog from Mars

He really didn’t like chocolate bars

The dog had lots of spots

All different colors of dots

He especially liked to drive cars

Eden Lynch, Grade 5

The fortress was really small

But it had a very tall wall

The enemy was very big

And their leader wore a wig

But they fought strong and won the fall

Jared Herman, Grade 5

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There once was a dog from a town

He had a really great frown

His ears were floppy

He ate really sloppy

When he gets tired he likes to lay down

Jaxon DeJager, Grade 5

There once was a frog who lived in a log

Every day he went for a jog

He really liked to eat meat

Because he thought it tasted like feet

And so did his best friend who was a dog

Jaxson Rogers, Grade 5

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There was a mole and he lived in a construction hall

He liked to shop the shelves in the Chinook mall

He bought a book

About a fishing hook

Then he threw the book at a wall

Matt Hopkins, Grade 5

There once was a brown and white dog named Mole

She lived with a family that liked to climb a pole

But they squished her paws

And broke the laws

So she went to live with her neighbour that let her dig a hole

Leah Sutton, Grade 5

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Kitten Mittens!

There once was a kitten named Mitten

She always loved to play kitten

Mitten the kitten always played

Every single day in the shade

Mitten the kitten made others smitten

Sarah Hoffinger, Grade 5

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Candy Store

Zander Clay, Grade 5

Nibble nibble goes the miniature kid eating his new candy bar, Clink clink goes the icy cold quarter as it hits the counter,

Cha ching goes the huge cash register as it opens, Ring ring goes the phone on someone’s smart phone,

Wha wha goes a glum baby not getting any candy, Lick lick goes the cherry lollypop getting licked

Pitter patter go jelly beans getting tossed into a tiny plastic bag, Crash goes the robber knocking down the door, Ahhhhh goes every one getting on the ground,

Bang bang goes the robber shooting his 9mm pistol, Weee woooo weeeee woooo go the sirens on the cop cars zooming on

the streets to get to the crime scene, Errch goes the cop car slamming on his breaks at the sidewalk, Rattle rattle goes the hand cuffs getting put on the ghastly thief.

Hockey Game

Isabella Lupi, Grade 5

Woo-hoo goes the wild crowd in the huge stadium. Swoosh goes the hockey player passing by the other player.

Munch, munch go the hungry kids eating the delicious popcorn.

Clatter, bang goes the falling hockey player as he bangs into the boards. Honk goes the screaming horns on the other team.

The shouting of the referee blowing the whistle. Boo! go the people, not playing fair.

Sizzle go the yummy hot dogs on the burning grill. Cling goes the flying hockey puck.

Cheer goes the crowd when the Calgary Flames win the game.

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In the Jungle Soleil Huck, Grade 5

Roar! Went the enormous lion in the dark night. Swish went the howling wind on a bright sunny day.

Hiss went the immense snake as it slithered through the muddy ground. Buzz went the annoying bee in my ear.

Chirp went the beautiful bird singing in the blue sky. Rustle went the lovely leaves on the enormous trees as the wind blew.

Drip, drop went the horrid rain as it landed on the dirty ground. Squeak went the annoying squirrels.

Kitchen Charlie DeLand, Grade 5

On the wooden table the metal pan goes clang.

The nice sizzle of the cooked bacon. The mixing of the cookies batter goes zzzzz.

Argh, as Dad drops the banana pancakes on the unwashed floor. Tick- tock as the clock annoys Mom.

Drip, drop! The leaky tap is on all day long. Munch, as the hungry dog crunches his boned treat.

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The Farm

Tom Stephen, Grade 5

As I hear the rooster cock-a-doodling, I get out of my

raggedy spring bed.

I head out to feed the sickening ugly beasts their slop,

As I walk through the deep mud, I hear their ear-piercing squeal, Eeeek!

As I walk to the tractor to start it up, I hear the last swaying of this

season’s corn before they get rapidly slashed down

to the ground.

Then as I am slowly walking back to my rickety old house

I can hear the crackle and pop of the remaining eggs

from this morning.

As I open the old rickety door I hear an ear-piercing

squeal coming from the door. “Dad, we need to fix

the door. It’s gotten worse, I reckon,” says Suzie.

I walk in and hear my extremely cute dog bark and I hear

the bacon sizzling.

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The Strange Forest

Sawyer Figol, Grade 5

I trample into the green bush, swish the leaves howl in the

strange forest. My presence doesn’t go unnoticed, crack goes an old root something is near. Err now I am starting to think that it might be better to run immediately. My legs are hard as stone, a hoot goes up from the gray owls above who are waiting for the show to begin. My hungry hunter is closing in huff the animal breath is heavy. Then the hunter shows itself, meow, as my orange cat Max.

War Zone

Will de Paiva, Grade 5

Pow pow went the jamming machine gun as the strong solider fired it. Bang bang went the dirty rifle shooting someone. Roar went the gray tank as they started their huge engines. Ahh!! went the weak men as they were shot. Squash splash went the men as they walked across the muddy rainy field. Clank clink went the tank as it rolled over the deep trenches. Click went the bullet hitting tank armor. Booooom went the delayed shell explosion. Thump thump thump went the deadly bomb dropping.

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Dragon

Ryan Nakamura, Grade 6

A dragon leaned on the wall of a deep, damp, dark cave. The dragon was magnificent. It was thicker than a full grown elephant and its head towered above me on a muscular, serpentine neck. Emerald scales tougher than diamonds simmered in the faint beam of my flashlight. The dragon’s ruby red eyes glowed like spotlights. The beast’s legs rippled with muscle and a vicious barbed tail flicked up and down in anticipation for its next meal. The creature’s midnight black talons glistened in the light of its red spotlight eyes. Its wings were amazing, even though they were tucked into its body. The monster’s fangs were at LEAST a foot long. And its mouth was dripping acidic venom that made a fizzing hole in the ground. The dragon had curving elfish looking ears. When an overly huge cave beetle scuttled across its field of vision its claws flashed and then the beetle was gone down the dragon’s throat. It made a bloodcurdling screech of satisfaction. Then it lowered and charged out at me. At least I thought it was me but it went straight past me and into the open and spread its wings to take off in the sky. It was amazing.

The Cutest Dragon of All Time

Nicole Menard, Grade 6

In the frozen corner of a murky cave a petite little creature sat, his immense gleaming olive eyes darting back and forth on the gloomy walls. His scales shone a beautifully glistening gold and shimmery silver with grime and rust collected on the sharp ends of each shining scale. This minute beast had the complexion of a proud and noble dragon but a height that would only reach my knee; his tiny head was held high with his large shining pupils reflecting the little glow within the cavern. In the gloom of his home he fluttered his silvery, bat-ish wings and whipped around his long golden tail, scratching the ground with his short piercing claws. Even though at first glance he appeared harmless, his mouth contained tiny teeth that seemed awfully sharp to be for piercing rations only, but thankfully, his intentions did not seem to be of preying on anyone. His appearance was of a dragon but he acted as if he was someone’s pet dog, putting his paw up to beg and curling up into a little ball if he was afraid of something, even through anything that threatened him he could probably take in a heartbeat. As he sat there staring at the walls I suddenly noticed he seemed to be making a sound, but only one that I could barely hear for it was quite quiet. It sounded like it was a sort of song for it had a beautiful repetitive tune. Abruptly, the mini dragon turned to me staring with his olive eyes, swiftly; he cocked his head as if to say “What are you doing here?”

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The Dragon

By Ian Hards, Grade 6

The dragon must have been seven feet tall. His arms were as thick as a cowboy hat. Its scales were as thick as a 179 page novel. All of the sudden I knew that it was looking at me. Those eyes in his head were gold, silver and bronze with a tinge of autumn orange. Surprisingly, I saw that it was not angry at me, it was annoyed at a bird behind me. The beast moved swiftly across the dark cave and disappeared. It did not make any sounds which was strange because it must have been 400 pounds. That was the last I saw of him.

The Baby Dragon

Sophie Burt, Grade 6

Screech went the bus as me and my brother Mitch came back from Cam’s pet store. “Angel!” Said Mitch “ I am going to name the baby dragon Deco.” We were on our way to pick up daddy. Soon dad came on the bus. “Dad dad look!” I said “OH!” said dad. Just then the manager of the bus looked at us.”Cool” he said. We are on the way to Dr. Emile dental health. ” China town” I said “. Help!” screamed a lady in front of us “a snake!!”

“Sh “I said” it is not a snake” I told her. Then I saw that the baby dragon got lose. I jumped out of my seat and grabbed the dragon and sat back in my seat. I was happy I had my baby dragon back with me. I will get grounded for a week. “Son,” said my dad “you need to help your baby dragon, the good things not the bad things.” Oh no the dragon is on the lose again and is up at the front. “Hey! “Said a voice “is the dragon yours?” I nodded. The manager glared at me “I will put the dragon in the room at the back of the bus you will be the last one to get your pet because of what you did”. “Dad no “I said “yes” said dad. Soon the bus stopped and we got off. I grabbed the baby dragon and glared at the man .I was going to show mom the baby dragon.

Soon we arrived at Dr. Emile dental health. “Mom” I said “look what I bought!” “I will give him some food and water and a bed and a collar” I said next time I will keep a sharp eye out on the baby dragon.

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Cougar Escapes From Animal Farm

Dustin Faulconbridge, Grade 6

Late last night a Cougar escapes from an exotic animal farm

Dustin Falconbridge, City/Farm reporter

Late last night at 12:01 am, Jan Louis reported Simba, the main star of the show called COUGARS, missing from his cage. If seen call police or take a photo and e-mail to police. Jan, the farmer that raised Simba, said, “please return Simba because Coco is sad and a new show is coming up and Simba is in it.” Simba is 10 years old and has dusty orange fur colour. Simba sometimes feels threatened if cornered. Bob Smith of the local police said, “we’re on the case but we have not caught Simba yet but if seen call 911 or take a picture and send it to the local police.” Cougars are dangerous, so keep all your kids or pets inside also keep away from the cougar. Most likely the cougar will be hungry. To learn more go to 911emgersen.net

Dead Man’s Poker Evan Barter, Grade 6

I was stepping out of the saloon after a long night of poker and whiskey when I saw a tumbleweed shake in the distance. I pulled out my trusty revolver. Out of the blue I heard a strange noise from behind me. I spun around and saw only the lights from the old creaky saloon. I walked cautiously toward my house thinking I just saw something. For a second time I heard a scraping noise from behind. I spun around and looked behind me. It was nothing, now I’m little worried. All of the sudden the ground in front of me and the coffin beneath broke. I couldn’t believe that I was looking into the eyes of a dead man.

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Zander Clay, Grade 5

If you ever saw Invisa Man, which you won’t, he would look like this. He has a spiky buff chest and super strong legs. As he gets close to you, the stench of foul Kraft dinner makes you regret that scrumptious cereal you ate this morning. On certain days, he yodels everywhere he goes, which sounds horrifying. If you touched his chest you would feel a colossal 10 pack. Invisa Man tastes like ancient toxins that have been in a 1000 year old house. Invisa Man is not a human; he is a cyber space rainbow Lion man. Invisa Man always wears clothing that was made that day. It’s called Cyber Space Rainbow Lion clothing. His color is magentyellow – a mixture of magenta and yellow.

Invisa Man lives in a clown car. The car, which is 1,000,000,000 square feet, is really a private gym with walls that are iron and the color of turquoise. When you look in the car, heavy weights are covering it. In the gym, covered with the most deadly robots in the world, there is one weight that weighs 1,000,000,000,000,000 pounds. If you lift it, it teleports you to a secret room with a massage chair and an up-to-the-minute computer that allows you to communicate with any super villain in the world. This clown car is in the middle of the ocean at the bottom. There is one kitchen that only serves spic- n-span Kraft dinner.

A battle with Invisa Man is so tough because you can’t see him. Also, if he says your head is on fire, your head lights on fire, so anything he says happens. He can read your miniature little mind, but there is more. He can also teleport anywhere he desires to go, and he has every weapon in the world - even your out-of-date garden clippers! Under the clown car is a crab cage, which is very big, and in the cage, there is a massive crab, because Invisa Man can’t always guard his house. If someone ever touched him, he will be able to control water and fire.

Amazingly, Invisa Man can be defeated. If you take off all of the deathlike spikes on his buff body, he will breathe his last breath. Hurling fatal dynamite at him will give up his ghost. In cities he cannot go ten minutes without lifting weights, because it is so smoggy. Sadly, he can die if you feed him under cooked Kraft dinner.

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Charlie DeLand, Grade 5

Mr. Red Eyes is easy to recognize if you meet him on the street. He is a large man who has brown skin, and long curly hair. Small, spiky yellow and black teeth jut out from his mouth. Extremely long finger nails, which turn into sharp weapons, are on his green and scaly hands. Wearing a grey suit, he really squeaks when walking.

Mr. Red Eyes, like all villains, has a secret hideout. When it is raining, he goes to the bottom of the sea where there are sharp rocks on his front door. Inside it smells like blood. Upon the walls there is skin and there is a red chair, couch, and a desk. It’s under a rocket launch pad is in the middle of China.

Mr. Red Eyes has lots of super powers. Covering his body, he has a flying iron suite with SHARP rocks which stick out painfully. Awesomely, he has a laser-eyed pet. His iron fist shoots out fire from behind the fist. Don’t go near him, because he can spit burning acid and with one drop, you will die. He can punch you to China before you see his face. And no one can beat him in a race, because that dude’s got good speed.

In order to defeat Mr. Red Eyes you need to do one of the following things: Quickly get a car or a gas station pump, and put gas on his iron suit which will kill him instantly. Amazingly, you can put a drop of ketchup on him. He will blow up like never before. Succeeding, you can say oil, and he goes KABOOM!!!! And never comes back alive again.

The Shape Shifter Will de Paiva, Grade 5

The Shape Shifter lives under a big tree in the thickest jungle on Earth. The cave he lives in has blood stains on the wall. Well, the entrance is known to no one. On the main floor of his cave is a hot tub and a jail.

The Shape Shifter is easy to recognize. He is miniature standing about 4 feet tall with scaly skin. Coming off his bottom, he has a devil’s tail and sharp canines. He has vicious flesh-ripping claws. One of his eyes is metal and both are red.

Here are his superpowers. He is super smart in order to break locks on banks. Crazily, he shape shifts to deceive his enemies. Electric bolts come out his fingers to make a quick escape. He has super speed to dodge bullets and super strength to destroy his enemies. Super jumping, he gets to his lair. He can turn his hand into anything.

If you want to defeat the shape shifter, there are three ways. Searching for an ancient stone tablet in the Sahara desert, you will be able to turn him into ash. Calmly jumping off a roof with a parachute, the Shape Shifter will try to catch you before you land, but that’s where the parachute comes in handy.

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The Kakillen Sawyer Figol, Grade 5

The Kakillen is one of nature’s most recognized creatures, but is not from this world. The Kakillen has red decorated armor with designs, which means death to the Kaks … we will talk about them later. If you feel static saps near you, this is the Kakillen trying to electrify you, but if you can quickly move out of his sight, he cannot kill you. Also you will feel concentrating heat that means he is locking on to you. You will also hear a great roar. When you hear that, run and don’t stop because you don’t want to see him. The Kakillen has a very strong smell up close of metallic metal. His features are like a robot’s, which scare many that stand in his way. He feels very spiky on his shoulders and has an iron breast plate.

The Kakillen is from Rinharn, which is 456,789,452,345,123,456 light years away from Earth, but he can fly to Earth in his space ship. Rinharn is completely blue. The Kakillen’s space ship is orbiting Rinharn as you are reading this. The Kaks also live there.

The Kakillen’s powers are adapting to anything, so he can copy weapons to defend himself. He can lock onto a target and clone them so they turn into one of him. The Kakillen also has advanced tech firearms A.K.A lasers. He also has static force to control things.

The way to destroy the Kakillen is to use a satellite that orbits Jupiter to kill him. Another way is to hit him on the back of the neck where his controller disk is located. The hardest way is to sap him with 90000000000000000000 volts of electricity.

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The Super, Super Villain Tom Stephen, Grade 5

If you see the super, super villain, he is amazingly tall and he can be recognized from a mile or so away. Wearing camouflage pants and a dirty green skin tight shirt, he has ammo around his hips. His breath reeks of coffee. His undersized, nut brown stubby hair is pulled back with grease.

His house is at 22 ST and 13 AVE, and in his backyard there is an immense pond where his secret lair is, because no one else can walk on water. To get to the very hidden lair, you first have find a certain duck in the pond. Second, you need to go inside the super, super villain’s house and on his back door there is a bulletin board. On the bulletin board there is a code that you need to get in the super, super villain’s underground mansion. Type the code in the duck and it will take you to the mansion. Inside the capacious mansion there are red walls and sharp bullets on the ground. There are shelves and shelves of food. On the wall there are photos of his family, or there are said to be. He also has K9s that are not so nice.

The super, super villain has a number of powers that make him powerful. He can turn invisible and that can come in handy. When getting chased in a savage fight, he can also pull things out of mid air. He can walk on water and up walls. His mind is also very strong, so he can pick up things and read other people’s minds. If he comes near broccoli, it will shake.

There are a couple of ways to defeat the super, super villain. In order to defeat him, you have to get his old and decrepit super mother to give him a spanking. Another way to defeat the super, super villain is to secretly feed him broccoli. But the hardest way to kill him is to take him to school and then he will disintegrate.

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The Swamp Creature Isabella Lupi, Grade 5

In the mountains there is a super villain who looks harmless but she is dangerous. She has green, muddy hair, because she always swims in murky water. She also has an eye of a frog with the other eye human. Dreadfully she smells like rotten, mouldy fish. Surprisingly she has webbed hands and feet just like a frog. Just like a toad, she is all slimy, pale and gooey.

The Swamp Creature’s lair, or home, is a muddy green pond. Across from the pond, not that far away, there are rocky, gray mountains with bright green pine trees. Also at the pond, the Swamp Creature has huge black slugs, mud-brown snails, frogs and toads. Around the pond there are mushrooms of all sorts.

The Swamp Creature has all sorts of powers. Wildly, she can catch people with her long sticky tongue. She can also jump very high. Swimming in strong currents, she gets around quickly and she can turn into all sorts of frogs.

If you want to defeat the Swamp Creature, these are some different ways. If you see her in the ocean and she is swimming fairly deep, get out your fishing net. Quickly get her with your net, because you could let her dry out in the sun. Another way you can stop her is to feed her human food. You could do this by leaving some cooked sardines out by the ocean. She will come and eat them. But she can’t eat cooked food, so she will get sick and won’t be able to swim.

Under the Sea

Soleil Huck, Grade 5

If you ever see a girl with bright blue hair and a red cape, expect her to turn you into ice, because she will … watch out for her. Her bright red eyes which glare all around are fire blowing eyes. She has long, straight blue hair which flows down to the middle of her back. Although she is ten feet tall, she moves like cheetah. She smells like a rose perfume. Laughing while she’s walking, she sounds heroic for a villain.

Under the night blue Pacific Ocean, her secret lair lies. Beautifully, the lair smells like rose perfume. Organized, her house looks really clean. The descriptive books are placed neatly on the shelves. Wow! The outside of her house is like the night blue sky. Amazingly, her house is so hot that you can’t even see anything. That’s how hot it is!

Under the Sea she has a number of powers. She can freeze you with her cold freezing ice hand. On her other hand she has rocky spikes. They are really hard and if they hit you, you will go flying into the air for 2 hours and it will hurt a lot. So if you don’t defeat her, she will destroy you. On her feet she has magical boots that can make her disappear.

You can defeat her is in various ways. She hates cucumbers a lot, so you can stick a cucumber in her face and then she will faint lazily, but she has yet to be defeated that way. A lot of hot, hot water will burn her and her strength will go down, down, down. If I stick any color green in her face, she will die and then you have defeated her.

THE END

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The Great Space War J.T. Hironaka, Grade 5

There were 2 astronauts that went to space. Their names were Ian and Anthony. They were 18 and both had brown hair and were 6ft tall. They had the scariest experience ever. In their purple rocket ship 9900 they blasted off into space. They were going nice and smooth until they went past the asteroid belt. That’s when things started getting weird. They tried contacting mission control but they wouldn't connect to the satellite. After trying to contact mission control they saw a destroyed rocket ship heading towards them. Luckily, they quickly turned, and the ship was okay. But they knew they were in trouble. Then they discovered something which looked like a lighting storm in space.

But it turned out to be a black hole. They tried turning around but the force of the black hole pulled them in. They both were relieved that they were alive, but one problem, they had no idea where they were. They saw a planet and landed there as soon as they could. Luckily, they landed safely but they looked through the windows. They saw a revolting castle and aliens 7ft tall. Ian and Anthony hopped out of the rocket, but that planet had oxygen just like earth.

The aliens looked like giant ants. They were caught snooping around so they got put on a table. The aliens put a mask on them. When the mask was on they could see their memory to make sure they didn't steal anything. Then the aliens saw that they didn't steal anything so the aliens walked away. As the aliens walked away Ian noticed that one of his chains were broken. So he unhooked the chain and he saw the key on the other table. He got the key and unhooked Anthony's chain.

They opened the door and the alarm went off. They heard the aliens opening the door. They surprisingly escaped and hid in a little room. But that room was a weapons room. It had armour, and guns that they had never seen before. They had lasers and everything. Thankfully the armour fit them perfectly. They brought as many guns as they could hold, and there was a first aid kit and an ammo box. They heard pounding on the door. Anthony said, "That doesn't sound good." They quickly opened the door and shot them down. When they checked, none of them were alive. They kept moving along. They opened the door, and that is where all the aliens were! Ian said, "Look! There’s a hiding spot.” Anthony counted down "3... 2...1, FIRE!” Boom! as the gun fires. Flash as the bullet flights faster than the speed of sound. They kept on firing until Anthony said, "I'm out of ammo". Anthony said, "Didn't you bring the ammo box ?" Ian said, "No, I thought you brought it." Ian and Anthony ran back to the armour room and got the ammo, and while they were looking they found a teleporting device and a bomb. They looked at the bomb and saw a nuclear sign on it. They set the bomb up, and timed it for 1 minute. They turned on the teleporting device and set it for Earth. Just as the nuke exploded they were gone. Ian and Anthony had the best experience of their lives.

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A New Adventure Taya Colwell, Grade 6

‘’Joedo wake up, come on you have to get ready for school’’. ‘’Dad 5 more minutes, please’’ I whispered trying to still sound asleep. ‘’No you might be late for school’’ dad whispered back to me hoping I wouldn’t notice how mad he was. ‘’ O.K fine’’ I was saying still half asleep. Once I finally got out of bed I put on my casual every day outfit and had my every day breakfast, brushed my teeth with the same flavour as I had for the last 5 months, combed my hair the same as every day. And then went on the bus to school. Sometimes I wish I could just run away. You know, get rid of my boring simple life and trade it for something much better. I think I want this because I need an adventure, one that I can call mine. One that I can go on all by myself. No more parents to tell me what to do. I will be independent, outrageous, and an adventurist.

Once I got home from school I went directly to my bedroom to make a plan to get my own adventure. I think I thought for at least 3 hours, but it was worth it because came up with the best plan ever: to tell mom and dad I was going to the library to study with some friends but instead I will go to the immense forest just a little past the town. There has to be some sort of adventure deep in that thick forest. As soon as I left the house I started heading for the forest but of course mom was watching so I had to go the long way which was through the town, but it isn’t that bad because that is where the library is, she won’t suspect a thing.

As I was walking through the town this strange man ran up to me trying to sell me this box. ‘’Hey kid, you want to buy this’’ he was yelling so loud my ears were ringing ‘’I can’t I don’t have any money’’.‘’That is ok we will trade’’ he began getting quieter ‘’You give me that snazzy hat and I will give you this box with adventure written all over it.’’ By now he was whispering ‘’I don’t see the word adventure anywhere on the box’’ I got very confused ‘’No, I meant this box will bring you all sort of adventures’’ as soon as he said that inside I was like aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh but outside I was very calm ‘’ What kind of adventure?’’ I said all casual started asking questions to see if it was a fare trade. ‘’all kinds but be careful some of them can be very dangerous’’. He was warning me for nothing because I wasn’t only paying attention to the word adventure. ‘’sold!’’I screamed on the top of my lungs.’’. As soon as I had the box in my reach I grabbed it then ran. But when I was running he was shouting to me and saying something important. But I didn’t hear it so it couldn’t have been that imported. I decided to just go back home since I already have an adventure beginning with the box. Once I got home I ran as fast as I could to my room slammed the door shut which mom probably hated because she doesn’t like it when I slam doors. When I got in my room immediately opened the box but all that was in it was a little seed like egg, I was very heartbroken I still called the egg thing Jeremy. After a while I and Jeremy went back into town I wanted my hat back! ‘’What! Why isn’t he here? I need my hat back my dad gave me that hat it is special!’’ ‘’What is so special about it’’ a man whispered from behind me. ‘’Who is there, I have a baseball bat and, uuhh, uuhh, I’m not afraid to use it’’ I was so terrified. I think I might start to cry. ‘’ I won’t give your

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hat back it fits perfectly’’ the voice whispered. I thought to myself for a minute ‘’My hat?’’ I continued ‘’ You stole my hat give it back it is mine’’ ‘’ It’s yours you say’’ the man was making no scene ‘’ you sold it to me so that makes it mine now. Did you open the box yet?’’. Maybe if I tell the truth he will give it back. ‘’ yes! Can I have my hat now?’’.’’ Of course, not! You have taken the magic out of the box so it will not be returned until toy complete the entire adventure witch you haven’t so until then the hat is mine!’’ and just like that he was gone. This time when Joebo went to open the box for a second time he found something it seemed to be an almost microscopic lizard. I couldn’t believe his eyes. Once he saw this went into the forest to start is adventure. I thought the little thing would be hungry so I found some raspberries, so I grabbed them off the trees and gave one to it. What scared me was as the miniature lizard was eating I could see it getting bigger and by the time it finished that one berry it was the size of a fully grown lizard. By now it could barely fit inside the box.

Once I got home I made a bed for the lizard that was a little bigger. I got some strawberries and bread then went back into the forest this time when I fed him he got even bigger. By now Jeremy was too big to fit I the house so I found a long rope and then tied one end to his neck and the other to the tree closest to the berries. Once I got home I did some research to see what kind of lizard Jeremy was but I didn’t find anything! On my way back a man stopped me and asked about my discovery. All I told him is that it is mine and it is not for sale. Then I ran to see if Jeremy was still there and he was. This time I thought it might be safer if I bring Jeremy farther into the forest and this time I stayed with him over night. ‘’Woooow!! What happened to you?’’ I was shocked to see my lizard to now be a gigantic dragon. ‘’What happened to you why are you so big?’’

‘’Hay kid, come over here!’’ a strange voice said. Jeremy and I ran past the forest through the village and by then we lost him. ‘’Come here little boy WE won’t hart you! Just give us the dragon and you will be safe does that sound good to you?’’ one of the men said ‘’No!’’. Jeremy through me on his back and after 2 minutes we lost them. ‘’ From now on we will live underground together forever.

6 years later

‘’Come Jeremy lets go hunting!’’I would say every time we went hunting. Jeremy was now the size of a house and I also think he might have eaten the house. ‘’ I’ve been looking for you for a long time’’ a voice said sounding like it was getting closer. I saw eyes coming out of every bush around me. ‘’give me the dragon so nobody gets hurt’’ the voice said again ‘’No!’’. ‘’ Fine, now someone might get hurt’. And just like that the man grabbed his bow and arrow and shot Jeremy twice in the chest and one in the head. Just like that Jeremy was dead. The man said as he was leaving ‘’If I can’t have him no one can!’’ after that I went back into my underground home and never came out. My parents are still searching to this day but then will never find me. I will stay in here until the day I die.

The End

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The Magical Lizard Nathan Litvinchuk, Grade 6

Timothy is an 11 year old boy and he met a magical lizard named Bartholomew and he

found him in a pet store in a cage next to a dog in a cage and when he adopted

Bartholomew he was a very small lizard but what Timothy did not know was that the

lizard was magical. Timothy found out shortly after he got home because the lizard flew

around the room like a bird or monkey.

He also found out that the lizard had growing power so when he needed to be big he

turned big. And when he needed to be small he became small. Tim and Bart had a great

time together, but now Tim and Bart had to go on the subway to get to the house and

there was a creepy guy looking at Tim because he was trying to catch the lizard so he

said, “Give me my lizard back.” So then the subway stopped and it was a wild goose

chase between the creepy guy and Tim. Tim had won all the races there were at his

school. He was the fastest runner, so he out-ran the creepy guy and booked it to his

house. But once he got inside the creepy guy banged at the door relentlessly and then he

screamed, “Open the door now or else something will happen to you Now!!!!!.” Tim had

never been this scared in his life so he called 9-1-1; the cops took him away shortly after

that.

The next day Timothy and Bartholomew went to Chinatown in New York and bought

some things like eggs milk and some other stuff. But what was shocking was there was

some more science geeks looking for the magical lizard but there was nowhere to run so

he ran all over Chinatown looking for a place to hide but there was nothing to hide

behind so they found a place in the city where it was safe. There was one spot Timothy

did not think of … his dad’s garage. So he hid there for about 3 hours. There was food

and water in the garage. And a mini TV that had satellite TV and all over the news there

were stories about a boy and his magical lizard. So they stayed there for the rest of the

night. In the morning they left for the bus stop and took off to the grocery store near his

mom’s house and picked up some fruit and vegetables. Timothy found another science

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geek and he tried to snatch the magical lizard but Timothy said in a snotty voice, “Better

luck next time buddy.” Tim started to run as fast as he could. He also noticed that the

geek was dressed for running.

This was about to get serious so instead of running he walked past a cop car and said in

a crying type voice, “That guy behind me is trying to snatch my lizard, please help”. The

officer said “Don’t worry hop inside, we will protect you”. So the officer drove him back

to his house. This was becoming war so instead of just running out to the grocery store

he would carry a water gun with him and an airsoft pistol and the next day he wanted to

do something special so he walked really slowly and when he saw the creepy guy he

would shoot. He saw the guy coming. Luckily, Tim had good aim and shot the guy in the

chest and the guy was down. More were coming. He shot two other guys and went down

more were coming until finally the last one came but this guy looked too tough for Tim

but it turns out he was not tough he was just a nerd wanting the magical lizard. Next day

was the lemon juice gun. Timothy thought “I’m sure they will not bother me anymore

after my lemon juice gun”. Next he would get some other gear in case there was a guy

that performed a sneak attack on Timothy. Today was hopefully the last time he would

see these guys. The first one he saw was scared. The first shot he took it landed in the

guy’s eye and he was screeching and screaming. The next one was a little tougher but he

went down and that was the last of them their leader said, “we will never bother you

again and try to take your lizard please don’t harm us”. And that was the end of that.

Well, it was fun having a lizard but he thought it wanted to be let free. So he left the

lizard in the wild with some food. Timothy was very sad. He had to let go to his new pet

lizard, but it was for the best. “Goodbye little pal.” As the lizard left Timothy, Timothy

thought of all the memories him and the lizard had shared. As the days went on Timothy

got happier and happier. But what was sad was that Tim was moving so he would not

see Bartholomew again. And that was the end of Timothy and his magical lizard.

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Pirate Ryan Nakamura, Grade 6

A pirate towered before me. His eyes were a shade of dark blue but they had an old weary look. His crooked nose went well with his dark matted hair and his thick black beard. The pirate’s cracked and dry mouth had a sneer on it, probably from all the times from shouting on his ship when it was in battle with other ships. His height was six foot four. A long scar ran across his fore head and down his left cheek. A brown tunic was worn over a worn down wool shirt. His pants were black and lined with gold at the bottoms of them. His boots had a white tint to them from sea salt from all the times at sea on his ship. His black hat had a large fiery red feather on it. Strapped to his right side was a cutlass and strapped to his left calf was a knife and on his left thigh was a flintlock shotgun. When he started walking he was walking with a limp and I realized that he must have gotten a cut on his leg recently. And when he opened his mouth his teeth were tobacco stained and had a hint of black to them. On his back was a pack of what I assumed was rum and food of some sort. As he began to speak his breath stank of countless meals and a lack of brushing his teeth. Then I noticed that he had an entire ship of equally terrifying crewmates and one of them looked to have an afro and moustache.

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Untitled

Dillon Budd, Grade 6

Stanley Debreakciaw was in trouble, lots of trouble. “Can’t we just all be friends?” asked Stanley plausibly. “You tried to kill my boss!” replied the man, who was now tying his hands and feet together. The rope was attached to a cinder block; it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out what that was for. “It was nothing personal, it was just business,” Stanley said with a growing smile on his face. He was used to people trying to kill him. “Does it look like I care! I don’t, there is nothing you can say that will make me not decide to throw you out of this plane!” There was a hint of a Russian accent in his voice. Stanley could get a look at the man’s face, mainly because there was a cloth bag over his head. “Time to die!” said the man angrily. Stanley replied happily, saying “I would not advise you try to push me out of this plane.” The man yelled at him to shut up but Stanley was already behind him. He pushed the man out of the plane and put his arm around the other guard’s neck. He took his gun out of the guard’s holster and shot the other two men. The plane jerked to one side and Stanley fell back. He then saw how huge the guard really was. The guard picked him up by the collar and threw him out of the plane. He still had the gun in his hand so he shot at the pilot. It was such an amazing shot that the bullet went straight though the pilot’s head. The plane turned to the left and was now heading straight at him, the plane was pointing down so they would inevitably collide. Stanley straightened out so that his belly was facing the ground and his arms were out in front of him. He went straight for the plane. He turned around so that his feet were in front of him and burst through the cockpit window. It was as if everything had gone in slow motion. Stanley was in the zone. The world was revolving around him. The bag was no longer on his head but he was still tied up. The guard had not had a chance to tie him the anvil. The door to the cockpit burst open and Stanley shot before he even looked. The guard was dead instantly. He walked through the doorway and was confronted by five huge guards. Stanley dropped the gun and put his hands behind his head. “Well, you got me.” The guards grabbed onto Stanley and said, “We’re not going throw you out of the plane, we have something much worse planned for you!” the guard laughed grimily. “It’s a shame I won’t be there to see what you have planned!” Stanley replied. The guards looked puzzled. “I’ll be on my way then,” Stanley said happily. He then sprung at one of the guards, knocked him out with a single punch and then ran towards the opening in the plane. He jumped out of the plane and dove straight towards the ground. He laughed at the fact that they hadn’t searched him before they took him on the plane. He was still in the suit he wore when he was captured: the suit that had an exact copy of it with tactical wings built in. Stanley knew that he was wearing the tactical wing suit. He just had to pull on his red tie and the wings would deploy and he would float safely to the ground. Stanley pulled on the tie but all that happened was the tie tugged at the back of his neck. “Son of a SpongeBob Squarepants”.

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Timothy Yang’s Power David Samuels, Grade 6

“Get back in that cage, Bob!” the boy said, softly slowly coaxing his lizard back into its carrier. PFFFFSHEEEEEK! The bus made that shrill, brake releasing sound, and started rumbling down the streets. I glanced up from my newspaper, and looked left at the Asian boy, clad in jeans, and a white, horizontally grey-striped golf shirt. He had a haircut where two flaps of dark, black hair diverged from his scalp, and ended at his ear tops, and stretched forward a bit past the top of his head. He wore a pair of brown, white-toed running shoes, which distinguished him from everyone else on the bus, who were wearing dress shoes. This boy also carried a lizard in a bright yellow case, with an oval window, and several large air holes. This was Timothy Yang, who the authorities had sent me to find. It was Sunday in New York’s Chinatown, in the early afternoon, and there were only four people on the bus. I wore a black dress suit, and a purple tie. I was dressed like the tall mysterious man, who held the bar running above our seats. The odd man towered over Timothy, eyeing him intently, holding a large leather briefcase. I consulted my computer pad, concealed behind my newspaper, and confirmed that the young woman sitting next to me was Melinda Yang, who was Timothy’s sister, who wore a yellow blouse, and black dress pants. She had looked up from her biology textbook, and was eyeing the tall man back, with a suspicious look on her face. She had every right to be suspicious. Suddenly, the bus shook violently, and Timothy and his sister gasped, looking up from what they were doing. Timothy’s sister’s eyes slowly slid down to her book, and Timothy grit his teeth nervously, and looked back down at his lizard. Not a moment later, the smell of burnt popcorn spread through the bus. Timothy sniffed a few times and started nervously fidgeting with his fingers in a ball. I knew what was going on. This was just the appetizer in a four-course meal of oddness. Instantly, the mysterious man’s briefcase exploded, in a blinding flash of green light, and I was temporarily blinded. Timothy screamed shrilly, as I felt that we were moving, as my head collided with the glass, metal-rimmed barrier that separated the seats from the door of the bus. We stopped moving after a few seconds, and I could feel us falling. We landed with a deafening FOOM. I blinked rapidly a few times to re-orient myself. I noticed Timothy was on his knees, holding his forehead and groaning. He pushed his other hand on the ground, and stood up. He released his hand from his forehead, and I noticed that he had a bleeding, skinny, line-like gash running across his face, “Uhhhhhh,” he groaned, as he stumbled, and pressed his hand against the bus wall. The side of the bus creaked, and then toppled over, and a warm breeze blew through the bus, that made Melinda’s hair wave in it. “Where are we?” Timothy got up from the toppled bus side, and shook his head, as we realized what had happened. All we could see was sand, in all directions. We were in the Sahara Desert, and the mysterious man was nowhere to be found. Timothy slowly walked out of the bus, through the toppled bus wall, as Melinda and I followed. Timothy looked one full circle around, as his jaw hung open, and a wind whistled by us, making a sound similar to the one that you hear when you blow over a

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bottle top. I looked back at the smouldering wreckage of the red bus. Aside from having one of its walls toppled over, the bus was flattened to one half its previous height, and all that was left of the windows of the bus were a bunch of spiky fragments, that came out of the window frame. The bus was also spewing foul smoke, which smelled of gasoline and was covered in large dents. Suddenly, Timothy was paralyzed with fear, as he gasped, and started shivering and shaking. “W-w-where’s Bob?” He stuttered. Suddenly, his eyes bulged and he dropped to his knees, as a tear came to his eye. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” he yelled, sobbing. “Why did it have to be my little Bob?” he bawled, slamming his fists on the desert floor. Not a moment later, a rumbling came from beneath us. Timothy sniffed, and got up from his crying place. A large mound of sand appeared five meters in front of us, and then all the sand fell down to the sides, revealing something that looked like a normal human mouth, except it was three meters tall, was on its side, and had big, sharp, teeth that were probably six inches tall. The lips were a shade of dark green, too. This was it. I jumped at Timothy, from the side, as my tie bent to the right. But then, the mouth opened itself, and then…darkness. I woke up when I landed in a pile of brittle animal bones with a ceramic-breaking sound. Timothy stood up and groaned, holding his hip “Where are we?” he said, his eyes squinting. He looked around and noticed what I also noticed before. The pile of pones was like an island, in the fleshy cave-like thing that was partially full with bubbling bright yellow liquid. “Oh.” He said as his eyes returned to normal size. He crossed his arms, and rolled his eyes. “What the $%!# is going on?” he asked, facing away from me, clearly irked. “Okay.” I sighed and got ready to tell him the story. “You may not know this, but earth is guarded by non-linear beings who can see all time. They sensed the world ending, so they contacted the CIA to help stop this catastrophic event.” “The CIA dispatched me, to help save the world, but I did not plan on being swallowed.” “Dude, that’s great, but where do I come in?” Timothy asked. “That mysterious man you saw on the bus was actually a servant of the Great Masticator, the creature who ate us. “That man brought you here so you could be eaten.” “You see, you have magic-” Timothy cut me off. “It’s not fair!” “My lizard is dead, and you’re telling me that we’re going to die inside some creature?!” The yellow fluid bubbled wildly, momentarily. “You have magic powers, which allow you to use your mind to create fire.” I said, as Timothy still looked away from me. “When the Masticator ate you, it gave him the fire powers to take over the world.” Suddenly, Timothy’s crossed arms dropped down to his sides. “I can get you back,” he said turning around. He grits his teeth and clenched his fists in frustration. Not a moment later, we were flying through the air with a bunch of flying, red fleshy debris. We landed with a thud, as we flopped down on the sand like two people pancakes. I woke up the next morning, smiling. I went to the door of my house and brought the rolled up paper back to my door. I could still remember how that beast exploded around us, and how Timothy saved our lives. I wished I could see him again, but the life of a CIA operative is a secret one. I opened up the paper. The front page headline read Boy is eaten by beast, Tells about fantastic adventure. I grinned. It was like part of him was still here.

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The Magic Door Juliana Van Oosterwyck Bruyn, Grade 6

“Ouch!” cried 10 year old Jill. She had just dropped a heavy book on her foot. The book was so heavy she could hardly lift it! It was a book on the North Pole where she would be moving to in one week. Since she was moving, she had decided to do a little research on it. Jill was trying to put the book back, but she couldn’t reach the shelf. This book was too heavy to put on the shelf even if she was tall enough to reach.

“May I help you?” asked a librarian.

“Can you put this book back on the top shelf?” said Jill. The librarian was happy to do it.

“Thank you for putting it up there for me,” smiled Jill.

“You’re welcome,” exclaimed the librarian. She wiped her hands on her pants, because the book was dusty.

A week later, Jill and her parents were in the car on their way to the North Pole. Jill was wearing a pretty light blue long sleeve dress that her mother had made for her. They drove for three days straight, well they stopped each night in a hotel and had two washroom breaks during the day. Finally they were at their new home in the North Pole! The moving truck was right behind them.

After they got unpacked and settled in they went exploring the house. The moving people had unpacked so Jill and her family didn’t know where anything was! First they explored the basement, then the main floor, then the upstairs, and finally the attic which had two rooms and a hallway. One room was a bedroom that was for Jill and the other room was a washroom.

In Jill’s new room there was a door that led to nowhere, or so Jill thought. This door was against the wall with the window, which made it impossible to lead to anywhere. The door had three square windows on it one on top of the other. All three windows were painted gold. Jill opened the door and took a bed sheet to make a fort. She was leaning against the wall behind the door and fell backwards! Surprisingly she landed in water!

“Where am I?”Jill wondered. She stood up and looked all around. As far as the eye could see there was water, sand, and hills. She was in the ocean! Just as she turned to try and go back through the door it disappeared! “Where did the door go?” worried Jill. “How will I get back home?” Jill looked at the shore, it looked like it was getting smaller and smaller! She started running towards the shore.

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“It’s no use running. You will just tire yourself out,” squawked a horse voice.

“Who are you?” asked a trembling Jill.

“I’m Flaps the bird” said the strange voice. Just then a bird with black feathers flew in front of Jill. Startled Jill jumped back and fell in the warm salt water. “What’s your name?” asked Flaps.

“My name is Jill,”Jill said. “Why is it no use trying to get to the shore?” Jill asked curiously.

“Because this is a magic dimension. The only way to get in is through the door with the golden squares and the only way to get out is to be granted permission by the magician,” said Flaps. “The magician only lets you on to the shore if he is going to grant you permission to leave!”

“Can you help me get to shore so I can go home?” asked Jill shyly.

“I can get you very close to shore but don’t expect the magician to send you home,” warned Flaps. With a twitch of his wings a boat appeared! The boat was the newest model of engine boats.

“How did you do that!” asked Jill.

“I know a little magic too,” said the bird. Flaps pressed a button on the boat and a motor came to life. Grrrrrrr.... went the motor and the boat started moving. A few minutes later they were at the shore. There was something glowing in the sand. Jill got off the boat and luckily was able to go on the land! She went to the glowing object and saw that it was a small door! There was a note attached to it. The note said “When you touch this golden door you will be sent home forever and will not be able to come back” Jill touched the door and appeared back in her room!

“That was weird,” thought Jill. The door with the golden windows was gone. There was a note in its place. The note said “Here’s a gift for your bravery, from the Magician Flaps.” The gift was a diamond heart on a gold chain. The diamond had Flap carved in the back.

“How sweet,” thought Jill.

The End

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The Worst Day of School!

Jared Hamilton, Grade 6 Chapter One: The Basement If you're going to the basement of Gifford Academy Elementary, beware. Two years ago when I was in grade 4, I was sent to get some erasers. They sent me down to the basement alone. There were cobwebs everywhere and stuff that shouldn't belong there: an alien spaceship and rats giving birth to snails in the cobweb-filled loony bin without the psychos. It was like a maze of junk. I finally found the erasers, but right next to the bin I found an unusual looking machine. I saw that it had a DVD slot. Was this some fancy cinamajig? There was a stack of old DVDs next to it. These DVDs were from 2002, the beginning of time. I was going bring them back up to the classroom but then I said, "what the heck, I'll watch Terrortown Combo Pack Volume 3." I inserted it into the cinemajig's DVD slot. A fancy light shone inside it, maybe the show was starting. So I hopped into the machine because I thought the TV was in there. Then after I hopped into the machine I said, "Where is the TV?" Before I could start looking an eerie red light surrounded me. Then I blacked out. Finally I woke up. How much time passed? Then the terrifying thought flooded into my head. It wasn't a fancy cinemajig, it was a fancy "into" cinemajig. Simplified, I was in Terrortown Combo Pack Volume 3. "I’ve never watched the show before" and then a crazy looking zombie brushed past me followed by a parade of zombies. They were in marching band uniforms. Then I decided to take cover in one of the creepy houses, surely one of the locals could help and tell me what was happening.

Ian Hards, Grade 6

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JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL

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Love Poem from Zeus

Rowan Edy, Grade 8

My Dearest Hera

I love you so

I don’t want to lose you

Don’t let me go

I know I’m a cheat

And I know I’ve done wrong

But please let me tell you

Our love is strong

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Nothing Soiled Can Stay Teanna Markle and Company, Grade 8 Nature's first soupy diaper is cold, the hardest smell to hold. Its early morning surprises so sweet and sour; and can happen every hour. Then ripe subsides to ripe, So heavy in the night, when it travels down my leg, Nothing soiled can stay. *Based on “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost

Aneisha Gardner, Grade 7

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Death and Poppies Madison Hillstead, Grade 9 We sit in silence. Mentally dead Waiting for the Captain’s call. I stared at the ground trying to remember some kind of happiness, but it’s all gone. Wiped away like a clean slate board. CHARGE. They climb the side of the trench. Bang, boom, bang. Faces flew by as day turned to night, night turned to morning. I still haven’t moved a muscle. No more moans or groans came from the field. I took a peek but what I saw, I couldn’t believe. I climb to the top to get a better look. The battlefield covered in blood. But the way it lay was almost beautiful. Every drop of blood looked like a poppy, beautiful in its own way, Like the men lying on the ground... beautiful in their own way. And now I was ready to join these amazing men. One. Two. Three. Bang.

Poor Little Solider Boy

Soren Bradley, Grade 8 I’m just a little solider boy ordered around by my peers We fight for each breath every day, there are no cheers They push me here they push me there There is no time to have fun anywhere They only see me as a solider boy and nothing else This fight is never ending Why did they choose me? I am no different than anyone one else I am only a little solider boy ready to fight They attack in the night, we cannot sleep We are lifeless like pawns in a chess game The only difference is that this game seems to never end My ears are riddled with screams, they never stop The morale is dead, its November 11 I’m at the front line this could be the end Then bang, the little solider boy is ended

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Friend Soren Bradley, Grade 8 Super heroes under a mask Awakened in a time of need A warm hug in the rain A hand when in pain A friend fed with your happiness Fed with the essences of life Like a beating heart they make your life Friends never leave ... Always there in any form possible Looking after you like a true friend...

Good Bye

Tyler West, Grade 9

I wish I could say I was coming home. Give a hug to our son and you.

Don’t hold on, let me be. Free, not sad, it’s what I am.

I wish I could say I was coming home.

Entrapped in the cold, the boots, the mud. The horrors over the guns and blood.

Now I’m at peace in the warmth. All I have to say now is...

Farewell. Goodbye. My love, my dear.

A True Fight

Soren Bradley, Grade 8

The right of a man cannot be lost only forgotten They fought for those who died and suffered

They were there to prove a point The fallen choose to fight and died for your right

The only thing that keeps them alive is the youth of today Lives were lost, they all had something to fight for

The fight is still a struggle Only some of us know what it was like

They will never be forgotten

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Heart in a Wooden Box

Madison Hillstead, Grade 9

There was a girl who cut out her heart, And locked it in a wooden box, She kept it under her bed, In a house where she lived alone all her life Every day she would walk by couples, Who were smothered in the feeling of love, That feeling was something she would never know since, Her heart was locked in a wooden box. One day a fine young handsome knight rode into the village, Getting off his steed he bumped into heartless girl, The young man said sorry to the girl and offered to take her to lunch, As any young knight was taught to do. Weeks went on and the two were always together, Until war came to the land and the young knight had to leave his love, They kissed for all they would not know when they would meet again, Before he left the girl placed a key on a string around his neck Although the girl couldn’t honestly feel love she still cared for him She would look up at the stars, Knowing that he was looking up at the same ones, It made her feel warm inside. A few weeks passed and the young knight came back to the village, He never asked about the key, For he thought nothing of it, Until… It was February the 14, The two sat on a ledge looking over the village, The night was warm and soft, Yet peaceful and calm. When they were about to leave for the night, The girl took the key off the her lovers neck, And placed it in his warm hands, Then she took out a wooden locked up box. She took his hand with the key, Together they unlocked the lock and peered into it, A warm beating heart glowed in the moon light And then she said this My heart is locked in a wooden box I have given you the key I have given you the box What you do with it is up to you, For you’re the only person who should have it because you’re, The only one who I will ever truly love.

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The Outsiders

Character Comparisons Darry is like a caramel egg; hard on the outside, but mushy on the inside. Emily Smith, Grade 8

Johnny is like the dew on a summer’s day...soft when you touch it and fragile when you step on it.

Michael Savilow, Grade 8

Dally is a blown out candle. Soren Bradley, Grade 8

Johnny is like glass broken into thousands of different little pieces William Berry, Grade 8

Ponyboy is as bright and joyous as a ray of sunlight, slipping through a tiny gap between large and ominous storm clouds. Cherry is as rare and delicate as a fiery blood red rose in the middle of the harsh winter months, determined, fierce, and bold.

Georgia Needham, Grade 8

Sodapop was a sweet lemon on a hot summer’s day. Ponyboy is like a candle waiting for a match.

Ellie Hardock, Grade 8

Darry is the fire extinguisher that puts out the flames.

Brice O’Brien, Grade 8

Dally is as rough as a cactus. Avery Rogers, Grade 8

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Local boy murdered in central park

Lara Smith, Grade 8

A murder in central park

Bob Sheldon was like any other teenage boy, popular, smart, and athletic. But on late around 2:00 a.m April 15 he was brutally murdered in Tulsa, Oklahoma Central Park . His kill weapon was a small pocket knife. Jonny Cade and Ponyboy Curtis are the two alleged killers.

Randy (witness)- “It was all our fault Ponyboy Curtis and Jonny Cade were just trying to protect themselves it was our gangs fault. They are not to blame. We were the ones trying to hurt them.”

Cherry (witness) - “He was out looking for a fight. He was drunk and he is a very violent person when he’s drunk. It was his fault that he’s now dead.”

Curtis and Cade have not been found. Curtis is small with light brown hair and brown eyes and is 14 years old. Cade is short and skinny with dark brown hair and brown eyes and is 16 years old. If they are found or spotted please contact the police.

Bob was only 18 and he was a senior in high school. He was only stabbed once and it was fatal. He was murdered by the fountain in Central Park and he was dead in a matter of seconds.

Bob’s parents claimed “Bob would never try to hurt anyone. He was a sweet boy. He has so many friends and everybody liked him. He had good grades and everything. I just don’t understand where he went wrong I just wish he weren’t dead.”

Bob will be missed by many friends and family. Curtis and Cade they will go to court when found.

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Horoscope for Today Clara Hall, Grade 8

Things are looking very interesting for you right now. Expect to be very surprised soon. But don’t get too anxious because you don’t want to make people uncomfortable around you.

The great part is you will discover something you have been curious about for awhile now. Right now you feel calm and relaxed but that will end soon because of a new gift heading your way. Look for other areas of your life to try something new.

Try to become social, since there is someone out there who is seeking your friendship. Avoid being lazy, go introduce yourself to new people, and go have fun, as your day will be extra exciting today.

To improve your social life, try being around new people. Money will be a strong urge to spend today, buy yourself a little treat but don’t go crazy. Finally, be sure to spend quality time with your family as much as you can, since you don’t see them as much as you wish to. A lot can happen unexpectedly!

Horoscope for Today Aia Davis, Grade 8

Things are looking creepy for you right now. Expect to be bumped while you are shopping. But don’t get too frightened because you don’t want to forget your shopping list. The great part is that you might receive a coupon in the mail. Right now you feel happy, but soon that will end because of new ads on TV. Look for other areas of your life to expand socially. Try to be more crazy since there is someone out there who wants you to be more sincere. Avoid shopping carts, bananas and watching TV. Companies will be extra rude today. To improve your social life try letting your little sister do your make up. Money will be running out due to your love of bananas. Finally be sure to never pet homeless dogs as much as you can since they might eat your other pets.

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Horoscope Tal Preston, Grade 8

Things are really looking good for you right now. Expect to be clotheslined today.

But don’t get too excited because you will get scared by a clown .The great part is that

you will spend your life drinking booze. Right now you feel like Brad Pitt, but that will

end soon because of a new life. Look for others areas of your life to change. Try to

become greater, since there is someone out there who hates you. Avoid cakes, singers,

and Lara, as popcorn will be extra scary today. To improve your social life, try to go to a

panic room. Money will be good for you due to your goodness. Finally, be sure to hide as

much as you can, since Barney will find you unexpectedly.

Rachel Crossfield, Grade 9

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Dear Mom and Dad,

I have safely arrived in North America and I now live in the colony of Upper Canada. I was a potato farmer back in Ireland so when the potatoes got blight, I had no food. I had to leave Ireland because our landlord sent me away. He doesn’t want to deal with all the starving people. This wouldn’t be happening if it wasn’t for the potato famine! We left Ireland from the harbor in a ship designed for cargo. The ship was not made for passengers so the journey was terrible. We didn’t have enough food or fresh water. Disease spread quickly and many people died of typhus along the way. We reached Canada with many less passengers then we started with. Our ship had to stop at the quarantine station called Gross Ile because some of the passengers were still sick. Gross Ile was overcrowded and more people died there. We have now been allowed to leave Gross Ile and live in Upper Canada. I am very thankful to still be alive.

Sincerely, Amy

Amy Heise, Grade 7

Dear Mother and Father,

I have finally gotten though Grosse Ille into Lower Canada after a hellish journey on the ship to Canada. I found out other people called these ships "coffin ships" as so many people died on the way to Canada. After I left from the port I knew this journey would be very hard, as there were so many sick people that I was worried that I would catch cholera! Also there were many hardships like no food, barely any fresh water, while the ship's captain lives like a king compared to us. You may be wondering why I left in the first place, Mother. Well I left to find new jobs in Canada after the industrial revolution and I had heard from our neighbors in Ireland that there was a blight going around, a potato blight. That, and some of the people I talked to said their land lords forced them off their land. Well, at least after we had left port we didn't stop anywhere until we got to Grosse Ille. My time on Grosse Ille was the worst time of my life, with people dying all around me from sickness. We had to put them in huge piles and burn their bodies... That was the saddest time of my life... Well, I'm in Canada now and I'm on my way to a new life even though it’s hard to start in a new country with nothing but the clothes on your back. I'm slated for a piece of land in Upper Canada, I will begin again there...

Love, Your son

Penn Poutanane, Grade 7

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Dear Mother and Father,

My journey to Canada was hard and miserable, people were sick by cholera others were thrown off the ship and fed to the sharks. Inside the boat there was not much space, 5 feet tall. Beds we had to share with others. There was not much clean water. The food was good. I had potatoes and salted pork. After about 9 weeks, we stopped at this island called Grosse lle. Everyone that was alive had to go through quarantine. I was there for about 5 weeks. Most people died, doctors were dying. Then we went off to Quebec City. Some people were invited in to live with them. Some men were forced to go to war. Some of the kids, mothers, and fathers were dead. They were adopted by French families and they were able the keep their Irish names.

Sincerely, Kemarr

Kemarr Bishop, Grade 7

Dear Mom and Dad in Ireland!

Dear Mother and Father, I'm on my way to Canada! We left Ireland because of a disease that was going around. It was called the potato famine the potatoes were getting all black because of the disease. Potatoes were all we eat around here. Now we basically can't eat. I'm starving and I can’t wait to go and get some real food. People are also leaving because of the industrial revolution. There are way too many factories in Ireland. I felt that we were all becoming cold and starving. So one day someone from Canada told us to come all over to start a new life in Canada. The man was well dressed and I couldn't say no. I wanted to go and start up a new life.

So the day finally came. I was starting to get on the ships. The ships were crammed and they were not meant for people. I have never seen so many people on the ship. There was about 1 million people stuffed in little bunk beds that some people had to share, even me. The weather was horrible. There were white caps and it was raining. I had to share a bunk bed with a sick old lady. We stopped all of a sudden, I didn't know what we were doing but then I saw people getting off the ship people were seeing if they were sick. They called it quarantine. So if people were sick they held them back till they were better. Then finally we reached Canada. It is amazing there's lots of jobs and food we can speak our own language we each got our own strip of land in another land and our own house. This is a way better life then it is in Ireland. Bye for now.

Tori

Annette Berry, Grade 7

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November 1845

Dear Parents,

I just got to Canada. I was in quarantine for three days to check if I had cholera or typhus.

The ships we were on were horrible. There was crap everywhere, rats infested the bottom of the boat, no fresh air or water, dead people on the ground or dying. I called the ships coffin ships because so many people died on the boats. I stopped in Grosse Ile and was checked for typhus and cholera. I am now in Québec City trying to fit in with all of the habitants of this fine colony. Tomorrow I am going to start to get a farm going. I am going to try to find a wife and have a family. I left because life was too hard in Ireland because of the famine and there were no jobs because of the industrial revolution.

On the boat you just sat there, went to the bathroom, and slept. There was nothing to do or to play with. I have always wanted to be a sailor but of course I need to be in the military to be a sailor. I want to be a farmer though so I will now start a farm.

PS: I love you two and hope to see you again.

Markus Findlay

Keegan Janzen, Grade 7

31 May, 1912

Dear Family,

My journey on the unsinkable ship so far has gone quite well other then the treatment we get in third class apparently being in third class means others can treat you with the utmost disrespect. Right now I’m at my desk pondering in front of my gas lamp thinking what I’m going to do when I reach New York. I m really thrilled to start my new life in a big city.

I have yet to see the twinkly stars at night on the boat. I have just roamed the deck of the titanic to give detail of the journey and what I saw was baffling. The lights from the dining hall blared as the soothing music flowed through the air and the beauty of the stars seemed to dance to the music.

I have just finished a cigar on the bow of the ship and now righting with excitement I have just saw my first ice berg and they are magnificent they reflects the moons light with great beauty . These will be my last words to you until I right again I wish the best of luck to the family.

Love,

Henrick Crood

Lachlan Gordon, Grade 7

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Marguerite d’Youville

Olivia Leaver, Grade 7

Marguerite d’youville was born in New France. She was born on October 15 1701 and she died December 23 1771. She married a noble man in Montreal. She had six children; four of them died in infancy. After her husband died, her friends pledged their lives to helping the poor and sick.

They became well known for their work. In 1747, the government of New France asked Marguerite to take over the hospital in Montreal which had fallen into despair and debt. Marguerite employed the poor and sick in the hospital (those who were strong enough) to sew clothing, make sails and tents, make candles, tobacco, and bake bread. She started a fundraiser, and they became known as the grey nun. The grey nuns got many hospitals across Canada, including in Edmonton, Calgary, St. Paul, and Lethbridge.

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Excerpt from: Wilma

Sarah Reeder, Grade 8

“BAM” “BOOM” “CRASH” That’s all you could hear for about a minute and then they could see it. The night was dark, windy, and rainy. You could only see through the light of the moon. The mast had fallen over. On the deck, a crew member was trapped under some rigging. The kids and their father went running out to see him. “Oh no!!!” yelled Hayley as the rain pelted down on them. “This is really not good,” Colton thought. “OK, first let’s calm down. Second, Hayley go get your mom. I haven’t seen her in a long time and I’m worried about her. And besides, she will know what to do better than me. I will stay here,” David declared. “OK, go!” David took the unconscious crew member inside to get warm and treat him. Hayley got her mom while Colton scanned the barren sea for any sign of rescue.

Excerpt from: Love’s First Touch

Kennedy Huntley, Grade 9

Tim jumped out from around the corner of the stairs with a sword he found on the wall at the bottom. Swinging it at the knight, he just hoped he would hit the knight hard enough to knock him off his feet, and then he’d be able to take control. SLICE! The knight had hit Tim in the face with the sword. Blood flooded down his face like a river leaving puddles of blood on the stairs. Raging from the pain in his face, Tim charged the knight knocking him down at the knees. THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP. The men slip down the stairs with Tim on top. When they reached the bottom, the knight was knocked out. Tim ran up the stairs and pushed on the door. He pushed harder and harder. It wouldn’t open! Tim slid down the door and sat on the top of the stairs looking down at the knight lying on the floor knocked out. Shaking on the floor full of fear and worry, Kayla knew she had to go and find Tim and maybe help him. Slowly pulling herself onto her feet, she stood up and started for the door. She was running down the hall looking for any clues that would help her to find her Prince. She saw all tables knocked over and started to follow them. The wind whipped her hair out of her face, twirling it like mini tornadoes. She had to find Tim quickly.

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Ender’s Game Character Journal

Payton Budd, Grade 9

Today my brother was taken away to battle school. I am going to miss him a

considerable amount. I wonder how Mother and Father are coping with Ender leaving. I’m sure Peter is relieved, I wonder if Ender was still here if Peter would have actually killed him. Ender will probably do exceptionally well in battle school, I hope he doesn't get teased like he did at school because he is a third. Commander Graff seemed a little odd to me, like he is hiding something from Ender or planning something deep. What did Graff tell Ender in the room? Why do they want him now? Hopefully Ender finds out soon. I’m kind of surprised that Ender agreed to go to battle school even though it meant leaving all of his family behind.

Peter might actually be more pleasant now that Ender is gone...might be. That day when I had to stick up for Ender , that was extremely intense. I really doubt though that Peter would have legitimately killed Ender but I just needed to stand up for the both of us. Maybe my threat towards Peter wasn't the most realistic thing in the world but I think it sufficed. I love having Ender as a brother but it does get tiring always having to stand up for him just because he is a third. I don't really mind being a second child in a family of three. The reason I enjoy having Ender as a sibling and being a middle child is because Ender is super sweet and we look out of each other. Even though my brother Ender is a third, I don’t get teased or bothered by other children because of that. If having a third child is so out of the ordinary, then why did mother and father do that? Maybe Graff has something to do with it.

Peter still looks down on both me and Ender, probably because Peter is jealous of Ender. Then Peter is mean to me just because I associate with Ender. Ender is a mix of mine and Peter’s best traits, so to speak Ender is the best soldier. That’s why Peter dislikes Ender so much and is always hassling Ender. Peter is too much of a sociopath to be recruited into the IF, he would go mad with the power they give him. Ender definitely has the potential to be a superb army soldier. He is smart, cunning, strong, and will do what it takes to solve a problem. That said, Ender still has lots to learn.

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Excerpt from: Ender’s Game Journal

Anthoney Stan, Grade 9

Now his guardian angels aren't watching over him, I can bring pain to the little bugger and I can say and do anything to him. I smiled and clapped my hands together and told the little knave that we are going to play buggers and astronauts but then Valentine said she will call Mom and Dad. They are never in so I just said “call away.” Ender then said he'll play. So Ender was going to be the bugger and I was going to be the astronaut. Then Valentine wouldn't stay out of our game. Valentine just told me to let Ender be the astronaut, but I didn't want that. I had just ignored what she said and I told Ender to come downstairs to pick his weapon. We grabbed the weapons and I gave him the bugger mask too. I beat Ender really badly and told him that I was going to kill him. It was really fun for me to torture the little twit like that. I apologized to Ender later that night after he had gone to bed he was fast asleep. I felt really badly about what I had done. Valentine made me feel guilty about everything that had happened. I am not a monster like she thinks. I do care, but I would never want Ender to know that I do really care about him. I am not a bad person, I just don’t want to be lose my power over Ender and Valentine. I want them to think I’m better and stronger so they will never hurt me. I just don’t want a better little brother, I don't want a third. I feel really badly when I torture Ender and Valentine or when I tell them that I want to kill them, it’s just an act.

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Letter to Colonel Graff, from Ender’s Game

Mitch Tuckwood, Grade 9

Dear Colonel Graff:

I am Bonzo Madrid, the commander of Salamander Army. I am writing you this letter to ask if it would be alright for army commanders like me to use their hook during extra practice. Using hooks during extra practice would benefit army commanders because it would allow greater mobility, establish better control over troops and ultimately help us win the war against the buggers.

In extra practices it is extremely hard for commanders to train their troops when they have little to no control on where they’re going. If we could use our hooks we could better focus on combat training as opposed to focusing on where we’re going. In the event that you do grant us the option to use our hooks, I think that the quality of the training our troops receive would skyrocket.

It won’t be much hassle to you and it would greatly benefit us army commanders. Please reply to this letter when possible to let me know if the changes are made. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Bonzo Madrid

Carson Brennan, Grade 11

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The Landlady Journal Entry

Jessica Lorne, Grade 9

Dear Journal,

I had a strong feeling as I was doing my daily lookings out of my spy hole, that a new

‘guest’ would come join me, and my little friends. Turns out I was right, Mr. Billy

Weaver was the name, he’s a handsome young gentleman, not a single blemish on his

face. He seemed a bit unsure if he wanted to come in or not, he said he was going down

to the Bell and Dragon, but he was such a good victim, that I couldn’t bear to let him go.

I finally pursued him to stay, with my incredibly low prices.

Mr. Perkins Mr. Weaver is currently up in his room unpacking, so while he’s doing his

small errands, I was preparing tea for both of us, but I made my pestiferous tea, just for

Mr. Weaver. I hear him coming down the stairs, perfect. I’ll write again when I’m

finished.

The day has come to an end; Mr. Wilkins Mr. Weaver is all tucked in bed, forever.

When I gave him the ‘tea’, I invited him to sit down next to me; he seemed a bit uneasy

when I asked him quite politely. I scooted over and patted the empty spot; he finally

gave in and took a seat. He couldn’t help but look at my animals I had on display, he

look fascinated when he found out I stuffed them myself.

When he was almost done his tea, it was quite obvious that the tea was starting to kick

in; he started to feel nauseous, freezing up, he also had a very petrified look on his face, I

wonder why.

He was trying to escape me after he realized that something was going on; so I started to

help him up stairs, since he could barely walk straight on his own. Knowing this would

happen, I sealed the window shut so he couldn’t escape, and just as I thought, he tried to

flee from the window.

I can’t wait for my next ‘guest’ to come, he will fit in just fine.

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Dear Journal,

I met this young man today. I convinced him to stay with us tonight. I thought

he was young, maybe seventeen, but I can never tell. People like that are hard to come

by these days. They all go to that pub and steal my business. I was beginning to think

that no one was going to come to my house. I need him to be with us because Mr.

Temple and Mr. Mullond are getting lonely again. That dog I got them doesn’t even go

up and see them anymore. And the parrot just ignores them.

The animals won’t eat so I think that they are starving themselves again. I made

the room as comfortable as I could for Mr. Wilkins, I mean Mr. Weaver, but he seemed a

little uncertain about me. I made his bed, and put a hot water bottle between the sheets.

I even charged him 5 and 6 pence with an egg, much cheaper than the Bell and Dragon.

I don’t know why he was uncertain but he didn’t feel that way for very long. He is going

to stay with us forever. He signed my guest book a few hours ago so I won’t forget his

name. He said that he wanted to meet Mr. Temple and Mr. Mullond. I told him he will

soon.

I am only doing this because my two sons Jerry and Karen went off and died in a

war. I started to get lonely so I created my stuffed friends to stay with me. I put cyanine

in the tea so I could stuff him and he could stay with me forever. He started getting

confused and his body started to stiffen up. He’ll finally be able to meet them and spend

for ever with them. I was wondering what pose to put him in maybe eating or sleeping

like Mr. Temple. Anyway I must go and stuff Mr. Weaver. Good night.

Landlady Garrett Smith, Grade 9

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The Landlady Journal By Robyn Brodylo, Grade 9

Dear Journal,

I had the dream again; a new guest is coming to stay with us. I must put up the sign soon

so we don’t miss him, the other guests are asking for a new friend to join them and I

can’t say no to those faces.

I was preparing the guest room for the next guest when I remembered I forgot to put the

sign up and the hour was almost upon us. I stalked over to the spy hole, waiting,

watching for the man to appear, and then I saw him, staring at the bed and breakfast

sign in my window. He was about to leave when he suddenly turned around and started

walking up my steps, and rang the doorbell. Opened the door briskly, so excited to greet

our newest guest. He entered in and inquired about the sign I told him the prices were

very reasonable so he agreed and I walked him up the stairs to his room. I stopped at the

second last stair to check him over, just to make sure he’s right for my collection as I

always do, he gave me an odd look but it didn’t bother me. I waited a couple minutes for

him to get settled in his room before I requested him to sign the guest book on the living

room just so he wouldn’t get too uneasy, but it gave me some time to make my special

tea.

I was in the kitchen when I heard footsteps coming down the stairs so I tried to hurry. I

came out of the kitchen and I found our guest Billy, signing the guest book like I asked

him. I brought in the tea and called him to sit next to me on the couch. He sat down next

to me with a tea cup in his hand about to sip when he suddenly started commenting on

the names in the guest book on the piano. He wouldn’t shut up about those names so I

would have to keep turning his theory’s down.

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Excerpt from: Tell Tale Heart

Nick Larmour, Grade 8

Knock, knock, knock! Someone was at the door. The protagonist opened it and

revealed two cops. He asked why they were there and they said neighbours had heard a

scream and that there was suspicion of foul play. The protagonist showed them the

whole building and the undisturbed treasures of the old man. They began to question

him and asked why the old man wasn’t there and he simply replied that he was

traveling. The police continued to talk about the probabilities and chances which made

the cocky protagonist more nervous than ever. He thought they were mocking his

insanity because he could hear the old man’s heartbeat, but really it was his own. He

tried to cover up the sound by screaming, swearing and throwing his chair around.

Unable to bear anymore, he confesses, telling them to rip up the floorboards and that

was where the body would be found.

Excerpt from: Tell Tale Heart

Tyler Robertson, Grade 8

From the start you can tell that the main character is crazy. Gone mad from his

old friend’s eye, he insanely shines a light on it. When he finally had killed his friend,

cut him up and hid the parts under the floor, he finally calms down. While giving a tour

of the house he was at peace knowing the eye didn’t exist anymore. Then he started to

hear a low pitch noise, the noise became a beat, the beat became the beat of a heart. The

madman didn’t know why or where it came from. He snapped, he couldn’t bear it

anymore, he went totally insane. “”I foamed - I raved - !” The beating of a dead man’s

heart forced him to realize how crazy he was.

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The Ghost of Lemmings

Phoenix Shomody, Grade 7

There was a young boy named Timmy who had to leave school because it was a half day. As he was walking home a bully named Billy was secretly stalking him and as Timmy approached the St. Lemmings Bridge, Billy popped out of the bushes and attacked Timmy. But Timmy was quick and ran as fast as he could. When he was running he unfortunately tripped and fell. He turned around. Billy was slowly walking toward him. As that happened, they both heard footsteps. Billy looked behind him and there stood 100 lemmings at march. They were charging at Billy with brutal force. They were swift and snuck under Billy and lifted him up. They tossed him off the bridge with no mercy. And all this happened as Timmy watched Billy fall to his demise. The lemmings jumped off the bride but vanished in mid-air and Timmy was forever grateful to the brave lemmings.

Untitled

Quintin Millions, Grade 8

My dad was a great basketball player; he was the captain of every team he played

on and played for a college team to. But his favorite sport is volleyball, he could play it all day and all night. He was also the captain of every team he played on and, he also was also the captain of the some college team too. He led his team to great success. He loved basketball and volleyball but when I ask him if he could play basketball professionally or volleyball professionally what would it be? He always says that he would get more money playing basketball but he would rather play volleyball because he had more fun. If I could give him any gift I would give him a new volleyball and net so that he can play in the backyard all that he wanted with the kids. I would get it specially made in U.S.A. and give it to me on his birthday and have the plane drop them from the sky! The big reason why is that he works all day and when he gets home it seems like he doesn’t stop working. When he gets home he either cleans the house, or makes dinner. My dad is great at basketball but he LOVES volleyball and he works really hard and, I think that he really should have some time in a day to have fun. My dad bends over backwards for me so I think that I should give him something to him.

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The Lost Island

Dylan Graham, Grade 9

Crash! Crash! The waves hit the boat like a thousand blacksmiths swinging their mighty hammers down on a new project of theirs. Mclovin could hear the shouts and cries of men running around on the top deck shouting orders and completing tasks to and from others. The hurricane was insane. How would all of the 600 men get to Asia to fight in the Great War? Mclovin dashed up to the top deck to see if he could help to settle the mighty iron monster they called a ship. CRACK!! It was almost too untrue to believe to the human eye. The hull of the ship had just snapped clean off of the rest of the ship. Slowly the ship started to turn head over heels as the front end of the vessel slowly started to submerge into the deep dark ocean. People everywhere were trying to jump into the quickly depleting life boats. As Mclovin got into one of the boats, there was a monstrous bang and a following snap as one of the black stained smoke stacks fell onto the front deck. Shrapnel went everywhere as the smoke stack shredded the deck with its weight. Mclovin let out a cry as a piece of metal flew through the air and smacked him right on the head. All he could remember was falling and then total darkness. “Wake up!” yelled a man. As Mclovin slowly came to, he realized there was a strange man staring down at him. “Who, who are you?” Mclovin asked wearily. “James, James Johnson. I’m the head of the deck crew,” James said. “You took a nasty hit on the head, you’re lucky I picked you out of the water or else you would have been fish food. “Thanks,” replied Mclovin while rubbing his hand over the quickly forming bump on his head. Mclovin took a second to look over this new companion of his. James was tall, middle aged and built like an ox. He was the commanding type. You could tell that he didn’t act kindly to people who would talk back. In all, Mclovin respected the guy. Mclovin looked around at his surroundings, wide open, blue, ocean. The two were in a small life boat with a leak in it which James had already stuffed a piece of cloth into. “What shall we do, we don’t have any fresh water or food. We will starve!” said Mclovin with a worried look on his face. “Paddle north, there should be a group of islands where we can get food and shelter until we get rescued,” said James. As soon as he said that, Mclovin started paddling

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northward with James. Hours went by and still no luck with finding an island. Mclovin could feel every muscle in his body cramping up from paddling for so long. “I can’t do it anymore,” yelled Mclovin as he slouched on the side of the old worn lifeboat. “We might not have to,” said James with a grin starting on his lips. “Look! An island.” Sure enough as Mclovin sat up there in the distance was an Island. As the boat neared they could make out tropical trees everywhere. It was a small island but all the tropical trees would mean good food and shelter, maybe even people. When Mclovin and James finally made it to shore, they grabbed their boat and pulled it up so the oncoming tide couldn’t get at it. The first thing they did was call for help. Maybe the island could have people living on it. The island was full of fruit bearing trees. That night James and Mclovin had a feast of coconut and fried lizard. As morning came, Mclovin woke to find that James was nowhere to be seen. Mclovin just figured that James had probably gone to get some supplies for their soon to be shelter. So far all they had was the boat that they had turned over and a few palm leaves to fill in the gaps that wind could get through. Hours passed and there was still no sign of James. Mclovin started to get worried. “James! James!” Mclovin yelled out, but still no response. After waiting for a little while and calling his name, Mclovin decided that he needed to go and find out where his new friend has disappeared. The jungle was thick and very humid. Tropical birds squawked and created noise as Mclovin moved through the forest. SWISH!! Without even realizing it, Mclovin got flipped in the air and found himself hanging upside down from a tree with a rope tied around his ankle. As soon as that happened, five men jumped out of the trees and bushes brandishing deadly looking spears. One of the men yelled at Mclovin in some odd language. When they realized that Mclovin did not know the language they were speaking, they tied up his hands and started walking him into the forest. They went past rivers, through waterfalls until they came to a small tunnel. The tunnel was much too small for all of them to get through so they went through singly. The tunnel was dark except for a small light at the other end. The light hurt as the group of natives and Mclovin finally got to the end of the seemingly never ending tunnel. As Mclovin’s eyes finally adjusted to the sudden change of light he saw in front of him a massive village of people. The houses were all made of mud and palm leaves, there were people doing their laundry by a stream that flowed through the small town. What surprised him the most though was the massive statue of a man in the middle of the village. It was made from rocks, mud, twigs and much more. Surprisingly the statue was very detailed and actually an amazing piece of art. It probably was their god thought Mclovin. The native people who captured him brought him up to a hut bigger than the rest. A large man stepped out covered in animal furs and precious stones. The man who obviously was a great power in the tribe started taking to me in the strange language that the natives who captured me were saying. “I speak English,” said Mclovin. As soon as the man heard that he ran back into his hut and came out with another man. “Hello, I speak English,” said the new man. “My name is O.J.” The powerful looking native said something in the other language. “Why are you here?” translated O.J.

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“My ship got caught in a hurricane and me and this other man named James washed up on shore,” replied Mclovin. “James, we found a man named James,” said O.J. The chief and O.J. took Mclovin to a different hut. Inside they found James lying on a makeshift bed with people feeding him and a big smile on his face. As Mclovin walked in, James jumped to his feet. “Mclovin! They got you to huh?” said James. “Yup they did,” replied Mclovin. “Don’t look so sad, these native people think I’m their god,” James had a wide grin on his face and pointed to the statue. Surprisingly the statue did kind of look like James. “We can’t stay here much longer,” O.J. suddenly said. “The volcano is about to erupt, you came at the wrong time,” Mclovin and James looked around. “I don’t see any volcano,” said James looking around. “That is it right over there,” point O.J. The mountain that Mclovin and James thought was actually the volcano. The chief started talking in the language of the natives. “The chief says that this volcano erupts every 100 years,” “the year of the volcano erupting is terrible. It means the gods are angry at the tribe,” translated O.J. All of a sudden the ground gave a great shake. “We do not have much time left,” said O.J. looking up at the volcano. “I might have a plan on how to safely get everyone off this island before the volcano erupts,” said Mclovin. “We could make a bunch of rafts and get off using those,” O.J. started talking to the chief about what Mclovin had proposed. When the chief and O.J. had finished talking to each other, O.J. said “the chief likes this idea, he just wonders how we will be able to make enough boat in time before the volcano erupts,” “James and I already have a boat, we could probably fit you and the chief in with us,” said Mclovin “We can also help out the other villagers to make their boats,” “We shall start tomorrow,” said O.J. as he told the chief what Mclovin said. “For now we will feed you and give you a place to sleep,” That night James and Mclovin went to bed with their bellies full but worry of how they will be able to help everyone. Everyone in the village was running around getting supplies and other things for the boats they were about to build. For the next two days the villagers and Mclovin and James worked on building the boats. Many more rumblings happened from the volcano. Finally when all of the boats were created for every native, the villagers got their possessions and extra food and got their boats ready. Suddenly the entire ground started shaking. A massive crack appeared on the ground and started to make its way up the volcano. People everywhere started to get onto their boats and push off into the water. James and Mclovin held their boat as the chief and O.J. got into it and then pushed off and hopped in. Book!! The noise was almost deafening. Rocks went everywhere and lava started to pour out of the top of the volcano. Women and children screamed at the sudden noise of the explosion. Lava poured onto the forest lighting everything it touched on fire. The villages watched sadly as their homes lit and got covered by lava. The many boats slowly floated away carrying the villagers who now were going out to find a new life.

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Tropical Lies Tyler West, Grade 9

Flopping through the sky my plane was like a ragdoll being thrown across my little sister’s room, in one of her temper tantrums. Clothes were showering me with an array of colors, for one second I wasn’t thinking I was going to die but of a colorful shower which was clothes. I heard a big CA-BOOM! Then I blacked out, waking up in a strange place confused and hurt. I felt water dripping on my forehead, and then I realized a very not water like smell. It was gasoline. I jolted out of the airplane and saw four people standing there, a fat Mexican with a mustache and a poncho wearing a name tag that said Fillipio, a short anorexic looking women, with crazy hair and a black face from the burning plane, and my best friend Steven with a bowl cut from his mom and a yellow and black stripped t-shirt.

As we started heading out into the jungle I found out the woman’s name was Christina. I told them we had to find fresh water, in my best army General voice. We walked hours and hours to find this precious water that will quench our thirst. Chanting like Tarzan when we finally found the water, we jumped in like a kid going on his first rollercoaster. Just as I was about to take a big gulp of water I heard a voice say, “Don’t drink that water!” A mist of water came out of my mouth. A voice told me if I would have drunk that water without boiling it, parasites would have eaten me inside out.

The man’s name was Roberto. He asked us who we were and why we were there, so we told him why and he invited use to his hut. The hut was huge with a fire pit and beds and benches. Crazy but true he had hundreds of robots that were his slaves. He said he had these because he was from the future. In the morning we woke up to all the robots destroying the hut. Roberto said that they were angry at him for using them as slaves and will kill us all.

We all got huge rocks and started bashing their heads in. Out of nowhere we started feeling a weird sensation on our skin and I was shot back into my bed. And that class is why I didn’t hand in my home work.

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How Colour Came to the Earth

Georgia Needham, Grade 8

Apollo angrily shifted in his blazing throne, consumed by rage. Fury burned in the god’s soft, golden gaze as his attentions locked on the cold, stone grey earth. Endlessly Apollo flicked his curly golden hair aside in agitation, his mighty hands mercilessly clutching at the arms of his golden throne, making the valuable mineral howl in sudden protest. The cause of this horrific exploit of violence was thought; rather harshly did Apollo pummel and batter himself with the mere thought that the earth did not look complete; a single piece missing from the vast puzzle. Sorrow suddenly tugged fiercely at his heartstrings as he gazed down from Olympus at the once vibrantly colorful and lustrous earth, now haggard, grey and lifeless. I now choose to inform you that Color; (though it still exists in Olympus), one of the few things that was held dear to the gods, had unfortunately ceased to exist on earth, for it was many millennia ago when the seemingly immortal color was washed away by the tears of human grief and pain. Rather reluctantly did Apollo arouse himself from his seemingly mad thoughts and frustrations to go harness his feral marble white steeds to his glorious golden chariot and readily draw the untouched and magnificent sun across the crisp blue sky. The sun god steadily slipped from his throne until his feet felt the cold, thick marble floor of the splendid throne room of Olympus and quietly shuffled towards the stables, softly muttering to himself all the way there. One of the many things Apollo refused to take notice to while he was toying with the maddening thought of no color existing on earth, was the deathly silent figure shrouded in the liquid blackness of the shadows..... Ares ruefully smiled to himself. For hours he had been waiting for this moment, hidden deep in the shadows of the throne room. He sunk low to the ground, waiting, patiently waiting, as the hours slowly dragged by. Hour after dreadful hour, until finally Apollo’s meaningless murmurings seeped out of the room and vanished, following their rueful master. Slowly the devious smirk melted away to reveal a monstrous grin. For was it not he, the all powerful tyrant Ares, who cleverly placed all of the ghastly colors of paint that ever seemed to exist, in precisely all the right places on Apollo’s chariot? Was it not he, the one who planned for the paints to spill over Apollo and forever mute his vibrant ways? Was it not he, who would forever humiliate Apollo for all eternity?! Ares let out a

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long drawling chuckle; he would finally have his revenge within reach of his already tremendous grasp. His strong hand softly touched the crimson blade at his side. Apollo was in deep debt for the price he was not willing to pay, the price of having more power than the god of hatred. Hastily Apollo stepped softly into his golden chariot, oblivious to the forever staining paints so skillfully placed, not even a god’s sharp eye could tell they were there. The sun’s terrifying brilliance made the servants at Apollo’s side squeamish. Expectant, Apollo sharply turned his head as not to be blinded as the sun increased in its brilliance and heat. The sun’s golden rays lightly brushed the god’s shoulders affectionately from behind as he gathered up the reins. Anxious to start moving, Apollo’s horses impatiently pawed the earth. Apollo saw their plea and loosened his grip on the reins. The chariot lurched forward, somewhat resembling a fiery tail of a comet as they streaked through the huge golden gates, protecting Olympus from all who were evil, foul and wished to do the gods harm. As the sun and chariot climbed higher and higher into the sky, the unexpected weight from the buckets of paint caused the horses to become ever more reckless and uncontrollable. Finally, the horses became so wild that Apollo could bear it no longer. With a jerk and a pull the reins slipped through the gods raw and worn hands, tearing at the skin. Apollo cringed with pain, barely able to reach out and clutch the front of the chariot with his bare hands just before the chariot violently swerved to the right, knocking the cans of paint out of position. Thankfully they did not make contact with Apollo as Ares had planned, but as fate would have it were sent crashing down to earth at dreadful speeds. When Apollo regained control of his steeds, he was powerless to do anything. All he could do was wait for what was to come... The cans of paint plummeted to the earth at unspeakable speeds, down and down they went, crashing to the earth like miniature meteors. The force in which the cans landed in the earth was so great that the heavy clay pots split open from the force. Silently, all the colors that you could ever imagine seeped into the ground and into the trunks of trees, leaves, flowers, animals, grass and many other objects that I do not have the room to list. These colors steadily spread throughout the world, claiming the object in which its color was to remain in for all eternity. Apollo was so proud of the lavish color that he begged Zeus, (the mighty leader of the gods) to teach all humanity in how to use color in a new way. Zeus agreed, for he knew that if he dared to decline he might break his son’s heart into so many pieces that it could never be put together again. On the brink of bursting with joy, Apollo named this new skill “painting” in which would forever be a lasting joy for humanity, as long as it existed.

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Why Do Leaves Change Colour? A Story Based on Greek Mythology

Amy Major, Grade 8

It was turning into fall, and the air was cold. Gaea sat on a stone bench in the garden. She stared at the trees. Frowning she wondered why the leaves always stay green. It clashed with grass, and the rest of the scenery. She sighed, then closed her eyes and imagined the leaves as orange and red colors. They fell from the trees, like feathers. She pictured herself running through a pile of leafs, laughing and singing. Then she opened her eyes, and got an idea. She could go see Zeus and ask him if she could change the colors of the leaves. Gaea quickly got up from where she was sitting and ran to Zeus’ palace. Zeus sat in a tall, golden throne, next to Hera. They were talking and sharing a plate of green grapes. Gaea cleared her throat and looked at Zeus. He looked at Gaea then back to Hera. Hera got up and walked out of the room.

“Gaea, what is it?” Zeus’ deep voice roared through the room. “Well, I was wondering why the leaves never change color. They always stay green, and it clashes with the scenery. So I was thinking that maybe the leaves could change to orange and red in the fall.” Gaea asked in a sweet, soft voice. Zeus put two fingers up to his chin. “Who would change them?” He rose on eyebrow, and looked at Gaea.

“I can.” Gaea smiled and pointed her thumb towards herself. “Well what color would the leaves be in winter?” Zeus asked. Gaea thought for a moment, and then said, “The leaves would fall to the ground

and the trees would then be bare.” Zeus thought for a moment, trying to picture it in his mind. “I suppose, but wont

the trees look ugly bare?” “Winter is ugly, so it will look good.” Gaea tilted her head to one side and

grinned. Zeus crossed his arms, sitting up straight. “Fine, go ahead. But if you forget to change the leaves you will be punished.”

Gaea shook her head, and left the room. She ran out of Zeus’ palace and back to the garden. She was sure how to change them at first, but then got an idea to paint them. Carefully and slowly Gaea painted the leaves one by one. It took days and days to paint them, but since she was the goddess of nature she had moved quite quickly. After a month, Gaea was done. But it was already turning into winter.

Gaea started to get to work on plucking the leaves off the trees. They turned brown and crumbly, once they died. Gaea had finished in another month. Spring had come, and she brought the trees back to health, so that the leaves would sprout from the branches. All the leaves were green again. Once the summer was nearly over, Gaea decided to get to work earlier so that she’d have a week off of the leaves.

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Why the Waves Crash Liam Cronin, Grade 8

Waves used to be calm and never dangerous until a man named Glorging was born in

the bottom of a cave. Because of his stupid name everyone and nobody liked him

constantly teasing and neglecting him of any kindness and messing up his mind. One

day Glorging killed many peasants killing tons of people and destroying entire towns.

But he was scared for he thought the gods would mess him up for this and decided to

pile them all in the ocean surrounding Greece. Weeks after he came down and noticed

that the waves were different they turned white were the bodies had been piled and he

knew then that the gods had found and instead of seeing their wrath dived into the

water drowning himself. To this day the waves crash where the bodies were buried

under the sand by the thousands.

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The Interrogation

JT Rehill, Grade 9

Click, Click, Click. The zorg interrogator gets closer. My hands are strapped down to the chair and beads of sweat drip down from my forehead. My name is Adam Jack. I am the Colonel of the 74th space armada, of the new imperial state of Texas. My ship the Space BUS 556 was shot down in the mighty space battle above the skies of planet x51. I was captured on the planet’s surface by the natives, they are commonly called zorgs. The zorgs are large fat grotesque creatures; they wear rags and live in the hot humid caves of planet x51. I am now being held against my will, in a cold room getting ready to be questioned. The zorg interrogator asks me, “Where are the Equations?”

I spit back, “I have no idea what you are talking about!”

The zorg looks at me with its gigantic red eyes, with slime dripping from its lips. I lift my head and ask it, “Why do you ask, what you already know?”

The zorg slams its huge fists down into the metal table and screams, “I don’t do this for my benefit!”

The spit sprays my face it smells distinctly like pineapple. The zorg pulls my arms free from the straps that bind me to the chair, with its large ugly scaly hands. The zorg opens a door and shoves me forward into a dark hallway. It takes a second for my eyes to adjust to the dark lighting but when my eyes adjust I see my men in other rooms strapped to the chairs being abuse with complex equations. All my men look very distant, their eyes seem to have no life left in them. Seeing my men like this it fills me with rage and frustration because I can’t save them now.

A large door stands before me now and I make out a letter, written on the door the letter P. The zorg interrogator pushes it open and a horrible sight fills my vision. The zorg king stands before me with dripping bloody red lips, the skin is greasy with huge welts, and the eyes are large with a green slime that covers them. It threatens, “We are going to have to call your parents.”

I snap back in to reality, my name is Adam Jack, I am a fourth grader, and I live in the small town of Smallsvill, Manitoba. My parents are coming to pick me up because I called my teacher a, “Demonic child killing zorg.”

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Kindness to a Kid

Georgia Needham, Grade 8

I remember those days… so long ago, where white puffy clouds roamed the blue skies, with the blazing sun, beautiful in its gentle brilliance, and with the fields in full Luster, with one emerald green blade following another. I ran on the ripe grass with delicate baby feet, my mouth split into a wide, joyous grin. Letting out hysterical giggles as I quickened my pace… Life seemed so much happier then, with no homework to finish, no unit tests, and not having to worry how people thought of your appearance, absolutely no worries at all. But now I’m considered a “grown up” even though I’m only a innocent seven year old, with a mop of deep brown hair constantly dangling over my face (which is rather annoying), and a pair of sea blue eyes, endlessly darting this way and that. Now the one thing missing from this “grown up” stage is my parent’s sympathy, their love and worry for me. But it seemed no matter how hard I struggled and begged and whined, my parents got farther and more distant from me. When I tried to get their attention I always seemed to be struggling against an invisible wall that is pushing me further and further away from them. For example, when I felt dejected and in need of a big, comforting hug, I was told by my softhearted, loving mother “Aren’t you a little old for that now?” Or my gentle, caring father “I only did that when you where six.” Now instead of asking for a hug, I would spare myself the tears and scamper up the stairs in my family’s huge three story house and find comfort in my cozy little bedroom. There I would weep my sorrow away. One of the most frustrating things that ever existed in the whole entire planet is when I wanted to have some personal time with my mother. I would slyly tiptoe around the house looking for her in her usual haunts. When I finally did find her, I would smugly inquire if she would like to go on a little stroll, or go for a quick bike, or even have a little chat by the warm, cozy fireplace in the living room. But of the things she should have said, it was a “No, not now honey, I have too much work to do.” It was always the same answer. Always a no, never a yes, it felt like there was never any time for me anymore… The final blow to my carefree childhood was when I came down with a serious case of the swine flu. I felt a desperate need for some attention, just a simple hug would do, or even maybe something as little as kiss on a cheek? Or some sympathetic words before bed? But no, it was not to be, I spent a whole month in the children’s hospital, waiting, and waiting, for just one whisper of love, but it never came. I am now a proud, forty three year old mother of two, giving them as much love as their little heart’s desire. But one cannot simply throw away the past, those days still come back to haunt me, to reopen the scares of the past, I can’t help but remember those days, so long ago….

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The Change

JT Rehill, Grade 9

Friday Night 3 AM, World of Warcraft, hundreds of Mountain Dew cans, leaning tower of pizza boxes, and the third straight week indoors. My name is Eric and this is my apartment. I live alone on the University of Montreal campus.

The phone droned out of the darkness of the apartment. I could barely hear it over the noise of my character, Leroy Jenkins, thundering an exasperated battle cry as he charges the incoming Zorg army. It’s my best friend Jake calling about our assignment that’s due in 3 days for ELA. I do not pick up the phone mainly because he is going to ask me about my half of the assignment, or he is going to invite me to go skiing, biking, or rock climbing. So I just don’t answer.

Jake has been my best friend since grade 4. He is a well built 22 year old and has long flowing brown hair, green eyes and he is always tanned. In comparison with me he’s a monster, with my dirty blond hair, grey eyes, and short skinny pail body. Back in grade school we would always play outside and ride bikes in the small town of Okotoks, Alberta, but when we started middle school in Calgary everything changed. He was invited to parties, and went on dates, while I sat in the basement slaying dragons in my own little fantasy world.

I'm still sitting in my leather office chair, asleep. It’s about 1 in the afternoon with my head on my keyboard, when out of the darkness of my apartment the doorbell rings with a loud whistle. I sit up in a daze as it rings again; I stagger through the apartment until I get to the door. I don’t look to see who it is, yet I open the door anyways. With the force of a freight train my friend Jake launches me onto the dirty, dusty carpet. I pull myself up and stare at Jake as he rushes across the apartment and rips open the blinds, sun light rushes in, illuminating the dark corners of the place. Jake then turns to me and yells,” Its 2 o’clock in the afternoon and you look like you just got up!”

I yawn back,” I did.”

“Did you get any of my phone calls or texts?” he sighed.

“No.”

“Really?” he says questioningly as he pulls out his new iphone 6. He starts tapping the screen vigorously. Suddenly the Mario theme song explodes out of the left pocket of my leg.

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Jake goes on ranting, “You can’t keep living like a hermit inside your shell all the time. I tried inviting you to parties but all you want to do is sit in this place and play silly computer games. Have you even started work on our project because that’s now due tomorrow and my grade is riding on this one. Do not let me down!”

Jake walks out of the room without another word. I’m standing there in my pajamas my eyes wide in shock. Cold rushes through me as I realize I might completely lose my only friend. As I stand there I also realize I’m 22, failing university, I play games for weeks at a time and that are recommended for 15 year olds. I have never been to a bar or party at university either. Today I am being honest with myself, it’s time for change. The first thing to do is get rid of the games that are keeping me in my shell. I sprint to my office and log on to my computer. The screen flashes on and I am bombarded with the lights and color of games. I have a sudden urge to login and play but I fight the impulse and I right click, and then click DELETE.

All the work I have done over the last 10 years of my life is gone. It feels almost like a weight has been lifted off my skinny shoulders. The next thing to do is clean the apartment. I rush into the kitchen and start to clear a path to the sink. It’s like a mining excavation. After I’m done the disgusting dishes, I start shoveling pop cans and pizza boxes into garbage bags and take them down to the trash in the street in front of the building. On my way down I meet people I never knew before today. I walk back upstairs and I’m standing right where Jake drew the red line (metaphorically) and I thought to myself,” Thing are going to get better and I won’t let Jake down.”

I walk confidently in to my clean office and get to work on my half of the essay. I work for hours editing and rewriting. I ventured deep into the internet reading articles, and books on the information needed for the piece. I work long into the night. At the strike of 6 AM I finally pressed print. I put a pair of blue jeans and shaved my 5 o’clock shadow which had now grown into a forest of hair. After 20 minutes of grooming. I say to myself, “I look pretty classy.” I rush to ELA class at 7. When I enter the class Jake sees me from his seat and his face fills with bliss. I ran up to him and show him the essay.

“You actually did it!” exclaimed Jake

“Yeah.”

“You want to come to a party tonight?” Jake asks.

“Sure,” I say.

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Jojo the Apple Sauce Baby Ghost 

Ollie Petti, Grade 7

Once upon a time, 1000 years ago there was a ghost named Jojo but he was no ordinary ghost he was an apple sauce baby ghost meaning he was a ghost that would help you get apple sauce for your kid when you were out of apple sauce. All you would have to do was a single chant with a circle of 70 candles around you (not 71 but 70).

The chant was “ghostey maroastey smells like toasty.” However you had to chant it 5 times while spinning around in a circle with a wet towel wrapped around your head. There once was a time when Jojo helped a 2 year old, it was a terrible day.

Timmy, the baby was being baby sat by his old crotchety grandpa and they were out of apple sauce. But the crotchety old man knew the apple sauce chant, so he lit the candles, got the wet towel and started spinning and chanting. Then it happened the ghost came! The ghost asked if the old man wanted to get the apple sauce the man said yes (not knowing that the journey for the apple sauce took a day).

Right after the cranky man said yes Jojo took him on to his back and started walking to the farthest super market in the city. The worst part was the beginning of the journey that was 6 hours long it was snowing out and whenever a single flake of snow hit the grandpa it felt like a grenade full of razor blades blew up in his face but Jojo didn’t feel a thing.

The next 6 hours were a tiny bit better it was so hot out that the old man’s hair burnt off but then they got to the store and got the apple sauce. Then they got on their way back. Strangely everything was different instead of going through a scorching hot desert they walked through a poison thorn bush the poison only gave you a rash that lasts forever unless you rub an entire jar of apple sauce on it but the old man walked on not caring about his rashes considering he was already covered in rashes.

Then after the twelve hour poison bush walk he arrived home only to find the parents giving the baby apple sauce! Then the grandpa yelled as loud as he could “fiddly diddily ding dong CRAP” then the mom said “What? We just went out for a date and to get some apple sauce.”

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Happy Camper

Jasmine Mancuso, Grade 7

It was July. I went up by the creek camping for the weekend.

I woke up in total darkness. I sat up in my tent all alone. What I heard, you would never believe. Not one but two floating figures. Whispering ever so quietly. There voices shaky but still. Me, quiet as ever. Trying to pick out words that I knew and could hear.

It was day. I scurried up to the creek. I glanced at myself in the still lake. But what I saw you would never believe. Too floating figures glancing up at me. Their faces. Gone. I peered over my shoulder. No one there.

It was noon. I sat down on the grass. I picked up my book and started to read. But what I felt you would never believe. Floating figures flipping the pages for me. The wind of the pages blowing in my face. I look down. Then up. They were gone.

It was time to go, I was afraid. Afraid of whatever was lurking around in this creek. But what I smelled you would never believe. I smelled fire. I was alone by the creek. No one in sight. The fire was getting larger. It lit trees, bushes and grass. A forest fire!

I grabbed all of my belongings. And ran. Ran as fast as I possibly could. But I had realized that I wasn’t the one running. I looked down, not one but two floating figures carrying me on their shoulders. The feeling of flying, in a word astounding what I had taken in you would never believe. They plopped me on the ground. They blew out the entire forest fire.

People had told me great stories of two helpful ghosts who live in the area who had saved their lives. At first, doubt came over me, when I had first heard these stories. But then I realized. They had saved my life too!!

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Halloween Cassy Petropoulos, Grade 7

It was a sunny day at Jenny Elliot School. It was Monday, the day of boringness. It was second period but I got to the class room everyone was surrounding the computer not different much but I went to go look anyways. I saw a house being sold for $2.30. “Just two dollars?” I ask.

“Yea it’s weird. Me Conner and Clove are going to check it out on Halloween do you want to come.” Liz said. Well I didn’t know if I wanted to go with Conner maybe after school I would when I walked home.

“Ok class let’s get started!” the teacher said. “Today we were going to burn plastic.” We were going to do this for an example for how the dump works. And when we did, it smelled horrible!

But the day passed by and like I do every day I walked home from school I thought I’d go to the Lake View Village Candy Shop. When I went in there was people from my school everywhere and the shop looked different from when I go there were lots of selections of chocolate and candy. But there was just one thing that was a little weird the smell coming from the back.

It smelled familiar like something from the dump but I just can’t remember where I smelled it but it smelled horrible. Then a clown came up to me and gave me some chocolate. “It’s for free for the first time you have came in here” then the clown hoped away I was about to eat it in till someone just took it. I didn’t have time to look on who it was so I was about to take some more but then I realized the smell and how that guy took the chocolate bar away from me. So I just ran out of that candy shop. Who knows what could have been put in that bar.

So I went home without looking back. I feel so bad for the kids that bought it and ate it I hope something doesn’t happen to them. I went home and did my usual routine every night. My sister was going out to some party or something like that and my mom was at work so I was alone for a little while. I was looking on Instagram when I heard something knocking on my widow. I went to go check and outside the window I saw a shadowy figure but then I realized that it was Liz?

I opened my window and Liz yelled painfully,” Come on you have to help us.” And I was about to go though my window but I grabbed Liz’s hand she disappeared. I look confused at the spot that Liz disappeared in. “Come to the house for 2:30.” A whisper

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said. I was trying to remember where I heard that from. So I went down stairs and put my Converse on and started walking down the street. It felt like I couldn’t control myself but I kept walking down the street anyways. Then I stopped and I saw the house being sold for 2:30.

I was slowly walking towards the house without thinking. When I got closer to the door I saw a person with a colorful jacket. The person turned around slowly and it was clove looking sick.”What are you doing here?” I asked. Clove said nothing and was just standing blankly. She turned around and went inside. I ran to the door and went inside as well. But when I was inside she was gone. I started getting worried Liz now clove this wasn’t right.

I went further into the house and I smelled that smell from the candy store and everything musty and rotten it looked like someone was living in here. I heard someone screaming up stairs I ran up stairs and saw blood everywhere and bones and I think chocolate stains. And I think I saw Liz and clove lying there insides looked blown up cause I could see their rib cages. “Do you want some candy little girl!”

I turned around to see who it was and it was that clown again in the candy shop expects he was much bloodier than last time. “Have some candy little girl. There’s nothing to see here!” the clown said again then he handed me a piece of chocolate.

I stood there looking at him and then ran down stairs to the front door, but when I was coming out from the door I saw a familiar shadow on the other side of the street. It was that guy who took my chocolate bar at the candy store. It looked like he was waving to me to come to him. Well it’s better than going in the house again.

I got closer to him slowly and when I got to him he grabbed my hand and we ran farther and farther away from that deadly house. When we were safe from that house we stop and he finally took his hood off. I never saw him before. He seemed like he knew me. “Never speak of this to ANYONE.” He said then ran to the green space. I went home and I forgot everything that happened and I lived my life happy.

Stephanie Marston, Grade 12

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The Girl Who Ran Away Aneisha Gardiner, Grade 7

I still don’t understand what happened that day but I will tell you anyway. I ran as fast as I could, I didn’t stop I just kept going on. With tears in my eyes I ran though the forest, crying so hard that I not see where I was going. I was crying so much that I could not see the root that was sticking out of the ground and I tripped over it. I fell to the ground. I hit my head on a rock and I was feeling really dizzy. I looked at my arm and I could see blood coming out of it with a stick in it. It was hurting like crazy. I started to fall asleep, I was unconscious. I look at the sky and I said to myself, “What did I do?” I thought it was going to be the end of me. I thought I was just going to bleed to death right there and then be found by some hiker and then my mom and dad crying over my grave. But I wasn’t dead. I could feel someone touching my arm. I got so scared that I could not move. I finally opened my eyes and a gust of wind hit me. I felt so much better. I had forgotten about everything. There was girl who looked not that much older than me; she was putting a band aid on my arm. I finally asked her what she was doing and she said she was just helping me. She helped me to my feet and we started to walk. I ask her what her name was. She passed and then she said her name was Tsubuke. Tsubuke said it means a flower with no smell. We walked a little more and I thought I could here police sirens, and people talking. Was Tsubuke taking me back home? I wish I was home with my mom and dad. I wish I never ran away. We finally came to the edge of the forest. I could see my mom and dad with the police man facing the opposite way. I look at Tsubuke and she pointed at them and said, “Go to your family.” I gave her a big hug and ran to my family. My mom and dad gave me a big hug. I was going to go and say, “Thank you, Tsubuke,” I turned around but there was no one there. I asked the police if they saw a girl come with me out of the forest. But they just looked at me funny and went back to their cars. When I got back home I was questioning what I had seen that day. Who was the girl who had helped me? Was she a ghost? I went on my laptop and searched for “ghost story”, three stories come up. Two were about evil ghost or spirits. There was one that was about a girl who was like me and ran into the forest and had died there. But she only helps people that run away because she did not want what had happened to her happen to anyone else. I will never understand what had happened, but if she was not there I would have died.

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Monologue from SCREAM

Noah Kane, Grade 7

It’s nice to be in a loving and caring environment for once. The last few years have been hard, the other kids in my grade tease me and hate me, it’s all just a bad dream come true. So I thought you might want to know how hard it is for me. Sometimes I can’t even stay in a room for 2 minutes without being teased. The nasty things these kids call me are lizard skin, skinny, and once Todd threw me down the stairs. And in the principal’s office he said he tripped and was clumsy. Do you know? Do you see what I felt? The pain that has been carried through all those years? Well, welcome to my life! I get that every day. I'm constantly picked on. Now you may have a taste of the nasty things I have been through. How I put up with this, I don’t know, but I did. So that’s that, my life. On the first day of school this year we were asked to scream and when the teacher asked me, I let out all the bad things that have ever happened to me at school. The teacher said my scream was the best of all.

Stephanie Marston, Grade 12

My symbolic item in my life is a blanket from when I was born. It reminds me of my childhood where everything is free and you can do whatever you want, being fed and babied and put up with. I feel like those days were the good days. My blanket is a Pooh Bear blanket. It is very soft and suddenly for some reason my dog reminds me of my blanket which reminds me of my childhood which is not over yet so that means I love my dog oh so much.

Trevor Whight, Grade 7

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Insanity Kills

Dominic Petti, Grade 8

Once there was a man. A man who just wasn’t quite right. He thought he was sent

from Satan to kill people. His name was Lucas. He had dark brown hair that was always

a mess. For some reason he believed owls lived in his hair. His eyes were almond color

and he had a broken freckled nose that curved to the right hand side.

The first the time I saw Lucas he tried to kill me. He drew a knife close to my

throat and said, “Don’t worry it’ll all be over soon.” I was lucky that the police were

nearby or I would have been dead. They hauled him off to some insane asylum and as he

was being dragged he yelled, “We will meet again and blood will spill.”

I got up, brushed myself off, and started walking again. I was shaken up and had

a couple minor lacerations but I was fine. I don’t know why but I felt compelled to see

him. I went to the asylum where he was and walked up to the front desk and asked the

security guard if I could see the man who attacked me (It was all over the news so she

knew). She looked at me and cocked her head to the side and said “You want to see him?

I have a good mind to throw you in with the rest of them.”

“I just want to talk to him.” I replied. She led me down a hallway that lead to a

steep flight of steps down in the basement. “His name is Lucas Thompson and be careful

he’s dangerous!” she said in a scared tone. She opened the door and I saw a man inside

was a shuddering man in a room covered in carvings saying ‘Sanguis Privabitur Affectu’

meaning ‘Blood Will Spill’ in latin. Clearly he was smart. “Hey Lucas, how are you?” I

asked. He started laughing hysterically. He broke his straight jacket off and pulled knife

out of his clothes. The knife looked like the one from when he tried to kill me. He then

stabbed the security guard to death. She lay there in a pool of her own blood. “I told

you,” he said in a creepy voice. “Now it’s your turn,” he said. I ripped one of the chains

holding up the bed off and whipped him with it until he was curled up in the fetal

position. I ran for it but I didn’t know how long I could hide.

When he finally caught up to me he had made himself more presentable than his

usual rags. He was wearing what looked to be an eight hundred dollar suit. He was

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swinging a gold pocket watch in one hand and was holding what looked to be a

switchblade in the other hand.

“Well, well we meet again. I’d love to kill you right here but I think your death

should be more, what’s the word . . . elaborate,” he said. “I’ve taken everyone you’ve ever

loved or cared about hostage. If you want to see them again meet me on the water tower

tomorrow at eleven o’ clock SHARP,” he said waving his switchblade at me.

As I was climbing the water tower I wondered, why am I doing this? It was hard

to climb with my dad’s old hunting rifle on my back but it was worth it. When I reached

the top I saw Lucas in a fit of laughter. He was holding a doll. “Do you see this? It’s your

only child.” He squeezed its chest and it said “mama” and he started laughing

hysterically. “Do you know what’s going to happen now?” asked Lucas. “No I really

don’t,” I lied back. “Well there are no hostages, like seriously come on, you even bought

the bit about an elaborate

death,” he said. “Shame,” I

muttered under my

breath. “So I’m just gonna

kill you,” he said. He lunged

a knife at me but I jumped

out of the way. It still took

a good chunk out of my arm.

The pain was terrible but I

knew I had to kill him or I wouldn’t see anyone thing I cared about: my dog, my house

and my cat, Whiskers. “Looks you brought a knife to a gun fight,” I said in a low voice. I

pulled the rifle off my back and shot him clean through his stomach. He still had the

mark on his face from when I whipped him with the chain. He fell backwards and rolled

off the side of the water tower. His head hit the ground and splattered like a paintball. I

almost felt bad for him. I decided to give him a proper funeral. When I went to look up

his family and it turned out he was an orphan like me. He grew up in the orphanage on

the south side of town. I grew up in the one in the east. It said his mother’s name was

Jane Thompson. Under her name there was a list of children. The list included my

name. So it turns out I killed my brother.

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The Day When It All Went Wrong

Alycia Udy, Grade 9

“Kennedy did you hear about the man that died in Mr. Mellor’s closet?” yelled

Alix.

“What? No, how did this happen?” said Kennedy.

When I heard the girls as they were walking down the hall it just took me back to

the day when it all happened. The day he died was the day it all changed. I was there

when it happened the day he lost his life. All of this was reminding me of why I am still

here today and I just can't stop thinking about it. That day when I was younger and

stronger it was all just so different. May 27, 2000 was the day it all happened, it’s all

coming back even if I don’t want to remember.

It was a dark stormy day and there was no sign of life from outside the boarding

house it was like we were the only ones that were still alive. But the thing was it was like

every other day we eat breakfast and then went to church. But it was not right, there

was something that told me something bad was going to happen today and there was

nothing that anybody was going to be able to do to make this not be a terrible day that

everyone would remember, even if they tried to forget.

12:04 was the time the room was quiet and there was no one talking but then

suddenly there was a long scream for help. Everyone was there but then we realized

there were two people and only two people missing. It only took a second to think but

those seconds felt like a year. Who is it? Who is not here? Brad and Bryton. Slowly all of

the guys walked down the hall of dorms. Where did the scream come from?

We hear the scream again but this time it is louder and closer. It’s room 6, that’s

where the scream is coming from. Running for the door, trying to force it open, trying

and trying but no one on the other side is opening, but we can hear Bryton talking. Cal

runs and tries to slam into the door but there is no budge. He tries again and again and

finally it opened. But no one wants to see what is on the other side. All we could see was

Bryton; Brad is not there. What happened? Why was Bryton screaming so loud?

“What happened? Where did Brad go?” Cal demanded.

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“Look in the closet. I came to get him for dinner and this is what I found.” Bryton

explained.

When Cal looks in the closet he turns and runs away as fast as he could and was

never to be found. What was in there no one should ever have to see. A man, friend, and

team mate hanging there like that with no life in his eyes, motionless, and no way to get

the man that you knew to be the way he was again. There was nothing to do. He tied the

belt too tight around his neck and was there for too long and there was no way we could

get Brad back with us again. No one could remember the last time that they saw him

heard his voice. How long was he there? Was it all day or just long enough for no one to

bring him back to life? We all just had to live with the fact we could have been able to do

something to help him live his life longer and happier just by finding him sooner.

The boarding house was never the same after the day Brad left us. It was like we

could hear him talking at the dinner table and those jokes we could still hear them, like

he never left. The thing is we could not see him other than that one day the last day

before the house closed. Bryton saw him. It was as shadow gliding through the room but

it was him. You would never be able to mistake that face it would never be able to be

forgotten. It was like he said hello, like he was not gone but what we were thinking there

was no way that we were going to get are best friend back.

“Hello Bryton, I missed you when I went on my trip,” said Brad.

“Brad, is that really you how are you here I thought you were…”Bryton replied.

“What are you thinking? It’s not like I died when I went on my trip and wasn’t

coming back I would never leave you again.”

It was like I was really back in the day that I died like it was really that day. I can’t

believe that is what happened that I did that. I’m back in reality now I really felt like I

was there when it happened, like I was feeling what all of the guys felt when I died. I

can’t believe that it was that hard on them. I hurt my friends my brothers. That’s why I

am not allowed to leave. I will always be living in this place. I am trapped here and I will

never be able to leave the place that I killed myself and hurt all the people that I care

about.

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Me in a Nut Shell

Aden Garcia-Ahmadi, Grade 9

Life’s hard but it makes it easier when certain people or things are helping you get through. Three things have helped me greatly in my day to day life. If I could I would make museum out of these three things. By now you must be wondering what the three things are. Well I’m going to tell you. Thing number one, Camels.

Yes Camels. Camels are unique animals. Some think camels just spit and sleep all day, but that’s not true. If you treat a Camel with respect they will do the same. Camels love to cuddle which is great when you’re alone and all you have is your camel. Camels were always there for me picking me up from school every day and dropping me off. And my great great great grandparents were camels. Doesn’t make sense? Well it should.

Thing two, pillows. Pillows were just fantastic when I found myself scared or frightened, bam, there is my pillow just waiting to be hugged. They were great just so comfortable and amazing. I’m so proud I invented the pillow. Being lonely, all I had was tons of free time on my hands. My invention was so great that other people wanted pillows too! Being the kind and caring handsome man that I am I sold them for no price at all.

Thing three, Beer sleeves. Yep, they were just too sick. Hands cold from holding your cold drink? Beer sleeve is here make you enjoy your drink 10 times better. Whoever made the beer sleeve is a hero in my eyes. Whenever you need a beer sleeve or not, they are an essential necessity. They look very classy as well.

These are the three things that are the most important to me. They helped me greatly in every way shape and form. These are the things that helped me get through my day to day life.

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The Raven Room Liam Cronin, Grade 8

I came to his room At first it had a very nice feel to it. It has a bust of Pallas which

showed that the man was very wise so I decided to perch on top of it to show that I had

intelligence.

I sat there and noticed the purple drapes were giving a nice feel to the house. I heard a

lot of creaking and saw that there were pillars that could hardly hold up the ceiling, so I

decided to try and warn him by speaking the only word I know: “Nevermore.”

I looked down to see double doors large enough to invite a large group of people. Then I

started to notice many a bad thing. I saw that there was a sword hanging over the

fireplace. It was covered in fresh blood which dripped down into the fireplace giving

chills all the way down my spine.

I followed the blood down with my eyes to see. There looked to be a body in the fire. I

couldn’t make out much of it but I saw that it looked badly burnt. I looked over to a door

with the smell of rotting flesh. I then looked over to see that there was a trail of blood

leading to the fireplace and the man was covered in blood, which I at first thought was

the color of his garments. At this point I had such profound terror that I was frozen and

could only say one word. The worst part by far was when I looked over to what looked

like a marriage painting. I saw him carrying the body of an apparently unconscious

woman in his arms. In the chairs, which are usually occupied by the friends and family,

was occupied by the dead. And over the face of the woman was a pasted real face of a

woman. I flew from the room in terror, hoping I would not become his next victim.

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SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

Struan Wood, Grade 11

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One Day I Might Go Crazy From This Night

Jonathan Hardock, Grade 11

All alone, in the dark, without my sight, I thought when walking amongst the trees, One day I might go crazy from this night,

My house should be near; I fear the winds’ bite

For I have traveled these dry roads before My heart inside my chest began to fright

But then through the hills I saw a great light

And started to hear the humming of bees One day I might go crazy from this night

When I looked again, my skin when quite tight

I saw the great light for no longer more My heart inside my chest began to fright

Although for a second my mind went bright

I found myself drawn to my tired knees One day I might go crazy from this night

Then I thought back to my house so bright I thought I had gone to the local store

My heart inside my chest began to fright

I have gone crazy from this sight of trees I have not my sanity and nothing more

One day I might go crazy from this night My heart inside my chest began to fright.

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Villanelle

By Struan Wood, Grade 11

To work their honest lives for what is right, In faith they bow their minds to texts of old, To save their souls from the ever dark night.

The sins of sweet pleasure push them to flight,

They strive to save souls that long have been sold, To work their honest lives for what is right.

Inside blessed homes of truth and light,

With praying mouths they consume all they’re told, To save their souls from the ever dark night.

With righteous words and just blades they fight,

Their faith they force all others to behold, To work their honest lives for what is right.

Their acts don’t mirror the words they recite,

Though they slap the wrists of those uncontrolled, To save their souls form the ever dark night.

To think how God perceives this sight,

To watch his children not do what they’re told, To work their honest lives for what is right, To save their souls from the ever dark night.

Sean Clarke, Grade 10

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Revenge From Snuggles Victoria Hill, Grade 12

To say you have a bond with animals is one thing As they chew a balloon And excrete it later on your shoe is another You don’t own a cat You adopt a friend Snuggles The name of a Queen in her own thoughts To stalk Sterling The neighbours’ fish to be babysat She hadn’t fought hard To bat the glass jar to the floor Caught on the wood, the fish survived Buried under the rock Disappointed was Snuggles, the shock Of no kill Revenge One word with so much damage For me, a purse was to be deceased To not pay attention to your adopted friend Is a crime to a colony of felines In a rush to leave the house One would not believe what surprise was found I huffed and I puffed My favourite purse with the stench of Cat urine Snuggles lying on my bed watching with pleasure Her justice was achieved A lesson to those who have furry friends Don’t let your priorities get blurry A feline is easy to be set into fury And when a chance for revenge appears Grab your belongings, and scurry.

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Through The Scatter

Lauren Reynolds, Grade 11

Beeeeeeeeeep She opened her eyes to a blurry room.

The contents of the room looked like they had all melted, Like the wax on a candle that had been slowly and peacefully burning for a while.

Confusion of what was going on filled her scattered mind

Her eyes were so sore.

She felt as if there was a weight on her chest that was keeping her from breathing. What had just happened?

As the blurriness slowly faded, So did the minimal thoughts she had about what had happened.

They were scattered all throughout her brain, Not staying still for a second,

Like a group of tadpoles in a small pond.

Her heart was racing loud and fast.

She noticed the screen was black, What had she just seen?

Her mind raced to find an answer. She finally deciphered her thoughts.

Her eyes started to flood again. MY HARRISON

Beeeeeeeeeep......

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White Crayon Carmen Farmer, Grade 10

He is a white crayon. Neglected and barely there,

Always breaking in half, Hard to notice even when it’s there,

Unimaginative.

He is a white crayon, Unloved and unwanted

Without use it is left alone, No personality,

No colour, boring.

Conner Rasch, Grade 11

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Bright Candle Darian Halwas, Grade 11

Jarek is a small, but very bright, candle flame. A flame that you cherish every day

for it could go out at any moment, ever changing, ever growing. But if given love and

care it could become a blazing inferno. This flame gives hope and light to so many

people that they can keep on going and trying to keep the small candle lit. The light and

warmth that I have been given from it has helped me to grow and learn! This small

flame is a light in the darkness of life that gives hope to all who see it. Most people would

hide this flame away in fear of it going out. However the light which shines from this

flame, if given a chance, shines brighter than the sun itself! Similar to the sun which

provides light to the entire world, this flame has brought so many others out of the dark

emptiness of ignorance, into the pure, all fulfilling light of awareness and acceptance. I

just wish that more people would be willing to meet and gather around this flame for

warmth.

The Man Within The Audi Lauren Reynolds, Grade 11

He is a sleek black Audi, its interior is shiny dark leather that has been sitting in

the sun, warm to the touch. The steering wheel fits perfectly in the hands of the driver.

Its headlights emit a strong, but not blinding, light. The windows untinted, the paintjob

smooth, unflawed and glossy, its seat belts strong and nurturing that cradles its

passengers. Its engine emits a constant warm soothing feeling. The engine is made up of

lots of different complex parts, but only revs for those who have a key.

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Grandfather Sam Adams, Grade 11

My grandfather is like a old history book with torn pages, gilded edges and a heavy

well crafted covering. This is because hes knows everything about anything, he even

knows Latin. You have a question and you can find a detailed answer within the pages

like it was taken from a textbook. To uncover the history in the book you have to take

time to read it carefully, then you can get the meaning and the true potential of what you

just read. You can learn many valuable lessons and acquire new knowledge.

Squirrel Nick Hansen, Grade 10

My sister is a squirrel, running through the forest. She always seems to be doing

something, and it is quite unusual to see her sitting idle. Even the other squirrels have

trouble keeping up with her, as she never seems to run out of energy. This squirrel is the

type of squirrel you might see running, screeching up a tree, for no apparent reason, as

she is quite hyperactive, and hates to be caught idle. Squirrels such as this may

sometimes annoy you with their constant screeching and large amounts of energy, but in

the end, they are quite fun to encounter, and usually make you laugh.

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Ironies and Vengeful Tendencies Emily Street, Grade 11

When I was around the age of four, I swore to never again name a cat Ashes.

I lived on a farm when I was younger, and always had animals around me, more specifically, two sibling cats and a dog. At first I had a brother and a sister cat named Nermal and KC, both very charismatic cats, and one massive dog named Falcor, who loved to torment them. What I like to call the ‘Second Wave’ came when those three animals passed away. Again we adopted two brother cats, Ashes, a grey independent cat and Marbles, the irritating tuxedo coloured love fest; and our dog Logan who was absolutely terrified of all cats. The story revolves around Ashes and Logan’s outside pen we had built, accidentally; right beside a leeching mass of black berry bramble that soon invaded his pen. My dad had the brilliant idea of burning the entire bramble in the pen with our Tiger torch; you can see where this is going, cant you. So I was sitting on the porch with my cat Marbles who was on my lap and antagonizing my dog who I was also holding, to keep them a safe distance from the flames and the pen. As I watched my dad begin to burn the bramble, the idea crossed my mind of where Ashes was. These cats being farm cats loved to roam, and didn’t enjoy going in my dog’s pen so I didn’t give it much thought until my dad began to burn the centre of the pen’s tangled mass of black berries. I didn’t know a cat could run that fast, then again, when set on fire I think most things would. He bolted out of the pen, through my dad’s legs and into the house- I guess the speed extinguished the flames because when we found him, sitting calmly in the living room. Ashes was fine, apart from his left side of fur was a little crispy and he had no whiskers on one side of his face. That was when I vowed to never name a cat Ashes again.

After this incident, Ashes went out on a mission for vengeance. He would sit, anywhere and watch my dad with hateful yellow eyes that seemed to pierce through your soul. Any time my dad would make a sandwich he would take bites out of it, and if my dad made a bowl of cereal, he would stand in it with his muddy feet. He was out for blood, and in a sense he got it. One night when I was sick from a persistent fever, my dad was sitting in my room reading a story to me when Ashes in his normal fashion, crawled onto my bed and under the covers. What wasn’t so normal was when he crawled over to my dad, and bit him right in the behind. There was quite a lot of screaming, and I am pretty sure we woke up the neighbours, who lived half a kilometre away from us. From then on the tension between my dad and cat grew. One day my dad got so upset with my cat he threw him out of the house and wouldn’t let him in for two nights. My cat retaliated by leaving a variety of dead, headless creatures on our porch. Unfortunately it was me who discovered them; it gave me nightmares for weeks. After that, my dad stopped getting so angry with my cat, and it all seemed to be over, but every now and then I could hear my dad shouting at my cat to stay away from his food. I guess cat’s never forget, or forgive.

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The Family Assassin Stephanie Marston, Grade 12

To just say, “I love my animals” would be an understatement. To me, my animals are not

“just pets” they are my companions, my family, and my personal therapist. My animals bring to life

the very essence of friendship, and bring about unbridled joy. Now it is not a lie to say that my

animals sometimes make things a little more difficult then they need to be, but I guess that’s just

there way of reminding us to not take life so seriously.

Srgt. Pepper is one of our beautiful rescue cats. He is very sweet and loves to be rubbed and

kissed on the head after a long day of typical cat adventures. But don’t be fooled, Srgt. Pepper has a

dark side to him. He is not just a typical cat that kills things, instead he uses his critters that he killed

as revenge on me….One day I went to the local pet store and got

my cats collars with bells so that maybe the countless killings of

innocent animals would slow down. None of the cats were very

pleased with their new apparel, but I was sure they’d get over it.

The next morning I headed outside to start my chores as usual.

As I step out the door from the basement I notice a small dark

object just a few steps ahead of me. I kneel down to get a closer

look and my heart broke when I realized that in front of me lays a

baby bunny, taking its last breaths. I scooped up the sweet little

bunny laid him to rest among the trees. Although I was saddened

from what I had just come upon, I had no choice but to tend to

my chores. As I walk up from the forest to the front of the house I stumble upon a dead mouse and to

be honest that is no surprise, so I pushed it to the side and carried on. When I made it up to the front

of the house I see Srgt. Pepper, looking like he has not a care in the world. Laying to the left of him is

a dead baby possum, and oh man I was mad, to say the least. Srgt. Pepper runs over to me, purring

and weaving through my legs. As I stand over the lifeless baby possum, I hear my father say, “ahh

yes, I see you have come upon the work of the family assassin. Srgt. Pepper has proved yet again that

there ain’t nothin you can do to stop his killings, but if you try then he’ll just prepare an even more

gruesome scene for you to wake up too.” So there you have it. That was the day that I had to come to

grips with the fact that the kitty cat I love and care for, is indeed the family assassin. Yes I did give up

and remove their bells, and yes, we do still stumble upon dead little creatures, but I learned a lesson

to NEVER EVER EVER try to diminish a cat’s hunting abilities…you will regret it.

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Alternate Ending for “The Possibility of Evil”

Maryn Wright, Grade 11

Miss Strangeworth slid against the wall, tears streamed out of her emerald, opaque eyes.

Who could it have been? She pondered to herself. A fire burned her gut and shakes of what felt

like snow frosted her still expression. Who knew about her secret? About half the town by now,

she thought to herself. Adela Strangeworth slung the curtains out of the way to eye her charred

and broken down garden. There were no roses; black ash took its place as well as two or three

petals from where her brilliant roses had laid all these years. She trotted to the door and slowly

pushed it open, the neighbours and towns folk would walk by and not take a second glance,

some would even spit at her charred rose bushes. She melted onto her front walkway,

townspeople did not pity her, and they watched her tremble violently, as they did when they had

received their letters. Her actions had went unnoticed for too long. Miss Adela never thought for

a second that she could get caught or even accused of such a thing, after all she was a withering

delicate old lady. She knew about everyone’s secrets and she blackmailed them, she didn’t do it

for bribes or a free drink from the local store but because Adela thought everyone should take

action for what they had done or what they were about to find out. She had never thought

someone would catch her in the act; after all she would never associate herself with such trash.

Her work was done alone, who could she trust anyway? She had sent letters to most of the

townspeople, and they were not happy that there was someone watching over them and marking

their every mistake. Miss Strangeworth was the least suspicious person, but then again, you can

never judge a book by its cover.

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The Possibility of Evil Ending

Ramy Abdel-Keriem, Grade 10

She slowly lifted up her head and stood looking at her flower beds. Nothing had changed; the

roses were still in a perfect row. The soil was undisturbed and pitch black as if it was a field of

licorice. She ran outside as fast as those little legs could take her to examine her flowerbeds. She

scanned every bit of the flowers and she recorded even the slightest imperfections. She couldn’t

believe how much evil was in this town so decided to go to the police station.

“Hello!” said the police man, Miss. Strangeworth nodded her head politely.

“I would like to make a complaint” she exclaimed.

“Is that so?” said the police man sarcastically.

“Yes, I have been receiving threating letters from Helen Crane. She's threatening to dig up my

beautiful roses.” She yelled as if she was a child wanting ice cream on a hot day.

"It would be awful if she put something underneath the roses" he exclaimed whilst winking at

Miss Strangeworth.

"That imbecile!" she screamed as she left the police station. "She knows that I'm entering the

competition for best garden in Mayfield!" she mumbled whilst ‘running’ back to her house. She

must have put some rotten meat underneath them to make them smell, she thought. Worst of all

maybe she changed the roses with plastic ones! When she got home, Miss Strangeworth

grabbed her spade and started to dig. It took her about three hours to realize that there was not

one thing in the soil, not even a branch. Just then the judges came around.

"Late start on gardening this year Miss. Strangeworth?" said the Mayor whist looking at all the

soil and roses thrown all over her lawn. Miss Strangeworth had nothing to say, she just sat there

and cried.

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The Possibility of Evil Story Ending

Nick Hansen, Grade 10

LOOK OUT AT WHAT USED TO BE YOUR ROSES.

Miss Strangeworth of Pleasant Street, for a brief second, lost her composure. But she was

a Strangeworth of Pleasant Street, and such things did not last long, as she was perfectly normal

within seconds. She then took the next logical step, and opened the door to look out at her roses.

What Miss Strangeworth saw was most devastating, and cruel. Roses were strewn about the

yard, and a small pile of ashes sat where her garden had been, with some shrivelled, twisted

stems remaining. Suddenly panicked, Miss Strangeworth sprinted in a most undignified manner

back to her home. She ran into her study, and found yet another horrible sight. Miss

Strangeworth gasped as she saw her letters and notes strewn about the room, opened, even past

ones that she swore she sent. A Strangeworth of Pleasant Street does not panic, so she forced

herself to calm down. Miss Strangeworth looked around with a forced neutral expression, as she

began to assess the damage. One of the Strangeworth house’s windows had been smashed open

by a brick with a small package tied to it. Miss Strangeworth became curious and horrified of

what could be in the package, and quickly tore it open. Inside lay exactly what Miss

Strangeworth of Pleasant Street feared: a neat, alphabetically organized pack of envelopes

containing her letters. On the front of every one of them was printed, in her signature block

writing: WE KNOW.

Miss Strangeworth let out a sudden scream, before collapsing in the midst of her letters. Miss

Strangeworth may have been a Strangeworth of Pleasant Street, but right now, she sure wasn’t

acting like one.

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Possibility of Evil Ryan Scott, Grade 11

The green paper envelope was poorly resealed with the her letter inside. The front

carried her neatly printed “Don Crane,” while the back had the penciled threat about her flowers.

With a hurried and clumsy walk, Miss Strangeworth set out along Main Street towards the grocery store. Her walk was due to a distracted mind. Miss Strangeworth hurried into the grocery store and was met with the usual and was met with the usual hellos and good mornings from the shop’s patrons.

“Good morning,” Mr. Louis prompted casually, “Back again so soon?” “Oh. Hello,” Miss Strangeworth replied back with masked terror, “Just need to pick up some paper.” “It sounds almost as though something is troubling you, a Strangeworth of Pleasant Street,” concluded Mr. Louis with his usual store clerk’s sincerity as he bagged her paper. “Oh, it’s nothing,” she replied with a forced tone of casualness and moved to exit the store. On her way out, Miss Strangeworth heard a voice behind her. It was Miss Chandler, the librarian. “Miss Strangeworth,” Miss Chandler repeated, “What happened to your flowers?” Miss Strangeworth slowly turned around to greet Miss Chandler, quickly thinking of a reply. “Oh? My roses, yes,” said Miss Strangeworth as she hastened to find a proper explanation. “Just needed to trim them down for next season.” she eventually said. Miss Chandler seemed to accept her response as she wished Miss Strangeworth a good day. Miss Strangeworth walked home, pondering the security of her secret. Someone knew about the letters she had been sending out for years. But who or how many? It was now clear to Miss Strangeworth that the entire town had not received rumor of the sender of her letter. If the whole town were to find out, the Strangeworth name would be ruined. Miss Strangeworth unlocked her front door and returned to the sanctuary her house provided. Her entrance was interrupted by the appearance of another letter, again with the poorly penciled writing. An unusual time for mail to be delivered, as the post office didn’t deliver in the morning. This letter was dropped off in person while she was out. This letter only consisted of the envelope with no proper paper inside. The front was addressed to her, Miss Strangeworth. While the back carried a notice. Miss Strangeworth was worried by the message. “If you keep sending letters out, we’ll tell the whole town the name of the anonymous sender.” the letter threatened in it’s messy penciled writing. Miss Strangeworth knew she could never spoil her family name, so she slowly walked into the living room, shut her desk, and turned the key. The desk was now locked and now, no matter what evil she noticed in this wicked world, no anonymous letter would be sent.

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Dark Words

Nicholas Hansen, Grade 10

Darkness and night are both constant themes throughout the play Macbeth. These two themes are used in different ways by Shakespeare, depending on how they are mentioned. For example, when characters mention darkness within themselves, it usually foreshadows dark or evil things that they will do, or evil intentions that they harbour. At the same time, the majority of dark, evil, or supernatural events occur at night, or in some form of darkness. Night and darkness also contribute to the mood of the play, as the play is very dark itself, and much of it takes place at night, and deals with the supernatural. Often a character will mention something pertaining to a sort of darkness within. For example, after Malcom is named Prince of Cumberland by King Duncan, Macbeth says to himself “Let not light see my black and deep desires” (I.iv.58). Here darkness, or Macbeth’s black and deep desires, signifies evil intentions, such as Macbeth’s desire to become king, which can now only be accomplished by murder. Characters who are portrayed as evil are often referred to with some type of darkness. For example, when Macbeth sees the witches in Act Four he asks “How now, thou black and midnight hags” (IV.i.48). The witches are considered evil, or supernatural, and are therefore referred to with a reference to darkness. Banquo suspects the witches are evil from the start, warning Macbeth that “often times to win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths” (I.iii.135-136). This shows that Banquo does not trust the witches, referring to them as instruments of darkness, which could mean servants of evil. This would be rather accurate, given the witches activities, and intentions. Throughout the play, physical darkness, such as night, is used as a setting for evil events, such as murders, or some supernatural events as well. It should also be noted that when it comes to some of the supernatural events, such as the first time the witches

Emily Street, Grade 11

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meet, it is not always darkness, but rather an absence of light that is used “hover through the fog and filthy air” (I.i.13), though in most cases it is night or shadows that are used. Every time that a scene takes place at night, either a murder, or a supernatural event occurs. “How goes the night?” (II.i.1) is a simple question asked by Banquo that tells the audience that it is night when Duncan is murdered. Also, shortly before Banquo is murdered, one of the murderers mentions that the sun is almost set, meaning that Banquo is also killed at night. After Duncan is murdered, the night also lasts well into the next day, and many supernatural events occur, such as owls murdering falcons, and horses biting each other. This continues throughout the play, as at many parts with Macbeth someone mentions that it is night. As far as supernatural events go, the first time Macbeth meets the witches, and receives his prophecy, it is sunset, the start of night, which might be a metaphor for Macbeth’s reign as king. In Act Five, it is mentioned that Lady Macbeth carries a light with her at all times, which shows her aversion to the darkness, and the evil it seems to represent, as she starts to feel guilty and regretful about what she has done. These examples illustrate how Shakespeare used physical darkness, such as night, to represent acts of evil or supernatural events. The play itself is rather dark and full of supernatural themes, and the darkness shown throughout the play helps promote that. Much of the play takes place at night, or in darkness, which tends to be associated with evil, mystery, and other somewhat unpleasant things. Darkness helps add a feeling of suspense and secrecy while Macbeth murders his king, and after when everyone is still reeling from the shock of the king’s murder it provides background for all sorts of supernatural happenings. According to the murderers, the sun sets just before Banquo is killed, and the darkness creates enough confusion for his son to get away, but also gives the killing an evil feel. When Macbeth meets the witches for the first time, it is sunset, which helps set a mysterious tone to their meeting. It is heavily hinted before and afterwards during Macbeth’s second encounter with the weird sisters that it is night, which is the sort of environment that would easily be imagined in such a situation anyway, due to the apparitions, and the cauldron. As you can see, night, and darkness were very useful to Shakespeare in creating a setting, and promoting themes in Macbeth. Shakespeare used night, and darkness creatively throughout his play Macbeth to represent evil, and the supernatural. By using physical darkness as a way to represent the supernatural and evil occurrences, he let the audience know that something was happening, but not what. The characters mention darkness within themselves to represent evil intentions or desires too. Using such things helped set the mood and themes of the play, creating a suspenseful, dark, and mysterious work that is still revered to this day.

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Life of Pi Quotation Analysis

Ramy Abdel-Keriem, Grade 10

Pi, the main character in the book Life Of Pi by Yann Martel, not only questions the world

around him but questions how humans perceive animals. Pi, having lived in a zoo all of his life

has a natural attraction to animals and he is very curious about them. Pi's father taught him

from an early age that all animals are dangerous from the "ferocious guinea pig" to the Bengal

tiger that he made Pi watch as it ate a live goat right in front of him. This did not stop Pi's love

for all animals and when he reaches his teens he has enough knowledge to be the Indian version

of Steve Irwin. Later on in life, when Pi is asked about the most dangerous animal in the zoo he

responds by saying, ourselves. The quotation above helps support Pi's opinion. We humans

perceive some animals to be cute and cuddly like the plush toys at a toy store (dogs, bears,

sloths) and some to be nasty ( snakes, rats, wolves) but in reality every animal is dangerous and

needs to be treated with respect. This perception fogs our minds and could even kill us.

"In both cases we look at an animal and see a mirror."

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In the book, Pi gets stranded on a life boat with various types of animals such as a zebra, hyena

and a Bengal Tiger. Pi took no chances and protected himself from every animal on the boat as

he knew how dangerous they could be. Pi takes his time training Richard Parker (the tiger) and

he doesn't just jump right into things right away. For instance, if Pi was trying to get into the life

boat he wouldn't just push Richard Parker to one side, then jump in and expect that everything

would be okay. He would take baby steps and in the end it turned out well for him. Pi treats

animals with respect as he knows that it is the only thing between him and a ferocious animal.

We can see this throughout the book as he often shares his food and water with the animals on

the boat instead of keeping it all for himself. Not only does Pi do this because he knows his life is

on the line but he treats them the way he would want to be treated. He often talks to the

animals, keeps them company and tries to meet their needs.

Too often in the news we hear about an animal attacking someone whether it be in a zoo or in a

home. I believe this quote is helps us to understand why situations like these happen and helps

us to learn from it. The thing that people today forget to realize is that most animals don't want

to hurt us in the first place as they would not benefit from it, but when they do it is because we

are pushing their boundaries and they may feel threatened or unsure of our actions. A great real

life example would be when a zookeeper at the Calgary Zoo recently got injured by a gorilla

whilst trying to remove them from the kitchen where they had inadvertently gained access. The

gorilla saw the zookeeper as a threat as he was frightened that he would take his food away. If I

were the gorilla I would have been pretty angry too as he would have been taking an ‘all-you-

can-eat banana buffet’ away from me. Gorillas are very friendly creatures, you can often see

zookeepers interacting with them throughout the day without any violence erupting. With all

animals we just need to respect their boundaries just like they respect ours.

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The Stages of Nazi Cruelty

Emily Street, Grade 11

The years when the Nazi regime ruled Germany were a time we all wish had never happened. It’s an appalling reminder of the human beings’ capacity for cruelty towards its own kind. Hitler’s tyrannical reign over Germany was a dark time in our history, showing that even though we believe we have evolved from our barbaric and animalistic roots, we haven’t. When Hitler came to power, the cruelty started and escalated throughout the war to become a total cultural genocide. Even when the war was nearing its end, the Nazis barbaric actions continued, trying to destroy all evidence of what they had done, including the people they had tortured. Millions of people died who did not even fight in the war. The cruelty displayed will never be forgotten, and even though they no longer have control over Germany, their reign will forever leave its scars in the land, and our minds.

August 2, 1934, 9:00 AM, marked the death of Paul von Hindenburg, and the exact moment Adolf Hitler rose to complete power in Germany (The History Place). It was also the beginning of the horrific acts of Nazi cruelty. Although the Nazis’ main focal point for hatred was the Jews, they also sought to exterminate others such as gypsies, disabled people, Hispanics, homosexuals and many other groups. When Hitler came into power, he started off on the path towards a perfect race; the ‘Aryan’ race. In his mind the way to reach this goal was by cleansing the gene pool; this idea coincided with the idea of ‘eugenics’. Eugenics is the thesis developed by Ernst Haeckle that describes the improvement of the human species by only allowing those with desirable traits to reproduce, such as those with blond hair and blue eyes. Eugenics broke out of its thesis state and into practice by sending people with genetic defects to sterilization camps, and then having them discretely killed. Opponents to the Nazi regime were also rounded up but instead of being sent to sterilization camps, were sent to work camps. Many of these people had a left wing or a liberal stance, and simply for their ideas were sent to the work camps like Dachau (Yahya). These acts of oppression are ugly, but seem mild and almost humane when compared to the atrocious acts of the human beings involved in the concentration camps.

The war was also a dark time; concentration camps, ghettos, and hatred towards the Jews were at the forefront of Nazi cruelty. Hatred towards the Jewish was implanted in people’s minds. German citizens who were not Jewish were encouraged to boycott Jewish owned stores. The Jewish people were also presented as ‘the source of all evil on earth’ and ‘parasites that harmed the German blood’. “If Europe again succeeded in plunging nations into world war, the result will not be the bolshevization of the earth and with it the victory of Jewry, but the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe.” This was said by Adolf Hitler on January 30, 1939, showcasing Hitler as the Nazi’s Jewish hatred poster boy. On September 21, 1939, Reinhard Heydrich sent out a letter to his trusted chiefs who had responsibilities that covered occupied Poland entitled “The Jewish Question in Occupied Europe.” This note

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contained ideas of sending the Jews from the rural areas they inhabited to inside cities, resulting in specific areas of occupied Poland becoming ‘judenrein’, or cleansed of Jews. From these orders sparked the ghettoization of Polish Jews (Harran). Concentration camps were the next step after the ghettos. They were either work camps like Dachau, or extermination camps like Auschwitz. The concentration camps’ living standards were extremely low; people were fed very little food, and were often worked to death in places that had very low safety standards. Medical experiments and torture often happened in these camps as well as mass slaughter. The most infamous way of prisoners being killed in a concentration camp was by gassing. The inmates were told they were going to take a shower and were led into a fake shower room where they were killed with poisonous gas. Another method for killing the inmates was to group between 40 to 200 in a shower room and douse them in a continuous stream of cold water. They would die after thirty minutes from hypothermia. Also as a punishment people were forced to run all day long, resulting sometimes in death (Cruelties at KZ Gusen Camps). So many hideous forms of torture went on in these camps that one could write an entire essay on all of them. Yet even as the war came to a close, the cruelty continued.

The Nazis were dead set on their goal; they wanted to have the perfect race at any cost. As the war came to a close, instead of releasing the prisoners of the concentration camps, they evacuated them, making large groups of people run continuously for hours, and shooting any who tripped up and fell. The SS also lowered the food rations for the prisoners, leaving them without food or water for days at a time. They forced the prisoners in rooms and kept them there where they lay in piles, trying to sleep. Elie Wiesel describes 100 people being stuffed into a train car for days where people would die on a daily basis. And each time they stopped they would take out the dead bodies and leave them behind without a grave. Wiesel tells us that out of the 100 that started out, there were only twelve left. Mass slaughter seemed to be the theme of these Death Marches, taking them from camp to camp, thoughtlessly killing any who could not do it. The sick were abandoned or murdered and the SS soldiers did not allow the inmates to even bend over when standing (Wiesel). This cruelty seemed to continue, even though the struggle to kill them all was a lost cause.

The cruelties of the Nazi party show similarities to a story line. There was an initial incident and a rising action when Hitler became the absolute ruler of Germany. The climax was during the war with the concentration camps and the torture that occurred in them. And the denouement was the final attempt of erasing the prisoners of the camps near the end of the war. The Nazi cruelty happened because of simple brainwashing, getting men to believe that the people in the concentration camps were ‘sub-human’ and beneath them. If they weren’t taught these ideas, such cruelty would have never happened and the scars would have been lifted from our world as we know it. But the holocaust is a very prominent failing in mankind’s time line, and will always be a constant reminder of our nature, and a symbol to never let it happen again.

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A Novelization of the First Scene of Shakespeare’s Hamlet

Struan Wood, Grade 11

Chapter 1

The air was cold, crisp and choked with inky blackness. That night, the moon was shy, hiding all but a tenth of itself behind a cloud. The small amount of its light that did reach the earth bounced off the pure white snow and illuminated the tall stone structures that composed the city of Elsinore. Its massive towers that would stand strong and magnificent in the day, brandishing Denmark’s flag proudly in the wind, now seemed pathetic and small against the never ending darkness that stretched in all directions. It was going to be a long and unpleasant night.

At least, that was what Bernardo thought as he trudged solemnly along the city’s outer wall in the thick snow. He had only been out on his watch for a few minutes now, and the cold had already started to take effect. Without stopping, he raised his free hand up to his face and blew into it while the other firmly held his spear, one that was traditional for the guards of the city to keep. Sadly, the warmth of his breath provided little comfort to the frigid appendage. Practically no noise disturbed the air as he walked, aside from the crunching of his footsteps and the occasional gust of wind. Accompanying this silence was a feeling of unsettlement, which crawled up Bernardo’s spine and electrified the hairs on his neck. Anxiously, he turned his head and looked into the deep void, wondering if concealed within it was the being that had tormented his watch every night for the past two days. A silent prayer moved on his lips. He wished he were home, home in his bed, where there was warmth instead of cold and gentle dreams instead of the dreadful fears of night.

After a few more moments of walking and musing over these thoughts, the image of a man came into Bernardo’s view several meters away. It was hard to make out any of the figure’s features but he was obviously a guard as he too appeared to be patrolling the wall and the outline of a long pole like object was attached to his own. His back was also turned. Bernardo opened his mouth to call out to him but caught himself. Could it be possible that this image before him did in fact not belong to another guard but to a disguise of that thing? His heart

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began to beat faster and his legs, which had only moments earlier felt like ice, became like jelly. This feeling lasted for only a few seconds before a wave of shame washed over him. This was unmanly. He was a guard of the city! He couldn’t be afraid of every little shadow he came across. He opened his mouth to speak again.

“Who’s there?” Bernardo called out. The man stopped when he spoke.

“Nay, answer me: stand and unfold yourself,” the man called back as he turned around. Now that he could see his face, Bernardo realized that the person before him was his fellow guard, Francisco. Before he could speak again, Francisco seemingly recognized him also.

“Bernardo?” Bernardo could see the same suspicion he himself had had only moments ago present in his eyes.

“Yes it is I, I have come to relieve you.” Francisco relaxed.

“For this relief much thanks; tis bitter cold and I am sick at heart.” With that Francisco began walking towards Bernardo on his way back to the gate. Just as he was passing him a thought struck Bernardo.

“If you do meet Horatio and Marcellius, bid them make haste.”

Francisco nodded, then his face curled into a frown.

“I think I hear them now.” He turned and faced the darkness. “stand ho! Who is there?” Again Bernardos heart leaped and again it was calmed by the sight of familiar faces. Two more figures emerged from the night, on the right Marcellus and on the left Horatio.

“Friends to this ground.” said Horatio.

“And liegemen to the Dane.” Added Marcellus.

Francisco nodded again then walked past them. Within moments his image was swallowed by the darkness. Marcellus and Horatio watched him go and then turned their gaze towards Bernardo.

“Holla! Bernardo!” greeted Marcellus.

“Welcome Horatio; welcome good Marcellus,” responded Bernardo politely. He wasn’t exactly pleased to see them, these two men, especially Horatio, could be rather tiresome on a bad day. Though, he’d rather have their company then be alone, he supposed.

For a few moments they stood in silence, neither party knowing what to say next. Then, tentatively, Marcellus spoke of what was on all of their minds.

“Has this things appeared again tonight?” As the words were made Bernardo felt as if a shield that had been surrounding them was suddenly broken. By acknowledging its existence, Marcellus had allowed the fear of this creature to seep back into their minds. The wind now seemed like a moaning voice and the cold like icy fingertips brushing against their skin.

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“I have seen nothing,” Said Bernardo, trying to keep his unease invisible. Marcellus, who was now also obviously tense, jerked his head towards Horatio.

“He says it is nothing but our fantasy, and will not let belief take hold of him. Therefor I have entreated him along with us to watch the minutes of this night. That if again if this apparition come, he may approve our eyes and speak to it.”

Horatio snorted.

“Twill not appear.”

Bernardo resisted the urge to criticize Horatio for his arrogance.

“Sit down awhile,” Bernardo said as he gestured towards the ground. “And let us once again assail your ears that are so fortified against our story, what we two nights have seen.”

Obligingly, Horatio sat down on the ground with his arms folded. “Well, sit we down, and let us hear Bernardo speak of this.”

After he to had positioned himself on the earth, Bernardo began to account the events of the past two nights.

“Last night, of all, when yond star that’s westward from the pole had made his course to illume that part of heaven where now it burns, Marcellus and myself-“ Bernardo was suddenly interrupted as a powerful rush of air blew by them. The men drew their arms to their faces for protection against the blistering cold that came with it. After several seconds, the wind finally stopped, and then they heard it. It was a low, whispering sound. And it was coming from all around them.

Panic gripped Bernardo and he leapt to his feet, as did the other members of his company. His head twisted back and forth, his eyes frantically scanning the night.

“Peace! Break thee off,” yelled Marcellus. “Look, where it comes again!” he jabbed his finger to some point off in the dark. Bernardo looked in its direction and saw it. It was a pale thing, nearly white as the snow above which it floated. Covering it, from head to toe, was fierce battle armour that was complemented by a sword it held in its right hand. Bernardo began backing away. He could feel his chest pounding, he could hear his blood pulse in his ears. The monster’s unholy aura had gripped his soul once again.

There was a jolting sensation as Bernardo came into contact with the wall. In front of him he could see Marcellus and Horatio, gaping at the thing with terrified awe. It was then that Bernardo found something familiar in its appearance.

“It Is in the same figure, like the king that is dead!” He cried.

“Thou art a scholar; speak to it Horatio!” Marcellus demanded. Horatio stood perfectly still for several moments, paralyzed.

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“What art thou, that usurp’st this time of night?” Horatio called out eventually, once he had recovered. “By heaven I charge thee speak!” A loud moan escaped the thing’s mouth.

“It is offended!’ Marcellus cried.

Bernardo looked at his spear and remembered the power it held in its sharp point. Then, with a sudden rush of courage and absence of forethought, he ran forward and threw his spear like a javelin toward the spirit. The weapon made connection with the left of its chest then passed through it, leaving no mark. Another moan filled the air, this time quieter and more pitiful, almost sad in a way.

The ghostly image began to retreat back into the darkness, fading as it did. Soon it was gone. Bernardo fell to the ground shaking, hardly believing what he had just done.

“Tis gone.” Said Marcellus between deep breaths. “We do it wrong, being so majestical to offer it the show of violence.”

Horatio was still, as if he had been frozen by the winter’s air.

“How now Horatio!” Bernardo barked at his shocked companion. “You tremble and look pale. Is not this something more than fantasy? What think you on’t?”

Horatio placed his hand upon his forehead while his face staid in a state of disbelief. “Before my God, I might not this believe, without the sensible and true avouch of my own two eyes.”

“Is it not like the king?” asked Marcellus.

Horatio nodded in confirmation. “As though art to thyself: such was the very armour he had on when he the ambitious Norway combated.” He sighed softly. “This bodes some strange eruption to our state.”

Bernardo drew himself to his feet and brushed the snow from his garments. In the distance the sun was just staring to peak its head over the horizon, perhaps it was the coming dawn that had caused the ghost to flee.

What could have caused this spirit to rise? And what did this mean for Denmark? These questions swirled threw Bernardo’s brain as they had done the previous mornings.

“Perhaps we should impart what we have seen unto young Hamlet,” Horatio suggested. “For upon my life, this spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him. Do you consent we shall acquaint him with it, as needful in our love, fitting our duty?” Bernardo and Marcellus nodded.

“Let’s do it, I pray: and I this morning know where we shall find him.”

A bird sang softly in the distance, marking the end to this long and unpleasant night.