Clementine T.

Clementine

Sweet, odd, funny and friendly

Sister of Chloe and Penelope

Lover of puppies, family, friends and pets

Who feels that bad people are the worst, sad when nobody is happy,

grumpy in the mornings

Who needs love, friends and my dogs--Hettie, Betty and Boris

Who gives hugs, love and laughter

Who fears bugs (spiders and large moths),

thunderstorms at night, being alone

Resident of Easton

Yu-Min C.

Smart Siblings

“Pete!” Bob shouted. “Come see this!” I had just run from the kitchen to the stairs, where my twin brothers, Bob and Tom, were waiting. They were standing on the second floor, while I was on the first floor, facing some new wooden stairs. The yellow stairs perfectly matched the lighting and Bob’s yellow shirt. Yellow was a bad thing, especially in these types of situation.

 “What, again?” I asked. Then, they started dancing. The floor wobbled as they tripped and fell. They were horrible dancers. It was all part of their prank system.  As I trudged up the stairs I could feel a prank. I stopped, unsure whether to keep going or not. They must have seen this, because they started singing so loud that Dad had to come out.

Of course, this was all done on the stairs to the second floor. We live in the suburbs of the small city of Evertree, on 1701 bT Avenue. This house is, of course, in Upper New York. The shiny new blue building was built and sold to us 1 year ago. My parents are famous NASA scientists, so it surprises my brothers why we don’t live in ¨Hooston¨. That is just one example of my brothers’ bad spelling.  My brothers have been trouble since Day 1. When Bob and Tom were born, they barfed all over my Legos (I was 5 at the time) and the trouble began. Now that they are 6, they have started making mischief while thinking.

“Pete,” Dad yelled, “Turn off the music, please.”

“It’s not music!” I yelled, but Bob and Tom were too loud. I rushed up the stairs. But suddenly, a banana peel appeared out of nowhere. I slipped, landing on the second step.  For a few seconds the only thing I heard were the continued singing, laughing, and Dad yelling, and then I blacked out. Only then, before I blacked out, did I realize that the banana peel was marked red, with Bob and Tom’s signature.

That was how my terrible Monday started.

My parents weren't interested at all about who started it as they were cooped up in the planning room with their space project. They were building a satellite, and they wanted Mom and Dad to make the blueprints.  Bob and Tom didn't even know. My dad only came out for a hour to fix me up, and then it was straight to the planning room. I had heard rumors that we would go on a plane, but I never would trust ¨professional reporters¨ Bob and Tom. So I was surprised to find out that we were booked on a plane from New York to Houston.

¨Pete!¨ Mom yelled from the planning room,¨We go to Houston on Friday!¨ This was news to me, and it was even more news to me when it turned out my brothers were right. After lunch, I cornered them asking how they got the scoop. It took a few tries, but they confessed that they spied on Dad when he was on the phone. ¨Dad´s going to grill you for this!¨ I yelled as I ran to get him. He wasn't going to punish them. He actually was pleasantly surprised, because he thought it gave him more time to work. When I came back, my brothers were gone.

¨Dad!¨ I yelled, ¨Where are Bob and Tom?¨

“In the shed,¨ He replied like it was obvious. This was true. Due to the space project, my brothers lived in the red shed. It was 2 rooms big with one as a bedroom and one as a playroom. My brothers’ old bedroom was now the planning room. Unfortunately for me, the playroom was the prank room to them. That was where they planned all their misdeeds, like the banana peel assault from earlier. Then, I realized that they were up to something.       

My brothers were total failures when it came to security. They even put out gift baskets on the front door for their friends. It was so easy to tell Dad I was going to play with them, peek at the blueprints, and rush back in. So I trudged down the small hall, from the kitchen to the door. I scampered out, straight into blistering hot weather. Did I forget to mention it was summer? As baked as a hot potato, I rushed into the shed, where my brothers were stacking blocks painted to look like chickens. Dad had made them as a birthday gift, which he knew they would love. “What are those papers?” I asked, trying the nice and friendly approach. To my surprise, Bob answered.

“We’re going to crash the party!” He yelled excitedly, like I’ve never seen before. “Crash the plane!” He yelled again. “Shut Up, Bob!” Tom yelled, ”You ruined the surprise!” ¨Ooops!¨ Bob said loudly. Having got the information I needed, I left the shed behind. ¨Don’t forget your gift basket!¨ Bob yelled, unaware I was plotting against them.

We were also going to a NASA party in Houston. My parents worked so hard, they were going to get recognition.

The next day, school was in session. All my classes in 5th grade were simple, mostly language arts and math. Gym, Music, Media, and Art were on the schedule as well. At recess, the soccer game went by as usual. We won again, 8 to 7. At lunch though, everything went downhill.

          At lunch, I sat at one table with my good friends, Dave and Mark. However, I forgot about them as I pondered about how to stop my brothers impending crusade on the plane. As the clock ticked, Dave walked up to me. ¨Pete, I think you are getting too focused on your brothers’ pranks,¨ Dave said seriously, ¨Some are funny. If you can’t talk to us about something else, I think you’re too caught up in this.¨ He held true to his word.

          On Wednesday at lunch, Dave and Mark were sitting with another boy.  They didn't invite me over, so I had to sit alone. After lunch had ended and Dave and Mark were no shows for the club meeting, the feelings of betrayal soon began to sink in, and it was getting clearer that this was going to be harder than I thought.

          When I got home, Dad came up to me. This came as a surprise, since he rarely left the planning room. “We’re going to SooperMart!” Dad said enthusiastically. I frowned. SooperMart was an enormous mall, featured on every tourist guide. There was a mall and grocery store, along with an amusement park called the Sooper Ark. I used to go there when I was little. In the supermarket, Bob and Tom were widely known as weapons of mass destruction. They had destroyed the wall once, and it cost Dad more than $10,000 to fix it. Seeing as he needed my brothers to come, I was sure this would be eventful.

          “Bob! Tom!” Dad called, “Get ready to go to SooperMart!”

“Yes!” they screamed. Bob and Tom were “Sooper Happy”. They hadn’t been there in 3 months, due to their wall accident. Mom came out too, and so it was settled. We were going to SooperMart.

          We arrived at 4:30, when Bob and Tom tumbled out of the car and dashed toward the Sooper Ark. “Wait!” Dad yelled as he chased after them, “We’re not going there!” Mom rolled her eyes. This happened often, and it was pretty funny. 5 minutes of comedy passed, and we entered the Soopermarket.

          As soon as we took one step in, Bob and Tom ran off again. They weren’t here for a while, so they went wild. They were probably looking for stuff to destroy. Mom ran to catch Tom, while Dad and I ran after Bob. The problem is, the Soopermarket is huge, with tall green pillars stretching to the roof everywhere. Sooper Corporation had gone all out with the design. With all the narrow paths, finding Bob and Tom was hard. When we nearly collided with Mom, we realised Bob and Tom were missing. The chances were 100% that Bob and Tom were still here together, trying to destroy the store.

         

We decided to split up in 3 ways. Mom would search the mall, Dad would search the Sooper Ark, and I would search the Soopermarket. We were all far away from each other when I saw Bob and Tom, buying some markers. Then, I realized they were trying to graffiti the store.

I called Mom and Dad on my phone, and they, too, had realized that they were in Soopermarket. Feeling irritated, we made a plan. Mom and Dad would wait outside, while I caught Bob and Tom. The plan seemed flawless at first. I continued my search, but in my haste, I bumped into Bob. Tom screamed. Bob screamed. They dropped several markers. I grabbed Bob and Tom and ran as fast as I could. Thankfully, the mart was empty. Bob grabbed some ice cream.

“Drop it!” I yelled at Bob, who was stealing ice cream.  We sprinted out of the building , Thankfully, the mall and ark weren’t damaged. However, the graffiti marks at Soopermarket had created chaos. People ran frantically, sprinting out of the giant mall in massive crowds. Mom and Dad were shocked. I grabbed them too, mustering enough energy to pull an adrenaline rush. I managed to haul everyone out of the mall, but by then I had lost the extra energy and collapsed.

When I opened my eyes, I  raced over to Dad, who was packing. I told him all about my brothers graffitiing the store,  but he refused to believe it. He also didn’t believe that I had “colored”  the store, which was a relief. “Someone needs to step up and pay,” said Dad, “Even if we didn’t cause it, I am still going to pay.” Little did he know that my brothers had “colored” the place themselves, and refused to pay with their allowance.

My parents were going to Soopermarket to pay for the fiasco, so that left me and my brothers. We all wanted to go, but Dad said that only adults were allowed in the manager’s office, and he didn’t want us to roam alone. Since Evertree had relaxed kids alone at home laws, he asked me to babysit my brothers. I thought this was no big deal, as my brothers acted as if my parents didn’t exist at all. But, this time it was different. Dad made me barricade the planning room and my parent’s room, but I also barricaded my room, just to be on the safe side. Then, my parents left, leaving me all alone to deal with lots of pranks.

Instead, my brothers started wrecking the house. Tom ate all the snacks, while Bob hogged the expensive stuff. Since we had lots of food, I chased after Bob, who was holding THE planning laptop. This laptop was the only thing in the world that had the satellite plans, so I had to plan ahead. However, I forgot and made a leap for him, just as he dropped the computer. I dove for it, catching it just in time. I raced up the stairs, placing the computer in the planning room.

Next, I had to catch Bob, who was after the expensive vase. I got there first, grabbing it and dashing upstairs. Just then, I got an idea. I would put the vase in the bathroom, and when Bob ran to get it, I would trap him. The plan was flawless. Bob ran up as predicted, dashing straight into the bathroom. I boarded him in, doing my best to ignore the screeching screams. Then I snuck downstairs, where I would catch Tom.

Tom was getting really chubby by the time I got down, having devoured all our snacks. He was moving on to his favorite food now. I quietly placed boards on each door, making sure that Tom could crawl through. The lure would have to be another of Tom’s favorite food, so I reached for some gummies and placed them in the downstairs bathroom. Tom instantly noticed, crawling through every board until he reached the bathroom, when I lowered the bottom board. He squirmed, trying to escape, but I had already walled him in. Then I set off to fix their big mess.

It was a really hard job putting everything back, but I pulled it off. They didn’t care about how much food was gone, but they did care how clean the house was. I cleaned all the packaging and crumbs into the trash, and put the vase back where it belongs. Then, I took down some boards, and dragged my two brothers into the living room for a game of Monopoly. The groan on their faces looked identical as I dragged them out of their traps and into the living room. Even if they stole money from the bank, I still won. The hours ticked by like seconds.

 Soon, Mom and Dad came home, with lots of papers and a Sooper Ark model for Bob and Tom. Of course, they headed straight into the planning room, which was now the packing room. I scampered up the now creaky stairs and peeked slowly into the planning room. The room had sure changed since 6 months ago. The once painted blue walls were covered white by all the hanging papers. The weathered table was now a bench, because my Dad had bought a Sooper-Large Desk. The room no longer smelled of toilet, and instead smelled of freshly printed paper. The colorful rug was covered by a giant calendar rug. “What is this?” I whispered.

Dad was packing in a corner. He was using 3 pieces of luggage for the trip.1 for papers and the blueprint, one for Mom and Dad, and one for me. After what had happened at Soopermart, my parents weren’t bringing toys for Bob and Tom. Bob smuggled a stack of papers in Dad’s Briefcase, though. “You want to pack your stuff?” He asked, pointing toward my luggage.

“Sure,” I said, relieved that this family separation agony would be over in a week. The planning room would stay, though, as Dad hadn’t come up with a use yet. An hour later, all the luggages were packed. I ran into my room,  jumped onto the bed, and dozed off.

The next day, everyone is up and ready. My brothers are singing again, giving me memories of my slip on Monday. For a minute I forget we are leaving today, and wander into the packed planning room, finding Dad and Bob inside. Bob sits on the luggage while Dad zips them up. I see Bob smuggling toys inside, while Dad barely notices. Anyway, he didn’t know about the ban. “atsmpexnush!” Bob whispers to me. This was Bob and Tom for explosive. I shivered, realizing I was not home-free. I struggled to remember what I saw at the shed. I rush downstairs, finding Mom and Tom in the kitchen. Tom is “testing snack candidates for the plane.” Mom was watching him from the other room. I guess she was making sure he wouldn’t pig out. Knowing the coast was clear, I slipped out of the room and into the shed.

When I arrive, I open the door, knocking over the chicken blocks. As I peer into the notebook, I realize I forgot that Bob and Tom were going to crash the plane and party. “BAAAAAA,” honks Dad’s car. The car is strange in many ways, making it act like a sheep. NASA’s auto department didn’t know a thing about real cars. “Time to go!” Dad yells as I race to the car. Once I am in, the car goes off onto the road making a “Baa” sound like a sheep as we slowly trot to Albany International Airport.

Our flight is on a Delta 757, which is a old plane. NASA was too cheap to buy us premium transcon, which is like international first class. We were seated in Economy, which was the lowest class. Well rested from our ride in the Sheep car, we quickly rushed to our counter, only to find ourselves in front of a huge line. Suddenly, Dad gets a call on his “sheepograph”. NASA is really cheap, so they bought us sheep based stuff, like the Baa car. “GoOd Moorning, Msr.” “Yow hav benn upgraded to deltaa onne.”   “Prezident give us raze. We give you better bone, tooo.” “GoodBaa!” the Sheepophone Baaed. “No more sheep!” Dad whispers happily. As giddy as kids on field trips, we jog over to the premium transcon counter, where the travel agent looks up Dad’s seat. After successfully finding the new tickets, the agent asks for our baggage. Dad loads all three bags onto the conveyor belt. He then hands over our tickets. Dad growls, as the tickets have sheep on them. After our sudden raise, only 10 minutes are left.

We rush to the gate, which has already started boarding economy. Fortunately, there is a premium line. As we run to the shiny glass counter, my brothers cut to the front of the empty line. Without their boarding pass, however, the security guard tosses them into a wall, and rushes over to arrest them. Dad gets there first, and after he shows the guard our sheeped boarding passes, he gives up and reluctantly lets us board. I could hear him yelling at Tom from a mile away.

We enter the cabin and and stare at the shiny new seats, as Dad checks the free seating on the computer to find that we are the only passengers in the premium cabin. The seats look good enough for international business class. The blue seats are rectangular, with lots of legroom and storage. The seats are clearly designed for comfort. The bed reclines to 180 degrees,and feels like what we have at home. I quickly settle into my seat. Mom and Dad sit together, and my brothers sat behind me. An announcement comes on to tell us we are going to takeoff, as the flight attendants pass out drinks. I have soda, while my brothers have juice. My parents were drinking wine. This was a short flight, so there wasn’t any food but snacks. I nibbled on some cookies and chips until I was full. As I got up to use the bathroom, I noticed my brothers were gone.

I checked the bathrooms and kitchen, but my brothers weren’t there. I woke up Dad, who called a flight attendant to find where my brothers were. Everyone searched, but my brothers weren’t anywhere nearby. Just then, I saw Bob hiding behind the open door to the engine room. “There!” I exclaim. Dad rushes over as we scope out the engine room. I see several dents in the engine, probably because Bob and Tom banged on it so much. Bob runs with Tom back into the engine room of the plane, and everyone braces for impact.

Impact never comes, as I quickly notice a hammer. I hammer the dents back into shape, I explain to everyone that the threat is gone, as Bob and Tom rush toward me, before they are stopped by a evil-looking hand. The man looks to be 60 years old. His menacing face and the sneer on his mouth scare me a little. He is wearing a NASA jacket, with the NASA logo crossed off and replaced by a skull and Mini Bombs. His shoes look normal, but his pants also have the other logo. His giant hands and his big arms leave Bob and Tom gasping for breath.

The crazy man turns his back on us, still holding my brothers by the shirt collar. They are too frightened to move, with white faces and painful necks. He glares at Dad and Mom. “You,” he says, “You ruined my career!” Another NASA employee sneaks by him to us, and explains that the crazy man found out about the satellite project, which got him fired. He thought Dad was responsible,and tried to demote him. Mom protected Dad, which was the reason they got married and the reason why he was angry at Mom, too. He then turned to me. “You know them?” He asked threateningly, staring me down. He then pulls out Mini-Bombs from his pocket. “This plane is going down,” he said, “On their heads!”

 He points at Mom and Dad. He then looks at the terrified NASA employee. “Mr. Pax, please don’t do this,” the employee stammered. “Yeah, Arnold, you don’t need any revenge.” Dad said. Arnold pushes the intern aside. “Oh yes I do,” Arnold said. “He’s insane!” yelled a passenger. Arnold glared at him for only a second before turning to me. Seeing my chance to act, I quickly dove under the man’s legs, before punching his hands. My brothers break free, but they seem different. Mom and Dad bring them back to Delta One, while I distract Arnold. The air marshal restrains him in the engine room, but the sound of Arnold screaming is droned out by Bob, who is wildly confessing to everything. Mom calms him down, and she and dad chat about punishment. I come over, and we all agree to keep these events a secret as the plane lands at Dallas Airport to transport Arnold off the plane

We lounge in our seats as we start landing in Houston. Bob and Tom were yelling the whole flight. The air marshall had to come over to shush them. I told Dad about all the things that Bob and Tom had done and planned to do. He promised to confiscate Bob and Tom’s notebook and shed access. Dad said the punishment would be mild, since they were blackmailed by Arnold Pax. As we walk through the airport, Dad suddenly remembers that we have to be at NASA for the party. Since NASA gave us a raise, we quickly call a taxi.

          As we exit the yellow taxi cab, the shiny glass headquarters of NASA comes into view. Bodyguards are waiting inside to help us. A security guard asks if we need help, and Dad replies no. Mom and Dad take out their speeches. I open the door, ready to be amazed. I really am.

          The bright, large room seems much different than the back door. The place seems more casual than other places. Lots of Dad’s colleagues are here, and so are Mom’s colleagues. Their bosses were here too. Everyone was having a good time. I wondered if Arnold might have been among them. Mom and Dad went up to the stage and presented their long speeches. Although everyone fell asleep, I could still hear my brothers blabbing away about their grounding.

As I woke up, I happened to notice the kid next to me. He was about the same age as me, but a bit different in that he was taller and was wearing glasses. “Hey,” he said. “Hey,” I said back. We talked a bit about where we are from, and he told me he has a similar family situation, with NASA parents and crazy sisters. He tells me he is moving soon to my town, which meant I would have a real friend at last. Just then, my brothers wake up and splat pies in our faces. “We’re having a Pie!” Tom yells excitedly. We both smile through the pies, and I realize one good thing has come out after all.

Bonus: As we got home in our car, Dad asked Bob, “Why did you do it?” “Because Boss and Arnold told me to do it,” said Bob. Dad asked Tom the same thing, and he responded the same too. I couldn’t help but ponder who “Boss” was, and if they would drive anyone else mad.

Tyler P.

Plastic Bottles

What people need to know is that plastic bottles are not helpful, unless you use them for more than drinking soda or water. I mean, using water bottles just a waste, because you could just go to the sink or water fountain. Even though plastic bottles are recyclable, they should be banned because they are bad for the environment, there are many alternatives to them, and most of all, because they cause distraction.

One reason that plastic bottles should be banned is because they are bad for the environment. Everyday I walk around and see pollution everywhere, and most of that pollution is plastic bottles. Once I was at the beach, and I was with my family. The beach was beautiful, but there were bottles all over it. I had cut my toe on one, and my father had to carry me the rest of the way. And that's only one reason why plastic bottles cause pollution.

Did you know that that every year Americans throw away 35 billion plastic bottles on average? Probably not. And even wildlife is being harmed. One million seabirds and 100,000 marine animals are killed annually from plastic bottles. That is one more reason why plastic bottles are bad for the environment.

             

One last reason why plastic bottles  are bad for the environment is that they are made for one use. One use bottles are bad for the environment because they are thrown away after every use, creating a huge pollution pile-up. That is my last reason why plastic bottles are bad for the environment.  

Another reason plastic bottles should be banned is because there are many alternatives to them. For example, one alternative is tin or metal bottles. This will help because they are reusable and refillable. Tin and metal bottles are also eco-friendly. They are eco-friendly because they are not made of many chemicals. I see my friends using tin and metal bottles, and even rubber or Contigo bottles.

One last alternative is refillable, reusable bottles like Camelbak. Other brands include Camelback and Britain Brita Sport. I think Camelback is the best because it is the most durable. That is one more reason why there are many alternatives to plastic bottles.

          Although plastic bottles cause pollution and there are many alternatives, plastic bottles should be banned mostly because they can cause distraction. For example, one time in third grade it was indoor recess. Oskar had found a water bottle and started flipping it. After a couple of minutes other people wanted a turn. One friend named Jack challenged him, and the challenge went on forever, and the teacher had to ask them to come to there seats four times. That's one reason why plastic bottles can cause distraction.

          One more reason plastic bottles cause distraction is when in the car. When driving, you have to open and close the cap. With different bottles, it is much easier. One kind is the one with the button that flips open. Another kind is when you simply push up and the lid opens. There are also cups with straws to use. That is one more reason why plastic bottles are distracting.

          My last reason why plastic bottles cause distraction is when you are using them at home. When my mom is on the phone, sometimes she uses a plastic bottle, and first has to put down the phone, then unscrew the cap, screw it back on, and then pick up the phone, just for a drink of water. That is my last reason why plastic bottles cause distraction.

          My statement, plastic bottles should be banned, is true. Because this is true, isn’t it also true that all plastic products should be banned? It depends on how you think of it. We use plastics to make medical tools and devices, but we also use it for packaging. I hope the reader feels the same way I do about plastic bottles and the harm they do.

Ryan S.

ryan

Smart, active, creative, kind

Brother of william and john

Lover of mom, dad and cat

Who feels happy because he has a family, annoyed at his brothers, and scared of sharks

Who needs to get over his fears, get a hobby and try foods i haven't tried before

Who gives love, compliments, and care,

Who fears sharks, hurricanes and big, BIG roller coasters

Who would like to drive, get a dog

And a cat when i grow up,

and get a video game console

resident of easton 

Richard C.

The Big Game

“Yay!” cheered the crowd in the stands at the football game. Adam is a college student that loves to play football.  He has been a football fan since he was a little kid at age 4. His favorite football team is the New England Patriots. Adam lives in Milford.  His team that he is playing for is Weed University.

This is Adam’s first time playing football for his college. Coach screamed, “Run six laps around the field!!!!!!!!!” Adam runs the laps around the field at practice.

Adam’s coach introduces himself to the team. “My name is Mr. Brenden. I will be your coach for this year, We will do some games to see if you guys know how to play football.And we will be doing some exercises to keep your body healthy good. We will have our first game on Tuesday”.

“It is the big game,” said the coach in the locker room. Adam changes into his football gear in the locker room.Then he runs to the field. He gets shy when people cheer for him. So he covers his eyes with his hand and helmet.

HIKE!!!!!!!!

Adam is the quarterback and passes the ball to his best friend named Bryan.  Bryan caught the ball. Bryan is running it, the other team missed the tackle…….TouchDown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The crowd burst with excitement,Yay touch down!! And the other team’s crowd is saying, Boooooooooooo!!!

Quintin H.

Schools Should Ban Homework

          Sometimes in life, you might want to go to a party and have fun and then, you realize… you have all that homework. This is an important topic because homework can take away hours of your life. This is why I think all schools should ban homework. I understand that homework is evil.

Schools should ban homework because it takes up time. For example, the other day I was super excited because we started the invention convention. On the bus, I took out a pencil and started planning my invention. I started drawing all these inventions and suddenly realized that I had twelve pages of homework that were due the next day. I banged my head against the seat in front of me. Homework takes up time that you could be using having fun. For example, I still haven’t gotten anything done on my invention because of homework. Homework should be expelled.

         

          Another reason that schools should ban homework is that it has been proven that it doesn’t help. Researchers have studied kids that always do their homework and kids that don’t do their homework. The result was that there was no difference between people who do do their homework and people who don’t do their homework. So, that means homework doesn’t help.

          Finally, schools should ban homework because it causes stress. For example, once I was on the bus and I had forgotten to do a page of homework. I didn’t have a pen so I was stressed. I finally found a pen and I was rushing to do my homework, but I hadn’t finished it when I got off the bus. I was walking through the halls to my classroom while I was doing my homework. That is one way homework can cause stress and that is yet another reason of why schools should ban homework.

          Homework should be banned. Why do we need it anyway?  It doesn’t help. It causes stress and takes up time. In conclusion, homework should be forbidden.

Quinlynn N.

Brother Trouble

Yawwwn. Molly woke up one morning to the obnoxious horrible sound of her brothers screaming as loud as possible. She had no clue what an unforgettable day she would have. Her brothers  were in first and second grade at Rosemary Elementary. Her bright red hair was messy and she was glaring down the stairs. She hates when they wake her up by screaming. “I should probably go down” she thought. Molly gets out of bed and she puts on her favorite outfit, an orange t-shirt with navy blue jeans, brushes her bright red hair and goes downstairs.

For breakfast she has a bowl of cereal, corn flakes to be exact. Her brothers, Jack, Mike and Benny, have a rock collection, but use the rocks for a different thing, throwing them at her!

That morning they were at it again. “Hahahaha!” said Jack.

Molly said “Not funny, Jack” as calmly as she could. “Why won’t they stop?” she thought. Her older sister Jenna had already gone to school (she is in high school) and mom was still in bed so they couldn´t help. So again, as calmly as she could, Molly asked, “Can you please stop?”

“Stop what?” asked Mike.

“Throwing rocks at you?” asked Benny.

 

“Never!!!” they said together as they ran out of the kitchen.

As Mom entered the room, Molly said, “My brothers are throwing rocks at me again.”

Her mom laughed. “Why would they do that?” she asked as she walked away.

Molly glanced at the time. It was almost time to get on the bus! She was in sixth grade at Rosemary Elementary. She ran up the stairs, grabbed her backpack, packed her lunch, and said, “Mom it's time to get on the bus. Where are my brothers?!?!”

“That's just it. I can't find them”, said Mom.

“Ugh!! I’ll help, but we have to hurry! The bus will be here any minute!” said Molly. They scurried around like mice being chased by cats. They suddenly heard the bus go by, and Jack Benny and Mike giggling.

”There you are! Get your shoes on now! You already missed the bus!” Mom said as she rushed them to get ready. Molly finally got to school, but she got in trouble for being late.

After an uneventful day, Molly finally got home. Her brothers were already there waiting for her.

“Sorry for making you late this morning”, Benny said.

“Yes, we really are”, said Jack and Mike together.

“It’s ok, just don’t do it again,” Molly said as she gave them a hug.

The next morning she was woken by her brothers screams. They weren't obnoxious screams, they were playful screams. She was glad that her brothers weren’t annoying her any more.

The End

Olivia M.

No More Homework

     Sometimes people ask for no homework, and in my opinion they are right!  With homework there is never any time to go outside to play, unless you are really good at finishing your homework early. There is no time for activities when you do homework. Lastly there is not enough time to spend with friends AND family! So kids should not have homework because they could use the time in better ways.

The first reason is there is no time for activities. There is no time for activities because one time I got a flyer for an activity, and I asked my mom, “Hey can I do this activity?” She said it was okay as long as I could do my homework. But at that moment when she said that I had to finish my homework I knew that I could not do it. I am slow at doing my homework and same with other people who can’t work that fast on homework. Another time why there is no time for activities is when I have a lot of homework I can never go outside to do fun activities that I REALLY want to do. I get really disappointed that I can’t  do the activities ( Girls Inc., baseball)  that I really want to do. Lastly, there is no time for activities because after I get home from ballet at 7:30 I have to go to bed. But I still have three pages of homework to do. I can either do it in the morning  or use my flashlight that I need to save for emergencies like if there is a fire.That is why there is no time for activities.

The second reason is there is no time to play.When there is homework there is no time to play. One example is when I was doing my homework, my sisters came in and they asked me if I wanted to play Barbie. I had to say no because I needed to do my homework. In 5 minutes they came back and asked me if I could play Lego's with them. Of course I had to say no because I was doing my homework, I said that I´d play with them the next day. But the next day I had the same amount of homework that I had the day before so again I could not play with them. Another example of why there is no time to play is because once I was just getting home, ate a snack and a couple minutes later ate dinner. As soon as dinner was over, I started to go downstairs to play when my mom said, ¨Olivia do your homework!!¨ So I went upstairs to do my homework, and I had three things to do. When I finished the 3 pages, I had to brush my teeth and go to bed. I asked my mom,¨Can I please stay up later?¨ but she said no because all of us had to get our sleep because  my sisters and I get cranky when we go to sleep late. That is why there is no time to play. Lastly there is no time to play because when I do my homework it usually takes me awhile because I am usually not good at it. When I finish it it is time to go to bed but while I'm in bed i am all hyped up because I did not get to play. That is why there is no time to play.

Lastly there  is not a lot of time with family and friends. One example is because when I get home it is 4:35 with car line. (I usually go to the park or library). When I get home I play a bit then my mom comes home at about 5:00. We eat leftovers for dinner, and after I finish dinner I start doing my homework. I usually did not have a lot of homework but that week I had a lot. When I was in the middle of my homework my mom had to go to a meeting, and she could not come home until after we were in bed and asleep. That is why there is no time to spend with friends and family. Another reason why there is no time to spend with family and friends  is because one time I was invited to a play date (going on the other person’s bus), and when I told my mom she said no because I had a lot of homework to do that week. That is why there is no time to with family and friends. Lastly there is no time to spend with family and friends is because usually my mom, and other parents too, has meetings. My mom comes home early to see us before she leaves for her meeting. But when she is home I am usually doing my homework. When she says goodbye to us I only get to hug her before she leaves and when she comes home we are already asleep. So only when it is morning I can see her. That is why there is not a lot of time to spend with family and friends.

Other people should care about this because when kids do homework it is like they don't have a free will to do the stuff that they want do to, it keeping them from having fun! That is why kids should not have homework because they could use the time in better ways.

Leo G.

Kitty Pitty

Cats here, cats there, cats everywhere.  Sophie looked around.  Those little fluff balls were adorable. But then there was a distant sound that got louder...nunu nunu nunu nunu...over and over again that brought her back to reality… It was only a dream.

Sophie looked down at her watch but she had to push back the blond mess that blocked her view. 6:30, her watch read as she admired the slick black 38mm that looked glossy, almost meticulous. It was early and she could hear her sister breathing heavily next to her with her favorite stuffed animal uni the unicorn all worn and old with rips and food stains all over.  She felt a small smile start to spread across her face as she stumbled over all the stuffed animals that she and her sister had played pretend with the night before pretending the animals were in school and learning with their teacher Mr. Muffin. “Brrr,” said Sophie as her feet hit the black cold floor as the warmth was chased away.  “Almost, almost,”  Sophie, willing herself to keep going.  “Finally,” thought Sophie, as the warmth of the bathroom flooded over her like a sigh of relief as she quickly shut the door not to let the heat escape. she looked at the Amazon tap hanging from its perch on the ceiling, “Alexa what's the weather like today?” 

“The temperature is 51 degrees fahrenheit with humidity of 88, wind speeds of 3 miles an hour”.

“Alexa what's the date today?”

“The date is Thursday, November twenty-second.”

“Oh,” Sophie remembered, she was having her Thanksgiving class party today. They were supposed to make sugar turkeys and then eat them then they would go down to the gym and play catch the turkey. A couple hours later…  EEEEEEEEE!  Sophie ran out to get on the pale yellow bus. It was an older version that was way out of date with memory foam coming out of the uneven picked holes by the kids from the past. Sophie stared at the neighbor’s yellow and orange tabby that trotted next to the bus in a graceful way. Six hours later... “Hi Mom I’m home.”

Sophie did a clumsy front flip and landed on the stairs that groaned under the impact and looked at what had tripped her. It had gold fur, floppy ears, pink nose, a wagging tail and a lolling tongue. The reality struck her, this is a dog. “Mom, whose dog is this?” said Sophie nervously.

“Our dog,” Mom said laughing nervously, “I thought your sister and you want to get a pet so I thought that we might get a dog for you and your sister to share.”

“Doggiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee”, my little Sister said, running under my legs and pulling on the dog's tail. The dog barked, playfully wrestled from my sister's grasp and ran into the living room with my sister chasing it.

“Hey Sophie can I talk to you?” Mom said gesturing upstairs and putting a foot on the stairs. “Well, do you have any homework?”

“No,” I replied gloomily. 

“Hey they only reason I got your sister a dog was while you were at school I was going to do some errands.  And I brought her with me and we drove past the animal shelter. There was a mini goldendoodle, so she said that it was calling her name and she asked if we could get him and I said no. So she threw the worst fit ever, it was a nightmare, so I was forced to get her that dog,” Mom said, shifting uncomfortably in my glare spreading ripples in the perfect black and white bed.

“Okay,” I said, “I just want to have a couple of rules for the dog.  Number one it’s not allowed in my room, number two I don't want any of its toys in my room and number three if it touches any and I mean ANY of my stuff you have to  give it a punishment,” said trying but failing to keep the edge out of my voice.“

“Deal,” My Mom said with confidence in her voice.

A few days later…

¨Hey Sophie,” said Mom, ¨I got tested today and I am very very allergic to cats. The doctor said that people who are allergic to cats are usually allergic to dogs. He also said that there is a medication that I can take and it will stop the allergy for twelve hours or half a day.”

“Mom¨, said Sophie,¨that's great.”

“But there's just one problem¨, said Mom, the lines on her forehead making her look older.  A grave expression came across her face, drowning the happy smile. She looked away towards the dog running through the house with her obsessed child following like a little minion.  “It would be too much work for me to clean up after both a dog and a cat and if I get rid of the dog, your sister will have a mental breakdown and she wouldn't do anything,”  Mom said, her voice desperate and raspy from all the stress.

A few hours later…

Sophie woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of raspy coughing and the sound of running water.  Drowsily she said,”Alexa, what time is it?”

“The time is 1:50 A.M,”  replied the talking speaker.

“Mmmm¨, mumbled Sophie tiredly and looked down at her watch that to her surprise read 1:50 a.m.  This startled her and she went into her mom´s room. She saw her mom throwing up and drinking water at the same time and it was not a pretty sight.  It was also very messy.

“Mom?” said Sophie, unsure of why why her mom was up so early and a loom of uncertainty came across her face, ”why are you up now, Mom, you don't have to get up for another hour and twenty-five minutes?”

“Because, Sophie, I'm sick but there is a plus side”, said Mom, her face a pale ghostly white with a small smile on her face, “the doctor said that sometimes allergies will leave your body so there might be a chance that we can still get a cat because your sister Anna doesn't want the dog to get shots so it might have to go.”

Mom, looking slightly relieved that the dog had to leave, said, “Sophie the only reason I'm getting you a cat is because you will take care of it, train it, feed it, and most importantly you will love it. Your sister was really excited the first day, but the next day you remember, she went straight to the top floor to play on the XboX so you had to walk it and play with it for a bit. Go back to bed now Sophie.” The color was starting to return to Mom’s face. Sophie walked back to her bed and thought for a second what chance was there that the allergy would go away? 

She looked at the glossy screen of her watch and looked up on Google,” What is the chance that if you are sick that your allergy will go away?” 

The watch spoke back, “According to Wikipedia there is a 0.5 percent chance that an allergy will go away when you get sick.” Sophie knew not to get her hopes up because 99.5 percent of the time this didn't happen.

13 hours later...

Sophie walked home to her sister and her mom fighting over whether or not that the dog either leaves or has to get shots. It sounded something like this, “No Mommy, no I don't like shots, so dogs don't like them either.  I’m not letting you abuse this poor animal.”

“You don't understand, Anna, this will help keep the dog safe just like the flu shot keeps you

“Finnnnne”, said Anna,” we can get rid of the dog, he wasn't that interesting anyway,” and she dashed upstairs. 

Mom shot me a look of relief and started to smile then said, “Let’s go get a cat.¨

“But what about your allergy?” said Sophie slightly concerned.

¨Oh,” said Mom frowning and looking down, “I got tested today and they said I'm no longer allergic to cats,” and she smiled happily.

Kosta N.

Why We Should Have More Homework

Have you ever thought about what you will do after you finish your homework? You could be using electronics inappropriately, or you could be watching T.V. for a long time and you do not notice it. We should have more homework because it keeps you away from electronics, you make good work habits if you have more homework, and it helps you learn more, which increases your grade.

One reason that we should have more homework is that it keeps you away from electronics,  because using electronics inappropriately is a bad use of your time. For example, you could be practicing your multiplication facts for school instead of playing on electronics. Once, when I only had 1 page  of  homework. I finished it very quickly and I had nothing to do. I finished my homework quickly, because it was a math worksheet, and I had practiced that topic a lot. Thankfully, I had to practice piano so that was something I had to do. If I did not have to do piano, I would be doing nothing around the house, and that is a bad use of my time. Also, if didn't have anything to do I would be tempted to go on electronics, and not only do you not get taught anything but is also a bad use of your time because you would be playing games or chatting with people and you would be wasting your time. In addition you could be reading harder books, so you can increase your reading grade instead of playing on electronics.

Another reason that we should have more homework, is that if you have more homework you make good work habits. For example, if you need better work habits in reading, turning in more reading homework will help you. Once, I had a writing worksheet due on a Wednesday. I saw that I had not finished a story I had to write about myself. This meant I did not have good work habits in writing, and when I turned in the homework. I saw I was improving in my work habits. I then thought of other people who didn't have good work habits and how having more homework due on a special date will help them improve their work habits. If you need better work habits in math, turning in extra math homework will help you.

Although we should have more homework because it keeps you away from electronics and it gives you good work habits, having more homework is especially true because it helps you learn more and it increases your grade. Here are some examples.  If you have extra math homework your math grade will increase.  Evidence of this is that once my grade in writing was good, but could be improved. I wanted to increase my writing grade. I thought of making myself more writing homework, so I could work on writing at home too. The writing homework I made myself do was writing about if I could change the weather how would I make it. When I got my next report card I saw that my writing grade had increased. That means the extra writing homework I did at home helped increase my writing grade. And if you have extra reading homework, your reading grade will increase.  

Other people should care about this because they will need to be smart and know a lot of things if they want to graduate from high school. Do you want to be smart in school, do you want to have good work habits, do you want your grade to be increased? If so, you should have more homework. Though you may think you need more family time. I think the full weekend is enough.

Julian G.

Julian

Creative nice trustful energetic

Lover of making new ideas, watching tv,

making friends

Who feels nice, thoughtful things, helpful, artsy Who needs laughter, compliments, quiet moments Who gives smiles to everyone, compliments,

warm feelings

Who fears killer clowns, dark rooms, dummies

Who would like to go to San Francisco,

go in a salt pod, explore temples

Resident of Easton, Connecticut 

Helena W.

How to Train a Brother

“NO”!!!! screamed Toby. It was a late Saturday night and Maya was babysitting her two younger brothers. “Pleeease go to bed” whined Maya. It was almost 10:00 and Toby and Jackson refused to go to bed. Maya brushed her dark brown hair out of her face and rubbed her bright green eyes. Her parents were going to kill her if the boys were up when they came home and probably wouldn't even pay her. “Creeeeeeak” went the door. They were home! Maya ran over to the boys and shoved them under the bright red blanket.

“What’s all this mess?” boomed Dad in his loud voice.

“Ummmm, we made a fort,” trembled Maya.

Her mother reached out a hand filled with crisp bills. Maya’s father placed them in Maya’s sweaty hands and started strolling upstairs. Maya sighed and led the boys up the back staircase. That is what Maya Peterson experiences every single day.

The next morning Maya rolled over in her warm covers while her dogs licked her feet and her rabbit and cat nibbled her hair. ¨HAH HAH HAH!¨” screeched Jackson's Tickle Me Elmo as Maya jumped up in despair.

Toby was holding their dad's biggest hammer over Maya's glass bank from the trip to Japan with a big smile on his face. BAM! The bank shattered to the ground and the pieces shone in the light.  Maya slammed her head into her pillow and cried for hours.

Much later, Maya came down for breakfast and stretched her long legs out on the couch. She slipped five pieces of glass on the table to hint her parents about the bank incident. She grabbed three granola bars and devoured them while grabbing her black bag in one arm and Jackson in the other and dashed out the door. Jackson was rubbing his hands together, desperate to ride his shiny new hoverboard to preschool to show his friends.

Maya grabbed her hoverboard and they rode of to Oakwood Preschool. Toby has been able to walk to school himself for exactly three days, two hours, and seventeen minutes. He had been timing it with the stopwatch from his grandma. But on his way to school he actually started feeling guilty about breaking his sister´s bank. His eyes watered as he remembered the joyful look on her face when she got it and let out a long sigh. The wind blew his light brown hair into his eyes as he stared at the faded brick building. His blue eyes shifted, hoping to see his two best friends. His red sneakers bounced on the pavement as he jumped into the school.It was hours later that Maya walked out of the school followed by her two friends Erica and Christy. After picking up Jackson they were going to work on a poster for their science project at Maya’s house. On the sidewalk of Oakwood Preschool Maya spotted Jackson painting rocks on a tarp and waved.

“ I have to be at Tio’s Tacos by 6:00,” said Erica. She was obsessed with her new job and had the food critics coming  next week. However, Cristy was happy to accompany Maya for the afternoon. As they opened the door, Jackson jumped into Maya's arms, paint covered hands and all. Ten minutes later the girls flopped down on Maya's bed and poured over their global warming poster for hours. But one thing was strange. It was quiet. No dancing, stomping, yelling or even crying from the boys. Something was wrong.

The girls went downstairs to get a snack. The boys were sitting quietly with arms folded at the golden brown table. “Dearest sister, may we borrow a blue marker?” questioned the boys hopefully.

“Sure, just don't touch our poster,” said Christy, grabbing a handful of crackers.

A smile spread across Toby’s face as she said those words. He walked up the stairs with Jackson by his side. He ran his fingers along the metal rail. As he trotted into Maya’s as quiet as baby mice he glanced at the poster.“CRASH!”

The second Maya heard that sound she ran upstairs as fast as a cheetah. Blue paint covered their clothes as they dashed into the room, two green dogs licked the floor while Maya whimpered sadly.

She was horrified. The permanent paint stained the walls like a ocean. Jackson grasped a blue marker that wasn’t so blue anymore. “WHAT IN THE NAME OF #*&%#* IS THIS!!!!!!”  screamed Mom. She was as red as a pepper. She hated messes and was bursting with anger.

The boys were grounded for three months and had to pay for wall paint. A few days later, Dad came home with a lock for Maya’s room and the boys gave Maya a can of mint blue paint. “I guess the boys won't be going near any paint for a while!” joked Maya.