Wednesday, May 23, 2012

ON TUMBLE-LEGS By Vicky, age 9


Nancy goes in the kitchen and finds a piece of paper in the corner on the floor. The paper is a recipe for cookies. She picks it up and she tries to make those cookies.
“Nancy, what are you doing?” her mom says.
“I am baking some cookies for you to eat.”
Nancy’s mother smells them and bites into one. “It’s so delicious. It tastes like the ones my mom used to make me in China. Where did you get the recipe?”
“I found it on the floor.”
“Do you want to work in a bakery?
        “Yes”
“Ok, let’s build a bakery.”
Nancy and her mother build a bakery in Japantown near the Hello Kitty store. The building is shaped like a cupcake. Inside, the bakery smells like cupcakes! Cookies sparkle in glass containers on the counter. Plants hang from the ceiling. Stained glass windows shine in the sun. Almost all of the things are made out of glass and wood. They have a lot of customers. Most of them have not-sure smiles. When it’s night Nancy and her mother close their bakery and go home. 
The next morning when Nancy and her mother open the bakery, they see a mess on the floor. They don’t know what happened. The windows are shattered. Splinters of glass crunch under Nancy’s feet. She lifts an upside down chair and sits on its cushion.
The next week, the thieves come again and Nancy and her mother feel sad and angry. “We can set up a net to trap the thieves,” Nancy says. Nancy and her mom build a trap. They hang it from the ceiling. Nancy and her mother wait all night behind the counter. The next morning three thieves come. Nancy’s mother pushes a red button. A net drops onto the thieves. The thieves are like flies and the net was like a spider web. They throw the thieves in the sea.
When they open the shop, Nancy and her mother have lots of customers. Four different thieves come. The thieves say to the customers, “Go away or we will stab you with knives!” The thieves steal all the breakfasts waiting on the counter. 
Nancy and her mother are so sad again. They close up the shop and find a magic wand behind a rock near their house. Nancy points it up at the clouds and it brightens the sky.
Nancy says, “Mother, let’s trap the thieves.”
“How?” 
“Use the magic wand.”
“So how do we use the magic wand?” 
“You will see tomorrow.”
The next morning, two thieves walk into the bakery like penguins. Nancy’s mother points the wand at the thieves and wiggles her hands because she is scared that the thieves will stab her! The thieves smash into each other and fall over. Nancy’s mom puts a mirror in front of their mouths. They are not breathing.

At night, Nancy and her mother walk home on tumble-legs with their hands hanging from their arms, their heads hanging from their necks. They sleep on top of their roof and dream about the thieves’ eyeballs falling out and their bodies turning to sand.


About the Author


Hi! My name is Vicky. I am nine years old. I live with my mom, dad, and my baby sister. I am good at math. I want to be an artist when I grow up because I am interested in art. One day I want to be a teacher. If I could to be a season I would be winter because I want to build a snowman. I am also the author of Sunny’s Poison, Memories of Toisan, and Guang Zhou Zoo.