Thursday, August 1, 2013

JACK'S PROBLEMS By Spencer, age 10
























Pancakes

Jack scoops the batter up.
He pours it on the pan and oil spatters everywhere.
Flames rise and steam flutters across the hallway.


Chase

Jack chases his dog.
He slips on his chessboard and crashes into the stove.
Jack’s blood drips like water onto the burners.
Steam and smoke whoosh up to the ceiling.


Race

Behind the starting line, Jack stretches.
The referee points the gun it the air and pulls the trigger. BOOM!
Jack digs into his pocket and pulls out some metal things.
The pieces rattle and their hooks stab the ground.
He picks them up and puts together a jetpack.
CLANG! 
A bird poos on the referee’s head and
he covers his eyes with his hands, 
and runs to the bathroom.
On Jack’s last lap, the jetpack runs out of gas.
The ref sees him from the bathroom and blows his whistle.
Jack ignores him and keeps on going.


Emptying The Trash

Jack goes down to the basement to dump the garbage.
The can is full of rotten food and dirty napkins.
Red and green eyes glow in the dark.
A monster roars. 
Jack throws the can and runs up the stairs.
He turns on the light and the monster
disappears into the trash can.


Bus Ride

Jack looks out the giant window and sees a meteor.
A red oval with a flaming tail shoots across the sky.
Jack calls 911.
“911. What’s your emergency?”
Jack shouts, “A meteor is coming.”
“That is not a meteor. It is the sun.”
“Oops,” says Jack.


About the Author

Hi, my name is Spencer. I live in San Francisco with my mom, dad and brother. I am ten years old. Soon I will be in middle school. I am also the author of Kim Goes to Hawaii and My Confusion. My favorite book we read in Room 2 is The Hobbit because it has a lot of war and a dragon. I like writing poetry because you can make a few words say a lot.

LOOKING FOR LAVENDER By Anny & Vicky, both age 11




Lavender and her sisters twirl in the sky above their backyard. Birds sing. They chirp into the blue. Covered in seaweed, the Demon King swaggers through the clouds. He hurdles to Lavender and smacks her cheeks. Blood rolls down her chin. She howls, fainting. He shakes his wand at her. A tiny box drops out of his pocket. Thump. The box sucks her into its stomach.
“Hahaha, I got Lavender. When Madam finds out her precious daughter is missing, she will give me her magical wand. I’ll be the King of the Fairy Land soon!”


Mint and Rose flutter with the birds past kites.
“Did you hear that?” asks Mint.
“Hear what?” Rose wonders. 
Thump. 
“Where is that sound coming from?”
“I don’t know.”
The fairies practice their powers. They loop, swirl, swing, and twirl through the sky. They fly together and meet in a circle. The sisters hold hands, a rainbow appears in the middle.
“Stop this,” says Rose.
“Why?” asks Tulip.
Lavender isn’t here,” Rose says. “We have to stop immediately when I count to three.”
The others look confused. “We’re ready,” says Mint.
“Okay one, two, three,” says Rose. The wind pushes her into a red ray of sun. 


The queen walks through the air, watching her daughters. “What are you girls doing?” asks Madam. Leaves fall on their hands. The clouds stop moving. The sisters pause. 
“Nothing, we are practicing our powers,” Mint says. 
“One, two, three of you. Where is Lavender?” Madam asks.
Sweat drips down Rose’s face. “Maybe inside.” Her legs shake.             
“Tell her to come out,” Madam says.
“I’ll check,” says Mint. She flies inside the palace but Lavender is not there. She returns to the backyard. “We don’t know where Lavender is. I think she got trapped. We can’t practice our powers without her.”
A voice whispers inside Rose’s mind, I have control over you. Rose tries to say something, but the voice shuts her mouth. 
“Rose,” says Madam. “I trust you to find Lavender.”
“Lavender,” Rose calls, darting through the sky, “You need to come home now.
Leave her alone,” says a voice in the clouds.
Rose turns around. Lavender is tied to a sky-tree. “Lavender?”
“Yes, it’s me!”
“What happened?”
“The Demon King did all this to me. He shrunk me and put me in a purple box. When I got out of the box he wasn’t there. I was tied up like this. Good thing I got big again. Tell Madam to come here.”
“Ok.”


Swoosh. Up Rose goes back to the sky palace. “Madam, Madam,” she says. “I found Lavender.”
“Where is she?” asks Madam. 
Light sprints from the sky and points her wand at an empty house below. Dead leaves lay on the ground. Dust flies everywhere. Wind swirls through the air. Darkness covers the sky. The light dims as Madam walks down the cloud stairs. Whoosh
“Finally you’re here,” Demon King says, laughing.
“Who are you?” asks Madam.
“You don’t need to know.” 
“Come out, I’m not afraid of you.” 
“You should be afraid of me.”
Help, Madam!” yells Lavender.
“Don’t worry Lavender, I will come back.”


Madam goes to a house of potions. “Help! Anyone there?” she asks.
“Who is that?” a wizard asks.
“It is me, Madam. Don’t you recognize my voice? I am the queen!” 
“Oh sorry, I was too busy making a potion.”
“With a crystal ball?” 
Yep and what do you need help with?”
“Lavender is tied up and the one who kidnapped her wants my powerful wand. It is the Demon King. He must want to be the king of the Fairy Land.”
“Don’t worry,” the wizard says, handing her a purple jar. “I have a potion for that.”
“Bye,” Madam says and zips away.
“She could’ve said thanks. Who am I kidding? She is the queen.”


Madam flies back to where Lavender is tied up. “I gonna kill him. People who mess with me never have a good ending.” She pours the potion over Lavender’s head. The clouds brighten, evilness disappears. The ropes fade away. 
“I am free! Thanks, Madam.” Lavender says. She skips to Madam and gives her a big hug. Fireworks pop and pinken the sky. Lavender walks through the clouds. On the other side, her sisters sit on a floating bench.
“Hey guys!” says Lavender.
“Lavender, you are back!” says Mint.
A rainbows appears and shines down on the sisters.


ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Hi, my name is Anny. I am a fifth grader going into sixth. I live in San Francisco with my mom and dad. I was born in China and came to San Francisco when I was four. At home I speak Chinese. I am good at math. I want to be good at baking cakes. I am different from other kids because I wear my hood up a lot. If I could be anything thing in this world I would be rain because people hate it when it rains. Writing this book was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life! This is my second published book. Yay! It took Vicky, and me almost a year to finish this book. I am also the author of Connie’s Magic

Hi. My name is Vicky. I am a fifth grader going into sixth grade. I live in San Francisco with my mom dad and my sister. I speak Chinese and English at home. I’m good at math. I want to be a scientist when I grow up. I am also the author of On Tumble Legs, Sunny’s Poison, Memories of Toisan, and Guang Zhou Zoo. This is my fifth published book.



NOTHING By Wendy, age 11




Blood oozed out of bodies. Screams wandered through the air. Lightning struck a garbage can. Clash! Damon walked beside Joey, holding a knife. Blood dripped from the blade into a pond, feathering through a school of fish. The moon’s reflection glistened on the water’s surface. Joey’s eyes gleamed brown.
“I want the pearl!” moaned Damon. 
Joey ran out into the woods, clutching a handful of shiny orbs. In the middle of the strand hung a glass pearl. Legend said it gives power to the one who shines it on the full moon. He ran straight and saw nothing but trees. Then Damon held the knife in front of him. “Give me the pearl!” he shouted. Joey ran deeper into the woods until he came to a ledge. A waterfall poured into a pond beneath him. Sharks circled around. Joey quickly jumped in. Splash
“I’ll find you later,” Damon called.
Glug, glug, glug! Joey gasped for air. Something rubbed against his leg, leathery and rough. It was Damon’s shoe. 
Joey pointed at the necklace in his fist. “Why do you need it?
“He who holds the pearl controls the world,” Damon said, twisting his head. Damon dragged Joey out of the pond up by his collar and cut the string of the pearls, scattering all but one to the bottom of the pond. He slammed Joey down to the ground.
“Now you must obey my master,” said Damon, roping Joey’s wrists together.
“I don’t want to,” said Joey, but Damon’s crimson eyes hypnotized him. “Yes I must.”
“You will meet him now.” 


Damon led Joey toward a crystal cave. Gems, rubies, and emeralds glittered on the walls. Standing in front of the cave was an altar. Flames flashed from two pillars. Between them was a table set with a bowl. 
“Now my master shall arise.” Damon dropped the remaining pearl into the bowl, a ring of fire circling the bowl as the gem fell. Thunder roared and lightning sparked. Wind rocked the bowl. Whoosh. The pearl spun. Then all the lightning and thunder vanished and it was a clear night sky. Stars blinked, the moon glistened.
“Nothing is happening?” Damon said  to himself, but behind him black smoke swirled through the air. Joey stared into the distance. The smoke floated towards the moon. Two ruby eyes dotted the forest. From between two tall trees, a dragon swooped over the altar. His eyes stuttered as he looked the pearl. Little gusts of wind froze Joey’s fingers as the dragon led him towards the ledge of the cliff.
“Don’t!” said Damon. 
“Why shouldn’t I?” said the dragon. “My name is Drogan, the God of Evil, isn’t it? Are you questioning me?”
“Yes, what would you do with the pearl then?”
“You will find out. Do you remember that the pearl can raise the dead?”
“You are going to do that?” 
“Yes! So if you want to live, listen.” Damon plucked the pearl from its bowl, climbed onto Drogan’s back and they flew to a cemetery. The dragon  pointed a claw at a moss-covered cross. “Now place the pearl on top of this.” Damon did as he was told and the cross cracked. Snails crawled all over it, sliming the wood.
“Lift it so that it glows in the moon’s light, and point the light into the hole in the cross.” 
Damon balanced the pearl on the cross. Behind the cross was a chest, and in the chest was a staff. Drogan clawed the staff and shouted, “Arise, my friends, and listen to my command!” Then groaning rose from the ground.
“It worked, master.” 
“Yes I know.” Drogan rose the staff into the air and arms and legs grew out of the ground. Then bodies and heads popped out too. They walked towards Damon. Arms crumpled to the ground. Blood splattered on the gravel. One of the bodies tripped on a rock and toppled another behind him. The smell of rotting flesh strangled Damon’s lungs.  


“I can’t breath.” Damon swayed through the army of shredded bodies, rubbing his neck. Drogan hovered overhead, now with Joey on his back. Damon floated into the air, still rubbing his neck, and landed beside Joey on Drogan’s back. 
“Where are those things going?” said Damon.
“To the city to get more, and they all obey me!” said Drogan.
“So what are you going to do with the kid?”
“I will...”
“You will what?”
“This,” he said, flying over the ocean, throwing Joey’s body into the blue water. “We won’t be seeing him any more.” Damon sprouted wings and flew with Drogan towards the rising sun. Flames burst out of his flesh. The heat scorched Drogan’s scales, throwing them off his body and turning them to meteors that scattered over the earth. One crashed onto the Great Wall of China. Tourists took pics and tweeted, The sky is falling! 
“Why must you do this, master?” said Damon. “You destroyed your home. Where will we go?”
“If you say one more thing I will burn off your wings and you will fall to your death.”
Damon turned around and watched the earth disappear. 
“I remember now,” Damon said.
“You remember what?”
“I remember now that I am a human. I was born on earth. My mom died when I was born, before she died, I was wrapped in a blue cloth and placed in a basket then dropped in a river. I floated to the entrance of your cave. That is where you found me.”
“How can you still remember that?” Drogan said. Somehow. Damon fluttered down to earth.
Joey floated in the sea. Some sharks swam up beneath him, looking like they were going to attack, but they didn’t.
“We know how you feel, Joey,” one of the sharks said.
“How do you know me?”
“We heard you talking to Damon and saw you fall into the pond. We were there, Joey.”
“We feel nothing,” said the second shark, “and so do you.”
“Nothing?” Joey whispered. Nothing...

About the Author

Hi! My name is Wendy and I am eleven years old. I live in San Francisco, sometimes in Chinatown with my mom, grandma, and my brother, and sister, sometimes on Polk Street with my dad and the lady from Beijing. (Read about her in my book, My Family Who Cares About Me But Also Makes Me Crazy.) I speak Chinese at home, and my family comes from China, somewhere I have never been. If I were weather I would be a cloud so I could watch all my friends from above. I would like to be a photographer when I grow up, because I like to take pictures and hold a camera. This is my fourth published book, and the last book I am ever going to write in Room 2.