Meadows Musings

Staff and Contributors

Faculty Advisors - Mrs. Vollmer and Mrs. Turchi

Art Advisor - Ms. Jones

Student Contributors
Shreya Agrawal
Ishitha Banuprakash
Prarthana Chavarkar
Sahithi Cheekala
Vibhavi Chinthalapudi
Alex Dyga
Victor Fu
Sreya Hasan
Ridita Hassan
Sneha Hegde
Izabella Houchins
Aditya Kamginaya Madhuchandra
Alexandra Malan
Havish Pallera
Yashwant Pantra
Yug Patel
Angelina Roznowski
Isabelle Shi
Luna Shirakabe
Sabrina Wang
Table of Contents
Alexa Saves the Day p.3 Alexandra Malan
Four Seasons p.3 Sahithi Cheekala
 Alexa Saves the Day
By Alexandra Malan

Do you have younger siblings? If you do, then you know how exasperating being an older
sibling is. We start out in San Jose, California. Alexa is the oldest of 6 younger siblings, Julia is 12,
Ryan is 10, Jessica is 7, Abby is 6, Leia is 3 and Gabby is 1. Alexa and her family live with their
mom and dad in a small neighborhood.
Alexa’s mother is going to the store and her dad is at the bank where he works. They both
will be back at 6. Her mom is taking Gabby, Leia and Abby. Alexa leaves the room for a moment
after her parents leave she hears a loud BANG, CRASH. She sprints back to the living room and
she sees the 4 kids playing Twister. Then she goes to the kitchen and hears a big BANG she
sprints as fast as possible into the living room and she sees Jessica on the ground holding her
ankle. She called her parents and within minutes her parents came as fast as they. They rushed
Alexa and her siblings to the Hospital. Were they were called into the emergency room. The doctor
ran a few tests and then the doctor confirmed it was a broken ankle. They left the Hospital with
Jessica in her new cast. On the ride home her parents say that she did the right thing acting as
quickly as she did. Alexa saved the day, this time but next it might be you!

My Favorite Seasons
By Ishitha Banuprakash

Roses are red violets are blue

Four Seasons
By Sahithi Cheekala
Leaves blowing around.
The ground full of red and gold.
The air is whisking away.
Spring is coming with its honey and dew.
Kids enjoy the sweetness it brings
Mom’s bake apple pies
Dads stare at the dancing skies
Kids play all day and night.
Soon kids will say bye to winter and welcome the
joy of spring.

Snowflakes all over.

Little kids playing outside .
Hot mugs of cocoa.
Flowers are blooming.
Animals wake from their sleep.
Time to go and play.
Schools out time to go.
Play in sun or go to beach.
Have fun in the sun.
Roses are reds violets are blue
Summer is coming with its sunshine and hew.
All the birds tweet with joy
Animals chirp and squeak all day and night.
Kids play with their friends in that joy.
These two seasons are my favorite of all.
They bring out the animals and all the warmth.
They spread their joy like a shower.
They help farmers produce crops and flowers.
They are my favorite seasons of all!

3
 The Tales of Apple and Orange
By Aditya Kamginaya Madhuchandra

Hello.
I’m AAAH!
Apple

Hey! What is
this?

Later, in the middle of the night... Kap

ow

HI
YA
H!

We should have
been here No. What is
Hurray! before today. happening?

Continued...

4
 TITLE?
By Isabelle Shi

“Meet at the bleachers,” The note was simply signed, Coach.

The young boy stared at the note. What could Coach possibly want him for? He left his room and
hurried to the bleachers around the soccer field. Three others were gathered in front of Coach.
He was familiar with all of them. They were his teammates. Well, two of them were. The last one, he
didn’t know, but she was obviously from Dash. Dash was their opposing team. There were other teams like
Pride, Glory, and Gem, but this one person looked so much like a Dash.
The Dash seemed to recognize him, too, but as a Rage.
“Tell him why we’re here,” Coach motioned at him, and the others rushed to explain the situation to him
“We’re spying. We’re spying on our rival.” the Dash girl said.
“Band Camp,” one of his teammates clarified. “We’re spying on Band Camp.”
“How? Why?” the boy asked.
“Because we’re going to win this war. You will go to Band Camp, and pretend you are there to learn to
play an instrument. Collect information. I’ll pay a visit every week. In exactly ten full moons, we will attack Band
Camp,” Coach explained.
“When do we go?”
“Soon. Very, very soon.”
On the day of their departure, they were given exact times to meet and where. Apparently, previous
spies had been drawing precise maps of Band Camp before they were nearly spotted. The four were each
assigned an instrument, and Coach reminded them strictly not to reveal their identity as Sports Camp spies.
The group travelled on a boat to the Band Camp island. They reached the shore, and their boat left
them there. Band Camp was such a... lively island. Green leaves decorated the trees. Mountains with glittering
white snow caps rested in front of them. Pink, orange, yellow, a big variety of colors dotted the forest.
A yelp sounded from somewhere nearby. There was a quick flash of silver and gold, and then there
were people attacking them, some using parts of their instruments. The four were quickly taken over and
pinned with their hands behind their back.
“What’s your business here at Band Camp?” one demanded, pointing his drumstick at them.
“We’re here to join. We’re here to learn,” the Dash girl, Reema, if he remembered correctly, spoke up.
The group of Bandits released them. They were escorted all the way to the center of the island where
Band Camp lay. Beautiful, polished white stone made up the building, and crystals jutted out all around it. The
group was brought into the biggest practice room.
“Newcomers!”
Immediately, heads poked out from the smaller practice rooms, and people filed out. The leader of the
group led them to what seemed like the front of the room.
“They say they want to join,” she announced, her voice echoing around the room.
Six people marched onto the stage.
“Do you have instruments in mind?” one questioned.
The four glanced at each other. They had practiced this many times before their departure, but this was
real. They each named off their instruments.
“Flute,” Reema said.
“Saxophone.”
“Percussion.”
It was the boy’s turn. He hesitated. “Clarinet.”
-An excerpt from Band Camp

5
 Haiku
By Izabella Houchins

Dogs Friends

Fluffy and so cute Always there for you

Feed, love, and take care of

Help you when the times are
them
tough
All different colors
Make you feel better

Valentines Day
Pencils
Love is in the air
Dancing across the page
Roses given as a gift
As you write a nice story
Chocolate candies yum!
Sharpened to a point

Book Review: City of Ember

By Sabrina Wang

“The City of Ember”, by Jeanne DuPrau is the first book in a series called the book of
ember. It follows the story of two kids, Lina and Doon on their adventure in a place they never
seen before.

Author Jeanne DuPrau made the story believable while still fiction. The book is about the
two friends Lina and Doon living in their dying city, Ember as the people slowly panic when their
supplies run out. The two can only save the people of Ember if they can solve the mysterious
box that holds the secret of escaping.They unravel secrets, and solve puzzles as their only
hope of escape is on their shoulders. Lina and Doon’s teamwork helps them in solving the
puzzle.

The story takes place in a futuristic timeline where Lina and Doon live. Throughout the
series it mostly takes place in the outside of Ember, but in the first book in almost all takes place
the city. The main characters Lina and Doon are both likeable characters believable as two kids
with their own personalities. Also as the story progresses you switch perspectives between the
two main characters as they solve the puzzle together and separately. With the believable
characters and the interesting plot I think “The City of Ember” is a beautifully written book.

I am impressed by how drawn in I was reading the book, and how story was realistic but
fiction. I liked the novel because the characters and story was interesting to me. I liked how the
characters in the story seemed so real. The author jeanne DuPrau obviously spent a lot of time
working on the book and the style of switching perspectives was a good way of looking at the
story at a different angle. I would recommend “The City of Ember” and its series.
6
 The Secret of the Elevator
By Ridita Hassan

The light flickered and there were bangs coming out from the elevator. The door creaked open
and the lights powered down. Everyone in the elevator with me saw a small and dark room. As soon as I
stepped outside in the dark of the random room, a random hand pulled me. Everyone got terrified. I
hoped that the effect was not fatal. I was breathing so hard. As soon as I was out of sight from everyone
in the elevator, multiple hands came and grabbed everyone. A kidnapper, who burst out of the walls,
growled and grabbed everyone, one by one . Nasty slime spread out on the floor. Then later, I hear a
familiar shriek. It was high-pitched and loud. Sreya? A split second later, I see her being dragged across
the floor. I was panting.

Before I knew it, everyone was thrown into an extremely deep valley of water. NO! The water
roared as it sucked us down nearly drowning everyone. I saw a door and I pointed to it. At least there
wasn’t any water left, but I saw a clown with really pale, cracked, skin, blood dripping down his face. His
eyes turned blood red and his teeth was yellow. He opened his mouth and It’s not the one in the circus
trying to make kids laugh. A sinister laugh emerged from its mouth. I knew what was going to happen
next. The walls were covered in disgusting, slimy goo. The lights dimmed really low all of a sudden. The
sight was disgusting and creepy at the same time. I looked around for an exit. What I ended up seeing
was a really big exit, that’s the good news. The bad news was that there was a big gate. Turns out that
we had to find another exit. I glanced over and saw one more exit. Unfortunately, clown reached into the
sky and pulled the kidnappers from earlier. They all smiled like maniacs. Then, the same elevator door
plummets right down in front of me. A feeling burst in my heart. I couldn’t breathe. The creepiest day of
my life has come. My life was at risk. The clown transformed into a ferocious beast with bright red eyes
and even sharper teeth gobbled up all the other evil creatures to grow into an immense one.

“Eww,” I spoke under my breathe.

“What was that, little girl?” he bellowed.

“Um, nothing,” I panted.

“Boy, get out of here! I’m not afraid of you!”

A random, deep, and confident voice all out of nowhere passed through everyone’s ears. Before
my eyes he kicked the clown in the eye.

“Haha, try harder than that little clown who thinks he’s a genius.”

The clown grabbed him with his sharp, dirt encrusted, nails and pulled him inside.

“Go! Go! Run for your lives!”

What? That was unexpecting. I turned around and told Sreya to look at what I found. Huh. The
door was open. We headed out, extremely quietly. We got out of that disgusting, nauseous place. Ugh.

7
 We were passing through the next door, and there was a sign that said, ”Pass with care. You
are about to enter acid puddles. Proceed with caution. Beware. You are on your own now…” Then
the writing faded away, and the sign banged on the top of the odd room that looked like a cave. Acid
dripped from the roof of the cave. I glanced aside. A split second after I saw the side of the cave, the
exact same looking hands broke right through the wall and tried to grab us.
“Um, what is THAT!” I exclaimed.
“I think it is an obstacle course. Isn’t that acid and THE EXACT SAME HANDS FROM LAST
TIME! Oh no.” Sreya shouted.
Avoid acid AND hands to grab us?!?! This was a real challenge. Everyone tried to dodge it.
Some people were really close to the acid and the hands. Next was a third obstacle. Spikes came
out of the floor. Uhh. That made it more challenging. I took a deep breath and continued. I believed
in myself that I could do it. Everyone could do it.
New sign: “You have made it. Now GET OUT! Never come back” Whoo. That was exhausting.
Sweat trickled down my spine. Another sign popped down. “Woo you have made it. Now get out of
here. Don’t even think about coming back here.” Each person burst into joy. We could finally go
home. I found Sreya, my friend. We took out our phones and opened up the GPS.
“Oh well, we need WiFi,” she said. We laughed it off. I found a door that said “Exit please.” I
opened the door and saw a portal.
A robotic voice said, “Welcome to the Portal. Please enter your destination and we will
transport you there safely.” I entered her house number, but we lived next door. We took a ride
home in the Portal. We hugged our parents and cheered for joy. Even though that day was scary, it
ended like a miracle. But the secret of the elevator still roams around, seeking for a victim.

Art Spring
By Prarthana Chavarkar By Luna Shirakabe
I love pink, purple and blue,
And all the colors with a hue. Spring is filled with flowers
You could look at it for hours
Art can sometimes have some wood, Whoosh! The wind blows
Which can be very good. Just like the water flows
You get a spring break
It can only be woody, And stuff your face with cake
If you have a good buddy. You can go on vacation
Or stay at home impatient
Art is outside everywhere, Spring days are coming soon
Art is also in what you wear, And then here comes June
Art does have a buzz, clang, or a bang. People can’t wait for this thing
That everyone calls spring!
But it can also help you lose weight,
Art is different,
When you concentrate.

Art is heaven in disguise,

For us little guys.

But don’t let it fool you,

The things that art can do. 8
 Title?
By Yashwant Pantra

9
 Save the Environment
By Angelina Roznowski

Woah! Did you know that by 2050, there could be more trash than fish in the oceans?
Some people don’t think when they drop things like plastic and wrappers onto the ground.
They maybe don’t think about the environment or animals at the time. Do you know that it
takes a while for garbage to decompose, so it just sits in landfills or in the ocean? More
people should stop polluting and/or littering.
Not polluting would be a good thing and would help our planet Earth because it would
save the animals, especially the creatures in the ocean. A lot of animals like turtles and
even birds end up eating pieces of plastic floating in the ocean, which is bad for them. Not
littering and throwing your garbage in the trash cans would help. Sometimes, littering is
dangerous. If someone had left a broken glass bottle somewhere, and a turtle is traveling
along the sand and steps on the broken bottle, it could harm the turtle.
However, that does not mean we should be punished severely if we pollute or
litter. We want people to learn to make choices to not pollute/litter, not force them. They
would most likely learn to not pollute or litter by making their own choices after telling
them. We could share about not polluting to others or make signs about it around places
like New York or Las Vegas that are most littered/polluted at, so they could make the
choice.
Not polluting and littering begins with thinking about the environment. Forcing people to
not pollute or litter won’t help people learn much about greatly caring for the Earth. But,
reminding people to not pollute or litter could teach them to care more for our planet.

Super Dude
By Victor Fu

Billy was a nice kid at school, but he always got laughed at. Billy didn’t mind
though. He thought they were always laughing with him.
One day, he found a stranded puppy. He couldn’t just leave it there so he brought
it home. When his mom found out what he did, she said it was a nice thing to do, but he
would have to give it to the animal shelter to deal with it. Billy always wanted a puppy.
He would always ask for one when Christmas was near. Now he had one one, but he
would have to give it away. Billy thought about it for a long time.
At night, Billy went to the bathroom and slowly turned the faucet knob just so that
it wouldn’t make any noise. He quietly brought up Larry (that was what he named the
dog) and put him under the water. He started yipping right away, he did not like water.
The next day, Billy secretly brought Larry to school in his backpack. At recess, he
brought him out and played with him. Soon the bullies found out what he’d been doing
and took away the puppy. Billy was mad, so mad that he punched the bullies. As soon
as he started to swing, everything seemed to slow down. The bullies stopped moving
and the trees stopped swaying. Billy tried to stop his fist but it was just going too fast. His
fist gave a satisfying “SMACK” as it hit the jaw of one of the bullies. The others were all
in the middle of a laugh their big mouths gaping. Billy looked around. He didn’t really
know what was happening. He couldn’t get out of this… slow time? He must’ve looked
super fast to them, if they could even see him. He looked like he was inside the storm
from Fortnite. It was cool. 11
 TITLE?
By Havish Pallera

12
 The Life of J.K. Rowling
By Sneha Hegde

“ Working hard is important, but there is something that matters more: believing in yourself.”
says J.K.Rowling. Have you heard of Harry Potter? J.K. Rowling is the successful author of this series.
Harry Potter is still worth billions to this day! But I figured out that her life was pretty hard and it wasn't at
all what I thought it would be. I assumed her life was all great but her life was almost completely the
opposite of what I thought!
J.K.Rowling was born on July 31, 1965, in Chipping Sodbury in England. Her name is Joanne
Rowling but her nickname is Jo. 2 years after Jo was born, her little sister Diana or Di was born. Jo
loved her sister. They played games together all the time but sometimes they got in fights. Jo made up
stories for Di all the time. They had fun. Jo’s life’s ambition always was to become an author. She had a
mostly happy childhood but there were some sad times and sometimes she got teased by the name
“Rowling Pin”. For a while, she studied at St Michael's Primary School. Then when she was 9, her family
moved to Tutshill and she went to Tutshill Primary. She didn’t really like her teacher. Her teacher was
mean and judgy and made the kids sit according to their smartness level. The kids had a fraction test to
test them and Jo had never studied fractions so she failed the test. So while all the smart kids sat to her
teacher’s left, the “dim kids” sat to the teacher’s right. Jo had said that she sat “as far right as you could
without sitting in the playground”. At age 11, Jo went to Wyedean Comprehensive School. She always
stood up to bullies even though she was good and quiet student. At age 15, Jo’s mom got sick with
Multiple Sclerosis or MS. There was no cure for MS and her mother got weaker everyday. Jo was very
close to her mother so she was devastated when her mom got sick. There was one person who could
make Jo feel better though, her friend Sean Harris. Sean was one of her first friends who got a drivers
license so when Jo was feeling down they would drive around town. Soon Jo went to the University of
Exeter to study French. She even spent a year at Paris as a teaching assistant. But Jo still only wanted
to write. Her favorite thing to do in her free time was to study different languages and learn new words
that she could use for her stories. For example, in French “mal” means bad and “foy” comes from “foi”
which means faith so “malfoy” means “bad faith”.Later, when Jo was travelling from Manchester to
London’s King’s Cross she had the greatest idea for a story: Harry Potter. One evening, Jo had a big
fight with her boyfriend. She went to a nearby pub and alone at the table, she thought of how satisfying
it would be to whack an iron ball at his head, she had just created a new sport that only wizards could
play:Quidditch.
Sadly, not long after that, Jo’s mom died. It was a shock to her whole family. Even though she
had been sick for a while, they never thought that she would die. Jo thought living in another country
would lift her spirits so she took a job teaching English in Portugal. While in Portugal, she met a
journalist named Jorge Arantes. They fell in love and got married in 1992. The next year, Jo had a baby
girl named Jessica but soon after that, Jorge and Jo got divorced and Jo and Jessica went to live in
Scotland. Jo worked hard on her book. She worked as fast and wrote as much as she could. Jo didn’t
have a job yet so she had to live on public assistance. While Jo was working as hard as she could,
England had started a campaign called Back to Basics. It said that single mothers like Jo wer something
that the country should be ashamed of. Jo still had friends and family. Her sister’s husband always let
her sit for hours in his restaurant. Jo’s old friend Sean lent her some money to buy a flat. Jo finally
finished her first draft Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Jo soon got a job as a French teacher.
When she wasn’t teaching, she was working on her manuscript. Finally, seven years after she got the
idea for Harry Potter, Jo was ready to show her book to the world. Jo sent her work to an agent named
Christopher Little. At first he rejected it but then, he read the rest of it and loved it so much he sold it to
Bloomsbury Publishers.
13
 Soon Mr. Little told Jo that there were publishers in America who were so interested in Harry
Potter that they were willing to pay $10,000 for it! Eventually they changed the price to $100,000!
Finally, Arthur A. Levine won the book. He was little scared to pay so much money for a first time
author, but he loved the book so much and he was sure the kids in America would love them too (he
got that right).

Jo was buying herself a new coat one day but it was strange to her to spend money on herself
without worrying about it. Soon in 1997, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published in
the U.K. and all the children loved it and couldn’t wait to read the next book, Harry Potter and the the
Chamber of Secrets which was published in 1998. Meanwhile, Jo was becoming famous in America
where they called her book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Soon, Harry Potter and the
Prisoner of Azkaban was published in 1999. Everyone was going crazy for Harry Potter. They called
it Pottermania.

Jo’s own daughter Jessica was 7 years old and she still hadn’t read her mom’s books. Jo
thought that Harry Potter was for at least ages 8 and up, but Jessica hated being the only one who
hadn’t read them so Jo read them to her and she loved them. What she didn’t love was people
snapping random pictures of her without her permission. Jo didn’t like that either. Everyone wanted to
know about Jo, Jessica, and Jo’s new boyfriend, Neil Murray. In 2000, Harry Potter and the Goblet of
Fire was published. Harry Potter was a worldwide phenomenon by 2001. When a new book came
out, bookstores and libraries held parties.

But not everyone was a fan. Harry Potter was a “challenged book” to some people meaning
some parents wouldn’t let their kids read it and it was banned in some schools. But nothing kept the
kids away from Harry Potter. The movie of the first book came out in 2001 and it was a hit! All of the
Harry Potter books would be made into movies. At the end of 2001, Jo and Neil got married. Two
wonderful things happened in 2003. First, Jo had a son, David, and next Harry Potter and the Order
of the Phoenix was published. Two years later, in 2005, Jo had daughter, Mackenzie, and published
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Finally, in 2007, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was
published.

Jo was always very generous and donated money to many places and people because
despite the wonderful change in her life, she hadn’t forgotten the hardships of her early life. In 2011
Jo surprised her fans with a website called Pottermore. In Pottermore you can get sorted into one of
the four houses at Hogwarts and you can get your own patronus and you can get a wand and many
more fun exciting things. Jo has been and still is an inspiration to many people around the world.

J.K.Rowling is so successful that her Harry Potter is still worth billions. Even though her life was
pretty rough she turned it around. Jo’s early life was ok but her later life was hard but she followed
her passion and made it better. She has proved that no matter what happens in life, you can turn it
around and find the bright side. Only you know what you want your life to be like and only you can
change it.

14
Title
By

15
 Through the Woods
By Sreya Hasan

I heard something behind me. It was gonna get me. My mouth felt dry as the Gobi Desert. I was
bleeding from head to toe. My wavy hair brushed against my cheeks as I sprinted deeper and
deeper. All around me I heard the same growl, the same scream, the type of scream that makes
your stomach churn. As I kept running, I heard a warm and gentle whisper that soaked the woods.
Then suddenly I felt a soft and warm hand touch my bruised and dirty arm. As I turned the slightest
bit, the same boy that I saw at school was standing behind me except he didn’t look normal.

His eyes were red and didn’t have the slightest bit of whiteness. His hands were blood
stained as if he just smashed a strawberry with his bare hands. In his left pocket, there was a
small bottle that carried this strange liquid that was the color of the lightest red you could ever see.
The type of red that you see when the sun is setting.

As I just stood there staring deeply into the boy’s eyes, the boy was pulling a mirror out of
the other pocket. It was tiny and had mini emeralds encrusted into the frame and had a strange
creature that was at the top of it. It looked like a shark, but it also looked like a child that had no
ears, nose, or mouth. The boy pointed the mirror right in my face and said some ancient chant
that I couldn’t recognize. It sounded like a strange mix of gibberish and English. As he kept
chanting it, I noticed the strange creature forcing its way out of the mirror. As soon as I noticed
that, my brain only had one thought. Run! I quickly sprinted through the crooked trees as they kept
swiping my cold face. As if I had tortured them that had caused their crookedness.

As I turned my head slightly I saw that no one was behind me. The strange silence kept me
feeling suspicious as I tiptoed a few steps back to see if anyone was actually there or it was nothing
but my imagination. As I turned my head straight again, exactly in front of me was the shark-child
creature with the young boy in front of him. He pointed the mirror towards me, but when I tried to
run, there was a resistance holding me back. The mirror kept sucking me in! The hairs on the
back of my neck were standing taller than ever. I knew this was how I was going to die. The young
boy had a mischievous grin as if he had pulled a prank on the young girl he liked. My heart started
to beat more and more slower. I felt as if I was out of the world and my life had just left me. My
vision became more blur as I strained to resist. My eyes finally closed and I knew that I was dead.
Already in a graveyard as my body was eventually going to rot.

16
 But suddenly, I felt my heart beating again in my chest. My eyes were able to open as
my vision was more blurry than ever. As I strained to get up, I noticed that there was no
possible way I was going to get up again. My vision returned and at first all I could see was
fading white colors but as my vision became more clear, I noticed that I was lying down on a
crusty bed of frosty branches that were blanketed over with a thin layer of snow. There so much
blood coming out of one of my legs like it was the second Mount Vesuvius. On the other, there
was a scar that had molded and was the color of a dark, black night. But the thing that had me
the most aghast was that I had no foot and on the end of the bloody end was hundreds of bugs
crawling and casading all over me. I looked in the corner of my eye and saw a figure with a
brown bushy beard that had a thick layer of snow covering most of it. He had a tall black hat the
made him stand. He also had a emerald colored cloak that had purple rhinestones encrusted
into the sides of it. The man was a mysterious shadow lurking from tree to tree. The middle
aged man started zooming towards me as he swayed from the cold breeze that got him. As I
was about to scream, he went past me and went to another victim.

“Why, hello there young child. What brings you to my neck of the woods?” the man
was saying in a loud booming voice.

“Why, hello there young child. What brings you to my neck of the woods?” the man
was saying in a loud booming voice.

“Please. Just let me go! I have been here too long without food. I’m starving! Please!”
a young boy or girl was screaming so quietly that I could hear the breath that was going in and
out of the child’s chest.

“Silence! Stupid child!” the young man said in a voice so loud that it probably woke up
Bigfoot in the Himalayas.

The man left the boy and was coming towards me. I strained to get up but the branches
that seemed to be weak were grasping me back. The next thing I knew the whole room went
black and I couldn’t breath. The man probably took pity on the boy and waited to kill me.

My life was booming back with passion. I opened my eyes to see that I was still alive;
little did I know that I was never going to be the same. I had only one thought in my head. Kill.
I quickly saw myself in a shallow pond to see that I looked exactly like the boy that was chasing
me. Except that I had the same face. I tried to scream, but the only thing that popped in my
mind was to kill the boy and his family that was wandering in the woods. Lost.

Then suddenly, everything stopped. I woke up to in my bedroom by myself with the

lights turned off. I sighed in relief to see that everything was nothing but a silly dream. I started
to breathe rapidly to think that it was a miracle. I felt like millions of bricks were lifted off my
shoulders. My whole life flashed before my eyes. I kept thinking that was it actually a dream or
was it real. I’ll probably never know.

17
 Everyday
By Vibhavi Chinthalapudi

We all
went to the mall
We bought a toy
for my sister’s joy
But as a older floy
I didn’t want a toy
Soon we all went
to the food rent
We used our hands
to eat brands
The food was not
hot
In fact the old
people said it was cold
Soon we went home
ready for Bad Ned to come
When he came
we told our name
When Bad Ned
Went home we went to bed Friendship
Now I’m on my way to deep By Shreya Agrawal
sleep
The next day Friendship is awesome,
it was May It can help you when you feel dull.
My sister’s friends came to play with the toy It can stop you from doing the gruesome,
to enjoy And you will be saved from the punishment
Her friends make fun skull.
of her a ton
She tries Friendship has it’s bad side too.
not to but she cries What if friends get in your way?
This is what happens every day What if they ditch you?
on my way Or what if they keep you at bay?
to what l hope is a nice life.
These questions are commonly asked.
But good friends won’t let you down.
You must be a good friend back,
To own the great FRIENDSHIP CROWN!

Friendship is calling you,

So come one, come all.
You will have a great time,
And you will never fall.

18
 The Ocean Between Us
Alex Dyga
Part 1 Jade

“Attention all passengers, I am Mr. Timothy, the ship captain’s assistant. Our vessel the
Dream has suffered some damage to communications and other systems due to malfunctions.
We are going to stop for emergency repairs at next sight of land. This is nothing too deeply worry
about but we ask once we land for you to stay on board and in your room. You may now continue
with your daily activities until docking,” announced a voice over the loudspeakers. They sounded
at ease yet painicked.
My family and I were in our room when we heard the announcement. “I wonder what
happened?,” asked my mom to nobody in particular.
“Probably nothing major,” replied Dad.
My parents were trying to sound calm about all this so Mara (my twin sister) and I would
not panic. But we noticed and naturally … started panicking.
“What do you mean Dad?,” I questioned. “Ships don’t usually stop for emergency repairs
just because they feel like it,” I commented with far over my fair share of attitude.
“I know that Jade,” counterd Dad evenley, “But again I’m sure there is nothing to worry
about,”
“But what if the controls aren’t responding correctly?,” shouted Mara in a very worried
sounding voice. “What if navigations down? This could be horrible!,” she screamed.
“Mara calm down sweetey. Worrying won’t help anything,” soothed Mom.
“But something bad might happen Moma!,” Mara yelled. She was starting to hyperventilate.
I was worried sick but it was worse for Mara. Plus she had anxiety problems to begin with.
“Everything will be okay kids. Why don’t you go on deck and get some fresh air,” said Dad
gesturing to the door. Unlike Mom he was still masking his anxiety.
“Okay, I winced “We’ll come back if anything happens,” I added. I had to wait a few more
minutes for Mara’s breathing to slow and for her to stop crying. We left the room onto the ship
deck. “Love you,” I said weakley while closing the door. I had no idea this would be the last time I
would see my parents for a long while.
We slowly walked around the ship for a few minutes. The Dream was a pretty nice cruise
ship. It had water slides, restaurants, pools, and gift shops. Much nicer than anything we could
have afforded. We had won this entire cruise on a show called Wheel of Fortune that Mom went
on. I remember hearing the host say, “Congratulations, you and your family are going to ride the
seas with the Dream!,” We were so excited when we won this cruise. We had no idea what it
would turn into.
As we sauntered around we saw and heard … nothing, which is very, very odd
for a cruise ship. It looked like everyone had shut them self in their rooms out of fear. It
made it even more disturbing.
Then all of a sudden the loudspeakers powered up. “Attention all passengers this is your
captain speaking. We have spotted land that has been previously unobserved and our going in for
a landing. We ask that once we land you return to your rooms. Thank you very much and sorry for
any inconveniences.”
19
 “We should go back to our room. We’ll be landing soon,” said Mara.
At this instance all of my common sense vanished and and as Mom says, “my boy instincts” took
over.
“Yeah, I know,” I replied sadly “But we technically don’t have to go back till we land and don’t you
want to see where we’re landing?,” I know what you’re thinking. I was terrified but like any other 11 year
old I was also curious.
“I ... guess,” moaned Mara slowley. I could tell as much as she was trying to hide it she was a bit
curious too.
“Let’s go to the railing,” I semi shouted as I jogged toward the edge of the ship. Mara hiestently
followed.
“Jade are you sure this is the right thing to do?”
“Well someone has to tell Mom and Dad what the island or whatever it is looks like!,” I countered.
“But that doesn't have to be us,” she shouted.
By that time she couldn't stop me. I got to the nearest railing a second later saw the island. It had
golden, sandy beaches and a dense, lush, green forest. The whole place looked like something of
Jurassic Park.
Mara jogged up besides me and stopped then looked in awe at the island “It's beautiful,” she
whispered.
“Yeah it is,” I agreed. Then our moment of tranquility was completely and utterly ruined.
“ATTENTION ALL PASSENGERS!,” yelled a grim, harsh, loud, voice over the loudspeakers. “WE ARE
LANDING! SO GET IN YOUR ROOMS AND STAY THERE! DO WHATEVER THE SHIP OFFICERS
SAY AND NOTHING EL-,” the speech was abruptly cut off. “We need to get back to our room!” Mara
and I gasped at the same time. “Hurry,” I yelled as I started dashing away on Mara's tail. We ran and ran
as fast as our legs could carry us. But despite our efforts we only made it halfway to our room before we
were stopped. “Hey! You two! YOU TWO, KIDS! STOP!,” yelled the grim harsh voice from the
loudspeakers a minute earlier. “You should be in your rooms!,” The person before us was tall and
threatening with a long pointed nose and a rough beard. “Yes sir!,” Mara said “We were just heading
there.” “Yeah, well you aren’t there yet. You might has well be of some use,” He shouted. “Change into a
work outfit and grab a backpack. You’re going to help me on the island.” We know we should have
refused, but he was an officer and we were supposed to do what he said. We changed into work outfits
and went to help him on the island. Then the tall man told us to take a break on the beach. We did as
we were told. The beach looked like it would be the ultimate vacation spot. The palm trees danced in the
breeze and gentle waves brushed the silky sand at our feet.. The ship horn bellowed as as it left without
us.
“ATTENTION ALL PASSENGERS!,” yelled a grim, harsh, loud, voice over the loudspeakers. “WE
ARE LANDING! SO GET IN YOUR ROOMS AND STAY THERE! DO WHATEVER THE SHIP
OFFICERS SAY AND NOTHING EL-,” the speech was abruptly cut off. “We need to get back to our
room!” Mara and I gasped at the same time. “Hurry,” I yelled as I started dashing away on Mara's tail. We
ran and ran as fast as our legs could carry us. But despite our efforts we only made it halfway to our
room before we were stopped. “Hey! You two! YOU TWO, KIDS! STOP!,” yelled the grim harsh voice
from the loudspeakers a minute earlier. “You should be in your rooms!,” The person before us was tall
and threatening with a long pointed nose and a rough beard. “Yes sir!,” Mara said “We were just
heading there.” “Yeah, well you aren’t there yet. You might has well be of some use,” He shouted.
“Change into a work outfit and grab a backpack. You’re going to help me on the island.” We know we
should have said “no” but he was a ship officer and we were supposed to do what he said. We changed 20
into work
 outfits and went to help him on the island. We worked hard helping repair the ship and were very
helpful. Then the tall man told us to take a break on the beach. We did as we were told. The beach
looked like it would be the ultimate vacation spot. The palm trees danced in the brave and gentle
waves brushed the sand witch felt smooth on our feet. Then we heard the ship horn and the boat left
without us.

Part 2 Mara
“COME BACK! NO DON’T LEAVE! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!,” I screamed with all my
might. We were stranded. After all this we were stranded on a tropical island. And it was all because
of my airhead brother. He wanted to see the island. He wanted to be … well reckless and stupid and
now I’m being punished.
“What are we going to do?,” shouted Jade.
“There’s nothing we can do thanks to you. You stranded us!”
“No I didn't. You’re my sister you are stop me when I do stupid stuff like … THIS!,”
“Oh, so now it’s my fault? That’s it. I’m done with you!,”
I started to storm off fuming with anger. Jade did likewise. We were both furious but we were
also at the same time scared and nervous.
I looked around the beach. I saw a smooth rock and sat down. I could see Jade pacing
around kicking sand. We were stranded. Stuck on this island. What if the ship didn't come back?
What if something came out of the jungle and ate us? There would be no more fun charity work with
Mom and Dad! No more books! No more seeing friends!
It was then that I relieved we needed to find a way off this island filled with who knows what or
survive till a rescue (if there was one) could come and we would need to stick together (Even if Jade
did strand us on a island).I looked out on the horizon to see the beautiful setting sun. “Jade,” I called
over the swirling sand. “We need to set up shelter it’s getting dark!,”
Part 3 Mara
Me and Jade met in the middle of the sandy beach. He was mumbling and obviously not happy.
“So what do we do next Ms. Smart girl?,” asked Jade groggily. I heaved of my heavy
backpack from the ship.
“First we take inventory and make shelter. As I said it’s getting late and we might have
something that will help in our packs,”
“FIne,” he grumbled and set to work.
After our backpacks were empty, we laid out all our possessions on the sand and made a list
of everything we had.
Our S f
Fla l t Mat s
Lan n Wil n su v o k
Cri Gra Bar
Hat t Fir A d K
Map Ten
Com s Swi Ar k i
Lig r Cop Swi m Rob n
Ex a c h
21
 “Okay,” I said with a sense of authority. “It’s getting late so let’s build that tent. We don't
know what the nights are like here.”
“Where should we build it?,” asked Jade, very unenthusiastically.
I looked around the beach and started to walk down the sea line.
When I turned a bend I saw a rock cave. It was large and had tons of space with a opening
facing toward the jungle. “Maybe in this cave,” I called back to Jade.
“Sure,” he semi shouted, clearly still upset even after an hour.
Cheer up. It’s getting late. Let’s settle in for the night,”
Of all the things I worried about that night I didn't worry about what was actually happening.
Part 4
I’m sorry but I don’t believe I understand.” said the ship captain evenley.
“What do you mean you don’t understand? I have not seen my children since we left the
tropical island,” Mrs. Monroe shouted. “And before you say it I don’t think my children stupid
enough to go falling overboard especially not both!”
“They could have just wandered off,” he replied. “”Let me try over the loudspeaker.” He
leaned over the loudspeaker and announced firmely, “Mara and Jade Monroe please come to the
captain's office immediately, repeat please come to the captain's office immediately.” They waited
and the captain made the announcement two more times.
Then he sent out a search party. Nothing. The children weren’t on the ship. They were either
drowned or on that island.
The Monroes went back to their room weeping. Then just minutes they heard the captain's
voice over the loudspeakers. “Attention all passengers in the morning we will be heading back to
the uncharted island. We have two young children lost at sea.”

Part 5 Jade

Mara and I woke up in the morning together. It was really embarrassing sleeping in the
same tent but it helped us keep warm.
We took a quick stretch break and walked around the beach. I saw a little shimmer on the
sand and picked it up. It was a little silver medallion. Clearly, recently man made.
“MARA!,” I screamed “People are HERE!” I was running as fast as I could toward her.
“What,” she shouted now running toward me. This moment was like a scene out of a movie
... that abruptly ended when we flat out ran into each other.
“Ouch,” I groaned as I crumpled to the ground. Mara did similar.
As we lay there I whispered “I found a coin Mara. People live here, we could be going
home.”
“Or they could be enemies,” she stuttered. Her well know worreyer side creeping in.
“We’ll have to be ready for both,” I announced.
“We should a real shelter that’s easier to defend then that flimsy old tent.” she shuddered.
“O-K!,” I exclaimed cheerfully and headed back to the cave to start working.
The first thing we decided to do was build a wall to cover the gapping entrance to
22
 the cave. It would be a low wall that we could pop up over if we ever needed to defend the
lonely mountain (as we named the cave). We stacked piles of rocks to make this wall. It wasn't
fancy but we assumed based of the quality of the coin the most advanced technology it would
have to hold against was a bow and arrow.
The next thing we did is we went on top of the cave and built three rigid walls about six feet
high and layed palm leaves over the top as a roof. We again made a short wall in the entrance. We
supported everything with palm trees we spent hours cutting down with our hatchet.
Finally we set our tent up in the cave as our bedroom, set up a signal flag that we found in
Mara’s backpack, and hung our four lanterns.
“After hours of hard work it is finally done,” I commented
“Yeah it is,” she said with astonished touch, “Yeah it is.”
Part 6
The Dream was about half way back to the island when the bad news came.
“Mr. and Mrs. Monroe please come to the captain's office,” peeped a nervous voice over the
loudspeakers.
“This can’t be good,” yelped Mr. Monroe rushing out of the room with his wife in tail, “Not
good at all!” When they arrived in the captain’s office no time was wasted with pleasantries.
“I am sorry Mr. and Mrs. Monroe. We can not continue on to rescue your children. My
scanning team has picked up a massive storm coming this way that will sink this ship before we
reach the island. We are going to turn around and make for the nearest port.”
“Can’t you call for help on the radio?,” asked Mrs. Monroe very angrily.
“If we could have I would have long ago. Communications are still down. I am very sorry.”
“What do you mean you’re sorry?! Those are my kids out there you can’t just leave th-,”
“I know!,” hissed the captain, “But I would rather abandon two kids for a few days then lose
an entire ship at sea. And I would hope you the same!,”
“Bu-,” Mrs. Monroe began to argue .
“I’ve heard enough Mrs. Monroe. This was the hardest decision of my career but I have
made it and that’s that! Please go back to your room,”
The Monroes went back to their room in shock but realizing the captain had made the right
choice as horrible as it was.
Part 7 Jade
About two hours after me and my sister finished constructing the lonely Mountain (Which was
extremely structurally unstable I might add) we started seeing signs of a storm. We went inside
then the rain started. Very, very heavy rain. It rained all night so we didn't have anything to do, so
we decided to take care of the issue concerning the natives (We thought that they might have
been pirates but didn’t think that sounded logical). We put together a peace offering of some
granola bars, coconuts we found on the beach, and some other things. Then I started working on
the possibility of the natives being hostile.
After an hour of work Mara finally asked me what I was doing. Which I had been waiting for.
“Oh nothing fancy,” I said very rudely. “Just a few air cannons that can shoot coconuts,
that’s it.”
“What do you mean? You can’t possibly do that. You’re not smart enough,” she laughed.

23
 I picked up one of my fished cannons and shoot a coconut whistling past her ear and into
the cave wall just about as she was done giggling. She practically jumped out of her skin. The
coconut exploded.
How did I know how to make a coconut cannon? One of the many wonders of boy scouts.
I had also made some wooden spears, swords, jousts, random pointy things, a mini
catapult, and a ballista for said spears.
Once the rain stopped in the morning me and Mara had a feast of coconut. Our granola bars
had finally ran out. We started preparing for our hopeful first meeting with the natives.
“Where should we light the signal fire?,” asked Mara from down on the beach. I was on top
of the mountain mounting the ballista and placing spears wherever they looked intimidating.
“Over to the side there,” I called back.
I turned my attention back to my hatchet and Mara’s swiss army knife. Our only two
trustworthy weapons. The thought of hurting anyone with them made my stomach lurch.
When our preparations were said and done we started blowing the whistles from our packs,
waiting for a response. Ten minutes later we got our response.
A cloud of arrows.
Part 8
Earlier that day the natives deep inside the jungle and held a meeting. The threat of the
outlanders was striking fear into the tribe members hearts. Sure it was only two people but who
knew how powerful they could be. The chief's warriors had seen them making their coconut
weapons and build their massive structure of destruction. How could they not be afraid?
In their native language the tribe chief, who was head of this meeting said, “Concerning the
outsiders I know our children and fellow tribe members are very frightened and I assure you I will
take action. I will send six of our most skilled warriors to deal with them. They will no longer frighten
our young. Today they DIE!,”
“Yaaaa!,” approved the crowd.
They stomped their feet shaking their meager huts. All were hungry for the death of the
foreigners.
Part 9 Mara
“Scatter!,” I screamed as Jade and I hoisted up our coconut guns. I saw a native. He had a
appearance something like a native American. I will say I didn't want to shot him in the face with a
coconut propeling at a speed of 30 miles per hour but was charging at me with a glistening, sharp,
long knife. He crumpled and a arrow hit the ground next to my foot.
“Back!,” yelled Jade.
I grabbed a coconut a stuffed it into my cannon. I started running to the mountain. I was
being pursued by another native. He would have sliced me in half but then I heard the “twang” of
our homemade ballista and a wooden spear caught him in the leg.
“OOWAGHHHHOOOCHOOOOOOOOO!,” he screamed then crawled out of the battle. 2
down. 4 to go.
Using the catapult, Jade sent another one into the jungle. All that were left were archers.
They fired and we responded with flying coconuts. We hit one more in the back forcing them to
retreat.
“Well the natives are definitely hostile,” I huffed.
24
Part 10
The Dream arrived at a port in a tropical country just minutes after Lonely Mountain was
attacked. The Monroes were told to stay on the ship while a rescue mission was negotiated. An hour
later the captain came to tell them a search and rescue helicopter was leaving. “You’re children are
coming home,” he told them.

Part 11 Jade
“Hurry! We don’t know when they will come back,” I cautioned. Ever since that first native
attack our resources (by that I mean pointy things and coconuts) were severely depleted. Both me
and Mara were trying to restock before the native’s next attack.
I was sitting on a rock making more spears when a little monkey came out of the jungle and
started towards me.
“Hey little guy,” I soothed “What do you want?”
He looked at the coconut on the ground next to me with a pitiful look in his eyes.
“Here,” I said handing him the coconut. He looked at me respectively then scurried into the
jungle.
“Strange,” I thought.
Not long after my visit with the monkey our defences were ready. I had replenished our
ammunition and Mara set up three four foot fires with our entire stock of firewood we had collected
the day before. She then attached a piece of rope, from her backpack, to the bottom log off each. She
could pull the ropes from the top of the cave and send the fires toppeling. I took my station in the cave
while Mara took her’s on top. We were ready.
“Here they come,” shouted Mara. But this time it wasn't just six people it was a HUGE army of
what must have been HUNDREDS of men!
“Tip the fires!,” I screamed.
Mara pulled the ropes and the fires fell over taking out about ten warriors. The natives were
coming fast. I shot seven coconuts and then gave up. The caze was lost. Arrows were flooding in and
I had about twenty seconds before I was over run.
I climbed to the top of the cave dodging projectiles. Then a spear flew past my head. “Mara not
so close,” I yelled.
“Sorry!” she replied
The natives started climbing the cave led by who was apparently the chief. All looked
hopeless. Then it happened. The rescue was almost there just five more minutes.
Part 12 Jade
Our coconuts gone, our swords broken, no hope. Then the monkey from earlier that day
emerged from the jungle … with a army of adorable monkeys behind him. We stood there
watching in amazement. We were saved, by monkeys all the less. The monkey from earlier
(JoJo as we latter named him) and I locked eyes and then he jumped into the battle and took
down the tribe chief!
We were going to survive. The battle would be won. It was amazing, but then it got
better, a lot better.
All of a sudden I heard the most amazing sound I had ever heard in my life
25
 .

..A fast paced Whoop Whoop Whoop. The blades of a helicopter. Our rescue was
here. A rope ladder dropped into the top room entrance.
“Yahhhh!,” we cheered. The natives were retreating, rescue was here and we were
going home. Home.

Part 13 Mara
On the helicopter ride I looked out the window at the moving sky and thought,
thought about the past few days and what had happened. As crazy as it sounds I’m really
glad it all happened. I learnt a lot about everything on our crazy adventure me, my brother,
nature, that apparently you can build a coconut air cannon out of mattirels from a tropical
island.
If all this hadn't happened my life would be very different and the world would be very
different too. The captain of the Dream would not have been given a medal of honor and
the man that left us on the beach would not have would not have been fired. The story of
the two kids on the island has inspired hundreds. And the book The American Family
Monroe was published. After peace was negotiated with the natives they taught as how to
make multiple new medicines. Including one that cures cancer! And if nothing else seeing
the look on my parents’ faces when we stepped off that helicopter made it all worthwhile.
The ocean between us was gone.

26
 Title?
By Yug Patel