Stories by C.W. Harris Elementary students
Maria and her Magical Powers
Erikah, 5th grade
Hi! My name is Maria, my best friend Kate calls me Magical Maria because I have some powers that most people don’t have. I am also a really great dancer! On a random Wednesday I was in my all purple bedroom and I heard people screaming and yelling. I have elf ears so I could hear people pretty loudly. When I looked out my window I saw a robot with a tablet belly. It read “Dream Academy is inviting you to battle the powerful dance monster.” I didn’t even think twice I just packed my bags super fast and jumped out my window, so my parents wouldn’t ask me where I am going. It was going to be a long journey because I live in Japan and Dream Academy is in Alexandria Virginia. I asked Kate to pick me up and to ask no questions.
When I got to the destination I was still in Japan. Suddenly, a middle aged lady walked up to me. She was very classy. She had a clean white shirt with blue dress pants, and brown pin straight hair. She told me her name was Ms. Huckleberry . She told me she was here to mentor me. She then guided me to a large purple portal. Ms. Huckleberry told me a lot I needed to know before we went to Dream Academy, but the important thing she told me is “Never give up even when things get difficult.” These words confused me because I didn’t know what trouble I am getting myself into. Ms. Huckleberry then reassured me that the trouble won’t be too hard to handle.
Ms. Huckleberry told me to jump in the portal and she would be right behind me. When I jumped in it was spinning like a tornado. Then when I got out I was super dizzy. I opened my eyes and I was so surprised to see a world with purple everything. Even the ground was purple! It was also soft like a bed. I was jumping up and down with excitement. Ms. Huckleberry told me to look down at myself and I had a pink headband, purple shirt, white skirt, and some really fancy gold jewelry. This made me even more hyped because before I jumped in the portal I was wearing a grey sweatsuit. Ms. Huckleberry then showed me to my room where I had three days to prepare before I battle the powerful dance monster. I was very nervous, but I got to work right after jumping on my fluffy bed, putting on makeup in my new big bathroom, and watching my favorite show.
On my first day of practicing a little puppy jumped in my room and I got distracted. I was playing with the puppy instead of practicing for the dance battle. On the second day of practicing I was so tired from playing with the puppy all day long yesterday, so I sat in my bed and watched my TV. Then Ms. Huckleberry walked in my room she smelled like a daisy. She told me to get up and practice. But when she left I hopped right back into my comfortable bed. On my last day of practicing I told myself to get up. This was the last day before I had to battle the powerful dance monster. I was practicing all day long until it was time for bed.
The day had come. I had to battle the monster. Since I didn’t practice much I felt like I wasn’t ready. But Ms. Huckleberry told me ” You got this don’t worry. “The battle just begun. The powerful dance monster went first. She was very strong with her moves and her facial expressionThen it was my turn to go. I gave myself a pep talk and encouraged myself. Since I was so great at dancing my moves were super sharp and tight. I had even impressed the monster. The monster was so shocked that she almost fell down! It was so tense during the three rounds. Ms. Huckleberry was yelling my name so loud , but I was surprised because she seemed so calm and collected. I guess I was wrong. Meanwhile the powerful dance monster mentor looked disappointed. When the battles were over the judges counted up the scores. Turns out one of the judged cried out how great I was. I won, I actually won the battle! I was so proud of myself! So was Ms. Huckleberry!
When Ms. Huckleberry was done praising me a tall man came from the ground. It was the creator of Dream Academy. My face went to smiling to my jaw dropping to the floor. His name was Mr. Snape, he looked very nice. He also smelled nice. He granted me the tallest trophy I’ve ever seen! It was taller than Mr. Snape and he looked about six feet tall! He then asked me “Would you like to be the new student trainer?” I got even more excited and happily said yes! I had to go home to tell my parents and to pack more clothes to come back. My parents were so proud of me and told me to pursue my dreams. When I got back to Dream Academy there were hundreds of students waiting for me to mentor them! My next student is coming got to go!
The Red Balloon
Divine, 5th grade
I am a thirteen-year-old eighth grader. I like exploring with my friends and solving problems. I live in a neighborhood that is clean but boring. There are a lot of buildings everywhere and nothing fun to do. Until one day my friend called while I was in my backyard. ‘Ring Ring’ my phone rang, I ran over to answer the call. Matte are you ok “No I saw something in the park I’m scared can you go get our friends to come and check what going on ‘ then before I could say something the phone hung up. I was shocked, so after Matte called me and told me what happened. I called Jamie and told her what happen I was so freaked out but she told me to calm down so I did and she to tell matte hide and make sure he stay save until we come. And try to see what going on and I said ok and asked her if she wanted to come with us. She said sure but at 9:00 PM the clock hit 9:00 PM I was about to get ready to leave until my mom told me were moving to Derry tomorrow with no explanation. I was sad but happy at the same time. So I ran to my room and called my friends and told them that I was moving to Derry they were shocked and sad and I was to so I put my phone down and went to sleep.
Then I woke up to my mom telling me to get ready so I got dressed ate my food and grabbed my stuff and texted my friends ‘Good Bye’. we drove off it was a 4 hour drive to get there but we made it there I had to get a new house and attend a new school. where I made new friends they told me how some of the kids in our school go missing which I thought was weird. but I wanted to find them with my friends. so after school at home I was planning on what to do until I found this sharp black rock with a glowing writing on it I was shocked and curios on what to do with it. So I told my friend Camron what I found. and she said “Lily we were suppose to find that to kill the clown so the kids could stop going missing.” She said keep it safe then hung up. I was happy I found it and hid it under the bed then went to sleep.
Then I woke up to my alarm ringing. I was late for school. I got up and got ready and went out the door and grabbed my bike. On the way to school I saw my friends riding on their bike so we rode together. But when we got to school we saw a group of girls looking at us with the most evil grin on their faces with rocks in their hands. One of the girls yelled “go” and they started throwing rocks at me and my friends. We had to find a way to go around them. So we rode around them accidently riding to the park. One of my friends shouted “there he is.” We found the clown. He was trying to take a little boy. My friend Camron grabbed the little boy’s hand and ran to us while I had the sharp knife in my hand that I found in my room. The clown came running at me trying to eat me so I pushed my hand out with my eyes closed and I accidently stabbed the clown. I was so scared that I ran away and drop the sharp thing. a couple of minutes later on the News the police found him and took him away. We were all happy and the police thanked us! My friends and I thought it was all over but It wasn’t.
The Adventure of Heat Ray
Dewoyne, 5th grade
Hi, my name is Daniel aka Heat Ray and I am not like any other human being. I have super powers, my powers are I can control fire and I am super fast. You may wonder how I got my powers let me tell you. I was out with my friend Jake and we were coming from a restaurant and we split up to go home on my way home and a meteor dropped from the sky knocking me down. I woke up the next morning in the hospital and when I ran out that is when I discovered my powers and ever since I have been the hero of New York City. A few days later when I was in a stadium and a old man needed help so I went over to help the old man then I used my super speed to catch something and he noticed my rare ability and saw that I couldn’t control them so he decided to help me and in 3 years I learned how to control my ability and when our last day of training came he gave me some advice remember you can do it if you put your mind to it.
Right after he said that the ground started shaking and I looked behind me a portal opened I said my goodbye and stepped through the portal. It sounded loud I was in a town with other people and it was called Smallville. Also, people using their powers all around I was excited to meet these people. The air wooshed across my face when a guy named super boy flew next to me. Then showed me around then took me too my house fire themed with my logo on it. It was so cool I settled down and took a nap. then I got an alert on my phone someone was robbing the bank. Then i used my super speed to zoom over this guy wearing a lab coat was robbing the bank I tried to stop him but he blasted me with something and took me too his lair. I woke up in his lair and was tied up then then I used my heat breath to melt the ropes and roamed around I found out his plan it was to blow up the city then he found me and that’s when the brawl started. He froze me but I broke out of the ice and used my super speed to tie him up and used my fire power to destroy his machine an took him in. The next day the people in Superville called me to the center of Smallville . I zoomed over cause I thought there was an emergency and when I got there the crowd cheers turned out the villian I defeated was the most feared villian and they wanted to thank me for saving the city so they gave me a key to the city and named a day after me called Heat day. I smiled and cheered with the crowd.
—Hazel, 4th grade, John Lewis Elementary School
Monster stories by Capital City Charter School students
Blood Moon Gleams
Katherin, 10th grade
It was a dark, gloomy night, with snow falling from the sky, as the bright blood moon shone.
Every blood moon indicates that there is a vampire baby ready to be born. As the red light shone through the curtains, a vampire mother was in labor. Everything was set, and the doctor, who was also a vampire, was prepared putting on gloves and a mask to take action as the mother was going through contractions. Before, the doctor had prepared some blood samples that were needed for the upcoming newborn. The mother was placed on the white bedding, and cushions were placed around her. As for the father, he was busy doing other missions like finding more blood samples so he could provide for the three of them for the next month, he wasn’t able to attend to her labor since it was all too sudden.
The doctor says phrases such as, “Keep on pushing! You’re almost there,” and “You’re doing great!”
Every moment the mother kept pushing, she was struggling, sweat fell from her forehead, becoming overstimulated. This lasted for as long as it could go. The mother was suffering for a few moments, almost to a point where she almost gave up, saying “I can’t do this!” through her inhales and exhales.
The doctor nodded, comprehending her pain, but kept encouraging her, telling her, “You can do this, I believe in you.”
Just then, the blood moon shone brighter. The baby’s head was to be found. But oddly, the baby wasn’t crying, which caught the mother’s attention. Usually, human babies would cry, which means that their lungs work, but if they didn’t cry, it meant that the baby’s lungs have issues, or others may say, the baby is a stillborn. The mothers heart pounded from panic. Since the mother herself wasn’t born as a vampire, she was oblivious to how a vampire baby is supposed to act when they’re born.
“What happened!?” the mother said as she continued, “Why isn’t my baby crying?!” she said in more of a panic. The doctor’s demeanor was still calm, causing confusion about the outcome. It was almost as if.. The doctor was expecting this to happen.
The doctor looked up and replied, “Don’t you worry now, this procedure is part of the process for when a vampire baby is yet to be born.” The doctor said as they tried to calm the mother down. The mother stared at the doctor in blank confusion, not sure what exactly this ‘process’ was, but she didn’t like it. The mother was just flickering her eyes at her baby and at the doctor constantly, expressing her anxiety since she was not sure what was happening.
Finally, after about two minutes, the doctor took the blood sample, opened the baby’s mouth, and poured drops of blood into the baby’s mouth. The doctor said, “This might take about 3-5 minutes, then the baby will wake up eventually.” The doctor explained, as the mother nodded in response, waiting for those minutes that felt like hours. Eventually, the mother grew impatient and started fidgeting with her fingers on the bed since she was scared that this ‘process’ wouldn’t work.
Suddenly, the blood moon shone brighter for its third time. The baby’s eyes shot right open, those bright, persuading red eyes looked around their surroundings, and the baby’s skin was smooth and pale. As it took the baby a few moments to adjust, cries fled the room. The mother’s eyes gazed with happy tears that streaked through her face out of relief. The doctor spoke again, “Congratulations! It’s a boy, what do you wish to name him?” The doctor asked as they placed the baby into the mother’s embracing arms. The baby looked up at his mother and calmed down since he recognized his mother’s touch. The mother looked down at her son, smiling, as it took a while for her to respond. “Xavier,” she said, “I wish to name him Xavier.” The doctor nodded in response, just waiting for the mother to be ready to give the baby to them for additional checkups. “Welcome to the real world, Xavier.” The mother spoke once again, caressing the baby’s face. The mother looked up at the doctor and lended Xavier to him. The doctor took the baby and did its check-ups. The mother was exhausted from all the frighten and pressure as her eyes became heavy-lidded. She began to close her eyes, resting, as she waited for her baby while the moon transformed to its original dusty gray form into the gloomy night.
Cereal Killer
Max, 10th grade
It was a beautiful day in the Candy Kingdom. The king and queen were set to welcome their twins into the world of sweets. The first to be born would become the rightful heir to the throne. The labor was set to begin at noon . Days prior to the day of delivery, the king and queen had a royal parade in their name to celebrate the birth of their future king and prince.
During the royal parade, a vengeful witch who believed she should be the rightful wife to the king cursed the queen to give birth to a demon who would leave the castle in ruins as the future king. The king and queen had paid no attention to the crazed bystander.
On the day of the delivery of the future king and prince, the royal meteorologist told the king and queen to postpone the labor due to a monstrous rain and thunderstorm rapidly approaching the kingdom that can jeopardize the safety of the children. The king and queen paid no mind to the meteorologist, believing that today would be the day their sons would be born through parental instincts. As the queen made it to the delivery room she had begun to have her water break but rather than a clear liquid it was leaking chocolate syrup (this world’s version of blood) the bitter smell forcing itself into their nose, they had known something was seriously wrong with the children, with the fear of losing their children plastered on their faces.
As the queen was carried to the delivery table screaming ¨SAVE MY BABIES!¨ The midwives rushed to her side in an attempt to see if anything was wrong with the children and to save their lives. As this was occurring the monstrous storm had raged into the kingdom striking lighting through-out the kingdom, one lighting strike had struck the top of the castle’s roof directly above where the queen had been delivering her baby allowing the rain to fall on the queen whilst she was delivering.
It had taken 15 minutes for the first sign of the children escaping the womb, the first child of the king and queen to be born and to inherit the throne was named Count Chocula born with a set of two horrifyingly sharp fangs, he was born covered in chocolate syrup of what the midwives had believed to be of his mother from the events that had occurred earlier.
As the second child of the king and queen was being delivered they had noticed how unusually shrivelled and small he was compared to his fat and taller brother as if he was dried as a piece of jerky, they had noticed when he was fully delivered that he was still born with two puncture wounds on the side of his neck as if a viper had bit him, that had never been discovered. The fangs mark on the youngest son’s neck were never discovered because one of the midwives that helped deliver the children had been a walking corpse used to by the evil witch used to monitor the growth of Count Chocula. As the king learned of his son’s death, he had begun crying onto his knees, being spared from the horrid news at this moment. What they did not know was that the evil witch’s proficiency of her curse had come true. Their son born to inherit the crown was destined to destroy the kingdom.
—Madison, 7th grade, Ida B. Wells Middle School
Poetry by Barnard Elementary students
I’m from a place where it’s hot, smelling my momma’s cooking.
I’m from Baptist church, open bible to read.
My home is a place we pray before we eat.
My home is a place where I have a roof over me.
I sleep in a Cunfer bed with my family already asleep.
In my country we dance as if we were in a party.
In my country we always stick together no matter what.
—Alejandra
There’s teachers in my head that help me control my emotions.
There’s mops in my head that clean the bad thoughts away.
There’s parrots in my mouth that keep me blabbering.
There’s wheels in my legs that help me run faster.
There’s digital recorders that help me remember important words and quotes.
There’s worms that dig deep inside me whenever I’m starving.
—Yaretzy
I have an engine in my mouth that no one can stop.
There are trains moving all around my brain.
There is a bear in my stomach
that does not dare to get some air.
There is a helium tank filling me up
until I explode and go up up!
There’s car inside my stomach
that goes vroom vroom!
My skin is pretty blue
and I am not going to lie that is true.
There is book inside me turning its page
until it finds her the one and only.
—Sara
There are sheep in my head my hand are heavy like a water ballon, my leg feel like there in space, my ears are stuffed like cotton ball, my head is heavy like a watermelon and my brain feel like it somewhere else, but when it recess my leg feel like there rabbit and my brain wake up.
—Mario