Turtles
SPLASH! A big wave had just washed over me. I was soaking wet from head to toe. Water came down my throat and it was gross and salty, but the beach was wonderful. My sister started laughing at me so I flicked some of the water that was on me to her. She started chasing me, and when I ran on the sand, it felt warm and soft like a pair of socks. My feet were wet, so the sand stuck to my feet. When my sister and I got tired of running, we went to the big rocks that were covered in moss. The moss looked like a big, green, fuzzy blanket on the rocks. When my sister and I were on the rocks I could hear the ocean waves and see how big the ocean was.
When we started climbing farther up, we saw a big rock with tiny rocks on top. The big rocks were slippery, covered in moss, and sharp. When my sister and I got up to the top, I could smell the warm, salty sea air. The big rock had a lot more tiny rocks than I imagined. When I tried to pick up one, they were stuck on the rock! My sister tried, too, but neither of us could pick up the rocks. Then I realized the “tiny rocks” were actually turtles!
I could see that the turtles were actually moving slowly. The turtles had amazing patterns, and they really looked like rocks. The turtles’ shells were really rough. My sister and I ran back to tell our parents, and they were both surprised.
The turtle beach memory will stick to me just like the turtles sticking to the big rocks.
— Elizabeth, grade 5
Crabbing in Delaware
“I got one!” I shouted. My family and I were crabbing in Delaware, and I had just gotten a crab on my line. My dad grabbed a net and slowly walked to me. When he got to the line he put the net about an inch over the water. Then I started slowly reeling in the line. The crab on the bottom was still chewing the line, and because I was reeling the line, the crab was getting lifted up, too.
The crab didn’t realize that it was off the bottom, but it was already two feet away from me. When I could see its eyes, I looked at dad. He held up an okay sign, because any sound would alert the crab it was on a line, and then it would swim away. Then he held up three fingers, then two, then one. I yanked up the line while dad lunged with the net. The net’s rim hit the crab’s shell, but my dad was quick. He leaped with the net and got the crab!
We quickly measured it, and it was over seven inches. We could keep it, but one crab can’t feed six people. There was another man out there who looked like a serious crabber, because he had net floaters and steel reinforced line. We gave our crab to him, along with the other one we caught.
That was the best day of the trip, and we had a LOT of fun! My family has gone crabbing in Delaware every summer for five years, but I will never forget that moment!
— Adam, grade 5
Self-Conflict
I’ve been torn in a self-conflict before. It wasn’t amazing, with a hopeful story that inspires everyone to go out and fly or something, however it proves I’m a survivor. I’ve always been the person that keeps to themselves; I’m terrible in social situations. Unlike my brother, however, where it seems like he’s a person magnet. Books were my friends over the summer. I didn’t have anything else to do. My best friend Julia had just moved to Oklahoma and my other best friend Sophia belongs to a military family. One moment they’re here and the next they’re off to some remote territory in the middle of Alaska because duty calls. She’s not left, yet. You may have noticed I don’t smile a lot. My friends were the reason I smiled.
It was the middle of the summer when I realized that I might never see my friends again. Honestly, it was heartbreaking. We’d grown on each other, and clung like vines. We’d come up with so many jokes between us, that no one bothered to join our little trio. They’d just feel left out. So when I realized that I’d walk through these halls without my shield, without my friends, it was sad.
For the rest of the summer it felt like my brain was void of thought, my legs on autopilot. I only walked paths I’d walked before, almost in a trance, I tried to purposely introduce thoughts to my void mind, I’d thought if I filled my head with ideas from books that’d make me think again. I was wrong. It would work sometimes, I’d be walking and suddenly I’d remember a scene from one of my favorite books, and I’d think about that for a while. But it didn’t always stay. I usually chose not to tell people this because I was worried. I was worried that if I learned to lean on someone again I’d end in the same pit of emptiness I was in not long ago. I continuously use a book as my cover when I’m not told to do anything. There had been a kind of, darkness, that surrounded my heart. Something that held me back.
I’ve always been torn. Torn between staying to myself or finding someone to lean on and take that risk that they’d let me fall. It kept me paranoid. I was awake until I cried myself to sleep.
Nowadays I walk through the hallways of school with my binder and tablet in hand, ready to go to the next class. If I ever feel down, or that darkness returns, I look for my new friends. It doesn’t completely feel like I’m complete like my old friends. It doesn’t completely feel like both of us are leaning on one another in perfect harmony like it did with my other friends, but it’s close enough. I don’t feel alone anymore.
— Annie, grade 7
California
I closed my eyes and imagined a soft bed. Just ten more minutes until we reach the campsite, I reminded myself. I repeated the words to myself over and over again. They sounded so amazing at the time! I pictured what my campsite would look like, for I was very anxious to see it.
“When are we going to get there?” I asked my Uncle Tony once more.
“I think we’re here!” he told me.
I remember being so excited. The campsite was far more beautiful than I had imagined. We took about an hour to look around and get settled. Uncle Tony made our food, while Dad took out warm clothes since it was getting colder by the second. Finally, dinner was served. We hungrily bit in. After dinner Dad cleaned the dirty dishes, while I got my book out and started reading. Later, we all went to sleep. Uncle Tony preferred to sleep outside, while Dad and I chose the cozy tent.
The next day, I spent my morning trying to catch frogs and tadpoles. I caught one frog and two tadpoles, but I let them all go. After about an hour, I got tired and left the frogs alone to have breakfast. They happily swam away deep into the lake. When I came back, Dad was staring at the bowls, he looked shocked. “No way! There is chipmunk poop in our bowls,” he said. We washed the bowls with boiling water, which made them safe to eat from.
After breakfast, we hiked to Chewing Gum Lake and back. We hiked about 2.8 miles, and I was exhausted when we came back to our campsite. I sat on a big rock, as the gentle breeze blew at my hair. I stared at the lake and thought about the fun day.
At about 10 p.m. the stars came out. They were incredible! There were so many, and all of them were extremely bright. I saw about five shooting stars in the night sky before Dad made me go to bed.
The next day, we started our hike back. I had a quick flashback of all the amazing things Dad, Uncle Tony, and I did. Definitely a memory to treasure.
— Leila, grade 5
First Impression
The city was buzzing with excitement and allergies were raging. The sun rose like a fresh egg yolk sliding across a pan. It was spring time in Washington, D.C.
The long and late night before left its fair share of lines on Sumner’s and my faces and we were ready for a new day. It all started with a typical routine of going to breakfast. Not so typical was that I was wearing a bright blue unicorn onesie and Sumner, a heavily-animated panda onesie. We rushed to the coffee shop and strolled around the pristine streets of Bethesda when Sumner mentioned the huge National Science Fair in the Convention Center in downtown D.C. Both of us suddenly had a lightbulb light up in our brain as we glanced over the skyline toward the Metro Center. As the sweaty, uncomfortable train seats stuck to our fuzzy suits, the generic Metro voice only inclined our excitement to go into the city.
The Convention Center was full of people smarter than the both of us and that was the entire fair in a nutshell. Our stomachs grumbled as we listened to a college student drone on “DID YOU KNOW ROOTS HAVE HAIRS?!?!” This became irritating pretty fast. We soon left the Convention Center to go to an even more fascinating place – a restaurant! We ordered piles and piles of traditional Chinese dishes when all of the sudden, my sister Patsy walked in, followed by a teacher from my school. They caught us in the act of gobbling up thousands of calories at a time. I hadn’t felt so stupid in my entire life. The awkward eye contact between me and my future science teacher never seemed to end. Finally, her eyes trailed from my eyes to the tail and horn on my pajamas. After an awkward inspection, I simply turned back to grab a dumpling and turned back to the window to give Patsy a dirty look. I could feel my face, hot with humiliation. It almost felt like an invasion of my private life, until I realized I had been trotting around one of the largest cities in the world in a unicorn onesie. What a delightful first impression.
— Maggie, grade 7
My Dad!
Yes! It’s science class, we get to build the Great Wall of China with clay! I’m in a group with my friends. YES-YES-YES!
First we built small mountains and then we put a l-o-n-g flat piece of clay on top of the mountains.
But I had something in my mind. I couldn’t wait until my dad came home. He had been in Kuwait for five months! And he was coming home tomorrow. I was still building when I heard footsteps. I saw my mom peek in, and then there he was. My dad? YES, IT WAS HIM! My heart was pounding. I ran to hug him! I couldn’t believe it!
He asked, “How are you?” I was speechless. My mom and my brother were watching. The hug felt so good.
The he told me the story how he got an early flight home. He had to go home to unpack. I went back to class with a BIG smile on my face. I went back to building the Great Wall of China with clay.
— Lauren, grade 3
Seeing the Springbuck
One day I went on a safari in South Africa. It was a hot day. I took a big gulp of nice cold water. It felt nice. We were in a car in the middle of a plain then I looked around and saw nothing, but I could hear something. It sounded like munching in the grass. Then, I looked up and saw a springbuck. It leaped. It jumped. I could not take my eyes off of it. It was as graceful as a tree blowing in the wind. I told my dad. My dad told my mom. My mom told my sister. Then it looked at me and then it ran away.
— Cole, grade 3
Talking Elk
It was a frigid morning in Yellowstone. I was walking to the café with my mom and my brother. We walked in and ordered food. We were walking to our table when my dad walked in. I was confused because I thought he was trying to get some sleep, and I was even more confused when he said, “Come outside!” I thought it was because of the sunrise, but it wasn’t. When I walked outside I hear earpiercing screeching. I looked up and started wondering, What’s that sound? My dad said it was the elk talking. I looked at the elk and practically exploded! I had never seen elk talk! This is so cool.
— Reid, grade 3
Trying Wasabi
“Ah, water!” I screamed. I felt my tongue tingle from the spice of wasabi. It all started when my dad and I went to a sushi place. I ordered my food, and on the plate there was this dome shaped, lime green, mushy stuff called wasabi. Since I had never tried it before I thought it was a little dessert. While my dad was getting drinks, I secretly stood up and asked the waiter for a lot more of the wasabi. When my dad came back to the table, I picked up the glob and said, “Look Dad! I’m going to eat all of this stuff.”
Before my dad could say anything, I stuffed the glob into my mouth. My smile quickly turned into a frown. “Ahhhhh!” I screamed. I rushed to the bathroom to spit the glob out. When I came back I was breathing deeply.
“I was literally about to tell you that the wasabi is really hot,” he said after I came back. “You should not have tried that.” After all that commotion, we were about to go home when the waiter was nice enough to give me two lollipops! I said thank you and we left to go home. And that was the end of my wasabi tasting lesson!
— Audree, grade 5
Ear Piercing Tragedy
On Wednesday July 18, I got my ears pierced! First, my mom drove me to the doctor's office because they pierce ears there. I ran nervously to the door, pulled it open, signed in, sat down, and waited for my name to be called. About five minutes later a nurse came out and put numbing cream on my ears to make the piercing hurt less. Then she put a Band-Aid on my ear to keep the cream from falling on my shoulder.
After ten minutes of waiting, I finally got called back. I was really nervous because I didn't know how bad the piercing would hurt. We walked back to the room and I sat down on the exam table. The doctor told me what was going to happen. She would hold the 'earring gun' to my ear and I would hear a snap, and it would be done. Then she would do the other side. She also said it would feel like a pinch. Now, I was really nervous.
It was time. She held the ‘earring gun' to my ear, and I heard a snap. I felt a sharp pain. It did not feel like a pinch AT ALL. It didn't hurt that much, but it was NOT a pinch. I felt a burning in my ear. Then she pierced the other side. All done! Both of my ears were red, hot, and burning now.
The doctor handed me a mirror. The earrings were made of 24 karat gold and had one ball on each one. I loved them! I was so happy but in pain at the same time. My mom kept saying, "They look so pretty!"
The doctor gave me a token for the bouncy ball machine. We walked back to the main lobby to sign out and I put my token in the machine. A pink bouncy ball came out! About a month or two later, my ear started hurting and it was red, we realized the right ear was infected. We went back to the doctor to get it taken out.
The doctor took the earring out and I wanted this to never have happened. I had never experienced so much pain before. My ear started to bleed so I put a tissue on it. Then we went back home.
A week later the other ear got infected! It was not as bad so we didn't go to the doctor. My mom took it out and my ear didn't hurt or bleed this time. So now both of my ears were infected.
I was really sad because I had gone through all of this for nothing. Today, both of my ears are infected and I am waiting for them to heal so I can get them re-pierced.
And that was my ear piercing tragedy ...
— Gracie, grade 5
Sour Cream
Earlier that day ... A giant smile appeared on my face. I had just remembered that I was going to dinner at Uncle Julio's with a friend that night. (Uncle Julio's was one of my favorite Mexican restaurants.) I was so excited about it that I couldn't stop thinking about it all day.
Soon it was time to go.
"Cassidy time to get your shoes on." My dad called to me. I walked over to the closet and got my shoes and my jacket on.
Then I yelled to my brother, "Cody it's time to go!" My dad walked over and unlocked the door. "Why does Cody have to come?" I asked him.
"Because he is part of the family." My dad answered.
When we got to the restaurant we sat down at our table and me and my brother told my mom what we wanted for dinner. Then I started to color my menu. Soon my friend came.
"Hi!" I said as I ran over to her. We both went back to the table and sat down. I kept coloring while she ordered her food. Once we were both done coloring we went over to the tortilla maker and got some tortilla dough. We went back to the table and played with the tortilla dough until the appetizer arrived.
The appetizer was nachos! They looked so delicious that my mouth started watering the second I saw them. The nachos came with a plate of lettuce and tomato. I started to eat and then I saw it ... a small scoop of what I thought was vanilla ice cream sitting right next to the nachos and tomatoes. I knew it wasn't supposed to be there, so I had to get to it unnoticed by my mom and dad. Maybe if I dipped a nacho in it they wouldn't notice I thought. So I took a nacho and dipped it into the vanilla ice cream. I got as much as I could on the chip. Then I crammed the whole chip into my mouth. Instantly I frowned. The vanilla ice cream did not taste like ice cream. It tasted very, very sour — and that's when I realized that it wasn't vanilla ice cream, it was sour cream. I quickly swallowed the whole thing hoping nobody would notice. As soon as I had swallowed the chip I shoved tons of rice into my mouth so I wouldn't taste the sour cream. Soon it was time to go get dessert. I was so excited I totally forgot about the sour cream.
— Cassidy, grade 5
Meeting an MVP
I hear my dad's voice saying, "It's time for the game." I yank my jersey, struggling to get it on quickly. I grab a ball and a pen, ram down the stairs and slip in my dad's car. He starts the engine, and we hope for a good game.
At Nationals Park, I speed down to the dugout and wait excitedly because I know I am about to meet my favorite player. Later I see MVP Bryce Harper training. I was one of the first ones at the dugout.
Minutes later, Bryce walks towards me he says, "What's your name?"
Nervously, I said "Andrew."
He says, "Give me your ball." I gave him my ball, and he autographs it and hands it back to me.
I look at it, and scream to my dad, "Dad! Dad! I got it!"
I run back to where my dad is sitting. We are both extremely excited. Later in the game Bryce Harper hits a solo homerun in the bottom of the ninth inning! The fans go wild! I see a flag saying NATS WIN! I feel so good when I see Bryce running the bases. But, my eyes start to feel heavy and I leaned against my dad.
In the car, on the ride back I kept having flashbacks of when I got my autograph, but they were good flashbacks. Halfway through the ride, I collapsed into sleep.
— Andrew, grade 5
The Time I Got Bear
"We just got you a little present, OK?" Me, my siblings and my dad were sitting in a circle in the family room. Our dad had given us treats to hold, and we thought they were soggy graham crackers. Our dad had taken out the video camera, which almost spoiled the whole thing. Our mom and dad had just gotten back from visiting our uncle in Connecticut. We later learned that it was actually an elaborate plot so that we would not be suspicious, and that our uncle was actually in Colorado visiting some friends. As for now, we were all clueless.
"Why don't you bring him in?" said my dad. Suddenly my mom opened the door, and in her arms was a little black puppy! We were all in shock! The puppy instantly leaped out of my mom's arms and started jumping all over us and licking our faces! He was so cute! He was as black as night with white markings on his muzzle, chest, and paws. He weighed only nine pounds! We all reached out to pet him and stroke his soft, fuzzy fur. I was so surprised that our mom and dad had gotten a dog, especially because my dad was allergic to some breeds of dogs!
"What type of dog is he?" Ryan asked.
"He is a whoodle, which is part wheaton terrier, and part poodle," My mom explained. "He doesn't shed, so we don't have to sweep up his fur." My dad took out the camera and took pictures of each of us holding the puppy.
"I can't wait to play with him!" I thought. And I had the perfect name: Bear. We eventually named him Bear Duke Dash, but for the first week or so we called him Puppy. His birthday is August 13, and he was eight weeks old when we got him. I was already looking forward to taking care of him!
— Jack, grade 5
The Time I Broke My Finger
We were getting ready to start the game. My coach told me I should start as a sub. Right when he said that, I scowled. He put everyone else on the court but me. Sitting there alone, I got ready to watch the game.
The game started and my cousin and a lot of other people on my team started running up the court. My cousin threw the ball from the 3-point line and scored. A large cheer roared through the crowd. Finally, my coach told me I could go in. Excitedly I jumped off the bench. While I was getting up my cousin scored again. Everyone cheered again. When I finally got onto the court, my coach launched the ball at me very hard. Smack! He threw the basketball at me! I was sure I could not catch a throw that hard but I still reached for it. The basketball zoomed past me but it smacked against my hand. "OUCH!" I screamed loud enough for only my cousin to hear. Even though nobody heard me, I could still feel my cheeks turn bright red.
"Are you okay?" my cousin asked. "Yeah I am fine," I lied. But. I really was not. My fingers felt numb, and they were throbbing in pain. I waited until the end of the game and when it ended, I went home and told my parents everything.
"Are you okay?" my parents asked in concern.
I told them the truth this time. I told them how much my finger hurt. Luckily we had some wrapping tape to wrap my finger in. We wrapped my swelling and bruised finger like a mummy.
— Arielle, grade 5
My Friend Will Fell Out of a Tree
"Will, are you OK up there?" I looked at Will who had been climbing the tree.
"Yah." The branch below Will was cracking. It was about to break. Then it broke and his hands slipped. He fell from branch after branch. They all broke! He finally came down and fell on the ground. Cai and I thought that Will was really hurt.
Then Will jumped up and said, "That was awesome!" After that we looked at the tree. It looked as if a bear had scratched it and one branch was dangling. We saw a hole in the ground.
It fit Will perfectly. It was a giant hole. We ran inside my house. We told Nicky and Chris what had happened. They were surprised. Then we took them outside and we showed them the hole. They said, "That's really cool."
We asked Will if it hurt after he fell. He said "No, well at the end it hurt a little bit." Cai and I were really impressed that Will wasn't hurt badly.
— Hudson, grade 5
The Jump
“Let’s go Sam!” My cousin Jackson yelled. It was an early morning in Mathews, Virginia, my grandparents’ river house. I was with my cousin, brother and my grandparents when I was rudely awakened. I dressed and stumbled down the stairs, still tired from sleep. I grabbed a big bowl and poured some cereal in. I quickly finished my breakfast and traveled outside with excitement. I did not know that it would be the day of the jump.
It was a balmy, scorching day and I started sweating the minute I stepped outside. I walked out on the dock to find my brother, my cousin, and my grandpa already on the boat. They were itching to go and tired of waiting so long for me, so we set off quickly. We had brought along “the hotdog” which is a big hotdog tube that you sit on top of and we had brought the kneeboard. Knee boarding is where a person is kneeling on a board while holding a handle that is being towed by the boat. We started out on the hotdog and had many large jumps and leaps.
Once we had done that enough to satisfy us we switched to the kneeboard. I got to go first so I leaped into the warm water and got on the board. Then I started getting pulled at about 25 miles per hour skimming across the choppy waters. I leaned to the left and just managed to get out of the wake. I zoomed even faster outside the wake when I notice an enormous ship to the left of us. The ship was almost as big as some cruise ships. I realized that the ship would bring huge waves from its wake so I quickly turned to the right and traveled back into the wake. I knew that the ship would bring big wake, I just didn’t know how big it actually was going to be.
Once I got back inside the wake, I started glancing over to the huge waves coming my way. A sense of nervous excitement came to me. The wake hit me, and the first wave I zoomed into, I managed to hang on. Then, I slid over the second one right perfectly into the third and biggest wave yet. Thud. Splash. I leaped way up in the air and crashed into the water not able to hold on anymore. I realized that I had jumped more than three feet in the air! I had just done something that I had never done before and it was amazing! I swam over to the boat and climbed up the ladder. “Wow,” I exclaimed, “did you see that?” As I flopped on a seat I thought that I would remember that leap for a while, and I still do.
— Sam, grade 7
My Zip Lining Trip in Alaska
This summer, my family went to Alaska. We stopped in many cities and did many things. One of those things was a zip-lining trip. I honestly didn’t know what to expect. When we arrived, I was quite surprised to see that the zips were on a mountain. We had to take a ride on an open bus, kind of like a monster truck, up the mountain. This was because the road was so steep and rocky.
When we got to the top, everyone put on their equipment and broke off into groups. I was with my parents, my brother, and my cousin. We walked up a short trail with the people who would be helping us, and off we went.
All of us were scared, though to different degrees. We would be going down nine zip lines, platform to platform, until finally we finished. The first zip line was the hardest just the thought of jumping over what seemed like chasm hundreds of feet deep. Finally, when I brought myself to do it, I felt free as a bird.
I gained confidence along the way, bringing myself to flip upside down. Each zip line was different. Some were fast, some were long, and some were both. But they all were adventures to be conquered.
When we finally finished we all seemed to be thinking the same thing. “I should not have been scared of that!”
But we were scared. However, we were able to get through it and come away with a great experience.
— Will, grade 7