with illustrations by Carolina G. Flores

The Fairies’ Travelsand other stories for children

written by students at Krueger Middle School in San Antonio

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The Fairies’ Travelsand other stories for children

written by students at Krueger Middle School in San Antonio

in partnership with Gemini Ink, readers and writers today and tomorrow

Gemini Ink’s work in the North East Independent School Districtand this publication were made possible by the

Rackspace Foundation

Thank You!

Writers-in-Residence: D. Ellis PhelpsIllustrations: Carolina G. Flores

Design & Layout: Anisa Onofre Writers in Communities Director, Gemini Ink

Evelyn ReyesInterim Executive Director, Gemini Ink

Student work has been edited as lightly as possiblein order to honor the original voices

©2012 Gemini Ink

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Foreword

During sixteen, one and one-half hour, after-school sessions from September through December, 2011, I met with twelve- and thirteen-year-old students from Krueger Middle School in the North East Independent School District. Our task: write a storybook for young children.

We started by brainstorming story genres and exploring the work of writers of classic children’s literature, deciding, by consensus, that our audience would be three- to five-year -olds, and our uniting themes: myths, fantasies, and fairy tales. We sketched some to help us engage our right brains. We discussed the elements of story and learned to use a story-map as a tracking tool for developing plot. We followed prompts. We learned to receive constructive criticism as we read and listened to each other’s works in progress. We ate snacks, listened to music (they didn’t like mine!), used laptops, and became friends.

As we wrote, dragons breathed purple fire into the room, kings emerged, fairies flitted about, and elves grew ears. We wrestled with word choice and imagery, grammar and syntax, and argued content and context.

“I’d like to hold our focus away from violence in our stories,” I said. “There’s already too much violence in the world.”

“Right, Miss...the stories have to have violence to make them real.”

And there it is: art imitating life, reflecting it for us so that perhaps we can finally see ourselves and what we are doing.

While the stories told here are myths, fantasies, and fairy tales, their underlying themes are very real, profound evidence of the abiding fears, beliefs, courage, and hope of the youth who wrote them. Grappling to establish their own set of values, these teens have told the truth as they see it about human nature and our culture.

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As the stories unfold, they tell of kidnapping; unnecessary war; prejudice and discrimination; envy and jealousy; malice and misadventure; the struggle to achieve, bravery, sacrifice, morality, perseverance, and reconciliation. These are indeed universal themes reiterated in great literature throughout the ages. Their presence here gives me great hope that the future holds promise in these teens, promise of a time when justice, kindness, and peace will prevail.

I am honored to have been allowed to work with these students. I have learned as much about myself in working with them as they may have learned about the craft of writing.

Perhaps the most beautiful moments for me were during our last meeting together. We had a party: cookies, chips, juice. We looked at pictures of each others’ families on smart phones. We scurried to finish polishing our writing and save it on my contrary USB drive. We made promises to keep in touch.

“Are you on Facebook, Miss? I’m going to friend you!” said one or two. “What’s your name again?” That was funny. They’d called me “Miss” all semester with no disrespect intended and none taken.

Then it happened. An unsolicited, unexpected expression of appreciation:

“I love you, Miss!” she said. This was the young lady who had argued with me repeatedly and without mercy. Wow! The thing was, I loved her too, and all of the other young writers who’d come to be with me twice a week since September.

That is the point, right? Not the stories. But, hey! We’ve got stories, too!

D. Ellis PhelpsBulverde, Texas, January 4, 2012

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Contents

The Fairies’ Travels Leilani Loveless

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How the Cow Jumped Over the Moon Alex Hernandez

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The Legend of the Rose Erika Mae Ojoy

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The Magic Dress Katie Gerhard

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The Best Halloween Ever Carlos Nieto

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Friday Night Out Shinise Worthen

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The Adventure of Prince Charming Savannah Garcia

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How the Elf Got His Ears Marcella Gutierrez

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How the Dinosaurs and Unicorns Saved Ashley’s Mom Vanessa Huerta

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On a midsummer night, on a hidden island, a star shimmered above a meadow. The full moon gleamed as the air started to hum with magic. Lights danced among the shining flowers, but they were not normal flowers. Their golden leaves waved in the gentle breeze. The beautiful buds glowed teal and the petals shined like pearls. No, these are magic flowers, just waiting to bloom, but all of a sudden a gust of strong wind rippled through the meadow. The lights dimmed as it got stronger and stron-ger, ripping away blades of grass as if they had not taken root, and the buds were whisked away. The buds were blown over seas and into a palace. The witch had cast a spell to get the flowers! The flowers began to open to the warmth. Inside were extraordinary crea-tures with lacy wings and colorful clothes. Fairies! They blinked in surprise when they realized that they were inside a brightly lit room with a huge ceiling and…bars? Wailing in terror, the fairies instinctively tried to fly away, but it was too late, for the cage was already on top of them. Sobbing in despair, they sat on their flowers as the witch appeared. They gasped and tried to hide in their buds, but the witch stopped them

The Fairies’ TravelsLeilani Loveless, age 12

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with a lazy flick of her wand. She wore purple clothes with a few midnight black bats sewn on them. She would have been pretty if she hadn’t had warts and way too much make-up on. Behind her was a beautiful little girl. She wore a primrose pink and turquoise cloak with scarlet clothes underneath. She had a wand at her side and she was staring at the fairies with curiosity in her eyes. One bold fairy tried to hold her gaze, but quickly looked away. That fairy was obviously the leader because she had the most colorful wings. She took a deep breath, and said: “I am Nightshade. They are my Bloomers.” She gestured to the other fairies. “Why have you captured us?” The girl squealed in delight, and then hid behind the witch. The witch answered: “My name is Calfeen. This is my daughter, Coraleen.” She put an arm around the girl behind her. “You have been brought here to be studied by the king’s scientists. I am also captured. If I had not brought you here, they would have killed me. So I was in the same situation as you are now.” Nightshade said something in her language and crossed her arms. Her Bloomers did the same and they all turned to their buds to sit down. A white sheet covered the cage and the fairies slept in darkness. When Nightshade woke up, she found herself held down by cold, hard, silver circles. Her fellow bloomers were in the same situation. “Roll call,” she demanded qui-etly. “Willowleaf,” she called. “Here,” came a weak answer. “Blueshine,” she called. “Here,” came a stronger reply. “Goldenpetal, Berryglow, Lunapool, Glimmerpine, Mosstwinkle, Cherryfall, Meadowstar,” Nightshade called, but she only received six replies. A startled “Help!” was the seventh reply. “Cherryfall?” Nightshade asked. She looked around. The scientists had captured Cherryfall in a glass case. Nightshade struggled against her bonds, but she couldn’t free herself. Sadly, she watched Cherryfall get carried away into a separate room. After what seemed like hours, Cherryfall finally returned, but she looked pale and

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there was a cut on her arm. Nightshade asked: “What did they do to you?” Cherryfall said weakly, “They threw me on a table and secured those dreadful bonds. After that they took a sword and stabbed me in the arm. I felt as if they were draining my blood from my body, but eventually they took some cloth and made the bleeding stop. Then they put me back in here.” As soon as she had said “here,” several scientists came out of a doorway. They put some pieces of cloth on each of the fairies tables. Then they placed

a glass box over each fairy that had tiny holes on the top and a tiny doorway with a big lock. After that they pushed button and the bonds snapped open. Nightshade quickly tried to escape, but there was no way. She tried the tiny door. She tried the tiny holes. Unfortunate-ly, she discovered that she could not es-cape. She saw the scientists chuckling and she stormed to the cloths. She found that they were soft like her flower and decided that she would sleep on them. The scientists came around and shoved tiny trays underneath the tiny doors. To Nightshade’s surprise they slipped right through. She tried the stuff on the trays and it tasted somewhat good so, she gulped it down. Finally, she settled down in the cloths. Coraleen’s dwarf hamster ran on her wheel. “Squeak, squeak, squeak,” said Starlight. Sighing, Coraleen curled up under-neath her covers as she thought about the fairies. She felt them staring at her and she had to fight to not release them. She might be able to free them, but she would need help. The idea, growing larger inside her head, she called out to Lauren, Danielle, and Shellby, her three best friends. They eventually said “yes,” though Shellby

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sounded reluctant, and started planning. “Rope?” Coraleen asked. “Check,” Lauren answered. “Water, food, bags?” Coraleen continued. “Check, check, check; 10 packages set,” Lauren said. “Okay, it’s a go! Now, let’s go over our plans once more,” Coraleen said, calling for a meeting. She looked at Lau-ren who confirmed her part. “Lauren…” “I will be the code-cracker for the vault. When needed, I will do the job,” Lauren said enthusiastically. “Right,” Coraleen said. “Dani-elle…” “I will do whatever you say, if it’s part of the mission,” Danielle answered. “Correct,” Coraleen said. “Shel…” “I will stand guard when needed,” Shellby interrupted. Coraleen, Lauren, and Danielle stared at her. “What?” Shellby said, defending herself. “It’s okay to be a little nervous, right?” The girls nodded and opened the window. Lauren tied a sturdy knot to the bed and flung the rope out the window. Danielle then swung her legs outside and started to climb down into the courtyard. Coraleen did the same, with Lauren and

Shellby behind her. Lauren picked the lock on the gate and rushed away from the passing guards. When the guards had passed, the girls ran into the night, dodging and ducking guards as they charged towards the laboratory. “Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo,” hooted an owl as Cherryfall looked out the window. She heard a click and the door swung open. Then she heard a beep and her glass box crashed to the floor. “Come quick-ly,” whispered a voice from the shadows, “It is me, Coraleen. Hurry, before the alarms go off!” Coraleen leapt from shad-ow to shadow with Lauren, Danielle, and the fairies following swiftly behind her. They came around a corner where a girl had her finger on the alarm trigger. “Shellby?” asked Coraleen in whisper. “What are you doing? You’re going to get us caught!” Shellby answered, “I am so sorry, but I have to!” Then she pushed the button before Coraleen could ask why, and dashed off. Alarms blared. Everyone ran to-ward the window and climbed down. They burst from the undergrowth and ran into the forest. As soon as they were far away from the guards, Coraleen and her friends parted from the group of fairies. In five

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minutes, they came to a dessert. When the sun started to rise, the fairies ran into a beautiful oasis. After a few minutes, Cherryfall and her friends had explored every inch of the oasis. In her explora-tion, Cherryfall found a hidden cave behind the glittering clear water. She found flowers of every color, trees of every kind, and every bit of it glistened with dew. This is paradise, thought Cherryfall. She went back to the waterfall to make some beds. Once she had finished the chore, she met with her friends and told them about the cave. “Well, done Cherryfall,” said Nightshade when Cherryfall showed them the shelter and beds. They all settled down and slept for a whole day. When Willowleaf woke up, she felt the hard floor. Without opening her eyes, she groaned, thinking that she was still at the laboratory. “Was last night only a dream?” she said, wondering out loud. She opened her eyes and nearly shouted with relief when she saw that she had fallen off her bed and onto the floor. She heard a rough voice outside say something. “There they are! Get them!” She quickly flew off to find her friends but, hit her head on a branch and fell. Strong, tiny hands picked her up and flew towards the group of fairies. As she lost consciousness, she heard Nightshade speaking softly and ordering everyone to fly away to the desert. When Willowleaf awoke, she was on a leaf boat and heard a relieved sigh. “You were asleep so long, we thought you were dead. Thank goodness we didn’t toss you into the water,” Blueshine said. “How long was I unconscious?” Willowleaf asked. “Long enough for us to come to our home,” Blueshine replied. “Home?!” exclaimed Willowleaf, springing up to take in the view. Beautiful rivers streamed down the sides of mountains. Trees flowers and fruits of every color sparkled in the glimmering air. It felt like spring, just the right temperature. All of Willowleaf’s weariness disappeared. She saw thousands of fairies playing in the meadows. “Home,” she whispered.

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How the Cow Jumped Over the MoonAlex Hernandez, age 12

There once was a little cow named MooMoo. He had always wanted to become an

astronaut just like his dad Mr. Moo. One night after being read a bedtime story, MooMoo

went to sleep and had a dream about going to the moon. He dreamt about the stars and all

the planets spinning together in one big straight line.

The next morning during breakfast time, MooMoo decided to tell his dad about his

dream.

“Dad I had a dream that I was an astronaut just like you!” he said.

“That’s great MooMoo! One day you’ll be an astronaut just like me,” Mr. Moo

replied.

Then when MooMoo got to school, he told his friend Humpty Dumpty all about

his space dream. Humpty was amazed by the idea of space travel. By the end of the day,

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MooMoo was all tired out from telling everyone about his fascinating dream that he fell

asleep on the way home.

Since he didn’t have to go to school the next day, MooMoo tried everything to

get to the moon including jumping off his bed and reaching for the sky. He made so

much noise, it sounded louder than a circus. All of a sudden Mr. Moo came running into

MooMoo’s room saying he had an important space mission to go on. He quickly decided

to ask if MooMoo wanted to come along and explore outer space. Of course MooMoo

said “yes” and was immediately overjoyed.

The only thing left to do was for Mr. Moo to help MooMoo put his brand new red

space suit on and they were on their way. As they prepared for launch, little MooMoo’s

heart was pounding as fast as it could. He was so excited to be in a rocket for the first

time and he couldn’t wait to take his first steps on the moon. It felt like forever but they

finally reached their destination. MooMoo could already feel the moons’ rough surface

under his feet as if he were already standing there.

There was a cloud of fog as they got out of the rocket. They spent most of the time

walking around and picking up different rocks. MooMoo even got to help put all of them

in a special bag.

When it was time to go, there was one last thing MooMoo wanted to do. He got

down really low then jumped up as high as the stars and slowly went over the moon. It

felt like he was flying and never had to stop. When he landed, he was so happy that his

dream had finally come true.

“Come on MooMoo! It’s time to go!” shouted Mr. Moo.

“Ok Dad!” said MooMoo. He ran back inside the rocket, buckled his seatbelt, and

was ready for the long journey home.

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A long, long time ago, there was a small and colorful town full of joyful people. Everybody was satisfied with the way they lived. People and other magical creatures like fairies, giants, monsters, and elves lived together in that town. Some fairies looked like they were elves with wings, and some looked like small humans flying around. Fairies are annoying but helpful. They were always the ones who solved the mysteries or problems. Some of the fairies lived in groups but most of them were solo. Giants were the most skilled in building buildings, houses and castles. Giants were not all ugly. Some were as pretty as a little flower. They also had powers, and most of the time giants lived all by themselves. They usually had dragons as their pets. Also wild dragons could kill you. Monsters were not that scary. They were actually nicer than the elves, fairies, and giants. Elves were the rarest. Only twenty elves had been found in this town. They were the guardians of nature and the most powerful. A young King Benedict and his Queen Elizabeth had already been married for fifteen years, but had never had a child of their own. They were very lonely. One day, as the queen went walking through a creepy forest with her personal maid, Sharon, she saw a light—a rainbow with seven little fairies. One fairy greeted her.

The Legend of the RoseErika Mae Ojoy, age 12

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“Hi! I’m Red, like cherry red.” “I’m Orange, like orange tangerine,” yelled another fairy. “Yellow is my name. Lemon yellow is how you remember,” a third fairy said. She pulled another fairy by her side. “Oh! And this is Green. He and Blue are the only boys, and he loves nature more than himself,” said Orange to the queen. “I’m the coolest of them all. Blue is my name,” said the blue fairy, interrupting. “Indigo is my name. And I’m neither a primary nor a secondary color,” said a very beautiful fairy. “Purple is what they call me, but I’m actually Violet,” said the last fairy. “We are the rainbow fairies,” they all said. “Queen Elizabeth, we are here to grant you five wishes. Usually it’s supposed to be three, but since we are all seven, they allow us five wishes,” explained the Red fairy. “I have a question. Since all of you are seven, why can’t you grant seven wishes?” asked the queen. “Good question, it’s simply because Red—that’s me—Yellow, and Purple are stronger, Green and Orange are partners, engaged actually, and Blue and Indigo are best friends,” answered Red very gladly. “I think I have a wish,” the queen told the fairies. “What is it?” asked the fairies very excitedly. The queen made her request: “I want to have children of my own.” “Then I’m the one you need,” Red told her. “I am the Fairy of Life. I can’t wake up the dead, but as for your request, that would be a piece of cake! Tomorrow you will see the symptoms of pregnancy and be happy for it.” The next day, the queen felt a headache and almost every part of her body was aching. She was preparing for and walking toward her bath and suddenly she saw everything blurry and after a couple of minutes, she collapsed. “Queen Elizabeth!” cried her servants. “What should we do?” asked one of her servants panicking. “I think we need to call King Benedict,” yelled another servant. When the king heard this news, he ran to the queen as fast as he could.

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“Sharon, call all the doctors in town immediately,” said the king. Over a hundred doctors came. Some were giants. Many of them were fairies, and a few were ordinary people. The giants dressed the best, neatly and formally, looking smart. Most of them were girls. The fairies dressed alike. Girls wore dresses in the color of their names and boys wore a shirt and shorts that were the color of their names. The humans dressed better than the fairies, formally like the giants, but the giants still looked smarter. A guard yelled: “All the giants go first, then the humans, and lastly the fairies.” Each doctor checked on the queen, writing down their diagnosis of her disease. The giants showed their results: “There is something forming in her stomach,” they all said. “One to two creatures are inside her,” the humans wrote. “She is two months pregnant to simplify it, and she is carrying twins,” the fairies said. When the king heard the results, he was half happy, one fourth proud, and one fourth shocked. “Are all the things you just told me true?” asked the king.

“Doctors never lie, my king,” one fairy said respectfully. “Then that means I will be a father!” said the king very happily. Every doctor in town had their own magical power, but all the doctors came up with the same result. This made the king suspicious. “Are you sure or is it because you want me to be happy that you have all given me the same results?” asked the king. “We have no idea why all of our

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results are the same, but even so, shouldn’t we celebrate by having a feast because you are having twins?” asked one giant. He bowed. Isn’t that what we call a miracle?” “I think you are right,” said the king, very happily. “We should prepare a feast for this good news.” The news got around the town as fast as lightening. Everybody was preparing happily and excitedly. At noon, the queen woke up with the king holding her soft, small hand. “What happened to me, my love?” asked the queen.

“You are two months pregnant,” said the king, crying tears of joy. “I can’t believe my wish came true,” said the queen about to cry. “Before dark, we will start a feast to celebrate this good news,” said the king. At the feast, all the creatures brought gifts: tiny dresses; flowers in vivid colors of red and purple; and soft, stuffed creatures that looked just like them. Everyone danced, sang, and ate until midnight. The sounds of woodwinds tickled their ears. The smell of wine floated in the air. The cold breeze passed over their skin making them shiver. The women gossiped. The men got drunk and laughed too loudly. The children ran chasing each other until they tripped and fell down laughing. Paper lanterns lined the streets. The moon went in and out of the clouds. Chocolate cakes, huge roasted turkeys, big vats of pork soup, and bowls of strawberry juice punch sat on tables as long as the Nile River. The king clapped his hands to get everybody’s attention. “We are here because the queen, my wife, will soon have twins.” Everyone cheered loudly. “The Giant Doctor has seen with his magic powers that I will have two daughters!” Now everyone cheered louder than before! “So my wife

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has decided that their names will be Rosa and Nena.” Everybody cheered as loudly and wildly as they could. The party ended pretty well. Nobody created a fight after the feast. It was silent. The only sound was the breeze passing by. The next day, the monsters who were good at predicting the weather, got the feeling that there was going to be a huge storm. They were right. The wind blew faster and faster. The raindrops became heavier and heavier. All creatures hid inside their big houses to secure themselves and their families. Everyone was prepared but at the same time frightened. This was the first storm that was so powerful that they needed all the magical creatures to stop it. The storm lasted only a couple of hours, but the damage was severe. The colorful town became black and white. Trees fell to the ground. The sea would not calm down. When everyone opened their windows, their faces were full of shock. They never thought that the storm would ruin their town in a blink of an eye. Everybody went outside. One old lady said, “We should help each other to clean such a mess.” Everybody agreed with this idea. When the king observed the town and damages, he saw nothing but happy people helping each other. The black and white turned back into color with happy creatures. Everything was back to normal with a quick magic. Back in the castle, the queen was knitting small sweaters for her future babies. The seven fairies were helping her knit. Sharon was making the bed. Some servants were preparing the queen’s bath and breakfast. “Queen Elizabeth, you look so tired. Eat your breakfast first and after that take a bath to relax your body before you knit another sweater. We know that you are excited but don’t let your body get tired,” Sharon said, very worried. The queen smiled sweetly. “I’m glad you are worrying. Oh well, what can I lose?” Day after day, the queen’s belly got bigger and bigger. Two more days and her daughters would be born on the earth. Everybody was excited. They prepared for the feast, but this feast was different than before. It was more elegant and formal. The giants built a huge building, long and wide, where they were going to celebrate the princesses’ arrival. Fairies and pixies were helping the people. Elves were

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decorating inside the room. Everybody was helping each other, just as they did after the huge storm. At last, the day came when the princesses arrived. Everyone gathered around the castle. They waited and waited and waited, until the heads of all the doctors were seen on the balcony, and the two newborn babies were shown to the crowd. Everybody cheered and cried. The party for the princesses started with a big marching band. The band wore red and white uniforms with hats three feet tall. They marched through the streets with big steps. The percussion section led them: boom, bang, clang, chick, chick, chick. The band was playing the town’s anthem. Next to the percussion was the brass: tut, tut, tut, brrr, brrr, totorotot. It made the creatures dance wildly on the sidewalks. And last were the smooth woodwinds: shhh, shhh, shhh, whoosh, whoosh. In the parade, there were dancers dancing very softly but boldly. Girls wore feathers on their backs while boys wore really bright colors. The town lived very happily afterward for many years. Seventeen years later, Nena had become a great hunter while Rosa had become a lovely lady and wife-to-be. Nena’s hair was a dark chocolate color and always in a pony- tail and her beauty was plain. Rosa, however, had become so pretty that every prince wanted her to be his wife. She had dark brown hair, but when she went out in the sun, it reflected on her long hair that became as red as a ripe apple. Rosa only had eyes for one prince named Franco. Prince Franco was, in their childhood, also in love with Rosa. They became a couple and they suited each other because Franco was a brown-haired guy too and everybody’s dream. They were really cute together. Nena didn’t care about these kinds of things. One time, King Benedict asked her: “My Daughter, why won’t you also get yourself a man who will rejoice in your pure heart?” “It is just this simple. Because I don’t need such things as a husband if I can live my peaceful life.” Nena was very proud of herself, but she thought and thought about her father’s questions until it made her dizzy. But she was so haughty that she still thought that she didn’t need a husband. She ran to her room. I better prepare first for my sister’s engagement party, she thought.

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When she got to her room, three of the seven fairies were there: Red, Orange, and Green. She saw them with the dress and a pair of high heels which she really hated, but she couldn’t do anything about it since she promised Rosa that she would wear this kind of clothing. The dress was plain light green and bright yellow and the heels were white with ankle straps and two inch heels. Nena put on all the clothes, the shoes, and her make-up. She looked in the mirror that Orange gave her and saw a pretty girl, but not a girl as pretty as Rosa. She felt envious. It was time for her sister’s party and

everybody was very elegant, even more elegant than they had been for the twins’ birthday party. “There you are, Nena,” said Rosa. “You are so beautiful tonight!” Rosa was amazed at how beautiful her sister looked. “Stop that! Your beautiful eyes are twinkling,” said Nena to Rosa, joking. Rosa went to Franco, leaving Nena alone. When Nena looked down, she remembered that she could not go down stairs with this pair of heels on. But she walked down safely, looking up to the place from where she had just come. She sighed. That was a close one! She looked

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around again and felt left out. Tut turutut, the trumpeters played. Everyone, but Nena, gave their attention. She kept looking around feeling more left out as she realized how elegant this party was. “You, my people, get together here for me to announce the future king and queen, Franco and Rosa,” King Benedict announced. This finally got Nena’s attention. Everybody clapped while Rosa walked, well-mannered, with Franco holding her hand like a gentleman. Rosa thanked everyone for coming to her party. “Also, I’m very thankful that my sister, Nena, is here enjoying herself and some company. Please come here,” Rosa said to Nena. She smiled, showing blindingly white teeth. As Nena came up the stairs, she stumbled twice and ripped her dress. Then she tripped again, breaking her heels. When she finally got all the way up the stairs, she looked down to the guests and saw their eyes looking at her and laughing. She cried. Her tears kept flowing. Heat kept rising. This was a most embarrassing moment. Rosa was shocked. She didn’t know whether to be proud or sad. Rosa tried to comfort Nena, patting her shoulders. “It’s all right. Let’s go back.” Nena

went with her sister, but as soon as no one could see them, Nena slapped her sister’s face. “It was your entire fault,” said Nena, shouting. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” said Rosa. “Sorry? If you hadn’t made me come up the stairs and hadn’t made me wear these clothes do you think I would be like this? I’m the one who should apologize to you for not being as perfect as you!” Rosa felt more and more guilty. Finally, she said: “I won’t be bothering you any more until your head is cooled down!” That made Nena even angrier. “So you think I’m the problem? Okay I will leave you here now. You don’t even want to see such a girl.” Nena ran away from the party and no one saw her, even when it got dark. Unexpectedly, the seven fairies saw all of the fighting and jealousies. This frustrated them. “I don’t know what to say, but I think this is their first fight,” said Red, depressed. “I thought everything was perfect,” said Orange to all of them. Everyone was silent for a moment. Finally, Green broke

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the silence. “I think Nena was just holding herself back and finally had to blurt out what was on her mind. She didn’t mean to hurt Rosa’s feelings.” Meanwhile, Nena locked herself in her room, still angry with Rosa and herself, but mostly herself. She looked around the room and seeing the bookshelf in the corner, realized she had never touched it. She’d never even wondered what kind of books were on it, but now she became curious. She got up from her bed and walked toward the shelf, closer and closer, still not knowing why she was suddenly so curious. She looked at the dusty shelves, looking for something to take her time. The books were in alphabetical order. Near the bottom, she saw the letter “s” for “spell.” She took the book out. Thumbing through it, she found the word “summon.” Still very angry with her sister, she searched and searched until she found a spell for summoning the Great Dragon. “She needs to repay and I will make her do that,” said Nena, talking to herself. She did as the book said and poof, up popped a small box. She was confused. This isn’t a dragon. This thing is a box! Then she read the other parts about

summoning the dragon. She read: A box will bring you a gift. You can do it once but not twice. Think carefully! A little further down the page she read how to activate the dragon with three words: Open the box. She wrote an invitation to Rosa. She just wanted to play this little prank on Rosa. She knocked on Rosa’s door and left the card, inviting Rosa to a tea party. Rosa became joyful reading the invitation from Nena. The next day, Rosa went to the place near the forest where nobody goes. She didn’t go alone. She came holding hands with Franco. There, they saw a table beautifully arranged. Rosa got more excited than before. They waited for Nena. After half an hour, Franco excused himself to walk around. It was then that Rosa noticed the little box. She thought it must be a gift, so she opened it. Meanwhile, Nena was still baking the cake and preparing the tea for the party when she heard Rosa scream. She rushed to the forest and saw Franco fighting the dragon with the golden sword which had been passed down to him through generations. Rosa was nearly unconscious. Nena wanted to help Franco, but she was too afraid. She couldn’t move a muscle.

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The dragon blew fire, and Franco dodged it. “Oh! No!” Nena screamed. “This must be the Great Dragon.” She hadn’t intended to summon this Great Dragon which could not be defeated, but she had not read the directions completely. “Franco, please help my sister!” The dragon chased Franco and Rosa into a dead end. The dragon smirked and lunged at them. Running away, they forgot about the cliff and almost fell. “It’s now or never,” said Franco. “Rosa, you stay here.” Franco left Rosa hidden and snuck toward the dragon. The dragon flew, but not toward Franco, but toward Rosa! Franco grabbed the dragon’s foot, trying to hold him back and balancing to reach out his other hand for Rosa. Franco stabbed the dragon with his sword, but the dragon kept fighting. Franco held Rosa as tightly as he could as their death was inevitable. Nena saw all of this. She was furious at the dragon as she shot it over and over again until it turned to dust. Nena fell to the ground, sobbing. Behind her, Nena saw the Rainbow Fairies sobbing, too. “Can you come here by my side?” Nena asked. The fairies flew beside her.

“Can you grant me a wish?” “Sure, but only one more since the Queen has already asked us for four wishes,” said Red. “I want you to do something that will help other generations remember my sister Rosa and our childhood friend, Franco,” said Nena. After three days, Nena went to the graves of Rosa and Franco. The fairies were there. She saw a red flower with thorns growing on the graves and she knew the fairies had done this. “Thank you, Rainbow Fairies,” she said. “From this day forward, this red flower shall be known as the flower of love. It shall be called the Rose for my sister, Rosa. And its thorns will represent Franco’s golden sword.”

22

23

Once upon a time there was a girl named Alexis, whose biggest dream was to be a

real princess. Alexis was tall, with long blond hair, and big green eyes. One hot summer

day she decided to play dress up.

She jumped up the stairs and zoomed to the attic. Her mom had boxes of clothes

for her to play with there and in the biggest box, there were princess dresses. She pulled

open the box and looked inside. She was amazed to find that on the very top there was a

brand new dress. It was the color of cherries, smelled like chocolate cookies, and felt as

soft as a kitten. She hurried to put it on, and luckily for her, it fit perfectly.

After she finished her outfit by putting on heels and a tiara, a silver, glittery smoke

began to twirl around her. Alexis became so scared she ran and hid in the corner and

closed her eyes. After a few minutes went by, she slowly opened her eyes. She was

surprised to see that she was in a giant, soft purple bed. A soft voice called from the other

room.

“Princess Alexis are you awake yet?”

“Princess? Who’s a princess? I’m Alexis. Just Alexis,” she said. A small woman

The Magic DressKatie Gerhard, age 13

24

entered the room.

“No. You are Princess Alexis.

You are a princess, and I am your

governess, Emily,” she said.

“I’m a princess! Yippy, my

dreams have come true!”

“Yes Princess Alexis, but now

we must make you ready for the day.

First you have sewing, then posture

and curtseys. After that, you must

meet the common folk in the village

square. You have such a busy day.

Please hurry!” said Emily, ranting.

For the rest of the day, Alexis went from lesson to lesson and from task to task.

She never knew how much one must do to be a princess. By the time she went to bed,

Alexis was exhausted! As she lay in bed, she thought of home, her mom’s warm hugs, her

bright blue room. She missed home so much she started to cry as she drifted off to sleep.

When she woke, she heard a voice calling.

“Alexis! Alexis! Time to get up. Rise and shine Princess.” called Alexis’ mom.

Alexis woke up and gasped. She was home and in her bed. She jumped up and

raced down the stairs to find her mom. She could tell her mom was making blueberry

pancakes by the sweet, syrupy smell in the air. She ran over and gave her mom an

enormous hug.

Alexis said, “Mommy, I don’t want to be a princess anymore. I like being Alexis.

Just Alexis.”

“That’s all right with me,” said her mom. “I like Alexis too. Now let us eat

pancakes!”

25

Three boys were best friends. The first one was named Eric. He was the brains of the group. Chris was the extreme guy who took everything to its limit. Last but not least, there was Drake. He was the leader and he was the cool guy. He had faith in himself all the time. One day before Halloween, Chris and Eric were walking to Drake’s house. “Tell me again. Why are we going to Drake’s place?” asked Chris. “Because,” said Eric, “he is hosting a meeting for Halloween.” “Oh! I thought he was going to give us Nestles Crunch bars,” said Chris. “Why do you always think that?” asked Eric. “Finally, we’re here,” said Chris. “It was only a short walk,” said Eric. “Whatever. Let’s just get our crunch bars.” “Uhhhhh!” Eric sighed. “Hello boys,” Drake’s mom said. “You can go on back.” “Hello gentlemen,” said Drake. “Sit here. I brought you here to talk about something very important. Candy! We’ll walk down the first streets, and then we’ll go to Dark Street. Later, we’ll....”

The Best Halloween EverCarlos Nieto, age 12

26

“Wait, wait, wait, wait,” said Eric, interrupting. “Y-y-yo-yo-you-me-me-me-mean Dark Street?” he said. “The street with Scar Scare’s house? “I have no idea what the pickles you’re talking about,” said Drake. “You know,” said Eric. “Allow me to tell you in story.” “Once there was a man named Scar who had a nasty scar on his face. Whenever kids came to his door, he would scare the pants off them every year. He scared people because kids and others called him Scardy Scary Cat because he was born with a scar. He was also very scared all the time. When he grew up, he bought a scary house. Then during a Halloween night, a nice boy ran away from an orphanage to go trick-or-treating. He walked into Scar’s house and never came back.” “Say whaaaaat?” said Chris. “Since when do you believe in ghosts?” asked Drake. “Come on! Let’s go,” said Chris. “Huuuu,” sighed Eric. On Halloween night, the boys met to go trick-or-treating as planned.

“Awesome vampire costume, Drake,” said Chris. “Cool werewolf costume,” said Drake. Eric walked up. “Hey guys.” “Eric is that you?” said Chris. “Yes, I’m a ghost.” “Well, now that we’re all here, let’s go get some candy,” said Drake. The boys hit every house in the neighborhood. They even ran through the neighbor’s haunted house. Around the corner from there, the boys stopped. The wind rushed. Dogs howled. The boys stood in a row side by side. Drake and Eric looked

27

into their bags. “This was awesome! We got a ton of candy,” said Drake. “I got a truck load of candy, literally,” yelled Chris. “My friend’s dad is going to have to take it all to my house for me.” Chris waved at the truck driver who had just pulled up beside them. “Just take it to my house,” he said. “You got it,” yelled the truck driver. “Hey! Look! It’s Scar’s house,” said Chris. “Are you still scared of that house, Eric?” asked Drake. “No... Yes!” said Eric. “Look Eric I will prove to you that it is safe,” said Chris. “Well I guess we’ll have to find a new friend,” said Eric. “Grow up Eric,” said Drake. As Chris walked to Scars’ house he saw how creepy the house was. Branches snapped. Spiders hung from the walls. Chris walked in like it was nothing. He walked up the steps that squeaked very loudly. He knocked firmly at the door. BAM BAM! “Is there anyone here?” yelled Chris. The door slowly opened out of nowhere. Chris looked into the dark house and saw nothing. “See guys there’s nothing

to worry abooooouuuuut,” said Chris tripping into the house. He yelled, “Drake! Eric!” “We have to save him,” said Drake. “Chris where are you?” “I’m down here,” said Chris from underneath the floor. “Don’t worry we’ll get you buddy,” said Eric. But then, kahhh bam! The boys fell through the floor. “Where are we?” asked Eric. “I think we’re in the basement,” said Drake. “Look it’s the Scar’s ghost. Run!” yelled Eric. The ghost was that of the thirteen-year-old boy who had disappeared years before and who lived in the house. Everyone ran around in circles bumping into each other. Then Scar appeared. “I’m gonna make you pay just like everyone else,” said Scar. “I’m going to wet myself,” said Eric. “Eeeew,” everyone said. “Why are you so mean, Mr. Scar. Just because people were mean to you, doesn’t mean you can scare everyone else,” said Drake.

28

“What is wrong with you?” said Chris. When Scar spoke, his face was full of sadness. “When I got this house, I had a wife and baby son named Brad. I gave him a locket with his name and picture of our family in it. He was one month old and had a scar just like me,” said Scar. “When he was four months old, my wife passed away at an early age. Then when my Brad was ten months old, he was stolen right from my hands while I was pushing him down the street in his stroller. I lost my whole family in one year. I didn’t even get to spend Christmas with them. I couldn’t trust anyone again.” “That’s so sad,” said Eric.

“Wait,” said the thirteen-year-old ghost-boy. “Did you say your son had a scar?” “Yes,” said Scar. “I have a scar. And my locket says my name is Brad, so I must be your son.” “I can’t believe it,” said Scar. “I’m sorry I let you get stolen. “I love you, Dad,” said the boy. This changed Scar forever. “You guys are free to go,” he said. “Well guys, this has been the best Halloween ever!” said Drake.

29

Once upon a time, Karisma, my best friend, and I were trick-or-treating without our

parents. The reason Karisma is my best friend is because she is very funny. Karisma

has brown eyes and black hair that hangs to her shoulders. Karisma and I were shaking

because it was chilly outside but it was only six o’clock. There was a whole row of red-

leaved nice trees on the side of the road. The crazy old man’s house where we stopped

looked just like a haunted house. We got candy from a creepy humped-back old man

with gray hair.

“How about you run down the street?” he said, whimpering. “That other young

man has a lot of extra chocolate that he doesn’t want.”

Then we decided to run to the next house just for the chocolate. We heard some-

one calling us but we weren’t listening. We ran all the way down the street that got

darker and darker. We finally figured out that we were lost. We thought, Mommy I’m

scared. But it wasn’t like our moms were there. During that time of darkness, Vanessa,

Friday Night OutShinise Worthen, age 12

30

my other best friend, catapulted out of the bush and scared Karisma. Vanessa is my other

best friend because she always gives her honest opinion. She wears glasses and likes to

scare people.

I wasn’t scared. I was trying to be brave to prove to my mom that I didn’t always

need her by my side all the time. Karisma, Vanessa, and I walked and walked for what

seemed like miles, shouting for our parents, terrified. Suddenly a 6-foot man with wild

pink hair popped out of nowhere and stood right in front of us. He lifted all three of us

into the air. Karisma bit his arm, Vanessa stuck her fingers in his eye, and I kicked his

knee. He put us down but we didn’t know where. It was like he zapped us into a weird

house. I looked around the gray, smudgy house, terrified. I tried to find Karisma and

Vanessa. When I found them, I hugged them

so tightly and we were all shaking. Then

we saw a whole group of Snatchers sitting

around a huge rectangular, red table.

The Snatcher with the wild purple hair

cried out, “You’re trespassing in my house!

Get them!”

The Snatchers started to chase us around

the huge two-story house. We all ran in dif-

ferent directions. Karisma ran toward the

back door, Vanessa ran toward the attic, and

I ran inside the closet. All of a sudden, we

heard a breath of fire as Vanessa opened

the attic door and there stood an enormous

pink dragon, with emerald eyes, and yellow

smoke coming out of his nose. Vanessa ran

31

32

half-way toward Karisma. Karisma ran the other half. Then they ran toward the closet,

got in, and slammed the door.

The dragon roared out purple fire. He burned the whole roof off in one breath of

fire. When the Snatchers saw the dragon, one fell on his back, one ran screaming out the

door, one ran up the stairs, and two of them bumped their heads together.

“Ouch,” one snatcher said to the dragon. He pointed to another Snatcher. “Eat her

first!”

“No,” said the other. “I’m too pretty to die!”

The dragon’s emerald eyes turned bright red. Yellow smoke came rushing out of

his nose. Then he turned his gigantic tail in a huge swoop and sent the two Snatchers fly-

ing out the door all the way to the next house.

I peeked out of the closet because we heard nothing going on anymore.

All of sudden, I saw a baby blue unicorn swooping down yelling, “I’m here to

save the three of you.” A pile of pearl stairs came down in a circular motion on the side of

the unicorn and we stepped up the stairs and sat down on her back. We flew into the sun-

set sky that was purple-pinkish. From that viewpoint, we saw our parents and we started

waving. Once more, the unicorn swooped down and we jumped off its back as it landed.

We looked back to say thank you but it had disappeared before we could say anything.

We went on trick-or-treating thinking about what had just happened. Our parents

thought we were crazy, but it didn’t matter because we believed ourselves. To this day we

talk about that amazing adventure.

33

In a land far, far away... well not that far away actually, just around the mountain...

was a small village called FlowerWood. This was a special village where people got

along most of the time, but that is not why it was special. It was special because the vil-

lage was filled with magical creatures of all sorts.

In the town square, it seemed like a normal day for Taylor. New people called

him Prince Charming. But he did not live in a castle; he didn’t have gold, or any fancy

clothes. He lived in a cottage house with only his mother Sophien, and his older brother

Joseph. Oh, and his loyal pet, El Gato in Boots. He was called Prince Charming because

his father was said to be a king of a vast land so far away that he had never seen it. Sadly,

his father passed away before the paperwork declaring him king was signed. Being a

woman, his mother was not able to take it over, and Taylor was underage, so it went to

another family member.

The Adventure of Prince Charming

Savannah Garcia, age 12

a

34

Taylor was quite a handsome gen-tleman, which was another reason he got the name Charming. He was sixteen-years-old and five-feet six-inches tall. He had cinnamon hair that was ear-length. His skin was the color of butter. He had cherry red lips. But the thing that caught people’s attention was his deep, royal blue eyes. The village did have a castle, though, ruled by King Arthur. “Your highness! Your highness! Come quick!” “What is it squire?” King Arthur

said, annoyed.

“Princess Catalina! She is missing!”

said the squire, panicked.

“What?” the king yelled. They ran

toward her room. They pushed the door

open to see that the princess was not there.

The window was wide open and her room

was a mess. It looked as if she had been

kidnapped. “No! She is gone!” the king

sobbed. A single teardrop fell down his

cheek and fell on the princess’s pink

mirror. Piff! A cloud of magenta sparkles

filled the room.

“What’s going on? Guards,

guards!” yelled the king.

“Don’t be afraid.” said the woman,

who spoke with the voice of an angel. “I

am your fairy godmother, Alexandria. I

heard your daughter Princess Catalina was

kidnapped.”

“Yes, she was. Why? Do you know

where she is?” asked the king excitedly.

“No, but I know who can find her,”

she told him. “Listen closely,” she said.

Then she whispered something in his ear.

That next day in the town square,

everyone was gathered around to hear

what the king had to say. The squire an-

nounced the king’s presence.

35

“Hear ye! Hear ye! I am proud to

introduce the Honorable King Arthur.” The

trumpet blew. Doo-dada-dee!

“Thank you squire. Hello my good

people of FlowerWood. It is me, your good

King Arthur. I have arrived with bad news.

Princess Catalina has been kidnapped.

Only the bravest man will be able to find

her. He must be pure of heart, kind, re-

spectful, and a hard worker. To find out if

you are destined to be a hero, stand in front

of the blue rose. If it glows gold you are

destined for greatness. If it turns brown

you are not meant for this task. If it doesn’t

glow, no matter how hard you try to rescue

the princess you are destined for failure.”

“What’s the reward?” a villager

yelled out.

“I will only let you know that the

person who accomplishes this will be

honored gratefully. A true gentleman

doesn’t care what’s in it for him. He only

cares for helping other people.”

Many people stepped up to the rose,

but had no luck.

“Taylor, you should try,” said his

friend Leo.

“No, I doubt I’d have any luck,”

said Taylor. “Besides I’m just a village

boy. How would I know how to fight and

rescue a fair maiden?”

The wicked warlock Cruzelus

stepped up to the rose. Yet again it turned

brown and dry. Cruzelus was outraged. He

tried to rip the petals off of the rose. Then

he stormed out yelling.

“This thing is rigged I tell you!” He

was pushing everyone out of the way. He

even pushed Taylor. When he did so, the

rose started glowing gold, shining with

bright lights and blinding many. It had

36

glitter raining off from it and it hovered above Taylor’s head. “This can’t be! It’s not

fair!” yelled Cruzelus.

“Hello my good boy. What is your name?” asked King Arthur.

“Taylor.”

“Taylor, you will go on your quest tomorrow at noon. You are allowed to bring a

companion with you. It will take a fortnight. We will have your bags packed and ready,

equipped with food and water for the trip.”

“Fourteen days! I don’t know. That’s a long time,” said Taylor. “Also, I have to

take care of my mother.”

“Don’t worry. I will have my guards and cleaners take care of her while you are

gone!” exclaimed King Arthur. “Now go home and get a good night’s rest.”

“Yes, sir,” said Taylor, and he walked home.

The next day the guards and the king arrived at his cottage.

“Are you ready, lad?” asked King Arthur.

“There is one more thing, your highness,” said Taylor. He walked over to his

mother. “Goodbye mother. See you soon. Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be okay.”

“Honey, I know that. You’re the one that’s worrying. See you soon, sweetie,” his

mother said. Taylor got into the carriage with his faithful friend El Gato in Boots. His

mother waved goodbye as he rode off.

The carriage brought the two boys to a dirt road. The road was lined with rose

bushes of different colors: blue, magenta, yellow, gold, silver, and many others.

“This is your stop,” said the king. “Here is a magical sack. It will provide you with

the things you need.”

“Thank you sir. We won’t let you down,” said Taylor.

“I know. Now go my boy. Fulfill your quest,” said the king.

Taylor and El Gato in Boots walked along the path until they came to a forest.

They didn’t know if they should go through it or around it.

“Go through the forest,” said a high pitched voice. They looked around but

37

couldn’t see where it was coming from. “Up here!” said the voice. They tilted their heads

up and saw a small pixie. “Hey, I’m Roses. Who are you?” she asked.

“Hola, Roses. Me llamo El Gato in Boots. And this is Taylor,” said El Gato in

Boots.

“Well, hola! What are you guys doing? Don’t you know it’s dangerous to be out in

the woods during the evening?” she asked.

“We have been sent on a mission by our noble king, King Arthur. Princess Catalina

has been kidnapped and it’s our job to find her,” said Taylor proudly, but Roses could see

he was nervous.

38

“Well my people have a saying: ‘When you meet a stranger in the woods, on a

quest, I would guess, they could just be the best.’ In other words, I am going to help

you,” Roses said.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” said Taylor, but El Gato stopped him.

“One moment, Roses,” he said. He pulled Taylor aside. “What are you doing?”

asked El Gato.

“This is a dangerous quest. We don’t want her to get hurt,” said Taylor. Just then

Roses fluttered over them.

“I can take care of myself! I don’t need you to protect me,” she said.

“Fine. Let’s go before it gets dark,” said Taylor and all three went into the forest.

As they walked through the forest, they found a nice spot for the night. It was

quiet. There were a few animals next to a clean river. For dinner they had fruit, salad,

and potato stew. Roses and El Gato picked fruit and vegetables, and Taylor cooked the

stew he found in his magic sack. Then they went to bed. They slept on the forest floor

with a pillow and a white wool blanket that Taylor also found in his magic sack. During

the night they had a wonderful sleep.

When morning came they got up, ate their eggs and were off. After a few minutes

of walking, they saw a bright light from up ahead.

“Hey guys. Look!” yelled Roses, excitedly. They ran toward the light. As soon as

they got out of the forest they saw the great big tower. It was almost one hundred feet tall

and made of bricks.

“Wow!” Roses said.

“Let’s go, compadres!” exclaimed El Gato.

“Wait a minute, you guys,” said Taylor. “First we need to find a way to get in. I’m

sure the doors are locked.”

“I can fly over,” said Roses.

“What about us?” said Taylor.

“Oh right. Wait! I have pixie dust in my bag. If I sprinkle it over you, you can fly too.”

39

“Okay,” they both said. Roses sprinkled the mystical powder over them. Suddenly

they began to float.

“Cool!” said Taylor.

“Sí! Gracias!” said El Gato.

“Come on! We don’t have much time,” said Roses. They zoomed over the gate and

into the chamber. They landed on the bedroom floor. There was a beautiful girl staring out

the window.

“Who are you guys? Why are you here?” asked the girl. They saw the locket on

her neck that said Princess Catalina. They got down on one knee.

“Your Highness, I am Taylor and these are my friends Roses and El Gato in Boots.

I have been sent by your father to rescue you. Do you know who captured you?”

“No. I was combing my hair when suddenly these people grabbed and kidnapped

me. Then I was sent to this tower and nobody told me anything,” she said.

“Let’s go, señorita. We don’t have much time,” said El Gato.

“Sí. We must hurry. Come on!” Catalina said. She ran toward the window and

grabbed hold of a black cord. “What are you waiting for?” she asked. They grabbed hold

of the cord and slid down to the concourse and jumped. They ran to the gate.

“That was easy,” said Roses.

“Yeah. Too easy,” said Catalina. Then a huge, red, scaly foot landed on the ground

in front of them.

“Look! Dragon! Dragon!” yelled El Gato in Boots. They quickly attacked. Roses

distracted the dragon as Taylor tangled the dragon in a rope of thorn he had found in his

magic sack. El Gato in Boots used his sword to slice up the dragon’s feet, and Princess

Catalina karate-kicked and hit him.

“Stop! Stop! Owwww!” the dragon cried. “Why are you hurting me?” the dragon

asked.

“You were going to attack us,” said Princess Catalina.

“I just wanted to ask for your help. I mean no harm. I was trapped here by the evil

40

41

godmother, Alexandria. I am Edwin the Dragon. I want you to help me leave here too.”

“Oh, we’re sorry,” said Roses. She fluttered over Edwin and sprinkled some pixie

dust on him. Piff! He was able to fly and so, freed.

“So where are you guys going?” asked Edwin.

“We are going to the town of FlowerWood,” said Taylor.

“Since you have freed me, I will be your faithful friend. Let me fly you there, said

Edwin.

They all climbed onto Edwin’s back and flew home. When they landed everybody

cheered. King Arthur went to hug his daughter. Taylor spoke:

“Attention people of FlowerWood. I have returned with Princess Catalina. I wasn’t

alone though. I couldn’t have done it without my faithful sidekick El Gato in Boots, a

kind-hearted pixie named Roses, and a nice dragon named Edwin. I do have dreadful

news. The person who kidnapped Princess Catalina was fairy godmother Alexandria.”

The King was shocked, but everyone just celebrated to have their princess back.

Within eight hours the fairy godmother Alexandria was arrested and put in jail. Taylor

and Catalina ended up getting married and having a beautiful baby girl. Then Taylor

moved his family into the big castle. But they weren’t the only one’s falling in love. El

Gato in Boots married Roses, and Edwin stayed on to help at the castle.

It seems Taylor was a true prince after all.

42

In the North Pole, Santa was getting ready for Christmas. The wind was blowing

cold snow and frosty air everywhere. The elves were working hard in their pointy shoes

and green hats. Everyone seemed to be happy but one particular elf whose name was

Shorty.

Shorty was 13-years-old, but he still didn’t have his ears. Elves are supposed to get

their ears when they are 11-years-old. Elves are born with normal human ears and as they

grow older, they can earn their elf ears. Elves earn their ears by making toys and deliver-

ing gifts. Shorty, unfortunately, was not as good at making toys and delivering gifts as the

other elves.

“I am determined to get my ears,” Shorty would say every morning on his way to

work. “I just need to figure out how.”

Over the next few weeks he tried his hardest to make toys as good as all of the oth-

er elves, but he just couldn’t do it. His jack-in-the-box wouldn’t pop, his yo-yo wouldn’t

swing, and his water gun wouldn’t shoot! He went to his father and asked for advice.

How the Elf Got His EarsMarcella Gutierrez, age 12

43

“Find your talent, and when you

find your talent embrace it. Use it in any

possible way. It’s not about who can make

toys better, it is about using your talent in a

good and helpful way,” said Shorty’s dad.

Shorty nodded with respect and walked

slowly back home in thought.

The next day he tried working ev-

ery station in which elves could work. He

tried building, delivering, and loading but

none of these were his special talent. Right

when he was thinking about giving up, he

looked over and saw the sparkling red and

green wrapping paper. He reached over

and grabbed a toy train and began to wrap

the gift. A crowd formed around him and

they began to cheer. Before he knew it, he

had wrapped over eighty gifts! Shorty had

finally found his talent!

Shorty went on wrapping gifts for

the rest of the day! The elves cheered and

cheered until they heard a big thump, then

a bump, then finally they heard a deep

voice.

“What is all this ruckus about?” Out

from the shadows came a rather large man,

with a cherry red nose, a long white beard,

all dressed in red, with a black belt and

boots. It was Santa! All of the elves ex-

plained at once that Shorty was wrapping

gifts better than anyone had ever wrapped

gifts before.

“Quiet!” Santa yelled. It got quiet,

so Santa could speak. Santa walked over

44

to Shorty, looked him straight in the eye, and said, “I think that we can all see that Shorty

is an amazing gift wrapper. I have never seen such beautiful work and because of this, I

would like to present him with his ears!”

Sparkles and glitter twirled around Shorty’s ears and finally he got his ears. The

crowd cheered wildly!

Shorty had been determined to get his ears and he had done it.

Remember, if we all work hard and do good, we can all get what we want some-

day, the same way Shorty got his ears!

45

How the Dinosaurs and Unicorns Saved Ashley’s Mom

Vanessa Huerta, age 14

Ashley, a skinny twelve-year-old girl with blue hair, was leaning on a post outside

the mall waiting for her mom to come back from shopping. She was out there for so long

that it was getting dark. They’d gotten to the store at one in the afternoon and now it was

six PM. She had been waiting for a long time.

In a blink of an eye, Ashley saw three T-Rexes and three other creatures. The

lizards and winged white horses were fighting to see who would conquer the world.

Ashley yelled at them in anger.

“This is my world. You can’t come in here and take my world. If you try, you

have to deal with me! Don’t you try to take my Earth!” The reptiles and unicorns just

looked at her funny. They didn’t listen to her. They just kept on arguing. She became so

mad that she grew super powers and she flew up to one of the dinosaurs and punched

him in the face. One of the horned horses started laughing, but the giant green lizard was

crying. He got super mad, so he tried to punch Ashley, but he missed and bopped the

46

laughing mythical creature on the head.

The beautiful creature fell to the floor

and stood back up and kicked the scaly

creature. Then the flying creature and the

scaly monster started fighting, and Ashley

got in the middle of the tussle.

“STOP! What’s going on here?”

Ashley asked.

“We’re fighting!”

“Well, stop! There is no reason to

fight. Just stop and talk it out.”

“Okay,” they all said. “We will.”

Ashley had a mean look in her eye

like you better do what I tell you to do, so

the lizard and the white horse with freckles

did what she told them to do. Ashley

pointed her finger in the dinosaur’s face.

“Now, why do you want to take

over my world?” asked Ashley.

“Because, this is the only place that

I don’t own,” said the T-Rex.

“Me, too!” said the unicorn. “I

own every single planet out there in Pretty

World, and I want more! So, I came here.”

A man appeared in the parking lot.

“Excuse me,” he said. “Does

anyone have a missing mom?”

The man looked like a big gold

blob with reddish greenish hair. Ashley

looked surprised. She had the feeling that

she wanted to run away from the big scary

blob.

“Yes I do,” said Ashley. “She went

into this store and never came out.”

“Well, I’m sorry to tell you but your

mom has been captured and taken to an

underground hide out!” the man said.

“Oh! No!” said Ashley. “Wait!

How do you know?”

47

“Because I took your mom,” the

man said, laughing wickedly.

“Why did you tell me?” asked

Ashley.

“I’m telling you because I got tired

of waiting for you to come and find your

mom. Why didn’t you come into the store

to find your mom?”

“Because she told me to wait here,”

said Ashley. She had an attitude look like

she wanted to kick the blob in the face.

“Well, she’s in my underground lair,

and you don’t know where it is!”

“Yeah. But I’ll find it,” said Ashley.

“No you can’t! I hid her. And you

don’t know where,” said the man nastily.

“It has to be under the store because

I didn’t see a car drive away super fast,”

Ashley said, guessing. “And I know what

store she went to, so she’s probably under

that store. So I do know where she is!”

“Well, how are you going to get

there with me and my minions standing in

the way?” The minions showed up after

the man pressed a button in his pocket

to tell them to come where he was. They

were big and muscular and they were ugly

too and they were smelly with a trashy

scent.

That’s when Ashley turned to the

reptile and unicorns that had been fighting

this whole time, in spite of promising they

would stop, and begged them to help her.

“Can you help me save my mom,

please?” Ashley asked. The reptiles

glanced at each other. The unicorns

glanced at each other. Then they decided.

“Yes! We will help you,” they all

said at once. “Let’s get them!”

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The slimy lizard whacked all of the minions down with its tail, but the minions

jumped back up and came after the giant lizard. If you had been there, all you would have

seen were tails, fists and hooves flying everywhere.

Finally the fight was over and all the minions were on the floor crying for their

mommies. The bad guy tried to run away but the unicorns held on to him and made him

take them to Ashley’s mom. Once they arrived, they rescued Ashley’s mom and left the

bad guy there. They ran outside and hugged each other.

The dinosaurs and unicorns promised never to try to steal the Earth again and

everything was fine, until the Giant Monkeys came. But that’s another story for another

time!

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D. Ellis Phelps is an artist, writer and educator teaching fine arts to adults, and children of all ages since 1974. Her visual art has shown in many Texas galleries, and she has facilitated creative writing experiences and the creation of performance art pieces in schools, libraries, museums, and universities throughout the San Antonio area. Her note card prints of original paintings are represented by book stores and galleries in San An-tonio, Austin, and Wimberley and her art has shown in galleries in Texas, Massachusetts, and New York. She is published in literary journals, anthologies, periodicals, and online including most recently, the Texas Poetry Calendar 2011& 2012, Poets for Living Waters: An International Response to the BP Oil Distaster in the Gulf of Mexico (forthcoming 2013), and the San Antonio Current’s Flash Fiction blog (Feb.11, 2011). Visit Phelps at www.dellisphelps.com.

Carolina G. Flores holds a B.F.A. in Painting from the University of Texas at Austin, and an M.F.A. in Painting from the University of Texas at San Antonio. She has exhibited her work throughout the southwest and her textile work is archived in the Cooper Hewitt Museum, New York, N.Y. Flores has been a Visiting Artist in the San Antonio Indepen-dent School District, the San Felipe del Rio Independent School District, the Southwest School of Art, and Our Lady of the Lake University. She has also been an upper level art teacher at the Winston School, a school for children with learning disabilities. Flores maintains her studio in the Blue Star Contemporary Art Center.

Artist Biographies

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A FOCUS ON READING AND WRITING FOR ALL

Gemini Ink nurtures writers and readers and builds community through literature and the related arts. At Gemini Ink we believe human story in all its diverse and complicated forms and genres—from poetry and fiction to memoir and oral tradition—is essential to developing compassion and richness in both individual and community life. We encourage focused reading, writing, and exchange at every level, from elementary school students to incarcerated youth and from the polished professional writer to the elder who has always wanted to record her family stories.

Writers in Communities (WIC) sends professional writers into diverse community settings to work alongside students of all ages, needs, interests, and abilities in free workshops based in oral

traditions, reading, and creative writing.

Open Classroom, comprising Autograph Series and Breakthrough Thinkers, presents writers of national and international stature—many of them recipients of major prizes such as the

Pulitzer or National Book Award—in free public performances followed by audience Q&A.

University Without Walls (UWW) offers three semesters of fee-based reading groups and workshops and also many free literary events, all led by professional writers, scholars, and

interdisciplinary artists.

Dramatic Readers Theater (DRT) features professional actors interpreting literary works in free performances, often accompanied by original music.

Contributions and donations of time and resources are gratefully accepted.

For more information about Gemini Ink,visit www.geminiink.org or call 210.734.9673

The Fairies’ Travels Leilani Loveless

How the Cow Jumped Over the Moon Alex Hernandez

The Legend of the Rose Erika Mae Ojoy

The Magic Dress Katie Gerhard

The Best Halloween Ever Carlos Nieto

Friday Night Out Shinise Worthen

The Adventure of Prince Charming Savannah Garcia

How the Elf Got His Ears Marcella Gutierrez

How the Dinosaurs and Unicorns Saved Ashley’s Mom Vanessa Huerta

513 S. PresaSan Antonio, Texas 78205877.734.9673geminiink.org