This time Terrance smiled, "I didn't feel scared either, because I cared about you and wanted to talk to you. Maybe we could be friends?"
Margaret nodded and smiled, blinked each of her eyes one at a time and said "Yes".
From then on Terrance wasn't quite so shy and when he was spending time with Margaret, he wasn't shy at all. And Margaret did like to sleep in her shell, and she did like the peace and quiet on some days but she was always happy to wriggle out and crawl over to Terrance's flower bed where he lived under the pile of leaves at the back.
The End
© 2015 Rowan Blair Colver
Illustration courtesy of WPClipart
The Selfish Princess
By Chris Raven
(Inspired from an idea by Emily)
People say, that
In a way, that
I should be quite kind.
But I say, that
There’s no way, that
That is on my mind.
It’s up to you,
To go and do,
The things that make me glad.
So off you go,
And don’t be slow,
Or you’ll get me mad.
I can be mean,
As you have seen,
That’s just how I can be.
Make it snappy!
Make me happy!
Give all your toys to me.
So go and make,
And go and bake,
Me pies and other treats.
And bring me loads,
And loads, and loads,
And loads, and loads of sweets.
Please don’t scold,
That I’m spoilt and bold,
It’s just the way I’ve been.
It’s not my fault,
I’ve just been brought, up
To be a bossy Queen.
© 2015 Chris Raven
Illustration courtesy of OpenClipArt
Enter: Eric
By James Gordon
Once the 5th grade was completed, my parents began to trust me to walk to and fro around certain neighborhood spots (store, arcade, school, park, etc.) without one of the walking with me. This was a big deal because, well, it was a big deal. It meant that my parents believed me to be a “big boy” now. And that made me feel good.
The neighborhood we lived in wasn’t a bad neighborhood, but it had its rough patches. But this was before gangs took their toll, and the only people we had to worry about were the bullies that would appear from time to time. There were a few reasons that I was a prime target for bullies: I wore glasses, was short and slender, and did well in school. The latter no one was ever fond of, bully or otherwise. What prevented me from being bullied throughout the 5th grade was Dad or Ma walked me to and from school every day. Yeah, no one wanted to tangle with someone’s parent.
As I told you before, my parents decided to stop walking with me. During this time, however, I grew two inches and gained a few pounds. Most of my cousins went to the same school, Myra Bradwell Elementary, and if they didn’t, all of us lived around each other within five miles. I say all of this because these factors make it difficult for me to be bullied. This was my thinking.
One July afternoon after Underdog, one of my favorite cartoons, went off, I decided to walk to the Metro Music, a local record store. There was a song by Quincy Jones and Patti Austin, ”Betcha You Wouldn’t Hurt Me” from “The Dude” album that I wanted to buy on a 45. From helping people with groceries at the Jewel’s on 79th and Muskegon, I had made over twenty-five dollars. Grabbing five dollars from my savings jar, I went to the kitchen where my Ma was making brownies.
“Ma.”
“What’s up, Bobo?”
“Ugh. Ma, is okay that I go to Metro Music?”
“What are you going to get there?”
“I want to get that Quincy Jones song I like.”
“Do you have enough money?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Alright, but be careful.”
“Thank you, Ma.”
“You’re welcome, Bobo.”
I grabbed my Chicago Cubs’ baseball hat, which I only had because it was my Grandma’s favorite team and my favorite color of blue. That is why I wore the hat. Anyways, my feet carried me like Eobard Thawne, better known as the Reverse Flash in possession of the Speed Force. Forgive me; these are the results of a vivid imagination of a comic book fan.
The Walgreens’ was buzzing with excitement, and I remembered that it was the middle of the month when the new issues of comics would come out. Also, comic books were only twenty cents, so it was understandable that other kids would be there. Alright, I know I was supposed to go to Metro Music, but you know I’m a comic book lover as well. Besides, I only bought six of them (3 Batman, 2 Spiderman, and an X-Men comic).
Metro Music was on the next block of Manistee, so I didn’t have to travel far. When I got there, it was empty except for the employees of the store. Going to the counter, asking for my 45, paying for it, and exiting from the store took all of five minutes. As soon as I ran out of the store, it felt as though one of those giant semi-trucks that take up the entire highway hit me. The impact reminded me of Speed Racer’s Mach 5 being knocked off the road by the Monster Car. But this was no car, nor was this a cartoon.
Once I picked myself up from the ground, my eyes had to keep rising to grasp what, rather who, was in front of me. He was giant kid or maybe even a man. He towered over me blocking the sun while doing so. His voice thundered like Odin’s or my Dad’s. I knew I was in trouble.
“Man, why don’t you watch where you’re going?!!” He leaned his face near mine. My first guess had to be right; he must have been a high school senior or in college. He was taller than my Dad, who came in at just six feet. Getting to my feet quickly was the only way to ensure my safety.
“Hey, my bad. I didn’t see you. But you were blocking the doorway.” Perhaps this course of action was not smart. I thought this because I found myself back on the ground after this guy pushed me. He was not going to get a chance to do that again.
“Listen man, don’t put your hands on me again.”
“Oh yeah? What are you going to do to stop me?” The distance between us was only the length of our noses. Mind you, he towered over me, both in height and weight. But I could not let him know I was afraid, even though I was terrified. But then, another voice entered.
“Eric!!! Come on, Dude.” This guy now had a name. Eric looked from his friend back to me. And he smiled. It was a smile not like Fat Albert would after hitting a home run but more like Doctor Doom or the Red Skull. Eric drew even closer to me that our noses grazed slightly.
“You’re lucky. And you better be glad that I’m transferring to Powell because I know you go to Bradwell. Yeah, you’re real lucky.” Eric shoved me one more time, then ran off to catch up with his friend.
I ran home as if I were being chased. When I got inside our apartment, I deeply exhaled relief. I didn’t tell my Ma what had happened because there was no need to worry her. And there wasn’t a reason for me to worry either. Eric said that he was transferring school, which meant I wouldn’t see him again except around the neighborhood. Yeah, I would never run into Eric the Bully again. Or would I…
The End
© 2014 James Gordon
Illustration courtesy of courtesy of OpenClipArt
The Foots Cray Meadow Adventure
By Peter John
Flowering weeds of yellow and white are spread across a sea of green.
The soft blades of grass tickle their feet while a river gurgles unseen.
Gnarled old trees with finger like branches reach down with wisps of shade.
A darkness has risen over this land and a force of evil is set to invade.
Venturing forth, the young brave few are all that stand in defence of this
land.
Ready to do battle, with adventure filled hearts and makeshift swords in hand.
A wild charge through dew soft grass they challenge the approaching horde.
An army of darkness filled with all the horrors their imagination can afford.
A fearless onslaught against fiends unseen the brave young few fight well.
Driving the horde back into the shadows with wild swings and the occasional yell.
The swish of wood through the empty air and the sound of children’s laughter.
Shines a light on this tale and just for once they all lived happily ever after.
© 2015 Peter John
A Day in The Penny’s Life
By Alan Hardy
Penny had had a cosy little life for as long as she could remember. She had been kept warm and happy, always sleeping in the corner of the room on smooth, soft satin. She had two older brothers, one who was five and the other ten, who slept in another corner.
***
Then one day it happened. The door of her little room was wrenched open. Glaring daylight poured in, forcing her to shut her eyes. A rough, cold hand pulled her up, dropping her into the scary darkness of a large sack.
She was carried along roughly, the sack hitting against something hard which was in constant motion.
She started to cry and to scream, but no-one could hear her. Perhaps her brothers hadn’t noticed anything and were still fast asleep, lost in their happy dreams. What would they do when they woke up and realized she had been taken?
The children had always known they might be separated one day, ever since their parents had been taken away. But their parents had been old, both fifty, and they had thought they themselves, still being so small, wouldn’t be needed for a long time.
Penny heard a clanking noise, and was suddenly taken out of the sack. She just managed to catch a glimpse of rows and rows of big white bottles before she was flicked into what must have been a prison for children and even grown-ups. She jangled against them as they pushed her roughly away. The dungeon smelt of old leather. Penny started to cry again.
Before she had the chance to speak, she was squeezed hard by a rough hand, and lifted out with some of the other smaller ones. As the light harshly struck her eyes, she could feel the monster’s grip loosening on her, and, with a stab of fear, realized she would soon be falling.
She fell and fell, twisting round and round in the air, and smashed into the ground. Gasping from the pain, she rolled and rolled until she came to rest against something rubbery and hard.
“Is that enough?” asked a voice.
“Still one penny short,” answered a gruff voice.
“Hey! There’s one! I’m in luck,” said the first voice, and Penny felt two fingers lifting her up and handing her over to other fingers, these ones very sticky. She realized she was half-covered in cold, white foam.
“Two ice-creams, please!”
“Here you are!”
Then Penny was tossed into a big, big bag, full of other coins, which you could see through. The ice-cream-man closed the top and placed the bag next to other bags. There were so many of them that Penny couldn’t possibly count them all.
***
After continuing on his rounds for a while, the ice-cream-man took her to a big, big building where she was stacked in a long, long line of other little shivering coins.
“Lots of money, lots of money in the bank,” she heard the ice-cream-man chuckle to himself as he went away, rubbing his sticky hands.
She stayed there a long time, waiting her turn to be picked up and given to a new master.
The row of coins in front of her got smaller and smaller, all of them too scared to speak. She wondered if she would ever find her way back to her nice, cosy home with her two brothers where she had been so happy. She was so, so tired.
“I need a lot of change, plenty of coppers,” said a loud voice.
Penny was grabbed quickly, put in another bag you could see through, and handed over to a soft, warm hand.
“What lovely gloves, Mrs Jones!”
“Oh, thank you very much.”
***
Penny was taken to another building and put into a massive house with lots of rooms for differently-sized coins. Every now and then the house would shoot out into the light, and, just as quickly, slam back into the darkness. There were even special big rooms for the paper money, lying there a bit wrinkled and old, just like her parents had told her grandparents had been before they had been taken away.
Penny’s favourites, though, were the nice shiny golden coins, which she knew were bigger than her, and yet she couldn’t understand why they were also only one! She would soon understand though, because her brothers had told her it would soon be her birthday, and she would be two. And on her birthday after that, she would be five, and then ten, and so on, to fifty, as her parents were, and then, after that, she would be one again. Oh, how difficult it was to learn to count!
“Isn’t that Penny?”
Penny looked across to the room which held the coins that were fifty. It was her mummy and daddy looking at her!
“Yes, it’s me! Penny! But I’m nearly two now!”
“How big she’s grown!”
Then the house was slammed shut into darkness again, and Penny’s parents whispered to her so she wouldn’t get scared.
Penny started to feel a little happier, and a little cosier. But she was still so tired after all her adventures.
“Two packets of washing-powder, please!”
“Certainly!”
“Is a five-pound note OK? I haven’t got any change with me.”
“No problem.”
The house was thrust out into the light again, the suddenness jarring Penny out of her little sleep.
Suddenly she was snatched up by Mrs Jones in one hand, while her other hand picked up, to Penny’s intense joy, her two parents. Mrs Jones placed all three coins into the palm of an outstretched hand. Penny quickly nestled up against her mother’s warmth.
“Have you any news of your two brothers?” her father asked.
But Penny was too excited to answer.
“But isn’t that gran-dad?” asked her mother, looking at the crumpled five-pound note in Mrs Jones’s hand.
They had no time to look more closely, because the man closed his fist and held them so tightly that they could hardly breathe as he walked home. Penny was soon asleep again.
***
“Here you are! You can have your penny back again,” said the man’s voice.
“And let him keep it this time! And give him those two others to make up for it. You know how he likes to keep his coins.”
“All right, all right. I was just a bit short when the milkman came, that’s all.”
“Here you are. Put them away in your drawer. Daddy won’t take them again.”
Penny was placed tenderly and lovingly on soft, warm satin, and then the room was closed into that cosy darkness she knew so well. She couldn’t believe it! She had found her way home! After all those adventures!
“There they are! In the corner!” shouted Penny, as she pointed out her two brothers to her parents.
After a moment of shock, they all cried and cried together in happiness. How sweetly Penny was going to sleep that night.
“So, remember! He’s got five coins there. Two fifties, a ten, a five and a penny. And you’re not to touch them.”
“OK. OK. I understand. But isn’t the other one a two-penny coin? I think Mrs Jones made a mistake. She should have given me a penny, but it looked bigger.”
“Oh, it doesn’t matter. We’ll see in the morning.”
Penny couldn’t believe it. On top of everything, it was her birthday! She was finally two. She was becoming a big girl.
Now, if only she could keep awake, they would have a lovely, lovely party. What a perfect end to the day after all!
And when she slept so soundly that night, she even dreamt that it might be possible
to have her grandparents back at home one day, because it seemed, as you got older and understood more, that everything was possible, as long as you never gave up.
The End
BRITISH MONEY
PAPER MONEY
£5 note
COINS
One pound coin (= 100 pennies)
50 penny coin
20 penny coin
10 penny coin
5 penny coin
2 penny coin
1 penny coin
© 2015 Alan Hardy
Illustration curtesy of ClipArtist
Hi! My name is Kobie… (kitty conversations)
By Margene Wiese-Baier
Hi, my name is Kobie. I am going to let my new mommy write down my story, and tell you how we were brought together. Okay mom, do your thing, but listen closely. Here we go.
I had been at the Suncoast Humane Society in Englewood, Florida, since November of 2010. My owners that I loved very much, they had to let me go. There were tears on both sides when they left me there.
At first, I was so scared and lonely, but slowly I felt the loving arms of the people that worked or volunteered there. But, I still yearned for a family or someone that would love just me. There were so many cats around me that people came and took home with them and I was wondering what was wrong with me.