The Storm in a Friendship Part 4

I was in the middle of my essay when my mother walked in.

“Well, someone’s up a bit earlier today!” My mother said.

“Very funny, Mom. It’s ten o’clock.”

“Are you finally working on that essay that Ms. Reynolds assigned you, Rainie?” She asked with a small chuckle.

“Yes!” I retorted. My mother walked over and sat by me. She read over my shoulder.

“Are you going to include what happened after–?”

“I don’t know. Should I?” I asked.

“That’s your decision.” My mother smiled at me and stood up. I tapped the end of my pen against my chin. Then I heard my mother call down the hallway,”Don’t forget to walk Daisy when you’ve finished your essay!”

I looked at my paper, and I scribbled out what had happened to Katie and me over Spring Break last year. It took an hour. Stomach grumbling, I went downstairs in serach of fresh cinnamon rolls in the oven. A tall, granite island sat in the middle of the kitchen, with chairs surrounding the sides. A carton of orange juice was on the counter along with a bowl of fresh fruit. I pulled out a chair and sat down. The silver fork in the bowl of fruit felt cold in my hand. I stuck a strawberry in my mouth. Mom always says that strawberries taste the best in the morning. She claims that they’re more beneficial to our health when we eat them in the morning, but I just laugh when she says that.

The doorbell rang. Daisy ran to the door wildly and barked.

“Mom! Can you get it?”

“I’m busy right now, honey, can you please answer it?”

I got off my chair and headed toward the door. A man was standing there. He looked vaguely familiar but I couldn’t quite place it. I picked Daisy up and she wined.

“Shh, Daisy. You’re going to scare him.” Daisy barked again and I unlocked the door. But before I got a chance to say good morning, the man began talking.

The Storm in a Friendship Part 3

Sorry this took so long, but here is part 3 of The Storm in a Friendship.

My Lightning Bolt Blue sat on my desk, separated from all my other pens and pencils. I picked it up and ran my fingers over the smooth blue surface. I scribbled on the back of my hand. Then I looked at it and smeared it away. Whenever I wrote with this pen, I was reminded of Katie. Not only because she bought it for me the spring of last year, but because of what happened two weeks after I got it. Lightning flashed outside again. The thunder was now distant, but the rain was still heavy. The grass sparkled in the light of the streetlamp. I closed my eyes and fell into a fitful sleep.

Morning arrived and a faint hint of the sun’s rays peeked out from under the thick clouds. I hid under the covers. It was still raining, but only a light sprinkle settled upon the house. There were only three days left of spring break. The sun blinded my eyes and I pulled the covers off my head and turned away from the sun. Climbing out of bed, I picked up my blue pen again and took a notebook from my desk.

Over spring break, Ms. Reynolds had asked us to write an essay about our most memorable friendship, and yet, I hadn’t written a word.

I didn’t mind writing about something that had already happened. The pen didn’t work like that. The first thought that came to me was Katie. I wrote about how we did everything together, how we shared everything together.

I saw Katie and me licking tall ice cream cones, shivering from the freezing mixture of flavors, and laughing at Katie’s chocolate covered nose. And I saw us racing down the street , past the red and yellow trees, our hair wild in the wind.

But then we had a fight. And I never saw Katie again.

And there is part 3 of the story. I’ll probably post part 4 tomorrow, as it’s a snow day, or I’ll just post again later today. (:

Why are polar bears Sweet?

MORE YUMMY!!

I used the rest of the chocolate icing for that! 🙂

I made them from the base of a cupcake!”][/caption]
Because, I MADE THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Guess what they are made of!!

Who had fun at the Chinese New Year’s celebration?

It all started relaxed and friendly.

Watch closely of every move ...

 

It's your turn, buddy!

Let's count the captured pieces.

You better move fast or give it up, buddy, 'cause I want to go find my friends!

Mittens puked!

Can someone let Mittens have a sleepover? 

Mittens practiced till puke!

Practice,practice and practice till you PUKE! MITTENS are back to work

The mittens finally got back to work. They’ve been practicing piano lately. Their piano teacher says “Practice, practice, practice, and practice till you PUKE!” 

Mittens practice piano happily!

 

Vote for me – Happy Rabbit Year!

This is the picture I created! Notice the Rabbit!

Autumn

        Autumn

When is autumn coming,

My dear little cat?

Not a leaf is golden,

And that is that.

The breeze is still warm,

And that is a bummer.

Because all these things,

Only happen in summer.

It’s a disappointment,

And that is why,

We haven’t started baking

Our apple pies!

It

I’ve known Jake Harris for a long time. And I mean the Jake Harris. The one who survived It before It disappeared off to who-knows-where. Trust me, you don’t want to know what It is.

So now, Jake and I are off on a quest to save the world. Again. I know it seems fascinating to you, but it gets really boring after a while. Because I’m one of the best of the ancient Invincible Ones and Jake is, well, Jake, we’re always being chosen to go on missions like these. Even though we’re both only twelve years old, we can do much more than the average adult.

Let me tell you about the Invincible Ones. The name explains it all – we’re invincible in battle. When I say “battle”, you probably think of guns. But, as I said, we’re ancient. Most of the Invincible Ones are skilled swordsmen, and some are archers with deadly accuracy. I’m the only one ever who is both.

Jake glances at me. “Ready, Zack?” he calls.

“Yep,” I reply. This time, a rebellious group called the Hallions has invaded Markaroff, a city to the west. Our job is to defeat them – simple enough. I climb into the specially enlarged helicopter where the pilot is waiting. Jake gets in beside me and we take off.

An hour later, I’m getting sleepy, irritated, and bored. For a trip to save people, this really is very uninteresting. I shift restlessly and glance at the pilot. He reads my expression and assures me that we will arrive in the next few minutes. I sigh and slouch down.

Finally, we’re at Markaroff. Jake and I get off the copter, which stays there in case we have to make a quick getaway. Jake leads the way into a forest nearby. We’ll watch from there in the darkness for the next few hours, and decide what to do then. I crouch down and try to make myself comfortable.

After the city staying still for a long, long time, Markaroff finally awakens from its sleep. I grit my teeth as I see those hated orange-clothed Hallions moving in the streets. I tell Jake, “We’ll make this simple. I’ll try to pick them off one by one. If they see us, we get out of the forest and fight with swords.”

Jake nods his approval and I nock an arrow. Aiming carefully, I draw and release. The arrow shoots through the air and lands right in the chest of a Hallion. I shoot six more arrows that also find their marks. Seven down, eight to go.

A few Hallions have seen us by now. I nod to Jake and we charge out of the forest, drawing our razor-sharp swords. It is a hard battle, but eventually we cut down the last of the Hallions. I pump my fist, ignoring my cuts. “Yes!”

Suddenly, a weird shrieking cry echoes in the air. My body stiffens and I grip my weapons more tightly at the all-too-familiar call. Jake and I exchange frightened looks. There is no mistaking that cry.  It is back.

Assignment for Saturday Jan. 29

Hi! some of you have been “blog-busy”! Keep writing!

For Saturday choose AT LEAST one of the stories you’ve worked on in class, make sure it is as polished as it can be, and be prepared to present it to our wonderful parents. You might practice with a friend or sibling, your parents, in front of a mirror, or even your pet.  I’m not kidding-they are great listeners!

The first part of the workshop we will double check that your stories are ready to go and practice them.  The second half will be the presentations.

Looking forward!!!!!

Susan

Did you know – The State of Kansas turns 150 years old on Jan. 29, 2011

According to an article at http://cjonline.com/life/2011-01-02/kansas_to_celebrate_150_years

On Jan. 29, 1861, Kansas entered the union as the 34th state.

A special exhibits gallery in the Kansas Museum of History (6425 SW 6th St. Topeka, KS), the “150 Things I Love About Kansas” will be on display for 11 months starting Jan. 28.

What do YOU like about Kansas :)?

Deadline for 18th Annual Young Writers Contest is Jan. 28th

Just a reminder!   http://www.jocokids.org/

All writers ages 5 to 12, enter your original stories in the 18th annual Young Writers Contest! Co-sponsored by the Johnson County Library, Reading Reptile and the Kansas City Public Library, the writing contest will culminate with a reception Friday, February 18, 2011 at 7 p.m. in the Truman Forum of the Plaza Branch Library, where contestants and their parents will meet and hear from Kansas City’s finest, nationally-published children’s book authors and illustrators, including Lisa Campbell Ernst, Brad Sneed, Jenny Whitehead, Pete Whitehead, Eric Brace, Dana Regan, Shane Evans and Laura Huliska-Beith.

No entries will be accepted after Friday, January 28th, 2011!

Fablehaven:Fall of the Shadow Beings

This is Fan Fiction just so you know.

The Fairy Queen’s Palace

Kendra sighed, closing Patton’s Journal of Secrets. She had been hoping to find something about bargaining with the Singing Sisters since Seth refused to say anything before he had been turned to stone, of course. Let me explain. Lately, things around Fablehaven have been absolutely hectic. A group of strange Shadow Beings are turning everyone to wood and stone. Agad was present right after Grandpa Sorenson was turned into a beautifully carved oak statue. The Shadow Beings (as Kendra called them because she didn’t know what they were) had snuck behind Agad and transformed him into granite. It seemed like those creatures were going crazy to prevent Kendra and Vanessa from helping the people who had been transformed. They even placed a curse on the Totem Wall! The only sources of information the Shadow Beings had not harmed were the Singing Sisters and the Fairy Queen.

“We need to hatch a plan” Vanessa said “I don’t know how long the house will hold against these mystical Shadow Beings………..Hey! That’s it! We can ask the Fairy Queen for help. Maybe she can send Braken or some Astrids to help.”                                                                                                                                                        Kendra frowned.“I don’t know what Astrids can do against the Shadow Beings but since Braken is a unicorn he can probably help us. Only thing is that the Fairy Queen really needs him for the rebuilding. But I suppose it’s worth a try.” “Then let’s go!” Vanessa cheered.

“Whoa.” was all Vanessa could say once she entered the Fairy Queen’s palace. The floors were made  of white marble and where the wall met the the floor was made entirely of gold. The ceiling and walls were both white. On the ceiling there were many gold chandeliers. But what stunned Kendra the most were the thrones. One throne was made completely of gold and an amazingly handsome man sat on it. He looked at Kendra with a slight twinkle in his eyes.                              “Well, the Fairy King is healing pretty well.” murmured Kendra to Vanessa. “Never heard there was a Fairy King.” Vanessa whispered back as they approached the the Fairy Queen’s throne which was made of silver.                   “Tell you about the Fairy King later.”mouthed Kendra for they had already reached the Fairy Queen.                                                                                                      “What brings you to my realm, Kendra?” asked the Fairy Queen warmly.                 ” A group of Shadow Beings have turned everyone into stone.” explained Kendra “I came here to ask you for help.”                                                                                                “I heard the four most powerful demons that are not dead are also about to break out from their various prisons.” added the Fairy Queen.                                     “So there’s another thing to put on my list of things to do: Save world from four monstrous demons.” moaned Kendra.                                                                                         “But expiring the Shadow Beings would be simple. You have so much light within you that one touch would probably expire them immediately.” said the Fairy Queen.                                                                                                                                               “I’ve tried. All I can do is not be turned to stone.” said Kendra miserably.       “This problem is trickier than I imagined. I could send Braken but that would mean putting him in danger. Astrids can’t do anything and the fairies lack sufficient power. That means if I am going to aid Kendra, her best hope is for Braken to help her.” the Fairy Queen said thoughtfully.                                            Then she turned to Kendra. “It is decided that Braken will accompany you to find Windopolis, the sword of air, wind and earth. It is considered one of the six magical swords. Ethelinda will tell you the location.”                                                      The Fairy Queen raised her voice. “Ethelinda! Braken!”                                        Braken and a beautiful fairy came over. Braken’s eyes fell on Kendra. He smiled and gave a little wave.                                                                                                          “Ethelinda,this is Kendra the girl I made fairykind and Kendra, this is Ethelinda one of my four daughters.”                                                                               “Hello Kendra.” Ethelinda murmured shyly.                                                                          ” Hi Ethelinda. I’m Kendra.” Kendra replied.                                                                            “Ethelinda, can you tell Kendra the location of Windopolis?”asked the Fairy Queen.                                                                                                                                           Ethelinda closed her eyes for a moment then opened them again and said”Windopolis is behind a place called the Hall of Whispers.”

Sorceresses and Monsters

“All right Kendra, Vanessa and Raxtus. We have a pretty good team put together here but even so, we need to be alert at every moment. The Hall of Whispers will very likely be the hardest place we ever encountered. The entities in there will very likely radiate magical fear so I need all of you to drink this potion for me. Tanu made it for the Wymroost trip.” added Braken hastily.                                                                                                                      When everybody finished their potion, they mounted on Raxtus.                      “I would like to have Kendra keep her hand on me since there is such a long journey ahead of us.” muttered Raxtus.                                                                          Kendra obeyed immediately. No sooner that two minutes in air Braken shouted over the wind ” Three griffins Raxtus! The one one the bottom  is trying to cut of a dive. If you drop me right now can you catch me later?”      “So you want to use the strategy Warren used before with the harpies right?” clarified Raxtus.                                                                                                         ” Exactly! Vanessa hand me the sword now.”                                                                Vanessa gave Braken the sword and at that exact moment Raxtus let go of Braken. Braken whistled through the air while Kendra clutched her face so hard that you could see nail marks on her face. Suddenly, she heard a loud screech. Braken had hacked of a wing of one of the griffins and one of the griffins on top was zooming toward them at 75 miles per hour. Raxtus spiraled down and caught up with Braken right before the impact with the ground. Kendra sighed with reileif.                                                                                    “You okay Braken?” questioned Kendra with concern in her voice.                   “Good as new. In fact Raxtus should be setting us down at any moment now to intercept the griffens. He wants us safely out of harm’s way but I’m going to charge at that griffen that I sliced the wing off of. Got the plan? Right. Wait for it Raxtus……..wait…….and now! Drop us!”                                                                                                                                                Raxtus dropped his passengers and swooped to engage in combat with his feathery opponents. The griffins dived and spiraled gracefully pecking Raxtus from behind. They were involved in this dangerous dance until Raxtus, faking to be ever so concentrated on one griffin swiped his tail and one griffin was out of the picture. Unfortunately, the battle one the ground wasn’t going that well. Bracken had knew from his two thousand years of experience that griffins have a hard time turning and when they do turn they turn jerkily like a puppet with half it’s strings cut. But this griffin was a different story, every move Bracken did was perfectly blocked like if this griffin had been prepared for combat. Bracken was tiring and the enemy was showing no signs of weakness. Then Kendra saw why. There was a wizard, a female wizard that was chanting empowering the griffins even more. She was standing on a high rock near a cliff. Kendra clenched her teeth. She was probably going to have to sacrifice herself in order for this to succeed. Lost in thoughts, Kendra jumped as a arrow whistled by her ear missing Kendra by a fraction of an inch. She had forgotten Vanessa was there to help her.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   “Vanessa!” shouted Kendra.                                                                                                     Now it was Vanessa’s turn to jump. She turned and exclaimed”Kendra!” Kendra pointed at the cliff and Vanessa now saw the real problem. She unsheathed her sword and tossed her bow and arrow set to Kendra who caught it and slung it over her shoulder. Vanessa quickly motioned to Bracken and Raxtus who both understood now. Then Vanessa beckoned for Kendra to come with her. The crept along the edge of the cliff always staying hidden. Vanessa whispered “Shoot now!”                                                                                                                                       To late. The sorceress turned her eyes widening and hesitating no more, she began another spell, a different one this time. As she chanted, the sorceress rose into the air encased to a golden sphere shimmering with magic the it popped into and blue glittering ball of power and the sorceress directed it to Vanessa and Kendra, her mouth twisting into a evil smile.                                                                          “Run!” mouthed Vanessa” I’ll take care of this.”                                                                     Instead of running, Kendra snuck behind the sorceress and threw her sword with deadly accuracy. But who knew the sorceress had the Sands of Sanctity? The sorceress laughed without humor.                                                                                                “I am Natacionda! You will never win a direct fight against me!”                                 “You’re right! We will never win a fight against Natacionda! So Raxtus, leave the griffins and lets get out of ………………”                                                                                        Whack! Miss “I’m so magical” Natacionda threw the shimmering ball at Vanessa. Even so, Raxtus carried all the passengers out to sea including Natacionda. But Natacionda was a special case. Raxtus spiraled higher and higher and higher to make her dizzy so she couldn’t work any magic. Then, SPLASH! Raxtus dropped Natacionda while she wailed and cursed at everybody on Raxtus’s ride.

Kendra looked at the Hall of Whispers. There was no opening, anywhere. That’s when she spotted something. A little hole. Kendra called everyone over. Bracken examined the hole while Vanessa stared blankly at the wall.                           Suddenly she shouted” I know! Look at the bricks right here. They all have black on the edge of them and these bricks make a arch…………..”So there must be a round key somewhere to open this doorway.” Kendra completed the sentence for Vanessa .                                                                                                                                             “Exactly!” beamed Vanessa ” Who knew that now we are going key hunting?”

“The key”Kendra remarked”must be some kind of round cylinder. But who has a guess on what it’s made of? We passed a pile of cylinders on the way here………..” Suddenly a inscription appeared-Either pass or die that will be determined on your first key try.                                                                                                                                 “That means we try one key and we will either pass or die”Braken said.                     ” We will be  looking for a key that’s silver like the roof .” Raxtus said from up above them.                                                                                                                                           “Wait Raxtus.”Kendra said” we can’t find the key the normal way as most people have done it. They’ve probably looked in the key pile but that can’t be right because the key wouldn’t let itself be so easy to find. Take me up on that roof and we’ll split up and search.”                                                                                                          Vanessa cleared her throat”Ummm, maybe I should do it in case there are dangers up there.”                                                                                                                                “Don’t fret Vanessa. Relax. Nothing can go wrong with Raxtus up there.” soothed Bracken.                                                                                                                                  Raxtus picked Kendra up and flew up and started to laugh.                                               “I am not your meek little friend Raxtus! I am the guardian of the key! I am able to take shape of the first animal that flies up here.”                                                             ” Raxtus is immobilized! The key is up here too.”shouted Kendra.                                 She bit the duplicate of Raxtus with all her might.                                                                “Oweeee!” screeched the fake Raxtus.                                                                                         He dropped her right above the key. Kendra grabbed the key and threw it to Vanessa. Bracken caught the key and inserted into the key hole. A hole appeared in the roof where Kendra was. Before she fell into the hole though she saw that Raxtus was able to fly away as the monster crumbled to dust. Then as Kendra reached for the crumbling roof, darkness engulfed her.

To be continued………………………….

 

The Obstacle Course Race

The obstacle course race.

Everybody wants 1st place.

The judges yell “Go!”

The first part is low.

Jump over the hurdles,

Some kids are like turtles.

Around the track,

Oops! Got held back!

Crawl through the tunnel,

Shaped like a funnel.

Racing toward the end,

just around the bend.

It’s a tie!

The prize is pie!

Snowfurball – A little bunny that died

Snowfurball was my pet bunny. She had fur as white as snow and had two long pink ears. Her eyes were black with red circles around them. Her soft, fluffy tail was like a white bundle of fur. She was a small thin bunny and her eyes always shone when she saw food. We named our bunny Snowfurball because her fur was as white as snow and she was like a ball of fur. Snowfurball used to live on our porch. Whenever Snowfurball saw us she used to run to the porch door and stand on her hind legs, placing to front paws on the glass door looking at us. We used to take her outside onto the grass and play with her. We gave her grass and flowers. She would nibble them and sniff for more. When Snowfurball ate, she would sit on my lap. My sister and I taught Snowfurball tricks like following us and standing up her hind legs. Snowfurball brought us joy.

How Snowfurball died.

We had brought Snowfurball to travel with us since we didn’t want to leave her alone in our house in China. When we were heading back to our home in China, we put her in a cage. The cage didn’t have enough air and that’s how Snowfurball died. Suffocation. We didn’t know Snowfurball didn’t have enough air until we arrived home. I was taking Snowfurball out of her cage when I noticed something was wrong. Snowfurball was all limp in my arms and when I set her down she couldn’t even stand. She  flopped around like a fish when you unhook it and lay it on the ground. I was scared. Scared of what was going to happen to Snowfurball. Then, quite suddenly, Snowfurball stopped moving. That’s when I realized Snowfurball was gone. Gone forever. I sat there in shocked silence. When I had time to pull things over, I started to cry. You won’t believe how sad I was. The tears ran down my face like a flooding river. Then my mom advised me to write about Snowfurball and that’s what I did. My tears became a part of the original parchment as I wrote about Snowfurball. Even now, I remember the day Snowfurball died quite clearly. She was my first bunny and one of my favorite bunnies.  We all love Snowfurball even though she’s gone from us.

4 Seasons

Summer, summer is so fun!

Grill some hot dogs on a bun!

Keep drinking fresh lemonade,

 You also need trees for the shade.

 

Autumn, autumn, leaves will fall,

Cold is starting but that’s not all.

Go rake your leaves into a pile,

Then jump in with a great big smile!

 

Winter, winter is so white,

Make a fort and have a snowball fight!

Go skiing, or maybe go skating,

Also go sledding, why are you waiting?

 

Spring oh spring, so many things to do,

You can wear shorts and go biking too!

Time for gardening, maybe plant trees,

Then play outside with a gentle breeze

 

 

I wrote these a while ago.

Will the Mittens ever get back to work?

Mittens are having fun again!

My Trip To Hawaii

This is about my time in Hawaii which was awesome! We stayed at my mom’s friend’s house and her husband’s. They were so nice! Their names are Carrie and Don. Carrie is a very smart, fun, kind and creative person. Don is kind, smart, and fun. One thing to prove that he’s smart is that he built his own house! And he built it on a hill near the ocean so you could look down and see a streak of dark blue then above it a more lighter blue with white dots moving around gracefully [ like a bird] then in the dark blue,  slightly bigger white dots racing past [ like boats]. The view was WONDERFUL!!!!!

I also got to play with two sweet black labs. They were brothers and sisters. The boy is Elly and the girl is Precious, and she is precious! They were so cute! I really miss them now! We got to play with and train them. My sister was a little harsh on them but that’s another story. This is how harsh my sister is to the dogs. Precious won’t even go near her! Like I said before the dogs were so cute!!!!!!!

a drawing of me snorkeling...

I also got to learn how to snorkel. Uncle Don [that’s what I call him] taught me how. See, I told you he was nice! The first few times it was hard!!! I kept on getting water in my mouth. It was not pretty! But then I got the hang of it. The fish were beautiful! My most favorite one was the Parrot Fish. It’s so colorful I call it the rainbow fish! I also got to pet a turtle. And it was the nicest turtle I ever met! It didn’t mind at all when I pet it! I loved the fish so much that Uncle Don promised to buy me a water camera the next time I go to Hawaii. I hope he still remembers about that promise!

The best part about my trip was the Luau. A Luau is a kind of like a Hawaiian party. The best part about the Luau is that I learned how to hula dance! You’re not really dancing, actually you’re just telling a story in a fancier way. There was also a performance. One of them taught you how to break open a coconut! I liked all the performances equally so don’t ask me which one I liked best! There was also face painting. Well, actually more of an arm painting! I got a flower and my mom and sister both got a dolphin.

The food was, well……….. not good and not bad. I can’t say I love it though. But some of the food was fantastic! I definitely didn’t like poi. Poi is porridge like food. Its gray mushy color is not attractive but I know there are some people out there whose opinion is completely the opposite!

As you can see this vacation is very important to me. I will never forget my time is Hawaii and definitely not Uncle Don and Carrie.

The Storm in a Friendship Part 2

“Guess what I got for you?” My mother had asked.

“What?” I wasn’t very excited. When my mother had a ‘guess what?’ it was often a pair of socks. But I was surprised when my eyes landed on the puppy in her arms. It was so small, and I had barely noticed it at first. My mouth dropped open.

“No way.” I was stunned. My spirits lifted and my mind was cleared of all worries; a happiness lifting in my chest. I didn’t believe that my surprise was actually something I wanted. I had longed for a puppy ever since my fifth birthday, 7 years ago. I ran up the stairs and stroked the puppy. Its shining eyes peered into mine. I smiled. Everything was great. I had just received my report card, straight A’s in every subject. I had gotten the coolest pen that I had ever seen from my best friend. And now I was the owner of an adorable puppy. I should’ve know that I got the puppy for a reason.

We moved half a year ago. I had received the news right after the puppy.

The Storm in a Friendship Part 1

I wrote this story in 6th grade, but I have decided to share it. It’s titled, The Storm in a Friendship.

It was raining. Again. And I hate rain. Lightning flashed across the dark black sky, followed by a rumble of thunder. I hated rain, which was ironic, because my name happens to be Raine. It was raining last spring when–well; actually, I’d rather not talk about it. Lightning streaked through the sky again, leaving a faint yellow glow in my eyes. My bedroom light flickered and went out, plunging me in darkness. My alarm clock began to flash, displaying only 12 o’clock in red numbers.

I was tired, but I couldn’t fall asleep. I picked up my lucky–well, it used to be–blue pen. I called it “lightning bolt blue”, but I never knew why. Lightning bolts aren’t blue are they? I remember the day when my best friend bought it for me. It was a year ago, at a shop that sold school supplies, and it was raining that day too. I clearly remember it.

A light drizzle of rain fell from the sky as my best friend, Katie, and I admired the large rack of colorful pens behind the building next to the school. We had just been dismissed and were walking along the streets.

“I owe you, Raine,” Katie had said.

“For what?” I asked, brushing my dark brown hair aside.

“For buying me that delicious, double-scoop chocolate fudge sundae the other day,” She laughed.

“Oh, all right.” I watched Katie scan the rack of pens. Our eyes landed on the same on, my Lightning Bolt Blue.

“That blue one please.” Katie said to the man behind the stand.

“Are you sure?” The man looked at us a little skeptically.

“Why wouldn’t I be sure?” Katie looked at the man, “I do want that one.”

“Well, suit yourself.” The man handed us the blue pen from the rack. I took it from him as Katie paid. With the new pen in my hand, Katie and I ran home, our jackets zipped tightly. At the intersection dividing our houses, I said goodbye to Katie. I pulled open the door to my house as quickly as I could to get out of the rain. I stepped inside and slipped off my shoes. They were dry. And so was my hair. And my jacket. That was weird. My mother came downstairs when I walked in. She had a smile on her face.

And there’s Part 1 of The Storm in a Friendship. If you want to read more, please comment! 🙂 Thanks! 🙂