Our Little Secret

Four year old, Yuli Jesko and her mother were in the car on their way back from the supermarket. They were just pulling into their driveaway. Yuli heard a noise and felt a big bump. Then, Mommy said some words that Yuli knew were not very nice because Mommy always yelled at Daddy when he said them. "What happened, Mommy?" asked Yuli curiously.

"Nothing, sweetheart." declared Mommy distractedly, "Let's go in the house." She unbuckled Yuli from her carseat. Yuli quickly climbed out of her seat and scrambled out of the car as her mother went to the trunk and grabbed the groceries.

"Mommy!" exclaimed Yuli pointing to the car. "The car has a boo boo!" she pointed to a  fresh scratch on the front of the car.

"Shh!" Mommy told her. "Dad doesn't need to know that. It will be our little secret." She put her finger to her lips.

Yuli put her finger to her own lips. "Our little secret." she echoed back.

Mommy gave Yuli a nervous smile and they quickly went in the house.

Mommy began to put the grocerie's away. Yuli went upstairs. She went into her big sister, Yana's room and planted herself on her sister's bed.

"What are you doing here?" asked Yana in a not so friendly voice. "I'm doing my homework, Get out!"  she added  even more angrily when Yuli didn't budge. She just sat there smiling but not saying anything. "What's with you?" inquired Yana. Little kids sure could be weird and annoying.

"I have secret. " announced Yuli proudly as her smile spread even wider.

"What is it?" demanded Yana. She couldn't resist some good gossip. In school, she was the one who always knew everybody's business.

"Shh!" said Yuli. "It's our little secret."

Yana shrugged. "Whatever." she said acting like she didn't care. What kind of gossip could a four year old possibly have anyway? Although deep down, she had to admit she was still curious. She just didn't want to act like she was.

"The car has a boo boo!" Yuli half whispered half shouted.

"A boo boo?" repeated Yana. "Oh, you mean a scratch?" she realized after thinking about it.

Yuli put her finger to her lips. "Shh! It's our little secret." she whispered  even louder than before. Then, she wandered off before her sister could ask her any more about it. Yana just shook her head.

Yuli wondered into her brother, Yardley's room. Yardley was lying on his bed studying, but unlike Yana he was always glad for an interuption. "Hey! What's up little sis?" he called out to Yuli  warmly as she entered the  room.

Yuli grinned from ear to ear. She adored her old brother.  "Shh! It's our little secret." she told him putting her finger to her mouth.

"What's our little secret?" asked Yardley curiously.

"The car has a boo boo." Yuli told him putting her finger to her lips again.

"The car has a boo boo?" repeated Yardley scratching his head, but the phone started ringing and Yuli ran off before he could find out what she was talking about.

Yuli hurried to Mommy's room and picked up the phone. She loved talking on the phone. "Hi Grandma." she cheerfully greeted the caller on the other end. Luckily, it actually was Grandma this time because Yuli was known to pick up the phone and say that to just anyone. "The car has a boo boo." Yuli quickly said into the phone. "Shh! It's our little secret." she added just before Mommy entered the room and took the phone away.

Soon, Daddy came home, and it was time for dinner.. "Daddy! Daddy!" shouted  Yuli excitedly running over to her father when he walked in the door.

"Hi Princess." Daddy replied picking her up and giving her a big kiss. "How was your day?"

Yuli opened her mouth to answer, but she didn't have a chance to say anything before  Mommy started calling her brother and sister. "Yana, Yardley!" Mommy called. "Come down to dinner!"

Just then, the doorbell rang. Daddy looked up in surprise. "Are we expecting anyone?" he asked Mommy.

Mommy looked just as surprised as Daddy was. "Not that I know of." she replied shaking her head. She went to answer the door, and Yuli followed her.

Yuli was surprised to see Grandma standing there when Mommy opened the door. "Grandma!" Yuli shouted excitedly.

Mommy seemed surprised to see Grandma too and not as happy as Yuli.  "What are you doing here?" she asked Grandma curiously.

"Are you alright?" asked Grandma worriedly bursting into the house. "Yuli said the car had a boo boo. What does that mean? Were you in an accident?"

Mommy  looked at Yuli and frowned but before she could even answer Grandma, Yana and Yardley barged loudly down the steps.

"What happened to the car?" Yana demanded to know.

"Yeah." added Yardley. "Yuli said it had a boo boo." He still wasn't quite sure what that meant.

Daddy was the most confused one of all. He stared at Mommy. "Yes, I'd sure like to know what's going on around here." he declared.

"Shh!" said Yuli quickly putting her finger to her lips. "It's our little secret,"






.

Aurora's Angel

It was  a bitter cold stormy day, Aurora Beckwith shivered as she pulled her threadbare sweater more tightly around her. She sat on the curb  by the highway selling pretty bouquets that she had put together out of the weeds in her backyard to the passersby.  Business was slow, given the weather, but she had no choice but to sit there and try to sell anything she could to help support her family.

Once Aurora had been a happy carefree young girl with a mother and father and a younger sister and brother. They lived in a nice house and had plenty to eat. Aurora didn't have to work, and she went to school like other kids her age.

Then, when Aurora's little sister was only a baby, her father disappeared. He just left for work one day, and never came back. Aurora's mother who had never worked before worked as many jobs as she needed to support the family. Aurora still went to school then, but she helped out a lot and took care of her brother and sister when she wasn't in school.

When Aurora's mother got sick, and couldn't work anymore, that was when Aurora had to stop going to school. It was also the reason, she was sitting out here in the cold trying to sell her flowers.

"Would you like to buy some flowers?" she cheerfully asked each passerby.

Some were nice and gave her a polite. "No, thank you." before they walked  quickly away anxious to get out of the cold and rain.

Most just walked ignored her in their haste. Some gave her pitiful looks at they walked by. Sorry that she had to be out there in the cold but not enough to take pity on her and buy some flowers. Others gave her scornful looks as if it were crime for her to be out there doing what she needed to for her family.

Aurora sniffled and coughed a little. She hoped she wasn't getting sick too. Where would they family be than if she couldn't work anymore either?

Aurora's eyelids grew heavy, and she found herself getting really sleepy. She knew she shouldn't sleep out there in the cold, but she couldn't stop herself. As she drifted off, she could see carlights in the distance, and she imagined they were a roaring fire and she was sitting beside the fire warming herself. For a moment, she felt warm and happy. She started drifting into a deeper and deeper sleep.

Just than, a pair of headlights shined right in Aurora's eyes. She jerked awake and opened them but quickly put a hand over her eyes to shade them from the bright light. A beautiful golden haired woman got out of the car. Aurora just starred at her. To Aurora, she looked like an angel.

"What are you doing out here in the cold little girl?" the woman asked in an accusatory tone. Aurora started to stutter out an answer but before she could get a word out. The lady cried out. "It couldn't be!" She grabbed Aurora and looked her all over and then began to cry.

Aurora was scared. She began to back away.

"Please don't go." The woman begged. Aurora froze. "I'm Amelia Beckwith." the woman continued "and I think that I am your grandmother." She took out a picture and held it out to Aurora. Aurora took it cautiously, she still wasn't sure this woman wasn't completely crazy and mistaking her for some dead grandchild or something. She looked at the picture in her hand and sure enough it was her father along with the golden haired woman who was a lot younger than and a man.  Aurora figured the woman was probably telling the truth.

As Aurora handed the photo back, she was suddenly filled with anger. "If you're my grandmother, why haven't  I ever met you before?" she demanded to know.

Her grandmother 's face was filled with sorrow. "I'm ashamed to say that we disowned our son when he married your mother. We didn't think she was good enough for our son." she admitted.

"He wasn't good enough for her." Aurora cried out defensively. "He left us when my little sister was a baby. My mom's been taking care of us all by herself ever since until she got sick, now I have to help!"

"You have ta sister?" said her grandmother.

Aurora stared at her. 'That's what she took out of all that I said' Aurora thought, 'That wasn't really the point.' Out loud, she just said. "Yes and a brother too."

Aurora's grandmother sighed. She felt sad for all the time she'd lost with the grandchildren she'd never met. For a moment, she seemed lost in thought, but then she spoke again. "You're right." she told Aurora. "You're father was too good for your mother. He was too good for all of you, but I would like to make it up to you. " It was one thing for a man to leave his parents that was natural. It was another for him to leave his children. That was unforgiveable.

Aurora shivered. Her grandmother looked over her thin and worn out clothes. "My poor child. You must be freezing." she said. "Come and get in my car and get out of the rain, and let me take you home." she insisted.

"But I haven't finished selling my flowers." Aurora protested holding up the rest of  her remainig bouquets. They were all waterlogged and wilted, and she had to admit that no one was going to buy them so she finally she let her grandmother persuade her to get in the car.

The minute she stepped into the car, she was instantly filled with warmth. She sighed and sank into the backseat and for the first time she actually felt a sense of relieve and that maybe life was actually going to get better, and that her grandmother would help them. Her grandmother really was an angel. She was Aurora's angel.

I Want A Goldfish

Uli Wheeler wanted a pet, but she didn't know what pet to get. She asked her Mom to take her to the library, and she took out a big book full of pictures of different pets. As soon as she got home, she sat down at the table and opened the book.

The first section of the book was about goldfish. The goldfish were so pretty. It would be fun to watch them swimming around their bowl. Goldfish would be easy to take care of. "I want a goldfish!" Uli decided.

The next day in school when Uli told her friends she wanted to get a goldfish they were not impressed. "Goldfish are boring." said one.

"Yeah, all they do is swim and eat." said another.

"I don't want a goldfish." Uli decided.

When she got home that day. she immediately took out the big book of pets and started to go through it again. The next section was about cats and kittens. They looked so soft and cute and cuddly. "I want a cat." decided Uli.

When she went to school and told her friends she wanted a cat, they still were not impressed.

"My sister's cat is always scratching me." said one.

"Their litter boxes smell, and you have to change them a lot." complained another holding her nose.

"I don't want a cat." Uli decided.

As soon as she could, she went back to the big book of pets. Next, there were dogs. There were dogs happily wagging their tails and dogs doing tricks. Having a dog looked like fun. "I want a dog." Uli decided.

The kids in school still were not impressed. "You have to walk a dog even if it's cold or hot or rainy or snowy." said one.

"Our dog is always bothering us when we are eating and trying to still our food." another kid told her.

"I don't want a dog." Uli decided.

When she went back to the big book of pets, she saw rabbits. They were nice and soft and quiet. "I want a rabbit." Uli decided.

The kids at school said "Rabbits leave droppings all over your house." and they also told her that sometimes rabbits bite.

Uli did not want a rabbit.

Next in the big book of pets, there were guinea pigs, and hamsters and gerbils. They were all cute and little and stayed in cages. Uli was sure she wanted a guinea pig or a hamster or a gerbil.

The kids at school told her that guinea pigs and hamsters and gerbils might bite and their cages had to be changed a lot or they got really smelly.

Uli did not want a guinea pig or a hamster or a gerbil.

There were birds but birds were noisy and messy. There were horses but horses were hard to take care  of and expensive. There were turtles but turtles might have salmonella.

Uli was sad. She did not know what pet to get. "Don't worry about your what your friends say." her mother told her. "Just get the kind of pet you want."

Uli thought about it for a long time.  "I want a goldfish." decided Uli. A goldfish would be easy to take care of. It would not have to be walked, and it would not have to have it's cage changed.

"You're sure, that's what you want?" asked her mother.

"Yes." replied Uli decisively. "A goldfish will be a great starter pet."

"Starter pet?" said her mother in surprise.

"Yes. After I have a goldfish, I will get a cat, and then I will get a dog ...

Pease Porridge, Not!

Zora Eaton had the most fabulous family. Her father was a sports coach and he taught her how to play all kinds of fun games like football and baseball and tennis, and he never once told her that any sport was something that girls shouldn't play. Her mom was a cooking whiz who liked to experiment with different foods. She went through phases in which her cooking was inspired by different subjects. cooking. There was her Disney phase when they'd had spaghetti and meatballs like in Lady and the Tramp, beignets like in The Princess and the Frog as well baked apples inspired by Snow White (Zora's little sister refused to eat those because she thought they were poison), and cupcakes shaped like Mickey Mouse ears. When she was in her Harry Potter phase, they ate yorkshire pudding, chocolate frogs and cauldron cake.

Zora's friends always loved coming over to see what her mother would be cooking up next although they would often turn their noses up at the thought of  actually eating whatever it was. Zora's little sister Zuzu, was the same way.  Zuzu was short for Suzanna, but nobody ever called her that. It was the name Zora had called her when Zuzu was born and she couldn't pronounce the name Suzanna, and the nickname had stuck. ZhuZhu would have been happy having macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, and pizza for dinner every night.

At the present time, Zora's mother was firmly entrenched in her nursery rhyme phase. They had already had hot cross buns, curds and whey (cottage cheese), and pumpkin pie. Zora was really excited to see what her mother was going to come up with next. She was not really that particular about food, and she enjoyed most of what her mother made although some of it more than others, of course.

"Hi mom!" she called out to her mother cheerfully after coming in from school and depositing her books on the floor near the door.  She could smell something coming from the kitchen, but she couldn't quite make out what it was. She hurried into the kitchen and leaned over the pot where her mother stood stirring. "What is that?" she exclaimed in horror starring at the pukish green looking mixture.

"Pease Porridge." her mother told her as she continued stirring.

"Pease porridge?" repeated Zora but saying the name didn't make it seem any less horrible. She couldn't get that terrible picture of the greenish mixture out of her mind. Although she had been starving when she walked in the door, she suddenly lost her appetite and was glad dinner was several hours away. She didn't know how she was going to make it through the meal.

When it was finally dinnertime, Zora miserably trudged into the dining room at  a snail's pace. "What's the matter?" asked her mother. "You look as if you are being led to your death." Zora didn't say anything. She just silently slid into her chair.

Her mother carefully spooned some of the gross mixture into bowls and passed them out. As her mother and father quickly began eating, Zora just stared at her food. Zuzu didn't eat either. She just moved the spoon around in her bowl.

"Eat it while it's hot." their mother instructed. "It tastes good." she assured them, but Zora somehow didn't think so.

"Too hot, too hot!" declared ZhuZhu shaking her head and banging her spoon on the table, but as her food cooled down she began eating.

"You like it cold?" asked their mother in surprise.

Frankly, Zora was suprised that she liked it at all, but ZhuZhu nodded happily and quickly lapped up the rest of her food. Zora still couldn't quite get herself to eat. "I'm not hungry." she declared although she was actually  quite famished. "I am going to go upstairs and lie down." she announced quickly pushing her chair away from the table and jumping out her seat.

"Are you going to be alright?" her mother asked with  great concern. She started to get up to go over to feel Zora's forehead.

Zora nodded. "I'm sure I'll be fine after I lie down for a little bit." She hurried out of the room before her mother could come over to her.

"It's too bad you didn't get to try any of the pease porridge." her mother symphathetically called after her. "But don't worry, There's a lot more." she added cheerfully.

Zora's sighed and wretchedly shook her head as she headed up the stairs. Darn! She forget that her mother would go on binges where she would make massive amounts of food. Sometimes, they would eat the same meal for a week. Why did now have to be one of those times Zora wondered miserably.

For over a week, they ate pease porridge for dinner every night. Zora feigned illness or pretended to eat every night. Later, she would be starving, and she would sneak a sandwich or something when her mother wasn't looking.

Zora's mother was worried about her. "Maybe, I should take you to the doctor." she fretted at dinner one evening. "You're hardly eating and your getting so skinny, and you seem to be not feeling well quite a lot. Maybe you're coming down with something."

"I'll be fine," Zora assured her quickly changing the subject and pretending to eat her food.

The next day, Zora was starving. It already been 8 days of pease pudding. She was hoping the 9th day would be the charm, and her mother would be ready to move on to something else. She looked in the refrigerator but there wasn't any bread left. She looked in the freezer but there wasn't any there either, In fact, there was hardly any food at all. She suddenly remembered that her mother had told her that she was going food shopping today so that's why she and ZhuZhu weren't there when Zora got home from school

Zora smiled happily, Surely, this meant it would be the end of her mother's pease porridge phase. She went in the other room to watch TV and wait for her mother to get home. After a little bit, her stomach started rumbling and she realized she was too hungry to wait. She went back in the kitchen and rummaged through the refrigerator and freezer again. All she could find was the last little bit of the pease porridge. She sighed unhappily and started to put it away, but then her stomach started rumbling loudly again, and she was starting to get a hunger headache, and she knew she couldn't wait any longer. She had to eat something now.

She  walked over to the cupboard and got out a pot. She carefully poured the awful looking pease porridge mixture into the pot and heated it up. When she felt like it was hot enough, she scooped up a tiny bit on  a spoon, blew on it to make sure it wasn't too hot, and very very slowly lifted it to her mouth and tasted. "That's not bad." she declared completely surprised to find out after all this time that she actually liked it. She sat down and quickly ate the whole bowl.

Aftewards, Zora went back to the refrigerator and freezer to see if she could find anymore, but there was none left. "Oh rats!" she exclaimed in disappointment. She couldn't wait for her mother to come home so she could ask her when they were going to have pease porridge again.

Why is it Moving?

Amalia Clifford was overjoyed to look out her window one freezing Friday and see the yard piled with snow. "Snow day!" she exclaimed excitedly thinking gleefully of the science test she would not be taking that day.  She quickly picked up the phone to dial her best friend, Naomi Hurley to make plans to go out and play in the snow. No sooner had she picked up the phone and dialed, when her annoying little brother, Quinton barged into the room.

"Have you seen the snow?" he blurted out enthusiastically pointing toward the window. "No school today! No school today! No School today." he happily sing-songed dancing around on his sister's floor.

"Yeah, I saw the snow."  Amalia replied impatiently. "Now, shh! I'm on the phone. She quickly ushered him out of her room and went back to the phone to make plans with Naomi.

As soon as Amalia got off the phone, she went to her closet and pulled out her new purple snowsuit and put it on. Then, she found her shiny black all weather boots lying under her bed and put them on too. She headed downstairs to go to meet Naomi at the park.  There was a big hill there.

When she got downstairs, she had just put her hand out to open the front door, when her mother suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Amalia! Where are you going in this weather?" inquired her mother as if it weren't completely obvious where Amalia was going all bundled up in her snow gear.

"I'm meeting Naomi at the hill." Amalia informed her. "We're going sledding."

"Why don't you take your brother with you?" suggested her mother. "I'm sure he'd enjoy that."

Amalia shook her head quickly.  She did not want to be saddled with babysitting for her little brother. That would not be fun. He was always dragging along and picking things up off the ground and stuff. "Oh he wouldn't want to hang out with a couple of girls." Amalia assured her mother reaching for the doorknob again.

"Why don't you ask him if he wants to go?" inquired her mother.

"Do I have to?" groaned Amalia unhappily.

"Yes!" demanded her mother.

Amalia deflatedly headed back upstairs to ask Quinton if he wanted to accompany her to the hill.  Of course, he did want to come which she knew he would. Then, she had to wait an interminable amount of time for him to find and put on his snow gear.

By the time, they finally headed out and were able to meet up with Naomi, the hill was super crowded. There was barely room to stand let alone to find as spot to sled down the hill. "Where've you been?" Naomi demanded to know. "I've been waiting for an hour. It wasn't nearly this crowded when I got here."

"My mother made take him." replied Amalia dragging Quinton out from behind her where he had stopped to stomp on a particularly crunchy patch of snow.

"Oh." said Naomi. She knew how Amalia's mother could be about making her drag her little brother around sometimes, and she was very glad not to have a younger sibling of her own. "It's too crowded here now." she lamented. "I don't really want to go sledding anymore. I already took the sled home." Naomi lived not far from the park.

"Let's build a snowman!" shouted Quinton excitedly.

Amalia was about to tell him to shut up, but Naomi cut in. "That's a good idea. Let's go back to your house and build a snowman. It's a lot less crowded there." She gestured toward Quinton indicating that she was hoping they would be able to get rid of him too when they got back to Amalia's.

"Okay," Amalia said nodding in agreement immediately catching Naomi's drift.

No sooner had they set out for Amalia and Quinton's house, when Quinton turned around to catch one last glimpse of the sledders streaking down the hill. "Amalia," he quavered worriedly. "Why is it moving?"

"Why is what moving?" asked Amalia impatiently trying to drag him along. Quinton was always dawdling which is why she hated having to take him with her.

"Why is the snow moving?"

Amalia turned around and stared at her brother as if he'd lost his mind. "Don't you know how snow works?" she exclaimed in exasperation. "When people walk in it and sled in it, it moves."

Naomi chuckled.

"No, I don't mean that snow." replied Quinton. "I mean the snow behind me."

Amalia quickly looked behind her brother. There was nobody behind him and nothing was moving. She shook her head at him and sighed. "Come on." she said dragging him along.

After a few feet, Quinton turned around again. "It's moving again." he announced fearfully.

Amalia whipped around and was about to start yelling at her brother, when Naomi called out equally as fearfully. "It is moving!" She pointed to the pile of snow that seemed to be slowly moving toward them.

"Why is moving?" asked Quinton again.

"Who cares why it's moving! Let's get out of here!" shouted Amalia dragged him along as Naomi hurried after them. She felt as though she'd suddenly woken up in the middle of some weird horror movie.

Even as his sister pulled him along toward home, Quinton's curiosity got the best of him, and he kept turning around to see what was happening behind them. "It's following us!" he declared.

Amalia froze in fear and Naomi screamed. Suddenly, they heard a sharp bark from behind them. They turned around and snow went flying all around uncovering a  shivering little white puppy. All three children instantly knelt down beside it oohing and aahing over the poor little thing.

"Oh you poor thing." gushed Naomi."I guess you were the one who was following us."

"We should take him home and get him warmed up." declared Amalia. They were almost home now anyway, and they could figure out whom he belonged to later once he was warm and dry. She picked up the shivering little pup in her arms, and they began walking again.

"I told you it was moving." declared Quinton.

The Less Than Wonderful Life of Jessie Franklin

Jessie Franklin was lying out on the grass in the middle of the backyard  reading a book when her older brother, Jaime and his friends burst out of the house. "Get out of here." he demanded. "We're gonna play ball."

"I don't have to." she retorted not budging from her spot.

"Come on! Get out!" repeated Jaime angrily.

Jessie looked up from her book and angrily glared at her brother but didn't say anything. Jaime glared back even more angrily. "You're so annoying." he declared furiously, "I wish you weren't my sister,"

Jessie just stared at him for a moment with her mouth open. She thought that was a really mean thing to say. Finally, she stormed into the house. As soon as she left, Jaime and the boys began playing ball like she'd never been there.

When Jessie went in the house, she found her younger sister, Joya. "Hi, Joya, sweetie!" she overenthusiastically greeted her little sister. "I bet you don't wish I wasn't your sister. She took Joya's favorite toy ball off the floor. "Do you want to play?" she asked eagerly.

"Mine!" exclaimed Joya quickly snatching the ball out of her sister's hands and running way.

"Don't you won't to play?" begged Jessie. She chased after Joya and tried to take the ball back so she could throw it to her.

"Go way." said Joya running away and hiding under the table.

Jessie stopped dead in her tracks and stared at her sister. Apparently, Joya didn't want a sister like her either. She ran off to her room and lay down on her bed apparently nobody wanted a sister like her. She closed her eyes tightly and soon drifted off to sleep.

When she woke up, it was late. It was past dinner time. "Why didn't anyone wake me?" she wondered. She went downstairs the whole family was assembled in the living room watching TV. They were smiling and laughing and seemed to be having a great time without her.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "Why didn't anyone invite me?" Nobody responded. It was as if she wasn't there.

"Can you watch, Joya for me while Dad and I run out to the store?" asked their mother.

"Sure." replied Jaime. He smiled at his little sister and she looked at him adoringly. She picked up her favorite ball and handed it to him.

"Play!" she demanded.

"Okay." he replied. He gently tossed the ball to her and she just barely caught it in her chubby little hands. "Good job, Joya!" he gushed and she beamed.

Jessie frowned. Apparently, nobody needed her. She started running out of the room, but she tripped over one of Joya's toys and went tumbling to the floor. The world went black.

Jessie woke up, and it was light out again. She figured it was the next day, but when she looked at the date on her watch she realized it was still the same day. Maybe, she had only been dreaming but that didn't change the fact that nobody needed her. She wished she'd never been born. She lay down on her bed and tried to go to sleep, but them she heard someone calling her name.

Joya burst into her room closely followed by their mother. Joya handed Jessie a book. "Jessie read." she demanded.

Their mother smiled at Jessie. "She won't take her nap unless you read her a story." she explained.

Now, it was Jessie's turn to smile. "Come on." she said. She scooped up her little sister and put her on the bed next to her. Then, she picked up the book and began reading. Afterwards, Mom picked Joya up to take her to own room for her nap. Joya blew her big sister kisses all the way out the door. Jessie smiled even brighter than before.

Jaime poked his head in the room. "Hey!" he called. "Do you want to play a game of checkers before dinner?" he asked.

"I thought you hated me." said  Jessie in surprise.

"Well, you can be kind of annoying sometimes." Jaime replied only half teasing. "But your kind of an okay sister." he admitted.

Jessie smiled at him. "Your kind of an okay brother too." she told him.

Isadora Goes Ice Skating

Isadora Quartaro was delighted to find out one afternoon that she would be going ice skating. She had never been and she was super excited. She had been rollerblading numerous times, and she was sure there wouldn't be that much of difference.

Inez, Isadora's little sister was equally as excited. She could barely keep her feet on the ground and kept bobbing up and down enthusiastically clapping her hands with glee. After a few minutes, and just around the time Isadora was beginning to get a headache from watching all that bouncing, Inez stopped and grumbled "I wish Saturday wasn't so far away." bemoaning the fact that the appointed date for their skating excursion was still so far. After all, today was only Monday.

"Don't worry." replied Isadora with a slightly evil smile. "You'll be busy in school until then."

Inez frowned. She hated school. "You'll be busy in school until then too." she reminded her sister with smile that matched Isadora's own.

Now, it was Isadora's turn to frown. She wasn't that fond of school either, and she had a lot of tests to take this week.

The week passed slowly but finally it was Saturday. Both girls woke up practically at the crack of dawn because they were so excited to get to the rink. That was quite unusual as neither one of them usually wanted to get out of bed in the morning especially on weekends when they could actually sleep a little later.

They quickly dressed and hurried downstairs to finish their breakfast. Then, they piled in the car with Mom and Dad and headed to the ice rink. At the rink, they hurried out of the car and inside the building.

Once they had rented skates and put them on, they headed for the ice. Isadora felt a little wobbly when she stood up. She quickly grabbed onto a chair and sank back into it.

"Oh Isadora, honey." declared their mother."Those laces are much too loose, and they are not supporting your ankles. You''ll never be able to stand up like that" She quickly tightened Isadora's skates.

Isadora stood up again. That was much better. She headed for the ice to join Inez. Isadora had taken to the ice like a duck to water. She was already gliding out toward the middle of the ice. Isadora figured if Inez was doing that well it couldn't be that hard. After all, Inez hadn't even been rollerblading as often as Isadora.

Isadora slowly began gliding across the ice toward her sister. 'This is easy.' she thought. 'I really like this.' Just then a kid about half her age passed her and Isadora felt like a baby. She decided to try to increase her speed. However, instead of going faster her feet ended up getting tangled up and she fell down onto the ice with a big whack. The ice was quite hard, and it kind of hurt although she was not badly injured. Even more than that, it hurt her pride. She quickly glanced around in embarassment to make sure that no one had seen her fall. Nobody seemed to be paying attention to her. She sighed with relief.

Isadora tried to stand but her legs felt a little wobbly. She reached out and luckily she was just close enough to reach the side of the rink. She pulled herself off the ice, found a chair, and quickly collapsed into it.

Freya's Mom and Dad saw her get off the ice. They worriedly skated over, quickly got off the ice, and hurried over to her "Are you alright?" they asked with great concern.

Isadora nodded. She was a little sore but she was so okay.

Mom and Dad began to head back toward the ice, but Isadora stayed seated.

"Aren't you going to go back out there?" Daddy asked her.

Isadora shook her head vigorously indicating that she was not. That ice was hard. She didn't want to risk falling on it again.

"Didn't you ever hear of that old saying?" asked her mother.

"What old saying?" inquired Isadora.

"The one that says if at first you don't succed, try, try again."

Isadora shook her head again. She was convinced that nothing was  ever going to get her back out on that ice again.

"Suit yourself." said her Dad as he headed back out to the ice. Her mother was a little more reluctant to leave her, but she soon joined her Dad and Inez back out on the ice.  Isadora remained seated in chair off the ice watching for what seemed like hours. It was incredibly boring just watching other people skate.

Finally, she decided she might as well try again. She slowly made her way back to the ice and carefully stepped back out on to it. This time, she started slowly and gradually increased her speed, and she was careful not to go faster than she was comfortable with. She didn't worry about how fast or  slow others were skating, she only worried about herself.  This time, she glided gracefully around the ice and didn't fall once.

"I'm proud of you for trying again." her mother admiringly told her as they came off the ice and got ready to head home.

"I'm proud of myself too." announced Isadora happily.

Sonya and the Spider

Sonya Moffet was lying on her bed reading when she suddenly felt an intense hunger pain. "When's dinner, Mommy?" she shouted to her mother in the other room.

"Not for a while." her mother yelled back. "It's only 3 o'clock way too early to eat dinner."

Sonya moaned as her stomach begin to rumble as though it were urging her to give it food right away. "Can I have a snack?" she called out.

"Yes, you can," her mother replied "but please stop yelling." she added.

Sonya decided to get herself a snack and then take it down into the basement playroom to eat it in while she watched TV. She went downstairs and went into the refrigerator and took out a cup of blueberry yogurt. Then, she grabbed a spoon and a napkin and headed down the basement stairs.

Her brother, Johnny was coming up the stairs as she went down. "Where are you going?" he inquired.

"To the basement." Sonya answered rolling her eyes in disbelief that he would ask such a stupid question.

"Are you going to eat down there?" asked Johnny.

This time Sonya just gave him a look. "No, I am going to try to dig my way to china with a spoon." she said sarcastically waving her spoon in front of his face.

"Oh." replied Johnny with a sinister smile. "I was wondering because you know there are spiders down there."

"Spiders!" exclaimed Sonya in horror. She hated spiders.. She was absolutely petrified of them. It was obvious that Johnny knew that too from the huge grin that had spread all over his face as he told her. "Are you kidding me?" she asked giving him an angry shove.

"No." he replied stepping back and grabbing onto the railing in order to avoid falling down the stairs. "There really are spiders down there." Johnny  insisted before continuing up the stairs. Sonya stood there for  a few minutes indecisively, and then went upstairs too.

When she got upstairs, Mom was talking on the phone. "Sonya, honey." she said "Could you go down in the basement and get me one of those little pads of paper we keep in the closet down there? The one we keep up here is empty." she pointed to the empty notepad holder magneted to the refrigerator.

"No!" exclaimed Sonya rushing out of the room.

Her mother just stared after her.  She couldn't understand what brought that on. Usually,  Sonya loved hanging out in the basement. She loved watch TV, and  reading and snacking  there. She claimed it was peaceful at least when Johnny wasn't around.

For the next few days, Sonya studiously avoided the basement. Finally. her mother cornered her. "What's going on?" she inquired.

"Nothing." Sonya shrugged, but her mother was not going to let it go that easily. She gave Sonya an intense patented mom stare that was like a truth serum.

"Spiders." Sonya admitted finally. "I'm afraid of the spiders."

"What spiders?"

"The ones in the basement." she replied closing her eyes and giving  an involuntary shudder at just the thought of those creepy crawling pests allegedly. "Johnny said they are all over." He hadn't actually said all over, but just knowing that any were there was enough for Sonya.

"Oh, honey." her mother intoned. "There might be spider or two, but I doubt the basement is full of them. Johnny is just trying to scare you."

Sonya knew Johnny would do something like that, but she wasn't sure what to believe. She grimaced partly because she couldn't stop thinking about the spiders and partly at the thought her brother could possibly be so mean.

"Besides," her mother added. "I'm sure the spiders are just as much afraid of you as you are of them if not more."

The very next day, Sonya decided to be brave and take her mother's words to heart. She grabbed her snack and went down to sit in the basement and eat her snack. She hurried down before she could change her mind.

As soon as she got into the basement, she sat down on a low footstool. No sooner had she started eating when a long legged spider crawled up beside her. She was about to get up and run away, but then she remembered what her mother said. "Boo!" she shouted in her bravest loudest voice. The spider quickly went scurrying away. "Now, who's frightened!" Sonya shouted out with pride.

In the Early Morning

It was a peaceful quite night. The house was quiet except for the sounds of snoring. Daddy lay in bed. He had a long hard day at the office and he was dreaming of taking a vacation. In the dream, he was playing golf which was his favorite sport. Only, in the dream he was a lot better than he was in real life.

Mommy lay in bed next to Daddy. He had his arm around her, and her head was on his chest. She had a long hard day too. She had done several loads of laundry and gone to the grocery store. Even in her sleep, she was making lists of what she had to to the next day.

Big brother lay under his comfy blue quilt with one leg untucked. He was dreaming of his favorite thing in the world, baseball. In the dream, he was pitching in an important game, and every once in a while, his arm or leg moved in his sleep as if he really was playing a baseball game.

Big sister had on her softest, frilliest, pinkiest nightgown. Her head lay just so on her soft fluffy pillow not too high up and not too low down. She was dreaming of that pretty blue dresss she saw in the department store window. She was planning to ask if she could get it to wear to her birthday party which was coming up in a few weeks.

The dog lay at the top of the stairs. He was dreaming his doggy dreams of chasing rabbits and squirrels. Every once in a while, he would stretch out a paw and a let out a tiny bark as if he were just about to catch one of them in his sleep.

The cat was lying in her favorite spot in the living room. She was curled up on the highest part of the couch on top of the soft fluffy blanket that the family kept draped there when they were not using it. She was dreaming of  her favorite things catnip and tuna fish.

The neighborhood was peaceful too. Not a car went by down the street. Not a person was stirring outside. Everyone was home asleep in their beds - all of  the daddies and mommies and children. Some of the mommies and daddies had worked hard at an office. Some had worked hard taking care of the house and the children. The children had worked hard at school and/or at play.

Dogs and cats lay sleeping in their favorite spots. Fish swam quietly in their tanks or bowls.

The tiniest bit of sunshine streamed through the little one's window. It shined right into her eyes. She instantly sat up and got out of bed. She went over to the window, and she saw the sun in the sky. It was so beautiful. She smiled and clapped her hands with delight. It was so beautiful that she just wanted to share it with someone.

She hurried into big brother's room. "Brother, brother, the sun's up! The sun's up!" she cried. Big brother turned over and put his head under his pillow. When she tried to shake him awake, he gave her a gentle push toward the door.

She went into sister's room. "Sister, sister, the sun's up!" she shouted. Sister didn't stir so she shouted it again a little louder.

This time sister lifted her sleepy head off the pillow a fraction of an inch. "Just because the sun's up doesn't mean I have to be." she hissed angrily. Then, she collapsed back on her pillow again and was soon sleeping peacefully.

The litte one sighed and went into her parents room. "Mommy, Daddy the sun's up! The sun's up!" she announced with excitement. Daddy opened his eyes and smiled then rolled over and went back to sleep. Mommy didn't want to open her eyes at all, but the little one was persist. "Come see, mommy." begged the little one. Mommy reluctantly dragged herself out of bed and over to the window. She peeked out and saw the most beautiful sunrise she had ever seen. She smiled at the little one and the little one beamed with happiness.

Five Little Duckworths

Mrs. Duckworth had five year children. Della was the oldest, followed by Dewey, Drina, Donny and baby, Dottie. The Duckworth children loved to play outside. Their favorite thing to do was go to the park. It was not their mother's favorite thing to do, however. While she loved for her children to get outside and get exercise, it was hard to keep track of five very active children in a such a wide open space.

Still,  the children loved go to the park so they begged her and begged her. "Please can we go to the park?" begged Dewey.

"We'll be good." promised Della.

"Please, please." added little Dottie tugging on her mother's skirt.

Drina and Donny just nodded in agreement.

Finally, Mrs. Duckworth relented. "Okay." she told them. "We can go to the park but just for an hour or two and you have to stay close. No wandering off,  and stay away from the big hill!" she warned.

"We  will. We promise." they assured her solemnly.

As soon as they got to the park, the children squealed with delight and ran off in five different directions. Mrs. Duckworth sighed. For her, it was going to be a long and exhausting afternoon trying to keep an eye on five children at once.

The children played happily for an hour or two. Then, Mrs. Duckworth called "Della! Dewey! Drina! Donny! Dottie!" Reluctantly, the children trudged over to their mother. Their mother's head bobbed silently up and down acknowledging each child  as they reached her side. Della. Dewey. Drina. Donny. Little Dottie was nowhere to be found. "Where's Dottie?" she asked worriedly.

They other children shrugged.

"Didn't you watch your little sister?" asked Mrs. Duckworth.

"You didn't tell us that we had to." pointed out Della.

Mrs. Duckworth just shook her head in disappointment. "I shouldn't have to tell you she's your little sister."

Della and Dewey shrugged.

Mrs. Duckworth sat the four children down on a bench and went looking for Dottie. She came back after a while without Dottie. She counted the children on the bench. There were only 3. Della. Dewey. Drina. Donny was nowhere to be found.  "Where's Donny?" she asked. All three of the children were busy playing on their phones, and not one of them looked up. Mrs. Duckworth grabbed all of the phones out of her startled children's grasps and she repeated, "Where is Donny?"

"We don't know." replied Dewey.

"Now can we have our phones back?" asked Drina.

Mrs. Duckworth glared angrily at them. "No, you may not have your phones back." she fumed as she slid their phones in to her big black pocketbook. She decided she better keep the children with her so she made them line up and follow as they set off  looking for their brother and sister.

They had only wandered around the park looking for a little while when Dewey asked. "Can we get a drink of water? I'm really thirsty."

"Me too." added Della.

Mrs. Duckworth turned around to scold them about how they could be thirsty at a time like this when their siblings were missing and  ask why couldn't they be good and quiet like their sister, Drina. However, when she turned around,ex she noticed that the reason Drina was so quiet is that Drina wasn't there. "Where is Drina?" exclaimed Mrs. Duckworth in exasperation.

"How should we know? She was behind us." Dewey reminded his mother.

"Yeah." added Della.

Mrs. Duckworth just shook her head sadly, grabbed each of the two children's hands, and continued walking around the park looking for the others.

"I'm getting tired." complained Della after a few minutes of frantic searching.

Mrs. Duckworth let go of Dewey's hand for a minute and turned to Della. "Your little brother and sisters are missing!" she reminded Della angrily pointing her finger and putting her other hand on her hip.

Della didn't apologize but she did look a little bit sorry. She stared down at her feet.

Mrs. Duckworth felt a little bad for yelling. She was still really worried about the other children, but Della was only a child too. "I"m sorry." she said. "Let's just keep looking, and when we find them we can go home." she promised. She turned around to grab Dewey's hand again, but he was nowhere in sight.

"Della," she said turning back the other way again. "Where is Dewey?" However, now Della was no longer there either. By this time, Mrs. Duckworth was completely panic-stricken. "Della! Dewey! Drina! Donny! Dottie!" she screamed frantically at the top of her lungs. All of the other parents and children in the park stopped and stared and wondered what was going on. Mrs. Duckworth didn't even care. She opened her mouth to scream again, but then suddenly Della, Dewey, Drina, Donny and little Dottie all came running down the hill, the hill that they were not supposed to have climbed at all.

Mrs. Duckworth let out a huge sigh of relief. "Oh my darlings. I love you." she exclaimed happily hugging and kissing Della, Dewey, Drina, Donny and little Dottie in turn. "But, boy are you going to be in trouble when we get home!" she declared.

Sachi's Stickers

Sachi loved stickers. She would collect them. Sachi had 10 stickers  that she brought to school one day. Each of the stickers had a different picture on it, There was one with a Pony, one with little hearts, one with a paw print, one with a rainbow, one with a smiley face, one with a hedgehog, one with a rainbow fish, one with a cat, one with a bunny, and one with a doll. Sage had many more stickers but she didn't bring them to school with her.  Sachi's best friend Layla loved stickers too. Layla didn't have any stickers though. She did not know how Sage had enough money to buy them. "Can I have one of your stickers, Sachi?  Please! You have a lot and I don't have any. " begged Layla.

"No way. Buy your own."Sachi rudely replied

At lunch Layla was still mad at Sachi, but she sat next to Sage  anyway. They talked about all kinds of things like dresses and pets and, of course, stickers. "Can't I please have just one sticker?" begged  Layla again. Sachi shook her head. "Why not?" asked Layla.

"Because, I don't have to." declared Sachi meanly.

"Well,  I don't have to be your friend." announced Layla and she stormed off in a cloud of anger.

The next day, when Layla came into school all the girls were gathered around Sachi's desk. Layla tried to act like she didn't care, but she couldn't help peeking over as she walked by. Sachi had a bunch of stickers lined up on her desk and the other girls were admiring them.

"That bunny sticker is so cute!" gushed one girl.

"I love the rainbow one!" declare another.

"Oh brother." mumbled Layla jealously.

Sachi looked up and gave her haughty look. Layla glared back. She was beginning to wonder why she had ever been friends with that stuck up Sage in the first place. She was about to say something to Sachi about her stupid stickers when the teacher. Miss Clark came in and told everyone to take their seats. When the teacher told Sachi to put away her stickers. Layla was so happy she felt like jumping and hugging Miss Clark, but of course, she didn't.

The next day, Sachi came into school after, Layla. This time all the girls were gathered around Layla's desk. Sachi craned her neck to try to see what was going on, but before she could see anything, Miss Clark came in, and they all had to take their seats. Sachi looked over at Layla again as she slid into her seat. This time it was Layla's turn to gloat.  She gave Sachi an extremely smug look.

The following day, the girls were gathered around Layla's desk again. "What's going on?"  Sachi asked one of the other girls. "

"We are looking at Layla's bookmarks." the girl informed her.

"Bookmarks?!" spit out Sachi. She couldn't understand why anyone would want to look at bookmarks when they could look at her stickers. "Don't you want to see my stickers?" she inquired. "I have some new ones."

"No, thanks. Maybe later. " replied the other girl as she hurried over to Layla's desk before the teacher came in.

The next day, when the girls were hurrying over to Layla's desk yet again, Sachi asked, "What is so great about bookmarks?"

"There are really cute animal bookmarks." the other girl told her. "And, sometimes, Layla shares them with us." she added.

"You mean she gives you some?"  asked Sachi in surprise.  The girl nodded and rushed over to Layla's desk.  Sage's curosity got the best of her, and she walked over to Layla's desk too. She tried to act casual like she was just walking by and happened to be glancing at Layla's desk as she went by. However, when she saw the bookmarks lined up on Layla's desk, she let out an involuntary "Aah!" because they were really cute.

Layla looked up and smiled. Her smile was a little bit smug and a little bit friendly. "Do you want one?" she asked.

"You're just saying that so if I say yes, you can say I can't have one because I wouldn't let you have one of my stickers."

"No." Layla assured her. "You can have one really." She handed Sachi a bookmark with a picture of three really cute puppies lying on a rug.

Sachi was not sure whether to take it or not. Maybe, it was a trick. "But I thought you'd didn't like me anymore. I thought we weren't friends anymore." said Sage in surprise.

"That's okay. You can take it." Layla assured her. She handed the bookmark to Sachi again, and this time Sachi took it.

"Thanks." responded Sachi sincerely. Then, she stood there for a minute thinking about how she had treated Layla and feeling bad especially since Layla had still been nice to her and given her a bookmark anyway. She went back to her own desk and brought over her stickers. "Do you still want one?" she asked Layla.

"Sure." replied Layla happily.

Sachi handed her a cute kitty sticker.

"Thanks." gushed Layla excitedly taking the sticker and putting it in her desk.

Sachi started to walk back to her own desk.

"Hey!" Layla called over her shoulder. "Do you want to be friends again?

"Sure!" Sachi beamed happily.

Jax and Jilly

It was just a plain old boring day. Jilly Crowther lay stretched out on the couch in her living room staring at the ceiling. Her best friend, Jax Hilyard sat on the floor beside her. Jax and Jilly had been best friends since they were little kids. Ever since the day, he started chasing her on the playground, and she turned around and started chasing him right back, they were inseperable. Even when they got to to that awkward age when boys and girls stop being friends, they remained close.

"What do you want to do?" asked Jax. Jilly shrugged and didn't even bother sitting up. "Wanna play a board game?" suggested Jax.

"No, I'm bored of that." she replied. "Wanna watch TV?" she suggested. Jax nodded okay. Jilly picked up the remote. She turned on the TV and flipped through the channels twice, but they could not find anything to watch so she turned the TV back off again.

"How about a video game?' said Jax

Jilly shook her head no.  "Nah." she said.  "Not in the mood."

Just then, Jilly's Mom came into the room. "Get your shoes off the couch." she reprimanded her daughter. Jilly sat up and slid her feet onto the floor. 

"What are you two doing inside on such a nice day?" inquired Jilly's mother. Then, the phone rang, and she hurried off  to answer it.

Jilly  walked over to to window followed by Jax, and they looked out. It was indeed a beautiful bright and sunny day.  "Do you want to go in the backyard and hang out?" she asked. 

"That would be the same as being in here except outside." he pointed out. "We still wouldn't have anything to do."

"Yeah, you're right." she agreed. "How about a walk?"

"Nah." he replied. "Not really in the mood to go for a walk."

"Let's go for a bike ride!" they both suggested at the same time.

"Jinx!" they said in unison, and then, they burst out laughing. When they  finally got themselves under control, they went to the garage and got Jilly's red ten speed bike. Jilly walked her bike down the street to Jax's house where they picked up his blue ten speed. "Where do you want to go?" he asked as he walked his bike out of the garage and joined Jilly on the driveway. 

"The park." she suggested.

"The park is probably going to be too crowded on a day like today." he reminded her.

"You're probably right." she agreed.

"How about just around the neighborhood?" he suggested alternatively.

"Boring!" she declared.

"Let's go to the hill!" they suggested at the exact time. Gooseberry Hill was one of their favorite places in town. There was a big well, and they loved to climb to the top of the hill and drink water out of the well. Other times, they liked to picnic on the hill or even just lie on their backs and look at the shapes in the clouds. 

"Race ya!" exclaimed Jax quickly scurrying onto his bike and taking off down the driveaway.

"No, fair." pouted Jilly. "You just gave yourself a head start." she hopped onto her own bike and raced after him.

When they got to Gooseberry Hill. They jumped off their bikes and dropped them in a heap at the side of the hill. "I'll race you up the hill!" called Jilly starting up the hill before she even finished talking.

"Hey!" exclaimed Jax taking off after her. "No fair, you got a head start."

"Payback!" she shouted gleefully over her shoulder.

At the top of the hill, they collapsed on the grass out of breath. After a few minutes, they got up and they each drank a little water from the well. Next to the well, there was an empty plastic pail that somebody had left there. Jax picked it up and turned it upside down and put it on his head. "I'm the king of the hill!" he exclaimed.  Jilly wrinkled her nose at him and gave him a shove, and he went tumbling down the hill. She  reached out to grab him, but lost her footing, and she went tumbling after.

At the bottom of the hill, they lay on the grass with the wind knocked out of them for a few seconds. "Are you okay, Jilly?" Jax croaked out finally.

"Yeah." she assured him. "How about you?" she asked.

"I'm fine too." he replied.

"Hey where's your crown, Mr King of the Hill?" teased Jilly as they sat up and started brushing off. 

"It's right here." said Jax putting his hand to the top of his head but it wasn't there. He got up and was about to start looking for it, but as soon as he took a step, they heard a loud cracking sound from under his feet. He took a step back and there was the plastic pail with a huge crack in the middle. 

"Oops!" he said in mock horror.  "I broke it."

They both burst out laughing.

I Hate Elsie Rivers!

On Monday afternoon, Ramona Parrish bounded in from school and threw her backpack onto the floor in a huff. Then, she stormed into the kitchen slammed opened the cupboard, grabbed a bag of chips,  violently ripped opened the bag and sat at the table and began eating them with an angry crunch.

"Ramona!" exclaimed her mother. "What is the matter?"

Ramona frowned deeply. Her eyes were like red angry red coals. She was so intensely mad that her mother could practically see steam coming out her ears. "I hate Elsie Rivers!" she shouted slamming her fist down on the table and scattering chip crumb everywhere.

"Elsie?" replied her mother in surprise. "But, Elsie is your best friend." Elsie and Ramona had been inseparable since they met as babies in Mommy & Me class. They went through preschool, kindergarten and first grade together and now they were in second grade.

Ramona shook her head furiously from side to side and glared even more angrily  at her mother as if that were even possible. "Not anymore, we're not." she said with a snarl. "I absolutely hate her!"

"Hate is a strong word." replied her mother. "Maybe, you are just angry with her."

"I am angry with her, and I hate her!" insisted Ramona slamming her first down on the table again. "She sat with Shayla Styles at lunch, and she didn't even save me a seat." Shayla was a friend of Ramona and Elsie's. After Elsie, she was probably Ramona's closest friend."I had to sit with that smelly kid, Oscar because it was the only seat left." she added wrinkling her noise in disgust at the memory.

"Did you ask them why they didn't save you seat?" inquired Mommy calmly.

Ramona looked at her mother as though that were the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard. She grabbed her empty chip bag off the table, tossed it in the trash and trounced out of the room.

On Tuesday, Ramona burst through the door in even angrier snit then the day before. She threw her backpack clear across the room and almost hit poor, Ollie their orange tabby cat who was coming out of the kitchen. Ollie mewled in terror and ran into the other room and hid under the couch.

"Ramona!" scolded her mother furiously. "We do not throw our things across the room. You could have hurt Ollie!"

"I'm sorry." replied Ramona with true remorse at almost hurting Ollie but otherwise not really sorry at all. She really wouldn't want to hurt Ollie she loved him, but she was just so mad! "I just hate that Elsie Rivers!" she grumbled.

"Did you try talking to her?" asked her mother.

Ramona looked at her mother as if she were crazy. "Do you know what she did today?" she snarled.  "She played  with Shayla Styles at recess, and they kept looking at me!"

"Maybe, they wanted you to play with them." suggested Mommy.

Ramona lifted her eyes and wrinkled her nose at her mother as if now she thought her mother was completely insane. "I can't believe I was ever friends with Elsie Rivers." she declared trouncing off in a huff.

On Wednesday, Ramona burst through the door in a cloud of anger so deep she could barely speak. "I really hate Elsie Rivers!" she shouted in burst of fury as the words finally came pouring out of her. She screamed so loudly that it echoed through the whole house.

"Ramona, stop shouting! The whole neighborhood doesn't need to hear you yelling." reprimanded her mother. "What happened now?" she asked when Ramona had quieted down and collapsed into a seat at the kitchen table.

Ramona just shook her head and glared. She was too angry to even say. She just tromped noisily out of the room muttering under her breath.

On Thursday when Ramona came home, her mother braced for an angry snit, but Ramona was unusually calm. "Hi, Mommy." she greeted her mother warmly with a kiss on the cheek. Can Elsie come over?" she asked hopefully.

"Sure, sweetie" replied her mother. "You and Elise are friends again?" she inquired with relieve that maybe things would be getting back to normal now.

"Of course, we're friends!" exclaimed Ramona defensively as if the past three angry days had never occured. "Elsie is my very best friend in the whole entire world. She is my best friend in the whole entire universe even, but I hate Shayla Styles!"she added angrily.

Mommy sighed. "Here we go again." she thought.

Gracelin Says Goodnight

Gracelin Green hated to go bed. "Just one more story." she would beg or "Can I please have a glass of water?"  One night when Mommy came to tuck Gracelin into bed, Gracelin did not ask for another story or a glass of water or make any of her usual bedtime stalling requests. "I just want to say goodnight,  Okay, Mommy?" she asked sweetly.

"Sure," her mother readily agreed. That was the simplest bedtime request Gracelin had ever made. It was going to be an easy night. "Goodnight, baby." she said, and as she said it she was already starting to think about the things she needed to do after she put Gracelin to bed.

"Oh no, Mommy. I'm not ready to say goodnight to you yet." said Gracelin hopping out of bed and heading for the stairs. Mommy followed her down two flights of stairs to the basement which was Gracelin's playroom.

At the bottom of the stairs, Gracelin  reached down and picked up a brown stuffed bear off the floor. "Goodnight Bearie." she said. Then, she said goodnight to each individual toy on the floor. When she finished that she took a gray striped fluffy cat out of her toy bin. "Goodnight, Layla." she said. Then, she proceeded to say goodnight to each of the rest of her stuffed animals in the bin - all 50 of them!

"Come on, now it's time for bed." declared Mommy as Gracelin returned the last stuffed animal to the toy bin.

"But mommy, I'm not done saying goodnight." whined Gracelin. She went over to her art desk. "Goodnight desk. Goodnight pencils..." she began and then said goodnight to each of her art supplies in turn.

As soon as she finished before Mommy could say a word, she hurried over to the shelves. "Goodnight Candyland. Goodnight Chutes and ladders .."

Three shelves of toys and games later, Gracelin finally let Mommy usher her upstairs after first saying goodnight to the rug and all the pictures on the wall first. They didn't get very far though. Gracelin stopped on the main level of the house.

In the den, she said goodnight to the TV and all of the furniture. In the kitchen, she said goodnight to the table, the chairs and all of the food. She even went into the laundry room and said goodnight to all of the detergents and cleaning supplies.

By now, Mommy was exsasperated and exhausted. "Can we go upstairs now?" she asked tiredly. Gracelin nodded and Mommy followed her up the stairs, but Gracelin didn't get into bed right away.
She went into the bathroom and said goodnight to the toothbrushes and the cups and everything in the bathroom. Then, she went Mommy's room and said goodnight to Mommy's bed and all her furniture. Next, she said goodnight to all of Mommy's clothes.

When she had finished saying goodnight to every possible thing in every possible room, she finally returned to her own room where she said goodnight to all of her clothes and everything in her room.

"And goodnight bed." she finally finished. "Okay, mommy. I'm ready to go to bed now." she declared. She was actually beginning to get a little sleepy. Saying so many goodnights was very tiring. She lay down in her bed and closed her eyes and waited for her goodnight kiss from Mommy, but no kiss came. "Mommy?" she said, but Mommy didn't answer. She opened one eye, but still didn't see Mommy. She opened the other eye and sat up and looked all around. There was Mommy fast asleep at the foot of Gracelin's bed. "Goodnight, Mommy." whispered Gracelin as she lay down in bed and went to sleep.

Taya the TV Junkie

Taya Napolitano loved to watch TV. She would sit in front of the TV for hours binge watching her favorite shows. As soon as she finished one, she would start another. She would sometimes watch shows that she had never seen before,  but often she just watched her favorite shows over and over again. Friends was her favorite. She had watched that alone at least twenty times.

One afternoon when Taya was sprawled out in front of the TV watching How I Met Your Mother for the 5th time, the doorbell rang. "Can you get that, Taya?" her mother asked from the laundry room.

"But, mom," protested Taya. "This is the best part of the episode."  She made no move to get up as the doorbell rang again.

Taya's mother came into the room carrying a laundry basket full of clothes. She shifted it precariously into one arm and opened the door with the other. It was Taya's two best friends Kit and Vicky. "Is Taya here?" they asked.

"Where else would she be?" replied Taya's mother in a voice that was a mix of anger and sarcasm. She readjusted the laundry in her arms and left the room shaking her head at Taya.

Kit and Vicky hurried over to Taya. "Come on," they beckoned. "You're coming with us. Everybody's going to the mall."

Taya glanced up momentarily. "Who's everybody?" she asked.

"Oh. Just all the important people." replied Kit with a huge grin as Vicky nodded her head in agreement.

Taya gave them a doubtful look. "I'm in the middle of watching How I Met Your Mother." she said. "This is the season where Barney and Robin get together."

"You can watch that anytime!" insisted Kit trying to drag Taya off the couch. She gave Vicky a look and Vicky quickly grabbed Taya's other arm and tried to help.

Taya quickly wrenched out of their grasp. "Ow!" she exclaimed. "You're hurting me."

"We're sorry, but you've just gotta come with us." Kit said.

"Yead." agreed Vicky.

"Not now, okay?" replied Taya. "Maybe, later."

"Yeah right." replied Kit in a huff storming out of the house. Vicky followed after her.

Taya settled back down onto the couch. It wasn't as good as before though. She just could not get comfortable, and she found herself constantly wondering what Kit and Vicky were doing at the a mall. She pushed those thoughts out of her mind and tried to concentrate on her show.

Later, she called Kit and Vicky and apologized and invited them over to watch Gossip Girl which they all loved. "I'm sorry." she said. "I'll come next time." she promised. They had heard that before so they didn't really believe it, but Taya was their friend and they loved her so they came.

As soon as they arrived, Taya made a big bowl of popcorn, and they all settled on the couch to watch. Taya was just about to hit the remote and turn on the TV when Vicky turned to Kit. "Can you believe what happened with Chris and Leann at the mall today?" she said in disbelief.

"Yeah," replied Kit "and right in front of Jeff."

"Wait a minute." replied Taya. "I thought Jeff and Leann were dating."

"Not anymore." replied Kit. "Not after what happened at the mall today." She didn't elaborate, however, nor did Vicky.

Taya felt kind of hurt and left out. She just bit her tongue started to turn on the TV again. This time, Kit turned to Vicky. "What about that fight and those two guys getting throw out of the mall?"

"That was pretty crazy." agreed Vicky. "If it got any crazier they probably would have shutdown the whole mall like they did that other time."

Taya's eyes went wide. "They shut down the whole mall?" she exclaimed in shock. "When did that happen?"

"You remember it was that time after the football game when ... "  Kit started to explain.

"She wasn't there." cut in Vicky.

"Oh, yeah." replied Kit. "Never mind. Let's just watch."

Suddenly, Taya was not in the mood to watch. She really wished she knew what Kit and Vicky were talking about it. She realized she if would have been there she would have seen it for herself. She had never really thought about how much she was missing sitting home and watching TV all the time. "You guys wouldn't want to go back to the mall tomorrow, would you?" she asked. "I mean with me?" she added.

"You mean you would actually get off the couch and leave your TV?" said Vicky sarcastically.

Kit gave Vicky a look. "Sure, we would." she said. "But we can still watch for now. " she added. "A little binge watching now and then is okay."

"Especially when you can feast your eyes on the likes of Chace Crawford and Ed Westwick." stated Vicky. Kit and Taya just smiled in agreement as Taya once again reached for the remote and got ready to turn on the TV.

Braeley and the New Year's Baby

It was almost New Year's. Braeley Murrow was in bed. She wanted a cup of water. She tiptoed out of bed and into the bathroom, but there were no cups. She called out for her mother and father, but nobody came so she scurried over to their bedroom door.  She opened her mouth to speak when she heard them talking and stopped to listen. She leaned up to the door and tried to hear what they were saying. She couldn't quite make out the words. All she could hear was something about the new baby.

Braeley froze in her tracks. A new baby?! 'I don't want a new baby.' she thought miserably. 'I want to be the baby.' She ran back to her room and hid her face under her blanket.

The next morning at breakfast. Braeley was very quiet. "What's the matter? "asked Mommy.

"Nothing." replied Braeley. "I was just thinking. Don't you think we have a very nice just family just way it is?" she asked. "You and me and Daddy is just right. We don't need anybody else." 

Mommy smile and patted Braeley's head. "Sure." she replied. Then, she noticed that Braeley was starring at Mommy's stomach. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Oh nothing." replied Braeley looking away. She couldn't imagine how there could be a baby in Mommy's tummy. Mommy looked very skinny in her pretty blue dress. 

"I'm glad. I don't have any brothers or sisters." declared Braeley.

Mommy gave Braeley a puzzled look. What was this all about she wondered. "It might be nice to have a brother or sister someday." she replied. Mommy had grown up an only child, and she thought it was kind of lonely. She had always wanted someone to play with.

Braeley shook her head vigoroulsy. "No!" she stated firmly. "It would not." She could not imagine the thought of sharing her Mommy and Daddy with anyone else."

"It might be nice to have a brother or sister to play with sometimes." said Mommy.

Braeley shook her head. She went into the den to watch TV. As she watched, she noticed how happy all the families in the commericials seemed. The kids all seemed to be having fun together and having a good time. Braeley could have fun by herself, but sometimes it was lonely. Mommy and Daddy were busy a lot. She could have friends over, but they always eventually had to go home. Maybe, it would be nice to have a playmate right in her house. "A new baby!" she thought excitedly finally warming up to the idea.  She felt bad for giving mommy a hard time about the baby. She wanted to do something to make it up to her.

After thinking about it for a while, Braeley came up with a brilliant idea. She would make a nice card to welcome the baby. She ran off to her room excitedly and pulled all her arts supplies out of her drawers. She sprawled out on the floor and spread out all her supplies around her and began working. She worked all the rest of the morning and when Mommy called her for lunch, she yelled down."I'll be there soon!"

A few minutes later, she finally finished. She didn't bother cleaning up. She put the card behind her back and hurried down the stairs.

"What's going on?" asked Mommy noticing Braeley's hands behind her back. 

Braeley smiled proudly. "I have a surprised for you." she announced. "I'm really sorry about before." she said sincerely. "I am really excited about the baby. See, I made this card for the baby." she declared taking the card out from behind her back and shoving into Mommy's hands. 

Mommy really was surprised, but not in the way Braelely  thought. "What baby?" she asked confused.

"The one in your tummy!" declared Braeley matter of factly. She couldn't undertstand why Mommy didn't know what she was talking about. How could you forget a baby in your own tummy?

"Oh, honey." replied Mommy sadly. "There isn't going to be any baby."

"There's not?" asked Braeley in confusion. "But, I heard you and Daddy talking about the new baby."

"You did?" 

"Yes. Last night when you were watching TV."

"Oh." said Mommy thoughtfully as she realized what Braeley was talking about. "We were talking about the New Year's Baby. The New Year's baby represents the new year." she explained as she saw Braeley's confused look.

Braeley still wasn't sure she understood, but she did understand that there was not going to be a baby sister or brother. She suddenly felt really sad and look down at her feet.

"I'm sorry, sweetie." her mother told her. "Maybe, someday you'll have a baby brother or sister, but for now isn't it nice having Mommy and Daddy all to yourself?" 

Braeley thought about it for a minute, and she had to admit that it was. She smiled.