Raphaella

Raphaella Towers and Harrison Lockley were best friends practically from the moment they were born. Where one was found the other was sure to be. They were practically inseparable. That is until the day, they started elementary school

In first grade, they were unmercifully teased for their friendship. "What do you want to be friends with a girl for?" The boys asked Harrison. To them, girls were enemies. They were not friends. There was nothing Harrison could say to make them change their minds about that.

The girls were equally as bad. They made sure Raphaella always stayed on the girls side of the playground and didn't associate with the boys. Of course, Raphaella knew there wasn't  really a boys side or a girls side to the playground but the other kids sure acted like there was.

Raphaella was really sad not to be able to hang around Harrison anymore. She kept secretly looking over to him. When  she was finally able to catch his eye, he didn't smile at her like she expected him to. He didn't look happy to see her nor did he look unhappy to be away from her. That made Raphaella even sadder.

After school. Raphaella quickly ran home. She ran into her room and threw herself down on her bed. Tears flowed down her checks.

Suddenly. she thought she heard a noise. She looked all around her room. She couldn't figure out where the noise was coming from.

"Raphaella!" called a voice outside her window in a loud whisper. Raphaella looked out her first floor window and was startled to see Harrison there.

Raphaella quickly opened the window "What are you doing here?" she asked in surprise.

"Raphaella! Raphaella!" called Harrison from outside the window. "Let down your hand!" Raphaella leaned down and offered Harrison her hand. He grabbed it and climbed up into the window.

"What are you doing here?" Raphaella repeated as Harrison completely pulled himself into the room and tumbled to the floor.

"I don't want to stop being your friend." he told her.

"I don't want to stop being yours either." she replied with a smile.  She suddenly felt much lighter and happier. "Why did you have to climb in my window?" she asked.

"I want to be your friend, but I don't want to be teased either." admitted Harrison. Raphaella nodded. She didn't want to be teased either. "So we have to be secret friends." said Harrison. "Okay?"

"Okay." agreed Raphaella immediately. Secret friends was better than not being friends at all.  Besides, there was something exciting about a secret friendship.

From that day on every day after school, Harrison would come to Raphaella's window. "Raphaella! Raphaella! Let down your hand!" he would call, and she would open the window and give him a hand into her room.

Finally one day, Harrison came to Raphaella's window. "Raphaella! Raphaella! Let down your hand" he called, but she didn't come to the window. So he repeated a little louder "Raphaella! Raphaella! Let down your hand."

Harrison heard footsteps from across the room. His heartbeat quickened in anticipation of seeing his good friend. The window opened. A hand reached out. Harrison reached for it but then fell back in shock when he realized that it wasn't Raphaella's hand. This hand wasn't young and soft like Raphaella's. This hand was older and rougher.

Harrison looked up to see a face he remembered. It was the face of Raphaella's mother. "Why hello, Harrison." she said. "Why don't you just use the door?"

Just Hang On It's Friday

When the alarm clock went off at 7:00 in the morning, Deanna Pauley did not want to get up. She quickly turned it off buried her head  deep under her pillow and tried to pretend it had never happened. Just when she had almost fallen back to sleep again, her mother came in and shook her awake not so gently. "Get up, lazy head!" her mother called. "You'll miss your school bus."

At least it was Friday, Deanna thought as she dragged herself out of bed and quickly thrown on some clothes. If she could just hang on for one more school day, the weekend would be here. Deanna smiled thinking of the fun weekend she and her friends had planned.

"Deanna!" shouted her mother anxiously from downstairs. "Hurry up, you're going to miss your bus."

Deanna didn't even have time to eat anything even though she was starving. She just barely had enough time to grab her backpack and race out the door.

The bus ride to school was especially noisy. It gave Deanna a headache. She was actually happy when they pulled up in front of the big brick school building.

She got off the bus and hurried to her classroom. When she opened her backpack, she realized she had forgotten her homework. She couldn't believe it. She never did things like that. She really was not having a very good day. At least, it was Friday. She just had to hang on for one more day.

It was a lot easier said than done. The morning dragged on. They had the most boring substitute who spoke really slowly and made everything sound incredibly boring. Deanna had trouble focusing  and paying attention. She kept just about drifting off and falling asleep. Her head started drooping lower and lower. 

Just when Deanna's head was about to actually hit the desk, the substitute called on her. "What?" replied Deanna in confusion as to what the teacher had actually asked her. She didn't even have any idea what they were talking about. The other kids laughed at the dumb expression on Deanna's face. She blushed and slunk down in her seat. 'Just hang on it's Friday.' she reminded herself.

Finally, it was lunch time. Only lunch wasn't any better. Deanna hadn't had time to make herself lunch, and they weren't serving anything she liked in the cafeteria. Also, it was especially noisy. Deanna's headache came back. 'Friday Friday Friday' she just kept repeating in her mind as she rubbed her temples and tried to make her headache go away.

Deanna would have thought that after lunch things would have gone quicker as so much of the day was already over. However, it didn't turn out that way. They watched the most boring movie Deanna had ever seen in science. She kept staring up at the clock and willing the numbers to movie quicker. They didn't. In fact, even though ,of course,  the numbers were moving at their usual pace, it felt to Deanna like they were moving even slower than usual. She looked up and the time was 2:00. Then, it was 2:05. Then, it was 2:10. No matter how long she thought she waited each time she looked up at the clock, it was only about five minutes later than the time before  When would 2:45 and time to go home ever get here? Why did Friday's have to be so long and slow? They seemed even slower than any other day of the week.

Finally, it was 2:45 and the bell rang signaling that it was the end of the school day. "Alright!" Deanna shouted out with joy and relief. She headed for her school bus. She was so excited to go home that this time the noise didn't even bother her.

When she arrived at her bus stop, she hurried off the bus, rushed into her house, and threw down her backpack next to to the front door. "You seem happy." noted her mother. "How was your day?"

Deanna frowned at the memory of her awful day. "It stunk." she admitted. Her mother gave her a look that indicated she would like to know more about it, but Deanna chose not to go into it. "It doesn't matter anyway, " replied Deanna "because everything is better now."

"Why is that?" asked her mother with interest.

Deanna smiled at her mother surprised that her mother couldn't guess why. "Because it's Friday." she replied to her mother talking  as if she were speaking to a small and not very smart child. 

Deanna's mother shook her head. "It's Thursday." she said.

Deanna's mouth opened wide in horror. It couldn't be, could it? Maybe, her Mom was the one that was confused. The newspaper her Mom was reading said Thursday but it could be the one from yesterday, couldn't it? Deanna hurried into the den and scrambled around until she found the remote control. She quickly turned on the TV. Sure, enough it was only Thursday. "Oh no!" she exclaimed burying her face in her hands. She still had to get through another whole day before the weekend.

Finally, Deanna looked up and forced herself to smile. 'Just hang on. Tomorrow's Friday' she told herself.

Talkative Trixie

Today's story is not only for my daughter but by my daughter.

Trixie Little loved to talk all day long. She went on talking and talking. She never even let anybody else talk. Her little sister, Lillybelle; her older sister, Mara; and her friends were getting sick of never getting to talk. They just started to avoid Trixie.

One day, as Trixie was walking in the park, she saw a group of her friends and started to walk over to them but when she got there they where gone. 'I just saw them. Where did they go?' Trixie thought to herself. She decided to go home and see if Lillybelle wanted to play. She was sure to. She always wanted to play with Trixie. "Do you want you want to play with me Lillybelle? We can play tag or hide and seek or .... and oh, can I be the tagger or the finder or  ... or we can do something like just spending time together . We don't have to play a  game. We can read or write or watch TV or listen to music. We can draw or go to the park and go on the swings or the slide or the monkey bars. We can play in the back yard or well. do you want to play? Oh and what do you want to play?"asked Trixie

"No thanks I'm busy." replied Lillybelle as she ran off as quick as she could.

 Trixie went to talk to Mara. "Mara, want to hang out? We can go to the mall and the SPCA.  I love looking at the dogs and cats but I feel so bad for them because, you know, they do not have homes and it is so sad, right. Like I would be sad and scared if I was an animal without a home or even a person without a home. Do you want to go to the food court we can go to Taco Bell or Wendy's or Nathans We can go to H & M or Crazy 8 or Forever 21 or The Children's Place or Old Navy. Well, do you want to and what do you want to do?"  asked Trixie

"Sorry, I am going to Ally's house." Mara replied running away in the opposite direction of the door to leave.

Trixie ran into Mommys room crying "Mommy, nobody wants me." Trixie said

"What made you think that?" asked Mommy

"First my friends ran  away from me. Than Lillybelle ran from me, and then Mara lied about going to Ally's house and ran away from me." Trixie said though her tears

"We all love you. It is just well, you are very talkative.  I love that and you are very cute but some times you can talk a little too much. You don't let anybody else get a word in. Most people don't like it  when they can't get a word in." Mommy told Trixie

"Okay, Mommy. I will try not to talk so much anymore, and I will try to stop not letting anybody else talk. People will like to be with me and I will have so much fun and...,

Mommy gave her a reminding look.

"Next time, I'll try harder to let other people talk.". Trixie said

From then on, Trixie tried not to talk so much and to let other people talk. Trixie did a good job with that but some times she just could not hold it in,and she started to talk on and on. However, now someone would just tell her she was doing it again. Sometimes,  they even missed it. Then, Trixie had no problem helping them not miss it anymore. Trixie had much more fun from that day on.

The Great Race

Harry Faber was a fast runner, and he was proud of it. He was always bragging about how fast he was, and how he could beat anyone in race. "I'll take on any man any time, any place, and I can beat him in a race." he boasted confidently.

His little sister. Torrance made a face. She was so tied of hearing Harry brag. "What about any woman?" she asked. "Could you beat any woman in a race?"

Harry burst out laughing. He couldn't stop laughing for a full five minutes. When he was finally able to stop and catch his breath, he said, "Well, of course. I could beat any woman in a race. Women aren't even as fast as men, and I can beat any man."

"Could you beat me?" asked Torrance in a very serious tone.

Harry looked at his sister as though she were a stranger creature from another planet. "Why, of course, I could beat you." he replied indignant that she could even think otherwise. "You're not even a woman. You're just a little girl."

Torrance glared at him angrily. "And you're just a boy, Harry Faber!" she replied hotly.

"I'm older than you," answered Harry, "and stronger and faster."

"Okay," said Torrance. "It's on."

"What's on?" asked Harry in confusion.

"You and I are going to race, and I am going to beat you." replied Torrance. Now, it was her turn to be confident.

"You'll race me?" exclaimed Harry in surprise. "You actually think you can beat me in a race?" He just shook his head at his little sister.

Torrance didn't back down one bit. "Yes, I'll race you and I'll beat you." she replied

Harry did not want to humiliate his little sister, but now she had gone too far. They were going to have to go through with this farce of a race. "Okay. I'll race you.'" he agreed. "You just tell me where and when and I'll be there."

"From the school playground to our house tomorrow at 4:30 in the afternoon. " declared Torrance. The distance from the school playground to the house was about a mile.

"Are you sure you want to race a whole mile? I can beat you in a lot less. " stated Harry.

Torrance glared at him. "I'm sure," she said.

The next afternoon they walked slowly over to the playground to conserve their energy for the race. Mom would be waiting at home on the porch. The first person to reach her would be declared the winner of the race.

"Are you ready?" asked Harry. Torrance nodded, and as she got in position to run, Harry asked. "Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

 "Just get on with it." Torrance replied impatiently glaring at her brother.

"I'll tell you what. Since you're younger and slower and a girl, I'll give you a head start."

"That isn't necessary." replied Torrance.

"I know it isn't necessary for me at least, but, since I'm a gentleman and your brother and a nice person, I'm going to anyway. I'll count to three, you start. I'll wait two minutes, then I'll start."

"You're my brother. I'm not sure about those other things." mumbled Torrance under her breath. To Harry, she just said "Whatever." and frowned at his nerve in thinking she needed a head start.  She didn't want one, and she didn't think she needed one.

Harry counted to three and Torrance took off like a shot. Harry glanced at his watch to see what time it was and what time he needed to start. When he looked up again a couple of pretty girls were passing by. "Well, hello, there." said Harry.

"Hi," the girls chorused back.

Harry introduced himself to the girls and begin chatting and flirting with them. They chatted and flirted right back. 'What a nice way to waste a couple of minutes.' he  thought happily to himself. He quickly glanced at his watch again and saw that what he thought had been only a couple of minutes talking to the pretty girls had actually been about ten minutes more than the head start he told Torrance he was going to give her, He said goodbye to the girls and blasted off towards home.

"Well, hello there." Torrance greeted Harry with a huge smile on her face when he arrived on the front porch a few minutes later. "Where've you been?"

"You?  How? " Harry gasped as he collapsed on the porch out of breath.

Just then the two girls from the playground strolled by on the sidewalk. "Hi Torrance." they greeted her warmly as they passed by.

Torrance waved back and blushed as Harry stared at her,

'You!" he said. "You know those girls! You set me up!" he exclaimed pointing his finger at his sister.

"I said I could beat you in a race." replied Torrance calmly. "I didn't say how." Then, she quickly ran away from her brother while he was still in no condition to follow her.

The Stolen Doll

Genessa Bard and Holly Pendleton were best friends. Holly loved to go to Genessa's house. Genessa always had the newest most fun toys. Holly was jealous.   She always wished she had the toys that Genessa had.

Genessa seemed to enjoy having toys that Holly didn't have. She was always showing off her new toys.    She never let Holly play with her new toys until she had them a long time.
   
One day. Holly's mom took her over to play with Genessa. When they arrived, Genessa excitedly ran over to greet Holly.   "Look what I got!" she announced without even bothering to say hello. She held up a Barbie doll. It was dressed in  a deep purple gown and wearing a silver tiara on its head.  "It's my Beauty Queen Barbie." gushed Genessa excitedly. "Isn't she beautiful?"

Holly could only nod in awe. It was the most beautiful Barbie she had ever seen. Genessa was so lucky. Holly wished she had a doll like that. There was no way Genessa was going to even let her play with it at least not for a long time.

"Come on! Let's play!" exclaimed Genessa.

"Okay." sighed Holly following Genessa to her playroom.

After couple hours, it was time to go home. "Did you thank Genessa for having you over to play?" asked Mommy as Holly was putting on her coat. Holly shook her head no. "Well, I think you should." Mommy told her.

Holly went off to the playroom to find Genessa. Genessa wasn't there, but there was that beautiful new Barbie. It was just lying on the ground looking so lovely and lonely. Holly picked it up. She only wanted to hold it and admire it for a minute.It was just so pretty.

"Holly!" called her Mother loudly from the living room. "Come on! It's time to go. Daddy will be home soon, and I have to make dinner."

Without even thinking about it, Holly quickly stuffed the doll into her coat and hurried to her mother.

"Did you thank Genessa?" Mommy asked.

"Yes." Holly lied. She quickly rushed out the door and ran over to the car.

Mommy laughed at Holly's eagerness. "Why the great rush all of the sudden?"

"I'm just really hungry." lied Holly.

At home Holly quickly brushed past Mommy on her way to her room. "Aren't you going to take your coat off?" asked Mommy.

Holly shook her head. "I'm kind of cold." she lied again.

"Are you feeling okay?" asked Mommy worriedly. She reached out to feel Holly's forehead and see if she had a fever.  Holly quickly ducked out of her reach.

"I'm fine. Really!" insisted Holly quickly scurrying away into her room.  Mommy just shook her head and went to make dinner.

In her room. Holly took her coat off and took the doll out. She held it up and admired it. The doll's pretty dress and tiara sparkled in the light of Holly's room.

The phone rang loudly and startled Holly. She almost dropped the doll, but she managed to grab it before it hit the floor. She sighed in relief.

Just then, Mommy came barging into the room. Holly quickly shoved the doll under her pillow. "What's the matter, mommy?" she asked warily.

"That was Genessa's Mom." explained Mommy referring to the phone call. "Genessa can't find her new doll anywhere, and she is really upset. You don't know what happened to it. Do you Holly?"

"No, I don't!" exclaimed Holly. "Why would I?" She felt a sharp stab of guilt.

Mommy looked surprised at Holly's outburst. "Well, okay, Sweetie." she replied. "Nobody's accusing you of anything. We just thought maybe you would know where Genessa left her doll since you were there when she was playing with it." Holly looked down and bit her lip, but she didn't say anything. Mommy smiled at her. "I'm going to go finish making dinner." she announced as she turned to leave Holly's room.

That was it. Holly was suddenly overwhelmed with feelings of  guilt. An avalanche of tears started flowing down her cheeks.

"What's the matter?" inquired Mommy  in confusion gathering Holly in her arms. "Are you sure you're not sick?"

Holly nodded through her tears. "I did it." she admitted in a gush as though she couldn't get the words out fast enough. "I took Genessa's doll."

Mommy looked shocked but not really angry. "You did?" she replied in surprise. "But why?"

"Genessa is always getting such nice new toys. She is always showing them off and never lets me play with them for a long time. By the time, I get a toy, Genessa had already had it or something like it. Just for once I wanted to be the one to have a new toy first." explained Holly in a rush of words. She hung her head down.

"We'll have to take the toy back to Genessa." Mommy replied calmly.

Holly looked up and nodded her head. "I know." she replied quietly. "I'm really sorry."

"I think that is something you are going to have to tell Genessa." said Mommy.

After dinner, Mommy took Holly back to Genessa's house. When they arrived, Genessa came to the door. She looked really sad. Her eyes were all red like she had been crying. " What are you doing here?" she asked in surprise. It was a little late for Holly to be coming over. Her eyes opened even wider in surprise when Holly took the doll out from behind her back and handed it to Genessa.

"My Beauty Queen Barbie!" exclaimed Genessa in a mix of happiness and relief.

"I'm sorry I took your doll." Holly told her. She really and truly was sorry. "You're just so lucky. You are always getting such great new toys, and  you are always showing them off and you never let me play with them."

Now, it was Genessa's turn to feel bad. "I'm sorry." she replied sincerely. "I'll try not to show-off so much, and I'll try to share better. Maybe, you can play with my new doll next week."

"Genessa!" said her mother sharply.

"Maybe, you can play with her tomorrow." revised Genessa, with a somewhat unhappy sigh.

Holly smiled. "I'm good with the day after tomorow." she replied.

Genessa smiled back. "I'm good with that too."   she said.                                        

Payton and the New Year's Party

Today's story is by my daughter and I.


It was almost New Year's Eve. Mommy and Daddy were going to be having a big New Year's party. Five year old, Payton Grimes was so excited. "Should I wear my purple dress or my red dress to the party?" she asked eagerly.

Mommy laughed. "I'm sorry, honey, but you aren't coming to the party."

"What!" exclaimed Payton. "Where am I going to be?"

"You'll be in upstairs in your room." explained Daddy.

"But I want to go to the party!" Payton pouted.

"You're too young. It will be much too late for you. Maybe, when your older."

"You know, I am getting older every second. I will be older then." Payton stated hopefully. Mommy and Daddy just smiled.  That was the end of the discussion.  Payton didn't look forward to New Year's any more.

When New Year's Eve arrived at first Payton just listened to the noise from the party. There was a lot of laughing and talking and music, Payton was jealous.

Finally, she got a brilliant idea. She decided to have her own party. But who could she invite? Her friends wouldn't be allowed to come over so late or even stay up so late. She looked around her room. Wow! She sure had a lot of dolls and stuffed animals. Wait! That was a great idea. She could invite all her dolls and stuffed animals to the party.

She got out her crayons and paper. She sat down with them at her little table. She scribbled out invitations for all her guests and then handed them out.

After that, she got all her dolls and stuffed animals all ready for the party. She dressed all the dolls in their party clothes and brushed their hair. She brushed all the stuffed animals too. Then, she set out her toys dishes and toy food on the floor. She put all the dolls and stuffed animals in a circle around the dishes and she sat in the circle too.

"I'm so glad you could all make it to my New Year's Eve party." she announced gratefully. "Why Mr. Bear, you're looking very handsome today." she said to her favorite brown bear. "And Susie, is that a new dress you're wearing. It looks lovely on you." she told her favorite doll.

Payton partied with her toys and dolls for a while. They were having a lovely time. It was the party of the year according to Payton.

Then, they heard footsteps on the stairs. "Who can that be?" Payton asked her guests. "We didn't invited anybody else."

"Hello, honey." said Mommy sweetly as she poked her head into Payton's room.

Payton frowned at Mommy. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I thought you might like to come down and say hello to the party guests." explained Mommy.

Payton shook her head. "No thanks." she replied. "I'm having too much fun at my own party."

Braver

Meredith Scott was brave.  That was clear.  She wasn't afraid of loud noises. She didn't run away from mice or other creatures. She was definitely braver than all of the other girls she knew.  She was sure that she was braver than any of the boys she knew as well. Of course, none of the other kids believed that. She was only a girl, after all. How could she possibly be braver than any of the boys? "You're a liar, Meredith," the other kids told her. "You're not braver than a boy."

Meredith was invited to a birthday party for a girl in her class named Lenore Triplett. The birthday party was going to be a scavenger hunt. The hunt would be taking place in the big woods. The guests were paired up in boy/girl pairs. "Boys by themselves are too aggressive." explained Lenore "girls by themselves are too silly." She thought boy/girl pairs would provide the perfect balance.

"Hmm!" mumbled Meredith. "What do I need to be paired up with some stupid boy for? I can do just  fine by myself." She took advantage of the fact that Lenore wasn't very good at math and had invited an uneven number of boys and girls to the party and set out on her own.

They headed into the woods. They began collecting specimens that matched those on the sheet of paper Lenore had handed them at the beginning of the party. They had only been in the woods a few minutes when they heard a noise. It was a very squeaky noise.

"What's that?" asked one of the girls frightenedly grabbing on to her partner.

"A ghost." teased one of the boys.

"Really?" asked the frightened girl.

Meredith glared at the boy. "Don't worry." she said to the girl. "He's just teasing you. There's nothing to be scared of."

 Just than a little chipmunk skittered across the path and disappeared into the other side of the woods.  The boys laughed and chased after the chipmunk. The girls oohed and aahed over how cute it was. The girl who been frightened blushed in embarrassment.

Meredith just shook her head. "It's only a tiny chipmunk." she said. She continued walking through the woods. The other kids fell in step behind her.

A little while later they heard another noise. This time it was a little louder than the first. The girls all exchanged nervous looks but nobody wanted to say anything because of what happened the last time. The boys smiled eagerly excited to see what type of wild life they would be encountering now. Meredith just shook her head and kept walking.

Just then a gray and white badger crossed their path. All of the girls except Meredith went screaming out of the woods. The boys laughed both at the badger and the pack of screaming girls. Meredith just shook her head again. "It's just a little badger." she said.

Meredith and the boys continued on the scavenger hunt by themselves. None of the other girls returned to the woods.  The boys noisily talked to each other as they walked along . Meredith quietly went about collecting specimens by herself.

Soon, there was another even louder noise. It was a kind of growling. Even the brave boys began nervously looking at one another and wondering what it could be. Meredith stood still and listened carefully, but her face showed no emotion.

Up ahead a short distance, they saw a big black bear. The boys bravery completely disappeared and they took off quickly running as fast as they could out of the woods.

Meredith was no dummy. She did not want to have an encounter with a bear either.  She went running out of the woods as fast she could too.

As they were all quickly running out of the woods, one of the boys suddenly tripped over a log and thudded to the ground. He immediately attempted to get up, but then quickly fell back to the ground again wincing in pain. "Help! Somebody help me, please!" he begged practically in tears as he had no desire to be eaten by a bear. None of the other boys even turned around. They just continued speeding out of the woods as fast as their legs could carry them. Only Meredith stopped and turned around. She quickly ran back to the boy . She gave him a hand and helped him up. She helped him limp out of the woods as quickly as they could go which was just ahead of the bear.

After they escaped from the woods, the whole group of boys and girls was reassembled a short distance away. It was determined that everyone was alive and in one piece and relatively unhurt except for the one boy's ankle. It was also determined that because of the bear the rest of the hunt would be cancelled. Instead, they all just went back to Lenore's house for party refreshments.

"You are very brave, Meredith." Lenore told her as they sat comfortably in Lenore's backyard eating birthday cake.  Meredith just shrugged.

"Meredith is the bravest." declared another of the girls.

"Even braver than the boys." added a third girl.

Of course, not even any of the boys could argue with that.

Even though everyone had fun at Lenore's house, and the refreshments were tasty. Lenore was kind of disappointed that her scavenger hunt hadn't gone as planned. "Can't we try to have a scavenger hunt again another day?" she begged her mother.

"Another scavenger hunt?" repeated her mother worriedly. "Well, okay." she agreed finally after a few minutes of Lenore staring at her with big sad puppy dog eyes. "Maybe, we can try it again in a different location."

"Next time, I want to be paired up with Meredith!" exclaimed all of the boys at once.