New York

Day 1- This is my first day out of my small, Elf town. My father expects me to capture what he can capture, even though I’m only equipped with a bow and my short experience. He is an expert, while I am just a beginner. My mother, though, thinks that this a bad idea and I will get ambushed by trolls, gnomes, or those winged creatures I’ve heard rumors about. My friend says they’re called Blackflyers, and they prowl, circling the sky, searching for unlucky souls. Anyway, as I continue to stroll down to the forest, I stare back at my town, and wonder if I will come back.

Day 2- The morning light of the forest seeps into my tent, and I wake up. Last night, I had terrible nightmares about Blackflyers, (I’m not quite sure what their real names are) tearing off my tent and finding me, petrified with fear. My friend described them as large beasts wielding long, slender, and sharp claws and powerful, leathery wings. They also were pitch black with piercing red eyes. That’s how I pictured them in my nightmare as they tore me limb from limb. But, I had to stop thinking about that. It was just a dream, and I thought of why I was really here, to hunt. I took my bow and headed out of my tent. Later that day, I spotted a deer and realized what I had to do. I faced the sad reality of having to kill an animal in order to make my father proud. As I pulled my bow out, the deer sprinted away. At first, I thought that I scared it away, but then I heard rough footsteps pounding the soil. An Elven hunter had to be sharp, and with my instincts I realized that these were trolls! Also an Elven hunter has to be always hidden, so I stayed in the shadows of dusk, my heart pounding. “Where are all the animals?! Why haven’t we killed anything?!” I heard one of the trolls exclaim in a terrible voice. “Be patient, and stop scaring away everything,” another troll said as I accidentally stepped on a twig. “Did you hear something?” the first troll asked. “Are your ears playing tricks on you? I didn’t hear a thing,” the second troll commented, probably thinking the other troll was baloney. “No, I know there’s something back there,” the first troll growled. “Ahhh, just leave the shrubbery alone. There ain’t nothing back there!” “Alright, fine,” the first troll said in a disappointed voice. I sighed in relief, watching the troll party continue to run through the forest.

Day 3- Last night was just like the night before, because I had terrible nightmares, only this time they were about trolls. The troll party I saw yesterday was the same one in my dreams, and they charged into my campsite and captured me. They argued about they should do to me, as long as I end up dying in the end. I couldn’t remember what they were saying (because it was a dream), but I think I heard them say to roast me on a spit or make me do hard labor. But I just continued to move on, wary of trolls, gnomes, or even Blackflyers. There was the occasional animal sighting, but they just ended up running off. I knew I had to stay in this forest longer.

Day 4- Last night I didn’t have any nightmares, or any dreams for that matter. I just dozed off into a deep sleep. When I woke up, I was determined to prove myself as an honorable son to my father. I wandered deep into the forest, searching for any kind of movement and remaining very still to try and hear sounds of animals. Finally, I heard very soft footsteps on the ground, and they were no troll footsteps. There was a family of deer, and if I hunted them, my father would be so proud. But, I remembered what happened the last time I was about to kill something.The trolls would probably return, or even worse. Since it was close to dusk, there could be gnomes, or Blackflyers. I think that Blackflyers come only at night, so they can use the advantage of the darkness. I reminded myself of this location, and returned to my campsite. I’ll return there tomorrow.

Day 5- I returned to that certain spot around noon, and found that there was still deer. I couldn’t wait to return home with deer, and maybe be able to hunt with my father. But, the deer just ran off again. I realized that I probably scared them away, because it was in the middle of the day, but I was wrong again. As I pointed my bow up at the sky hoping to shoot a bird, there was something terribly wrong with this bird. It wasn’t a bird, it was a Blackflyer! I have also heard rumors that they can sense any presence (except if you have a magic cloak) and always go for the kill. I know I won’t make it, so to anyone who finds this journal next to my shredded corpse, always watch for Blackflyers.

A crispy, brown leaf hovered in the falling snowflakes, silently past a window, and onto the fluffy white ground. The wind whistled a tune over the leaf. But this wasn’t just any plant, it had human feelings, and he was as cold as a tourist who fell of a canoe and into the Arctic Ocean. He  grunted to himself as a man with squelching boots stepped on him. “What was that?”, the man said, puzzled. “Oh no, he’s found me!”, the leaf yelped. “Oh my gosh!”, the man screamed at the top of his lungs as he heard the leaf. He swiped the leaf from the ground and sprinted to the warm comfort of his home. There he had a wife, two children, and a dog named Charlie. The dog snarled at the leaf, but this is what the leaf heard: “You are not replacing me! You’re just a stupid plant!” The leaf realized that staying here may be a big mistake.

“I have some amazing news!” , the man exclaimed to his family. “What is it?” , they all asked at the same time.”This leaf right here is no ordinary leaf. It can talk!” They stared at him with confused eyes. The leaf made a few rustling noises, then shouted “Hello!” Everyone gasped very loudly and stared at it from confused to goggle eyed, except for Charlie. He just gave a low growl that sounded like an engine trying to start. “Let me introduce you to everyone,” the man said. “My name is Larry, this is my wife Sally, and here are my two children, Jack and Becky.” Charlie gave the leaf a dangerous expression. “You will not replace me, ever! I will get rid of you,” he hissed at the leaf.

Charlie played many tricks on the leaf, all trying to kill him, and this was the last one he did. Larry set the leaf next to the blazing fireplace where flicks of fire danced around, creating a warm sensation. Charlie silently creeped through the shadows like a ninja, and pulled out a small fan. Behind the leaf, there was an outlet, and Charlie plugged in the fan. The propellers began to spin like the waves during a hurricane, and the leaf was swept into the fireplace. The leaf swiveled up the chimney, and back down to the rug. Charlie was infuriated. “Hey! Why weren’t you-” Charlie accidently got grazed  by the licking flames as he backed up. “YOW!”, he yelped. “Oh! OH! OWWW!” Larry and Sally heard the dog crying for mercy. “What’s going on?” Larry burst into the room, along with Sally. “Charlie tried to blow me into the fireplace, but I came back out of the chimney, and he got burnt by the flames,” the leaf explained. Charlie let out a low whine that sounded like old car brakes. “Charlie!”, Larry and Sally both screamed.

“Alright Charlie, you can come inside to eat.” Larry notioned Charlie to go inside his small cage, so he wouldn’t harm the leaf peacefully resting on a pillow. “Why do I have to stay in this tiny cage?”, Charlie asked the leaf furiously. “Because I’m part of the family, and you can’t hurt me.”

CRASH! The door slammed against the opening, which sounded like an anvil dropping onto a wooden box. I clutched onto the sides of my desk, shivering constantly and rapidly. Mr. Krush, my fifth grade teacher stared at us with his large eyes that seemed to burn right through us. He was as red as a tomato in summer , and his teeth were clenched. He was balding and had a small goatee, but you could already tell he was the meanest in the country. Maybe I was right, I thought. Maybe if you had a last name like Krush, you are mean.

“What are you looking at, you half-witted delinquents?!” Mr. Krush screamed at us.

A boy named Alex giggled like a girl hearing gossip that was complete nonsense. Mr. Krush pulled out a ruler and threw it as though it was a frisbee. The ruler nearly cut Alex’s head clear off, and it stuck into a  wall. Alex turned as pale as a ghost and shivered like a blancmange. I gripped onto my desk still harder, until that horrifying scholar walked up to me and my fingers dug into the wood.

“What is your name, sir?” Mr. Krush asked calmly, sending a tremor down my spine. “M-Marco Hartford,” I studdered.

“Hartford?” he said in an angry voice. “I knew a man who had that last name. I hated him so. Until I stuffed him in a sack and threw him down a waterfall!” he shouted. “And you, Marco, forgot to address me by my name!”

“M-Marco H-Hartford, Mr. K-Krush,” I said.

“Now you little demons,” Mr. Krush said in a tone that would scare a tarantula, “I expect you to keep your filthy mouths shut or I’ll beat you with a couple of rocks!”

Everyone was as silent as a cat walking in the dark. They shivered so loudly, you could hear their bones rattling together. They all looked like mayonnaise was spread on their faces. I looked just the same way, and I knew everyone was thinking the same thing. “Oh, when will this torture end?” they chanted in their heads constantly. As if Mr. Krush read people’s minds, he turned around and stared at us all with golf ball-sized eyes. The reason he did this was because he heard someone whisper. That certain someone was name John Turner. I could feel the anger boiling up in the room.

“John Turner!” he said at the top of his lungs.

All of a sudden, I heard John’s bones start to rattle.

“You are about to have the beating of your life,” he snarled with danger in his voice.

I knew that this will be my last school year!

A Polish family is walking down a small street in a town in Poland. The date is September 1, 1939. But then the family stops dead in their tracks. They hear a rumbling. CRASH! A large tank bursts through the wall. It is a Nazi tank and it is there to invade Poland. Why do the Nazis want to invade this country? The answer, Adolf Hitler wants more land and space. The British and French declare war on the Nazis, hoping that they will win and be safe. But that didn’t happen. Hitler, along with Mussolini and the Nazis end up walking in the abandoned streets of Paris. The French had surrendered. But France wasn’t the only country in danger. The Axis ( Nazis) bombed Britain during a major event called Blitzkrieg ( Lightning War ) during 1940. The Americans hear the British cry and beg for mercy, but they ignore their pleads of terror until December 7, 1941. Japan is furious with America for not supplying any oil, weapons, or any stuff like that so they bomb Pearl Harbor. Two thousand lives were lost at that harbor, so America took action. The entire world was fighting in the Pacific, Atlantic, Europe, and in Asia. Hitler had signed a contract with Joseph Stalin ( leader of the Soviet Union ) that they would not attack each other before Poland was invaded, but during the years of the war, the Nazis just had to invade Moscow and Stalingrad. This made the Soviets join America and Britain. The Allies ( Britain, America ) heard about the carnage that was going on in Italy in 1943 so they went to Sicily to fight the Axis. They did the same on D-Day ( June 6, 1944 ). During that day they landed on Nazi-occupied France to liberate the French and Polish. The Allies were moving into Berlin, Germany to end this war once and for all. The Soviets meet up with America and Britain as they take control of Berlin during the dark days of 1945. Hitler and his wife, Eva Braun are awestruck with fear, so they both end up committing suicide ( April 30, 1945 ). The entire world hears about the enormous news May 8, 1945, so the Nazis surrender and Europe is free from Germany’s clutches. But the battle still rages on in Japan and China. America ends this war with a boom on August 15, 1945. They bomb Japanese cities like Hiroshama, and Japan quits. World War 2 was the worst war in the history of mankind. Millions of people, including 6 million Jews in the Holocaust, were killed. But the war is over, and it won’t happen again.

“What  was that?” I asked, shivering like someone with a nervous breakdown. “I think that was a snake,” my brother replied, with bravery in his voice. A rustling noise immediately pounded my eardrums. It was of course a short coal-black snake slithering in the cold damp  leaves. “Gotcha!” my brother exclaimed as me and Dad gazed at him. He tried grasping the snake, but he knew that he couldn’t capture the speedy bullet with scales. The orange blot that was the sun dropped down as fast as a racing snail. My brother broke a long silence when he realized there was a second worm lizard, with his name on it. Unfortunately, he tried tracking the snake when it fled. “Just stop looking for it. It’s probably gone in  the woods,” I said to him. He looked out into the gaping St. Lawrence river, like a cat does for no reason. Dad led us to a muddy and damp pond, where swarms of horseflies wouldn’t leave us alone. Stupid hiking trip is making my legs ache, I complained in my head. All of a sudden I heard my brother gasp, and snatch a black rope from the ground. But it was no rope. It was a snake, and he had caught it! We jumped for joy like there was nothing under us but rubber. But, my brother set it down and it slithered into the wilderness. As we left the trail, the image of the snake remained inside my head, tongue sticking out, laying motionlessly in my brother’s hands.

“Alright everyone, take out your National Geographic books and turn to page 15,” hollered Mrs. Salazar. Yes! Finally, it’s time to read National Geographic, I thought, feeling excited to see what we might learn today. Reading these articles is my favorite part of the day because I like to learn important facts about history and nature. In my opinion, I like these better than Time for Kids. The most recent article that I read was about seahorses. In that story, it said that the female seahorse lays some eggs in the male’s pouch on his stomach. The eggs then hatch in his pouch and out comes baby seahorses. Now you know that National Geographic books are my favorite articles to read!

My Jack Russell Terrier is a very amusing dog. He is very funny, especially when battles with my other dogs. Yet he is very aggressive. Sometimes he bites me just because I lift him up. And he barks a lot. One night, he barked so much, we had to let him in so he would stop. Another problem with him is that he steals the other dogs food. He fights with the other dog and finally wins the food. So I just pull him back and say, “Jack, you have your own food,” and put him back to his food bowl. The last two flaws he has is that he runs away and goes to the bathroom in the house. So even though he is a big pest and not the brightest dog around, I still care for him.