The Wild is Born: Tom Blaze

One day, in the orchards of North Carolina, a loving couple was hacking away at the tallest tree in the grove. They just had a baby; a boy with eyes as bright as the moon and lips as red as their apples. His features seemed to shine in the darkness as perfect as the trees. They wanted the best for their little boy, so they called for the best woodworker in town to craft a basket using his most modern tools and with the finest wood. Now, this was a huge deal! By law, you were only allowed to cut down a tree if you really needed it. It was forbidden, with so little trees left in the world. Although the couple was aware of this law, they still cut and cut until the tree thumped on the ground.Little did they know, that the tree they cut down was one of the few Sacred Earth Trees, with the powers of the Earth stored safely inside. Once the baby was placed inside, the basket, the tree crafted inside granted earthly powers to the youngling. The powers mingled secretly with his cells. Without further notice, the earth found a savior.

With the powers of the earth, Tom grew quickly to be 200 meters tall and 20 meters wide! Soon he realized he could do many things with his new strengths.. First, he caught a rainbow and traveled to the north pole. To him, all the whiteness was just an empty canvas. So, he painted the northern lights in the sky to brighten up the coldness. Stroke by stroke, he created a natural masterpiece in the sky. Once he was done, a blizzard accidentally flew into his mouth and he sneezed! Mucus flew out of his mouth onto his just-finished paintings.The germs that got onto the northern lights blew and pushed them until the paint gradually moved and shuffled. The colors got free of the air’s grasp. Today, we know the work of art as aurora borealis, or the northern lights.

Tom Blaze was in his early thirties, looking for a bride to call his own. On that very night, luck struck. Tom met the beautiful Demena Soario. She lit up his world as he lit up hers. Soon, wedding arrangements were planned and put into action. The moment they were bound for life, the earth accepted Demena and she gained the same strengths her husband had. Unfortunately, two days later, they didn’t have enough time for their honeymoon! There was so much to do with so little time! Tom Blaze accidentally shot a piece of cheese he just was about to eat into the sky with great force. It got stuck in place and shined with energy. The moon now hides in the light of day, for he is afraid of the sun. He comes out when it leaves, and glimmers with the energy he saved for the night.

A whole year had passed since Tom and Demena’s anniversary. Tom didn’t have a gift for her so he went to his favorite cliff and cried. He wept so much that a small river of his tears was formed. The river flowed over the cliff, creating the world’s first waterfall. Tom stared at the sight of beauty, and it reminded him of his wife. So he placed the waterfall gently into a magical box and gave it to Demena on the day of their anniversary. All the birds in the continent guided them to a remote island. Once they set foot on land, Demena tripped! The delicate box shattered, and waterfalls flew on the winds of the south to travel to different places in the world.

Tom and Demena had a baby, granted with the strength of his dad and the kindness of his mom. Grown in a burst of maple leaves, Sean Blaze parted from his parents to follow the route of his dad. To this day, Tom Blaze travels silently around the world, disguised with his son’s help in the sky. He spreads his magic of growth every spring, to places all around the world. Gardens and beautiful landscapes everywhere rely on Tom’s powers to help them grow tall and strong. If you see the beauty of the wild, remember that it was Tom Blaze that allowed all that potential to blossom.

Turkey Trouble - A Thanksgiving Tale

Thanksgiving was arriving in one week! The farmhouse was bustling with excitement, preparing decorations, getting the food, giving out party invitations to their friends. Everyone was excited and happy as ever! Everyone, that is, except for one person, or should I say turkey. Pedro the turkey had many mixed feelings. Sad, scared, nervous, basically every negative feeling there was in the world! If things went the way they did every year, he would be invited to the Thanksgiving dinner. Except for the fact that he would be dinner! As he watched the farmer’s daughter skip over to the fence gate, a brilliant idea came to his mind. This year, Pedro was going to escape this dreadful place!

As Pedro paced and gobbled to himself about escape ideas, he saw a majestic eagle fly above the lowly farm. His tiny bird brain whirred into action. Should he find a way to grow wings? No. What about riding on a bird? No, he doesn’t know how to speak bird (The language is very complicated, so he just sticks to gobbler). What about building a plane? Yes, that might work. There were lots of wood and metal scraps around his bit of land. Pedro scoured around his turkey space and managed to find many pieces of wood and metal. Using his beak as the ultimate multi-tool, Pedro built a reasonable plane with the bent nails in the field. His wings pushed the uneven propeller into action. The minuscule flying vehicle whirred with uncertainty. Pedro hopped into the pilot’s seat and stepped on the ignition button. His fat wings, which were connected to the plane’s large and slender wings, were flapping helplessly, trying to take air. After a few minutes of back-breaking labor, the creaking machine fell apart. Feeling disappointed, he gobbled over to his pen, wondering how he would escape in only two days, six hours, thirty-eight minutes, and twelve seconds.

The next morning, a pesky squirrel dropped a few acorns on the snoring bird. Pedro angrily ran to the tree and scratched and flapped with all his might, but he could not climb up the thick trunk! Suddenly, he got wonderful inspiration! The confused rodent watched as Pedro wobbled awkwardly to his pile of scrap. As he dug through the rubble, the turkey wondered why the farmer always had to eat turkey, especially why, on the same day! Perhaps he was testing how to make roasted turkey, or seasoned turkey, or (gasp!) roasted and seasoned turkey soup! After some useless sifting, Pedro found the two rubber cords he used for the failing plane, plus some black fabric and a thin piece of metal. He used his feet(since he didn’t have arms) to tie, sew, and cut the cords and fabric to form a reasonable tree climbing suit. Pedro squeezed into the tight harness and looked down. His turkey fat was flopping over the harness, and his legs were scratching at the ground aimlessly. Pedro muttered some words of encouragement to himself and threw the first rubber cord to the nearest branch. The daring bird tugged on the first cord and threw the second. Soon, he was ready to climb. One step, success. Two steps, success! Three st….. Aaahhh! The poor thin branches were no match for Pedro’s fat turkey weight. He threw the makeshift harness back into the pile of rubble, and, without even making it all the way back to his bed, fell flat on the floor and started snoring.

Sigh! He was never going to escape the house in time! Pedro was going to die, with only one day of life to spare! Feeling hopeless, he decided to show his worthlessness by going over to the farm gate to sulk. As he gobbled over, questions raced through his mind. How would the farmer eat him? How long did he have left to spare? Why was he the only turkey on the farm? Pedro leaned his spine against the gate when he heard a pop. He tried to turn around, but he fell flat on his back before he could! The gate was open! Pedro inspected the curious scene and found a note on the open gate lock! It read:

Dear Pedro, my wonderous turkey,

If you are reading this, then congratulations! You have successfully completed the test of the presidential turkey pardon! This test was made by Mr. President himself in order to select a turkey for the annual pardon! Yes, you know what that means. You don’t have to be eaten! Hooray! The test was designed to attract only the most intelligent turkeys in the land. So far, in my power, no turkey has made it out yet. I hope you, Pedro, are smarter than Willy, Max, Martha, and Bob and have found your way out. Every farmer in the country, every year, unlocks their gates with a note like mine. Only the turkeys that are smart enough to come back to their root of the problem will be chosen to go to a luxurious turkey presidential reserve. I will be coming very shortly to send you off!

Sincerest regards,

         Farmer Joe

By the time he finished reading the letter, Pedro’s jaw gaped open until a fly flew into it. After he washed out his mouth, he still couldn’t believe his luck! At that very moment, Farmer Joe ran to pick up Pedro, smiling crazily.

Pedro was shipped off by Farmer Joe to Turkey Tam’s National Turkey Reserve. His cotton fluff bed and cool, sweet lemonade were more than enough to make him happy. There was also a lake, river, and creek for water fun, plus, Pedro’s favorite part, other turkeys! The happy group of fat birds sang and danced and slept to their liking, with top-notch cuisine food served at every hour. “Ahhh!” Pedro the turkey thought.’ This is the turkey life!’

Chromebooks at School

 I was quietly sitting in my seat when amongst all the other things, our teacher added,"Oh, and we're going to have Chromebooks this year." Wait, did she say Chromebooks? Suddenly, everyone's ears perked up. This year was going to be a whole lot different.
           It was the first day of fifth grade and something exciting was already about to happen. I was waiting in line to get my very own personal Chromebook! Apparently, the school district had helped every school buy all of the thousands and thousands of kids their very own Chromebooks to use! (and apparently, they mean only at school)
          As the day went by, we were suddenly in PE, listening to the coaches talk(is that all they ever do these days?). When the day was over and they were about to dismiss us, the coaches added, " Don't you kids have Chromebooks? 'Cause we can use them to film ourselves doing exercises!" As the week went by, each teacher said similar things, telling us to bring our Chromebooks to class. Soon everyone was carrying their Chromebooks everywhere: To math, to reading, to science, to writing, and a lot more classes."I guess the 21st century really has begun!" I thought in my head.

The Float Parade - Float Project in School

 Crowds of kids were lined up against the halls waiting for us to pass. They cheered and shouted as each wonderful float passed by.  I could feel all the cool excitement glowing through my skin. It was finally time.
 
   "What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?" I exclaimed. I paced frantically around the room, wondering what to do for the grade level Float Project. We all chose one random city and had to somehow make an exciting project float about it. The city I chose was Brownsville. I 've personally never heard of the city before. Why did I choose it? I have no idea.

   After strolling around the house for twenty whole minutes, I decided to do a sign float. No, not a float with signatures everywhere, a float with signs everywhere. Yes, I know, it's not perfect, but what can I do? I'm a 4th grader.

   Afer a week, when (almost) everybody finished their projects, a group of PTA people was standing outside the gym doors, blabbering on and on. When one of them caught a glimpse of me, with my (terrible) float, she quickly ushered me into the gym so they could continue talking.

   During the parade, everyone in every other grade level was smooshed up against the halls, The sweet sound of excitement filled my ears. All of the energetic kids cheered on and on and shouted for every single float they passed by. I could see the little smiles on their faces were a mile long! It was truly a magnificent event.

   After the parade, when I was back in my cozy house, I thought about how I could have made my float better.

My Favorite Gift - Xtreme Marble Mania

 A lot of kids have their favorite toy, but which one is your favorite? Is it your awesome triple-shooting Nerf gun or the doll you've always wanted and now have? A cool Marble Mania set I got for Christmas is my favorite and you're about to find out why.
    Someone might ask," Why would someone want a boring marble run toy?" Well, this so-called,"boring marble run toy" is action-packed and full of adventure! With every single "Clink!","Clash!", and "Clang!, marbles rush around to find their way through the complicated pipes.
          I still remember on Christmas Day, three years ago, I saw a gigantic box taking up the whole table! I was shocked to see the present, mainly because of its massive size. This present though, it was so big and fun-looking that I just couldn't wait to open the wrapper! "RIP!" I tore it open, and inside, I found a huge Freestyle Xtreme Marble Mania set.
          The pieces inside were like Lego, sturdy, but hard to take apart. I worked on it all day with my brother, until late into the afternoon, we finished it! A surge of accomplishment filled my body, as I stood up and glared at our marvelous work.
     Even though it is (clearly) special,  is there more to this awesome toy? The answer to that is yes because along with its fun appearance, where the toy came from is a whole other story.