Stories From Times Past

DISCLAIMER: I am humiliated by these stories. So I’m not sure why I’m putting them here for everyone to see…. If you come visit me and you find me dying, know that it is because I’m terribly embarrassed by what’s written below. XD

Ela’s Story (Written by me, age nine)

This was my most beloved story at the time. It was about these two girls – Ela and Ellen. They had all sorts of adventures (which included finding lost babies, riding horses, getting captured, fighting, etc.). My story started when the girls were six years old and ended with Ela married and with a boat load of kids. XD

One day Ellen asked Ela to come over to her house and have a sleepover. Ela agreed.

When Ela got to Ellen’s house, the girls made a cake that looked like a house. The girls were just about to eat the door on their cake and then go out and play chase. Elisabeth came running in. She was very pale. She said, “There are Indians outside, they said-I mean I heard them, they said that they were looking at-I mean for…”

The girls soon got the idea that the Indians were looking for them. The girls prayed that the LORD would keep them safe and then they went to meet the Indians.

Before they left Elisabeth said, “Be kind but strong, I love you both and I hope that you are safe.”

Then Ellen said, addressing the Indian, “Would you like some tea?”

He said, “No.” He said that he wanted a horse. So she gave him a black horse that they were trying to sell. Then the girls went back into the house.

The Brave Boys (age 10)

I went through a stage in life where I was obsessed with the Civil War. I wrote tons of stories about my characters fighting in battles.

Chapter One: The brave boys

One day a young boy walked up to a big man, with his brother and sister. The children shook with fear. One of the boys said, “Hello.”

“Hello.” was an answer back.

The girl had run to the bushes when she saw the man.

“Little sister, are you there? Martha, sister!” called the older boy, named Johnny, and his brother, Jacob. Martha was there sister. They had no parents. Even though they had no parents, her brothers were very protective of her. Now that you know a bit about the boys and their sister let’s start the story.

Chapter Two: The bobcat

The boys and their sister had been on a walk, when Jacob saw a bobcat. He yelled to his sister and brother. Martha climbed a tree to watch her brothers shoot the bobcat. The boys were tired and hungry, but they said they would take care of their sister. They shot the bobcat and it fell down dead. They called there sister from the tree. She was happy she had such good brothers. They all helped skin the bobcat, then they ate the bobcat. Then, they went to bed.

Chapter Three: The horses

One day they were in town, when someone said “We lost a chicken, please help us find her! She gives us eggs! PLEASE!”

The boys and their sister looked at each other. They could help. They looked and looked. Finally, Martha said, “Look, that looks like the hen!”

And she was absolutely right! Martha got to hold the hen and she gave it to the owner. The owner was so happy that she gave them each a horse! She gave Johnny a brown horse, she gave Jacob a white horse, and she gave Martha a brown horse with white spots on it. The children thanked the lady very much, and they were off. They could ride, and so they got from one place to another very fast. They set up camp, and slept soundly.

(Can I just say, YUCK?! They seriously ate a bobcat??? And, uh, a chicken was worth more than three horses??? Poor little un-logical me….)

Mendolop’s First Visitor (Age 11)

Alas and alack. This was my fantasy stage…

Hello and welcome to this great adventure. There is a strange ladder, fighting frogs, a great King, a kind hen, a marriage, a note that changes everything, and also learning important lessons about kindness, truth and love. I added my name and my sibling’s names in as the characters for this book. I thought that it gave it more depth. Please enjoy the story of Mendolop.

There once was a family of six. A mother, a father, a young girl named Hattush, her younger sister, Jehosheba, Nahum, her brother and the youngest boy named Baruch.

The family never really got along very well but they all played and said that they had fun together. Anyway, one day the whole family (including the parents) decided to go together and read in a small room under the stairs. In that room they had a small book shelf, a bench with stuffed animals in it, (the ones that they had played with when they were young), and a bench with books in it. The boys sat with Father in the corner reading a book about rockets.

Jehosheba wanted to get a book from the bench and so she opened up the bench and had just moved a book away from the middle so that she could get A child’s collection [that was actually a real book that I had written at the time – it was a compilation of a lot of my writing – it was over 500 pages, but I lost all of it when my computer stopped working *sobs*] when she suddenly jumped back and said, “Oh, mother! Hattush! Look! In the bench, oh there is a ladder in it! Oh, I never saw that before.”

“Let’s go down and see where it goes.” Hattush said looking at her mother.

Mother looked at the boys and father reading in the corner and wondered what would happen if they went down. Hattush had already left down it and so had Jehosheba. Mother loved her girls and was wondering very much were it would go so she climbed down after them…

…At first everything was dark but then Mother gasped and said, “This is a river! Oh we are in a river. Oh the water is cold. Let’s get out of it.”

So they climbed out on to the bank. The water was only about waist deep but very cold. The three stood on the bank shivering. It was late summer so the sun was not very warm.

Jehosheba was thinking, “Oh, I wonder where we are. Oh and I wonder if we will ever get back to our house. I never knew how much I liked my house until I realized that I might never get back to see it, again. Oh, I wish that I knew what would happen. Oh well, that is too bad.”

While they were thinking a small little dove came up and said, “Hello, my name is Little Rose. How did you get here?”

The girls scooted back into the woods and were very surprised that the little dove talked. “Well, umm,” Mother said, “we got in through the ladder. Do you know where we are?”

“Oh yes!” The dove said, landing on Hattush’s shoulder. “This is Mendolop. Please come to my house. We hardly ever see humans in this land. There are not many of them. Please come this way.”

They followed the dove to her house. Her house was tiny and the children and their mother could not fit inside so the dove brought out food and they eat on the grass. They all talked about things that had happened in the last year. The dove told them a lot about Mendolop and the things that had happened.

One thing that interested Hattush the most was the King. Rose told them all about him and how he had helped them when they were in trouble. “The King is so kind. He loves and will take care of us.” Rose said.

It was almost dark when they stopped talking. The children did not know what they would do. They could not get back to their house so Rose told them that they could go to the house of a donkey named Faithful and sleep at his house. They gladly did.

---

One cold winter day after Hattush had come in from feeding her pet chickens; her mother said that they would not have school that day since Father was home. The children jumped with joy. Nahum said, “How about we go and play under the stairs! Oh it would be so much fun! We could play king and queen. Baruch could be the king. (You are as tall as Jehosheba, now) and you could be the queen Jehosheba and me and Hattush would be your servants!”

Baruch said, “Oh yes, that would be so much fun! Mostly because I am the king and I love being king.” The children played for about thirty minutes and then they looked at the door and saw a lovely ladder covered with gold. Hattush knew what it was and so she ran to her parents and told them. Oh, the parents were happy for the children but they did not want to leave so they said, “Go children. Have a nice time.” and so the children left. When they got in it was raining. The children did not like rain but they could not make it go away. So the children, cold and hungry, huddled under a tree a fell to sleep…

They woke up to four chickens looking at them. “Oh, you must lie down. You are very sick.” A young chicken named Mary, said the chickens continued talking, “Oh, I am so glad that they came.” An older chicken said, “We must take very good care of them. The King said that they would come and help us fight the frogs. Oh, they are horrible. Remember last time they came? They destroyed everything and they brought the panthers with them. They took everyone and we ran away and we are the only chickens left! Oh and when we heard that the frogs were attacking again, we went to the King and he said that he would send four children to help us.”

For the next few days the children were very weak and could hardly get out of bed but after about a week they could get up and go around. It seemed to Baruch that they had been sick for 12 years, although it was only a few weeks! He could not sit still for long. Anyway, one day about three weeks after the children had gotten sick Mary came rushing in and said, “Oh hurry, and boys, get your armor on, there is some in the closet inside the bed room, and you girls come with me. We are going to go to go to the cellar. The Great King said that we must. Boys, when you get your armor, on go outside and you will see a group of men. The frogs are coming. We must be ready.”

So the girls went out with Mary and her mother and sat in the cellar. The boy’s found two things of small armor that fit them (sort of. Baruch could hardly move and Nahum could hardly breathe but they made the best of it and soon came out. Hattush thought that the knight Pescedy looked much more handsome and at home in his armor than her brothers looked, Jehosheba just laughed as she saw them coming out of the bed room or trying too).

*dies four times* seriously, self? You thought it gave the story more depth to put your name in??? And what was up with the chickens (and the frogs)?!! Poor younger me was in need of serious help…..again. XD

Sir Peskedy’s Battles (Age 11-12)

And my knight phase where I was obsessed with knights. (I even wanted to get a suit of REAL armor and dress up in it and see what people’s reactions would be. XD)

They [Peskedy, my main character and David, his friend who was knighted for saving an old woman from a wolf….] rode into some woods thinking that they might hide there but they made a very bad mistake.  They had ridden for about ten minutes when suddenly they heard a twig snap. David felt weak when he saw about fifteen men in armor coming at them.

One of the men, who was the leader said, “We have taken over your country and now we will take everyone in it captive. Will you come with us peaceably or will you fight and either be killed in the battle, for you know that ye art outnumbered, or will you choose to be captured. What will you choose?”

Peskedy looked at David and said, “I will go along with you peaceably. I do not know what the LORD has planned but I will be kind and loving as long as I can.”

David looked shocked and said, “Peskedy! These are horrible men, I do not know what they will do if they capture thee!”

Peskedy said, very calmly, “Thou must fight if thou think it is best but I will not. I must love these people. There will be a time to fight but that time is not now, at least not for me it may be the right time for thee.”

David looked at his friend and brother and said, “I will stay with thee as long as we are able. I will not fight.”

The man smiled and said, “Alright young knights:  John, come and take their horses and tie their hands.” The boy named John came up, and although he looked very frightened, he did as he was told. Then they started to walk. They walked all night and just as the sun was coming up they reached a dark castle. David looked tired and pale, Peskedy looked just the same.  The men came and dragged the two knights into a large dark room, and threw them in. Then they shut and locked the door.

The room was filled with about two thousand young knights, who looked tired and sick. The walls were dark and tall and there were no windows. In one of the corners there was a lamp but that was all the light.

Peskedy walked over to one of the knights and said, “Why art thou here? I was captured with my brother David; he is over there, the one in the brown hair, when I was trying to go for safety.”

“My story is the same as thine,” the knight began softly, with such sadness in his voice that touched, Peskedy, very much, “I was working for the king but then these people came and they took the king and his family and now they took us and we are just waiting for the time when we are going to be killed. If only this were a dream.”

Peskedy sighed and walked off. He went over to where David sat and said, “David, I do not know what we are going to do. I am very thankful that my father and mother are safe but what about us, and all of these men here? They are strong and kind, and are faithful to the LORD and the king but there is nothing that we can do.”

David wrapped his arms around Peskedy’s back and said, “Dear Peskedy, do not lose faith. We may be here but even if we are killed we will have been faithful and kind, and if we are killed we will also go and be with the LORD and live with him. Now before it is too late I am going to go and tell some of these men about the LORD.” Peskedy was encouraged very much by these words and quickly went to help David.

For the next few days nothing happened, but on one day when Peskedy was feeling very discouraged he received a letter. The boy named John brought it and said, to Peskedy, “I am risking my life by giving this letter to thee but I heard what thou hast told the other prisoners about- thou hast told them about the LORD and I want to be kind to thee and so here is the letter, but I must go now. I will try to help thee as much as I am able from now on. I thank thee for thy kindness to me.”

So Peskedy took the letter and John disappeared. Peskedy opened it and David came beside him to read what it said:

Dearest Peskedy,

Thy parents are dead. They were captured after David and thyself left and then they were killed two days ago. I don’t know if thou wilt receive this letter or not but I want to tell thee that I grieve with thee, for thy parents were wonderful people and they often were kind to me. I am so sorry for thee but don’t forget that they loved the LORD and thou wilt one day see them again.

Peskedy looked at the end of the letter and it was singed Sarah. This was the same Sarah who Peskedy had saved from the lion. [And the same Sarah that Peskedy secretly wanted to marry. *ahem*] Peskedy took one last look at the letter and then dropped it and covered his face with his hands and burst into tears. David picked the letter up and read it and then, with tears in his own eyes, he threw his arms around Peskedy and said, “Peskedy, I am so sorry for thee.”

A few other knights came over and said how sorry they were and tried to comfort him but nothing could help. When the meal came Peskedy eat nothing. He only sat with his head in his arms weeping.  David came over to him and said, “Peskedy, do try to eat. Thou art already weak and if thou dost not eat thou wilt become even weaker and thou may die. If thou art not here then what will I do?”

Peskedy made no reply for a few minute but he finally said, “If I do die I won’t be here, in this horrible prison, and I will be with my parents in a land of glory and beauty.”

“Peskedy,” David said, in a pleading voice, “one day thou wilt come out of here, but thou must be patient and wait for that time, now please come and eat.”

Peskedy stood up and walked over to a place where he received a small piece of bread and a glass of water. That day his food had no taste. He ate to please David but he could hardly swallow it. When he was finished he walked over to a bed of straw and lay down, with his face to the wall and wept. What else could go wrong?

*is incredibly annoyed at how unrealistic this story is* *wants to fix everything* *decides that it isn’t worth it because the story is already too far gone*

The Journey of Life (Age 12)

*grimaces* my attempts at an allegory. For a main character here, we have Peskedy spelled differently. XD It was one of my favorite boy names of the time, so most of my characters had that name!

At last Pescedy took the Road and watched sadly as his sister took the other. He had not walked far before he was met by two other men in armor with their squires. “Sir,” one of them said to Pescedy, “why dost thou weep?”

“My sister has gone on a different path and I am left to travel this one alone.”

“A different path,” the other knight said, “dost thou know that there are three paths?”

“No, I only saw two.” Pescedy said.

“Follow me,” the first knight said, “I will show thee the other path.”

If only Pescedy could have seen the danger he would have never followed these men but he would have to learn a lesson. He followed the knights back to the part of the path that split. One of the knights said, “Look, Sir Knight, look to the right. What dost thou see?”

Pescedy looked and saw a beautiful path. Fruit trees grew on either side of the path. The ground was not hard like the path the Pescedy had been walking on but it was soft and gentle to the feet. To the eye it was truly a beautiful path. Pescedy drew his eyes away from it at last and gave a sigh of delight and said, “Sirs, this is a beautiful path and it is a marvel to me that I had not seen it before. What is this path called?”

“It is the pathway of Pride.” The knight said, “We shall travel with thee!”

“I thank thee!” Pescedy said with shining eyes. So Pescedy left the good path and went with the knights down the path of Pride. I hope that you will learn from Pescedy how dangerous it is to go on the pathway of Pride. Pescedy had not walked far before the ground began to change. It grew harder and harder until Pescedy could not walk on it and he had to crawl. The other knights said that they had walked it many times and that it was sure to even out soon. The trees also began to change. They grew darker and closer together until they were so thick that they were more like a wall than a forest. The path grew narrower. Pescedy stumbled and fell and got scraped. He stood up and said, “Good knights, what is this way that ye have lead me? For I see no path, but a hard forest that one can hardly travel, what is this way that ye hast led me on?”

“Do not fear, good companion,” one of the knights said, “the road shall get better sooner on. Here is something to make the journey easier.” He called his squire and then he said, “This is the wine of haughtiness. Drink it and the path shall be better.”

Oh, if only he could have seen the danger and remembered the King he would have never touched the bottle but he was led astray by these knights and so he did not remember and his mind was changed. He took the bottle and drank it and at once he felt like he had done a lot of things. He felt like he was the greatest in the world-perhaps he even thought that he was greater than the King who had made him. Also the ground changed and it was comfortable to walk on. The other knights laughed and they led Pescedy deeper into the trees. Pescedy did not remember the King and he forgot the great quest. How dangerous is haughtiness. After a while Pescedy began to get tired. He said, “Fair companions, does this long road ever come to an end?”

“Indeed!” the oldest knight said with a laugh, “All roads have an end.” They walked for many more miles until finally they were in site of a large castle. It was a sad state that Sir Pescedy was when he arrived. His face was no more kind and love but it was hard and proud. Hardly any love for the King was left. “Come this way.” The other knight said, “We shall go into this castle and thou shalt lodge there.”

Pescedy followed them but as soon as the door was shut behind them Pescedy’s ‘friends’ changed. They took his armor from him and then they bound him, hand and foot and put him in a dark prison called Hate. Pescedy’s mind was now clear. He saw how foolish he had been to follow the knights and to drink the wine. He remembered the King. He broke into loud sobs. “Oh my King!” he cried, “forgive me! I have forgotten to do what is right.” he laid his head down and said to himself, “Alas; I shall be a prisoner for the rest of my life. I have lost my armor and my sword and I shall not be able to escape. Oh how foolish have I been to follow these knights and drink the wine and I will never find a way to be freed.”

“No thou shalt not!” a voice cried. It was one of the knights who Pescedy had followed, “Thou hast chosen this way! This is thy reward!” He gave a scornful laugh.

This only made Pescedy weep more. He fell to his knees, he was weak from his long journey and tired from weeping, he begged for forgiveness. Tired as he was, he forced himself to stay awake. “For,” said he, “as soon as I give myself to sleep I shall be victim to all the things that are in this place.” Just then he felt a hand upon his shoulder. He shuttered in fear, for he thought of all of the cruel things that he had heard of. He said, in a trembling voice, “Who art thou?”

“Do not fear me for I cannot harm thee.” the voice said. He spoke sadly. The voice was not old, in fact it sounded quite young.

“What is thy name?” Sir Pescedy answered.

“I was once called Joyous but I was taken here and I am no more a traveler. I am forever a prisoner. Oh if only I could once more walk free on the road again but I never shall.”

“Thou hast spoken the truth. My sword has been taken away from me and I shall never get it back.” As the weeks past Joyous and Pescedy became friends. They talked about the King and the greatness of the quest. Often Pescedy would weep for his own foolishness. After spending a year in the prison Joyous said, “Pescedy, what is that shining light from the corner of the prison?”

Pescedy ran over to it and saw that it was the key of Love. But he also saw that it was stuck fast in the wall. He pulled it with all of his might and it became a little bit looser. Each day the knight and the traveler worked at the key and then one day it fell into the grip of Joyous. Tears of joy ran down his face. Pescedy took the Key of Love and put it in the lock. The lock was opened and the two tired travelers walked out. “Before we go we must have thy armor.” Joyous said. They walked quietly around the huge castle and they found Pescedy’s armor at last. It was dark as they made their way out of the castle. They got onto the road and went as fast as they could.

An Adventure in Mendolop (Age 13)

And I went back to my love for writing fantasy…. More Mendolop. XD

A young girl, named Mary, walked into the kitchen, where she found her older brother busily trying to fix the sink.

“Peskedy, what are you doing?” She asked.

“Hey Mary, what are you doing?” Peskedy called merrily. “I’m just trying to fix the sink.”

“I thought Daddy was going to do that.” Mary said.

“He was, but then he had a meeting, so I thought I’d do it for him.” Peskedy smiled proudly.

“But you don’t know anything about plumbing!” Mary cried.

“I know, but hey! How hard can it be? Why did you call me?”

“I was wondering if you have seen Johnny. He’s supposed to clean his room. It is such a mess.”

Johnny was their younger brother.

“He went over to Rueben’s house.” Peskedy answered.

“Oh no!” Mary sighed. “I’ll be back, Peskedy, I have to go get him. When did he leave?”

“It’s been about an hour. He said that he wouldn’t be gone for long.”

“Oh I might as well just wait here for him, then.” Mary sighed.

“Ah ha! Finished! Now, let’s turn her on!” Peskedy stood up and looked happily at the sink.

“Maybe you should wait for Mommy or Daddy.” Mary said.

“Come on, what could go wrong?” Peskedy looked at his sister.

Just then Johnny walked in the door.

“I’m home, guys.” He said.

“Great. You’re just in time to see me turn on the sink.” Peskedy said.

“Wasn’t it broken?” Johnny asked.

“Yes, but I fixed it.”

“Maybe I should get Mommy and tell her that you tried to fix something again.” Johnny began to walk uneasily out of the kitchen.

“That’s what I was thinking.” Mary agreed.

Peskedy began to get a little annoyed. “Come on, guys, it’ll be fine. I can fix a sink.”

Johnny sighed.

“Johnny, let’s hold hands.” Mary looked around nervously.

“Yah. We should stand over in this corner of the room.”

“Relax guys, it’ll be fine!” Peskedy said.

“Where’s Mommy?” Johnny asked, trying to stall Peskedy.

“Oh, she had a meeting, too.” Peskedy answered. “She said that I could stay home and babysit you guys. I forgot to tell you.”

“Uh oh.” Johnny said. “You’re not very old… Of course fourteen seems like a huge age to me, but still… you babysitting us just seems a little…scary.” He laughed nervously.

“I’m babysitting you and I command that you guys stop making rude comments about my work and just come and watch me turn the sink on!” Peskedy tried to thunder.

“Well, okay. I mean, what harm can a sink do?” Mary tried to reassure herself.

“It could explode and burn the house down.” Johnny said very calmly.

“Johnny, it’ll be fine. Just stand next to me.” Peskedy commanded.

“I’ll stand over here by Mary.”

“Fine. Here we go!”

Peskedy turned the sink on. Water poured everywhere. Peskedy tried to shut the sink off, but it just made water pour out more. Soon they all lost sight of the kitchen. Johnny screamed and shut his eyes in terror. When he opened them again he found that he was no longer in the kitchen, but was standing in the middle of the forest. He looked around and saw Mary and Peskedy standing close together holding hands. Johnny immediately joined them.

He yelled, “See! See! I told you we should have waited for Daddy!”

Peskedy was in a very bad mood at that moment and didn’t want to hear from Johnny. “Be quiet, Johnny.”

“What happened?” Mary asked in a whisper.

“I don’t know. Let go of my hand.” Peskedy was feeling guilty because he thought it was probably his fault.

Mary was hurt by Peskedy. She turned to Johnny and said, “Johnny, can I hold your hand? Peskedy is too grown up to have his little sister hold his hand.”

“Sure.” Johnny quickly said. “I am certainly not too grown up for that.”

“Me either.” Mary said rather sadly.

“Would you two be quiet?” Peskedy snapped. “I’m trying to figure out how we got from the kitchen to here.”

Johnny unwisely opened his mouth. “It was your bad pluming job! I told you –”

“Be quiet, Johnny!” Peskedy thundered.

“We need to look on the bright side!” Mary said, trying to calm the conflict between her brothers.

“And what are the good things about being here, Mary?” Johnny asked, looking at Mary with hopeless eyes.

“Umm, well, umm, let me think…”

“Exactly.” Peskedy sighed.

“These are nice trees.” Mary tried to smile.

“And that’s all.” Peskedy said, gloomily.

“This is nice weather.” Mary said, looking around at the bits of clear sky that she could see through the treetops.

“And the bad things are that-” Peskedy began.

“We don’t know where we are, we’ll never get back home because we don’t know how we got here, and I’ll never see Mommy again!” Johnny finished. He started sobbing.

Peskedy sighed. “See, Mary. So much for your looking on the bright side idea! Now Johnny is about to cry his eyes out!”

“Don’t be so sad, guys. It’ll be fine…I hope.” She rubbed Johnny’s weeping head.

“Oh no!” Johnny began to sob even harder. “Now we’re in trouble! Whenever anyone says ‘I hope’ in cartoons it’s always bad! We’ll never get home!”

“Close your mouth, Johnny!” Peskedy almost shouted.

“What are we going to do now?” Mary asked, near tears herself.

Peskedy thought for a few minutes. Then he said, “Well, we could explore. It doesn’t look like we’ll get out of here anytime soon, so we can look around.”

“I guess we could.” Mary sighed. “It’ll help the time pass quicker.”

“Yah, let’s go!” Peskedy said.

“Why didn’t I stay at Rueben’s house?” Johnny moaned. “I would have missed this whole ‘adventure’ and that would have been fine with me. Oh boy!”

“Stop whining, Johnny.” Mary tried to say it gently. “We can’t get out, so you might as well be quiet and enjoy this.”

“My last few days on earth will be spent crying and wanting my mommy.” Johnny said.

“Johnny.” Mary looked at him sternly.

“Let’s get going…” Johnny said quickly changing the subject.

Peskedy laughed nervously. “Mary, you can go first. I know that you like adventures more than me.”

“But you’re a boy. You’re supposed to go first and protect us.”

“That sounds good.” Johnny agreed, wiping the tears out of his eyes.

“Johnny, how about you go first to see if maybe you can find our parents.” Peskedy suggested.

Johnny looked shocked. “There is no way, not a chance. No matter what you can give me I’m not going first. No way. You’re oldest. You go first.”

“But I always have to do things first!” Peskedy whined.

“But you normally like it.” Mary protested.

“Well, yah, but… Please, Mary.”

“It’s your fault that we are here, so you go first.” Mary said decisively.

“Fine, I’ll go first! But if I get killed by a lion or something like that you will remember that you told me to go first.”

So they began to walk. Mary and Johnny held hands very tightly. Peskedy walked ahead very cautiously and as quietly as he could.

“Good thing I had my knife with me, hu?” Peskedy said, with a nervous laugh.

“How will a knife help?” Johnny wondered.

“I’ll have a weapon if anyone attacks.”

“Your knife is kind of dull and it wouldn’t be much use against a gun or another weapon.” Johnny pointed out.

“Or against a person who is bigger than you.” Mary added.

“It’s better than nothing.” Peskedy insisted.

“I want to go home! MOMMY!” Johnny began to cry again.

“Johnny, stop whining.” Mary said, gently wiping the tears off of Johnny’s cheeks.

“Yah, complaining won’t get you back home.” Peskedy said.

Johnny sniffed. “I’m tired of walking.”

“We’ve only been walking for a few minutes!” Peskedy exclaimed.

“Can I ride on your back, Peskedy?” Johnny begged.

Peskedy sighed. “You can ride for a little bit.”

Johnny looked pleased. Mary turned to Peskedy and said, “But then who will hold my hand? Can I hold your hand, Peskedy?”

“No.” Peskedy lifted Johnny onto his back.

“Please.”

“But I won’t be able to fight if my brother is on my back and you are squeezing my hand!”

“I’ll let go if you need to fight. You don’t need to try to be Mr. Tough guy around us.” Mary pleaded.

“Alright, fine. Here’s my hand.”

Mary took his hand. Then they continued their walk. They woods seemed to never end. Soon it was dark. The children sat down on the ground, tried and sad.

“Great.” Peskedy shook his head. “Just wonderful. We’re trapped in strange place with trees all around us; it’s dark and we don’t have any food.”

“And don’t forget that we don’t know what animals are hiding in the woods that are hungry and looking for yummy little boys.” Johnny added.

“Johnny, be quiet! What are we going to do?” Peskedy crushed a dead leaf.

“Try to find home?” Johnny suggested. “And how many times have you told me to be quiet?”

“We don’t have any flashlights.”

Mary put her hand on Johnny’s shoulder. “We should just go to sleep; then we’ll be refreshed for another day of searching tomorrow.”

Johnny looked around in sorrow. “But there’s no bed!”

“We’ll just have to sleep on the ground.” Mary moved some sharp looking sticks away from her.

“But the ground is cold! And we don’t even have a blanket.” Johnny said.

“We don’t know what animals could be lurking around if we slept on the ground.” Peskedy stood up.

“So what’s your plan Mr. Smarty?” Johnny said defiantly.

“I say we sleep in the trees.” Peskedy laid his hand on a strong looking maple.

“The trees?” Johnny shrieked. “What? Do you know how uncomfortable that would be?”

“Have you ever tried it?”

“Well… no.” Johnny reluctantly answered.

“Then you don’t know what it would be like.” Peskedy said.

“True, but it looks really uncomfortable.” Johnny answered.

“Well what do you want to do?” Peskedy asked.

“I want to go home!”

“Anything besides that?”

“No.”

“Let’s have a vote.” Mary tried to make peace. “Johnny, decide whether you want the ground or the trees.”

“The ground has wild animals.” Peskedy said.

“The trees have snakes and you could fall out.” Mary countered.

Johnny thought for a few moments. Then he said, “I vote for the ground. Peskedy will be able to protect us.”

“My old knife won’t be able to stop a panther.” Peskedy sighed.

“Let’s just go to bed and try not to think about that.” Mary said.

A cold wind began to blow. Peskedy shivered. “I wish I had my coat. It’s cold here at night!”

All the children lay down very close together under a bush. The ground was hard and cold and none of them slept much that night. The next morning they woke up to the birds singing and the sun warming their cold bodies.

They ended up meeting a mountain lion named, you guessed it, Lion Jaw. XD XD Then they had to fight dragons, got put in prison by the dragons and nearly killed. :I

An Adventure in Mendolop 2 (Age 13)

After I finished writing part one, I decided that I loved my characters so much that they had to continue their adventures. It ended up being a trilogy. XD

Chapter five: Peskedy’s plot against Isaac

Mary had found Peskedy pouting under the tree.

“I’ll get him back. He’ll pay for what he’s done!” Peskedy said to himself.

Mary came up and sat down beside him. “Peskedy? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I’ll get Isaac!” Peskedy said.

Mary shook her head. “Why? What did he do?”

“He’s stealing my place in the village. I should have seen it before. Now that I think about it, I’m realizing that he has been taking the hearts of my friends ever since he first came!” Peskedy exclaimed angrily.

“No he hasn’t! He’s so nice!” Mary yelled back.

“To you he may seem nice, but I see a mean liar and thief!” Peskedy answered bitterly.

“What?” Mary asked.

Peskedy stood up. “I need to go.”

He stomped off.

Mary shook her head again. “What was that all about?” She wondered.

As the weeks turned into months, the animals of the village began to love Isaac more. They stopped going to Peskedy for advice and turned to Isaac. Mr. Frederick took Isaac on more repair jobs. The wild cats asked Isaac to accompany them on their hunting trips. Peskedy’s anger grew and grew. He felt left out and unneeded. One day he had enough. He was determined to do something to stop the animals from loving Isaac so much. The thought of talking kindly to Isaac and telling him that he was hurt never crossed Peskedy’s mind. All he had was hate for Isaac. His sister and parents saw this. They tried to talk to him, but he hardened his heart. Every morning Mary would close the door to her little room and pray to the King to help her brother.

“Oh King! I’m afraid he will hurt himself or Isaac. Help him to see that anger is wrong and that you hate it!”

While Mary was praying, Peskedy was in his room plotting.

“What can I do to get back at Isaac? Maybe I should… umm… Oh, I know! I’ll pretend that he did something terrible! I’ll spread it all over town! No one will like him anymore!”

Peskedy ran to the old sheep, Luindow. He knocked on the door. She opened it.

“Hi Luindow.” He said. “I don’t have much time, but I have to tell you something.”

“What, dear?” The sheep asked.

“It’s about Isaac.” Peskedy said, trying to repress the anger he felt at even mentioning the name Isaac.

Luindow looked worried. “Oh! Has anything happened to him? He’s so sweet! He brought me some firewood yesterday. I’m too old to get it, you know. He brings me some every morning.” She smiled fondly at his kindness.

Peskedy was very annoyed. “Oh yes. Well, I’m afraid he’s not as sweet as everyone thinks he is.”

Luindow looked surprised. “What do you mean?”

Peskedy took a deep breath. “Have you seen Isaac today?”

“Actually, no. And come to think of it, he hasn’t come with the firewood yet. But I think it must be because of the cold and snow.”

Peskedy’s eyes filled with rage. “I know where he was. I was out walking through Lone Pasture and I saw someone walking, far off. I thought, ‘How strange! It looks like a human! It looks like Isaac!’ So I rushed up to greet him. I was about half way there when I saw an eagle approach. I knew this eagle a long time ago. I saw Isaac pull a knife out of his belt. I crouched down in the grass to see what would happen. Isaac tried to stab the knife into the eagle! The eagle was too fast and said something to Isaac. Isaac stabbed again and again. He hit the eagle a couple times. The eagle flew off wounded. Isaac put the knife back in his belt and walked off. So you see, Isaac is dangerous.”

Luindow’s voice shook as she said, “He would never hurt a talking animal! Maybe the eagle was an enemy. Maybe it was trying to hurt him.”

Peskedy shook his head. “No. I’ve seen that eagle and he is very kind.”

“I’m sure it was a mistake. I’m sure he didn’t mean to!” Luindow said, but she didn’t sound very sure of herself.

Peskedy stood up and put his coat on. “The evidence is clear.” He said. “If I were you, I would stay away from Isaac.”

“I’ll take your advice, Peskedy. Thank you.” Luindow said.

Peskedy left. He felt triumphant. But deep in his heart, he knew that what he was doing was wrong. He didn’t want to listen to his conscience. He tried to drown it out. He went from house to house spreading the lie about Isaac. When he returned home he found Mary anxiously awaiting him.

“Have you see Isaac?” Mary asked.

Peskedy smiled. “Yes. This morning…”

Peskedy told Mary the story.

Mary gasped. “He would never do that! You made that up just to get him in trouble!”

Peskedy lied. “No. As much as I dislike Isaac, I would never make up something like that.”

Mary burst into tears. “Oh how could he!”

Mary rushed over to the Stingers house. She knocked. The door was opened by Rose, whose face was tearstained.

“Rose, what’s wrong?” Mary asked, as she hugged her friend.

Rose began to cry. “Isaac left the house early this morning. He came back around noon. Everyone started blaming him for hurting an eagle! He tried to deny it, but they started chasing him. He ran away to Lone Pasture. Daddy went out to look for him, but he can’t find him. No one will talk to me because they think I’m the sister of a criminal!”

“Oh Rose! I’m so sorry!” Mary said.

Rose looked at Mary and whispered, “Do you think… do you think he could have hurt an eagle?”

Mary took Rose’s hands and said, “No! I’m sure he didn’t. Peskedy just came in and told me a few minutes ago!”

“Do you think Peskedy might have made the story up?” Rose asked.

Mary sighed. “That’s what I thought at first. But he’s always been so honest. I can’t believe that he would make up a story to hurt someone.”

“I’ve seen the way he’s ignored and looked down upon Isaac lately.” Rose said sadly.

“I know. I’ve seen it, too.” Mary sighed again.

“But why?” Rose’s voice was distressed. “Isaac hasn’t done anything to Peskedy!”

“Peskedy thinks that Isaac is stealing the animals’ hearts. He used to be the ‘big man’ in the village, but now everyone goes to Isaac instead of him.”

“Peskedy’s envious of Isaac?” Rose asked.

Mary nodded. “I’ve been praying and praying that Peskedy will forget his anger before he hurts Isaac.”

“I want to be like you.” Rose said quite suddenly.

“Me?”

“You talk to the King whenever you’re in trouble. You have a peace and a joy that just shines from you. I want it.” Rose looked longingly into Mary’s face.

“Oh Rose!” Mary exclaimed. “I’ve been praying that you will seek the King!”

“What do I do?” Rose asked earnestly.

Mary smiled. “Just… ask him to save you from your sins. Repent of what you’ve done wrong and he’ll forgive you. Seek to please him. Not because you’ll be saved by it, but because you love him so much!”

For the rest of the afternoon Mary and Rose prayed to the King, first for Rose and then for Isaac and lastly for Peskedy. Then Mary got up and hugged Rose.

“I must go now.” She said.

“Yes. I’m sure it’s almost your dinner time!” Rose said.

“Yes.” Mary agreed. “But I’m not leaving to eat.”

“Why?” Rose asked.

“I’m going to go find Isaac.” Mary said. Her face was set with determination.

Part two was much better than part one, plot wise, but it was still really badly written….

Quinena, Emma and Amelia of Belda (age 14)

I wrote this ridiculous story about this family that moved to an ‘uncivilized’ part of their country and set up a farm there.

Chapter five: The journey

Reuben and I put the last boxes into the trunk of the old car. We had had to get rid of a lot of things because we couldn’t take them all. We sold most of our stuff and only brought the necessities. I was sad to give up so many things…most of my toys, all of my pretty clothes, tea sets… Reuben didn’t seem to mind much at all. He had a big backpack filled with, as he called it, survival gear. I thought it was awfully silly to bring all of the dried food that he had, but he thought it was necessarily. We all piled into the car and took one last look at our old house. Then we turned towards the smooth road and looked forward to the adventure before us!

We drove for a couple hours. The road became increasingly bumpy and unkempt. Soon the road turned into a dusty gravel path, hardly wide enough for our car. After a few minutes, that ended in a grassy place. Father said that this is where we would get out and walk. It wouldn’t be too far.

“Are we going to take the car?” I asked, knowing the answer.

Father shook his head, confirming my suspicions.

“How are we going to carry all of this stuff?” I wailed. I had thought we would just drive to our new property. I didn’t realize we were going to have to walk most of the way there. I saw horses and donkeys in my imagination. Having one of those sure would be great!

Reuben smiled. “It’s a good thing that I’ve been carrying you a lot, Emma. These boxes will seem light in comparison!”

I shot him an angry glance and reluctantly got out of the car. Mother opened the trunk and we took out our small boxes.

“What’s going to happen to the car?” I asked as I thought of all the memories that old, rusty car held.

“A man has already paid me for it. He’s a friend of mine. He will come and get the car. He knows where it is.” Father said as he picked up the largest box.

“Exactly how far is it to our land?” I asked. “Why can’t we just set up our tents here? This sure looks uncivilized enough to me!”

Reuben laughed and put on his backpack. “Stop complaining, sis!” He said. He picked up his large box. “This is going to be fun!”

I wasn’t convinced but I held my tongue and picked up my box of items. I was suddenly thankful that Mother made me get rid of some of the stuff I was going to bring. Maybe she knew about this whole walking part ahead of time.

“Why can’t we drive, Father?” I asked, as I got up off the ground. It was the fourth time I had tripped in the last ten minutes.

“The ground is too rough for the car. It wouldn’t make it far. And besides, Emma, there are no gas stations around here.” Father answered.

I fell again and my box crashed to the ground. Reuben, who hadn’t tripped once, stifled a laugh.

“If it’s too rough for the car, isn’t it too rough for me?” I moaned and rubbed my sore ankle.

“Let’s just keep going.” Father laughed. I didn’t see what was so funny.

The ground was very rough and uneven. There was a lot of grass that seemed to take strange pleasure in tripping me. I was sure that by the time we got to our land, my box of belongings would be far, far behind on the “trail”. I dropped something about every time I fell and I didn’t really feel the great desire to pick it up again. I realized later that Mother, who was walking behind me, ended up picking up most of my things and carrying them on top of her heavy box filled with pots, pans and cleaning supplies. She was really great during that trip.

Soon the sun set and the stars came out in great beauty. If I would have been less grumpy, I would have seen how bright and beautiful they were! But we were all too tired to notice.

“Father, Reuben said that it wouldn’t be a very long walk!” I wailed. I held my box in my arms and I stuck the flashlight under my arm. Everyone was really tired of hearing me complain.

“Maybe if you would have walked faster, we’d be there by now!” Reuben snapped.

“I’m tired and hot and hungry!” I cried. “Can’t we stop?”

“Yes.” Father said, wearily. “We’ll stop here for the night and keep walking tomorrow.”

I thankfully put down my box and Mother handed me the things that had fallen out.

“Should I set up my tent now, Father?” I asked.

He nodded. Reuben and I got to work immediately. Reuben soon had his tent ready but I was having trouble. I couldn’t figure out how to get it to stand up. In desperation I turned to Reuben and asked for his help. Soon, I was lying down inside my tent and hoping that none of the Indians I had heard about found us. I drifted off to sleep only to be woken again, very early the next morning.

Priceless (age 14-15)

I got into writing really depressing stories and this one was no exception….I’m so embarrassed by it that I still haven’t let anyone other than my sister (who begged and begged and begged) read the whole thing…..

After the service had finished that morning, there was a fellowship meal. Arleta and Peter filled plates full of delicious food, while Harmony followed sulkily. She had just sat down at a table next to Arleta, with a small amount of food, when she spotted Kaitlin.

Oh no! Harmony’s heart raced. She can’t see me here!

She stood up. Arleta looked at her with question in her eyes.

“Where are you going?”

“Home, Mrs. Jones.” Harmony said coldly.

Peter, who was sitting opposite Harmony, shook his head. “No, you can’t go home right now. We’re going to stay until the meal is over.”

Harmony sighed loudly and sat down again, hoping that Kaitlin wouldn’t see her. Much to her dismay, she was spotted and Kaitlin walked quickly towards her. She sat down in the empty seat beside Harmony and smiled.

“I haven’t seen you in a while!” Kaitlin said, after giving a silent prayer of thanksgiving for her food.

“I’ve been…umm, busy.” Harmony tried to smile.

Kaitlin looked at her face closely. Harmony squirmed around uncomfortably.

“Can I talk to you somewhere private?” Kaitlin finally asked.

Harmony’s heart sank. She had half a mind to refuse. But something inside of her chose to accept the offer. She sighed and followed Kaitlin away from the noise of the fellowship hall and into the quiet of the sanctuary. They sat down in one of the back pews and were silent for a few seconds. Kaitlin stared up at the wooden replica of the cross.

She turned to Harmony and said, “It’s hard to believe that God would allow his son to die such a painful death.” Her voice grew quiet and reverent. “For us, he allowed himself to be nailed to something like that and to die that way, so that we could have life forever. He made that sacrifice for us!”

Harmony shook her head and traced the wrinkles in her dress with her eyes. “He made that sacrifice for you. He hasn’t done it for me. I am not worthy of that kind of love.”

Kaitlin looked shocked. “Harmony, I didn’t know –” She began, but she was cut off.

“I don’t deserve to be loved by anyone after – after what I’ve done. If you knew, you would abandon me. You would be horrified and you would never want to be near me again! You don’t know the real me! You don’t know what goes on in the real world! Your life is all smiles and laughter! My life is darkness, misery and hopelessness! I just want to die!” Harmony burst into tears. Kaitlin reached out to hug her, but Harmony pushed away. “Don’t ever come near me again!” She yelled through her tears. “If you knew –”

“Harmony!” Kaitlin nearly screamed. Her voice was loud at first, but gradually grew softer and softer until it was almost a whisper. “I don’t care what you’ve done! I still want to be your friend! And you know what? God made that sacrifice for us all! Not just me or the other people in this church. He made that sacrifice for you as well! He knows everything that you have done – everything that you ever will do! But that doesn’t change his love for you!” Tears streamed down her face as she stared into Harmony’s miserable one. “He wants you to be his child! You are his child, Harmony! You told me that, before this whole mess happened, you knew God loved you – you believed his love for you! Remember that love! Don’t give it up just because hard times have come! Don’t lose your faith! Harmony, remember his love!”

Harmony hung her head and stared at her hands. The river of tears slowed and her heaving shoulders became calm. “My mind is too confused right now. I have to get back to my caretakers.” She stood up, wiping the remaining tears off of her face and slipped out of the sanctuary.

Kaitlin watched her go, and then fell on her knees and begged God to show his love to the poor, miserable girl.

Harmony walked quickly back to where Arleta and Peter were still eating. At once Arleta noticed a change in her.

It’s like half of the impudence that she has is gone! I wonder what Kaitlin said to her…

Harmony sat down gently beside her and pushed the food on her plate around with her fork. Arleta placed her hand on the girl’s shoulder. For the first time in weeks, Harmony didn’t push her away. Arleta’s heart leapt and the dying spark of hope that Harmony to feel real joy was again ignited.

Later, when Harmony was about to lay down, her eyes fell upon a large stack of letters. They were all from Lisa.

I can’t write her. Harmony sighed, climbing into bed. I just can’t think of anything positive to write her about! Her letters are always so fun and happy. I can’t let her know how miserable I really am…or what I’ve been doing…

*DIES OVER AND OVER AGAIN*

And there you have it, people. 9,500 words of my humiliation. XD I’m pleased to say that my stories are much better now that ^^, although, I’ll look back on my current writing someday and be like, “Uuuh self?? What were you thinking when you wrote that???” XD XD

~The Now Dead Fifteen Times, Hattush