Girls With Pens in Central Austin
We had six amazing young writers in this camp. I kept having to extend the writing time because the girls wouldn't put down their pens! I heard about the continents being split and relocated in space, the ghost of a fire dancer, and a prince so hot that women who wanted to marry him would die of heat exhaustion.
Please enjoy these stories. They are a small sample of the remarkable work that the campers created this week.
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Me and My Mom
by Evan Allbriton
This morning something strange happened. It all started with wobbliness in my legs all the way up with how I spoke. I didn’t know what to think until I saw my 10-year-old self standing in front of the kitchen counter. I thought I was dreaming right up until she spoke (well, I guess in this case, it was I who spoke.) Instead of talking in my voice, my mother’s voice came out. She said, “Honey? Is that you?” The only thing I knew how to do in this instance was to scream (scream and run away, that is). I sprinted to my mom’s car, grabbed her keys, and drove away. Of course, since I’m 10, I did hit a few things on the way out of the garage, including my dad’s car, the garage door, and my old bike that I didn’t ride anymore.
Since today was Saturday, I didn’t have to go to her job.
As I was recklessly driving, I was thinking of what I had done to earn this. Then it hit me––last night my mom and I had an argument. Of course. It always starts this way.
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The News Report
by Alexa Borden
“Today on ABC News, I’m Johnny here today, with––oh wait, this just in, lock your door folks because mass murderer John Black has just escaped from solitary confinement. He is out there folks, but don’t you worry! The police are on this case. So back to the weather.”
I clicked on the button on the remote and the old TV went black. I got up off the couch, because my foot had fallen asleep. I half walked/half limped over to my brother whose black hair was covering his face as he looked down at his computer.
“It’s not true, is it?”
He finally looked up at me and pushed his bangs back. “I dunno.” He looked back down at his slow laptop and tried to close his current tab but the computer locked up.
I looked over at the screen. He had pulled up news reports on the escape of John Black. He was scared. I wasn’t born yet when John Black started to murder and form his own group, but my brother Jackson was. Black went after Mom when she was pregnant with me. He didn’t kill her. The cops got him first. But he did kill Dad.
After I was born, Mom sent me, Nora Ren, and my brother, Jackson Ren, to the local orphanage, and she ran away. We are still not sure where she went to though. My brother became old enough to buy me and him a house. He struggles with the thought of Mom and Dad often. I don’t though. I am not used to a life with a mom and dad. It is kinda hard to miss someone that you never knew.
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I Epically Save My Princess!
by Kaissa Doichev
I’m epic! My hair is like gold! Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about what a magnificent prince I am! Ahem, I royally apologize. Oh, would you like to hear my story of how I epically saved the new princess and looked handsome doing it? Well, I’ll tell you anyway.
It was a beautiful morning (not as beautiful as me) and I was riding my mare Sky down through the thick pine woods. I was taking a break from the castle because mother was going on about how self-obsessed I am! What a big liar, am I right? I’m still awesome . . . anyway, the grass was green and robins were chirping and I was having a great time enjoying the fresh air. It was a wonderful day, and I sure was glad to be out in the world. But I’m sure the world was even more glad I was out in it! Sky trotted along and I hummed thinking about how my hair is perfect. In fact, I was so perfect no princess wanted to marry me because they would die of heat exhaustion due to my hotness! And my mother, the queen, was urging me to find the right princess (even though I claimed I could just marry my reflection.)
I paused and heard a little scream. “Someone in trouble!” I said. “As prince, I must save my people!”
I followed the yells along the path and saw a disgusting looking (and smelling) blue aqua goblin. They were nasty beasts that always roamed the kingdom. This one, Mr. Ugly, was hefting a deadly dagger, getting closer to who I realized had screamed––a beautiful girl with a tattered gown and a muddy face. I knew what I had to do!
“I need to get you a makeover, girl!” I told her.
She jumped up in surprise, and when she saw me, her eyes brightened.
“Are you a prince?” she whispered.
I flashed her a dazzling smile. “That obvious, huh? Well, get on my horse, and I’ll ride you away from Mr. Ugly!”
Before Mr. Ugly could react, the girl leapt onto the back of my horse. Mr. Ugly wasn’t so happy and tried to jump on my horse as well.
“Don’t worry, fair maiden! I will save you from this monster!” I flashed her another epic smile and she blushed.
I turned to Mr. Ugly, who was grabbing at Sky’s tail. “OH NO YOU DON’T!” I yelled and swiftly and epically sliced Mr. Ugly in half, his saltwater blood seeping into the ground.
I sighed, turned to the girl, and said, “You shall be my princess! But before we get married, how about we get you that makeover?”
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The Flower Dancer
by Teerdha Nambiar
She dances full of emotions; her steps show off her tears. Her heart flows with love to everyone in her tribe. She had a brother who fought bears and wolves to bring her home, but almost everyone else neglected her talents and gave her the cold shoulder. She tried to do everything to impress them but nothing worked.
One day when she was taking a shower in the small waterfall that they used to take baths in, she saw that her refection was very different. She had sun golden hair but her “family” had dark hair. Her eyes were of the color of the sky, but her “family’s” were of the mud. She had lighter pearl white skin with a hint of light brown. Her family had brown skin all the way. And then and there she realized that her whole identity for 22 years of her life was all fake.
She dressed up in her leaves and went to her tribe where she confronted her parents, who were in their teepee asked, “So nana ki sura mi nave se mana?” which means, “What happened my beautiful daughter?”
She glared at them and said, “Nak nak binosti my tam sua to mona!” which means, “Nothing, but I’m not your daughter!”
She stared at their traits and looked at her brother who came back home from hunting a bear. She got so infuriated that she danced her emotions. Everywhere she stepped turned into orange red flames. She danced in a circle and danced in a square. She made a beautiful design outside of the teepee. It was a flower. Then she danced to the middle of the teepee and erupted into a huge bang of flames. Her family rushed out to help her and they got sucked into the flame. They all died the moment they stepped on the sacred ground.
It is said that the fire flower dancer comes out at midnight and dances with fury and makes a flower out of fire and erupts into flames and dies all over again.
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The Backstory of Fleur Delacour
by Vivian Quinn
I grew up near Paris in an old home with the most beautiful gardens. Every day after tea, I would stroll through them with the occasional company of a pastry or a chirping bird.
One day while I was in the middle of a stroll, my mother called out to me, “Come inside, Darling, we have guests!” I was mad at Mother. She was being rather snobbish of late. She was always going on about popularity and something called politics. I know what it is now, and I don’t care for it much, but I was only 10 at the time.
My parents never told me about anything. My mother, Zelda Delacour, and my father, Robert Delacour, got married on June 1st, 1992, and waited 2 years to have their child. My mother’s maiden name was Zelda Carine Mosto.
That day I was angry at her a bush disappeared. I knew this was a sign of my wizardry. I come from a family of wizards and I’m pureblood. When I turned eleven, a letter arrived. It was from Madame Maxine from the Beauxbatons Wizardess Academy.
On platform 72, the Leopard’s Station only goes up to platform 20. I boarded the train, the new willow and unicorn hair wand feeling good in my pocket. I was going to tell you about my years at Beauxbatons, but I will skip to the part you all want to hear: my encounter with the famous Harry Potter. I climbed into the carriage and we flew through the air to Hogwarts. Oh, tea time. I better go!
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Splitting Spiral
by Katie Simmons
Far out in the unchartered backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. “T-minus 42 seconds.” 42 seconds later I was in space. It’s no big deal, really, everyone living on Neptune travels.
For a while, we could only go to the planets closest to the sun until we learned how to split up our sun. Yes, I said split up our sun. Don’t worry, only 1,271 people died in the process. It’s really not a big deal. So now each continent has its own planet; each planet has their own sun revolving around it. Also, don’t worry about the whole gravity of the universe being thrown off. There is still enough gravity from what is left of the sun that it holds the Spiral Arm together.
In case you didn’t know, our home is called the Spiral Arm. It is made of 7 planets, 7 suns, and the asteroid belt. The planet Earth is long gone . . . anyway, North America lives on Neptune, South America lives on Saturn, Asia lives on Jupiter, Europe lives on Mars, Antarctica lives on Uranus, Africa lives on Venus, and Australia lives on Mercury.
And me, my name is Nora Ross, citizen of North America. I live on Neptune and I get heat, light, energy, and food from our sun, Destiny. And I am your guide through the Spiral Arm. Together we will learn the challenges we have had to face and what we are experiencing now as the Western Spiral as the sides are split and the lines are drawn.
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