The diary of BEN THE GREAT THE Great The Costume Caper
By Ben
Oh, hi there. My name's Ben. I’m part of the Super Detective Agency. My friends and I have lots of amazing mysteries we solve together. Right now, I’m shooting from a water hydrant with a giant dog. If you don’t believe me, read the book! Let me tell you what happened…
“Hi,” I said. “Let’s practice pet tricks at Frank’s house for the Fourth of July Pet Parade.” It's the middle of summer and we're excited for the parade. Our town does it to honor our country's independence. It's a huge thing in our town, and there’s even an animal charity connected to it. It's called The Paws to Help Foundation! Last year it raised 10 million dollars! Every year there’s a carnival. Tickets are 2 dollars for people 3 and under and 5 dollars for people 3 and over. But it's a mystery who designs it. Every kid tries to find out who it is, but they just can’t seem to find out who is the designer of the carnival. But we do know who is running the charity. It is the mayor, Mr. Wumpleberry. He is known all over the country for doing strange things such as having broccoli-chili-eat-a-thons and having stink bomb fights at the town hall, which my mom doesn't approve of. There are also weird tourist attractions such as statues of every single U.S. President ever in front of the library instead of your typical lions! Our town is different and we love it that way!
“Okay,” Frank said. “Go get your pets and we can meet in my yard in five minutes.”
We went to Frank's backyard and I brought my blobfish named Mr. Blob, with a party hat on. Judy, my friend, came with Harold, her black and white cat. Harold was wearing a bow tie and a tuxedo. Stink, Judy’s smart and annoying brother, had a rabbit named Chewy. Chewy had on a polka dotted tie. Rocky, my other friend, had a hamster named Houdini. Houdini was wearing a striped party hat. Frank, my forgetful friend, had a brown and white dog named Sparky. Sparky had a rainbow clown costume, except Sparky wasn’t actually wearing it.
“I’ll go get the clown costume,” Frank said, “I forgot to bring it out.” “Okay,” we said.
It was not unusual for Frank to forget things. He forgets a lot. Five minutes went by. Ten minutes went by. 15 minutes went by. 20 minutes went by. “Where is Frank?” Judy said with a worried face.
“I don’t know,” said Stink.
“Let’s go find him,” said Rocky.
“Okay,” I said.
We went to Frank's house. Frank was panicking in the hall. “What’s wrong?” we asked.
“I lost Sparky’s clown costume,” Frank said.
“I know,” Stink said. “We could start our own detective agency! Frank’s problem could be our first mystery!”
“Great idea!” I said. Stink has a lot of great ideas.
“Oh man!” said Rocky. “I wish I could make it reappear with a twirl of my finger!”
“I know you’re great at magic, but no one can do that!” I said. “I know,” Rocky said. “But I always dream I can, okay?”
“What are the clues?” said Judy, taking out a pen and paper. Judy is very organized. “But every good detective agency has a name. So, before we look for clues we have to name it. Let’s try to think of a name for it.” “What about the Detective Jets?” asked Rocky.
“No,” said Stink. “What about the Best Detectives Ever?”
“No, wait,” I said. “The Super Detectives sounds great! That should be the name of the detective agency!”
“Yeah, I think that should be the name of the detective agency!” said Rocky and Stink.
“I think we found the name,” said Judy. “Let’s look for clues now,” she said, pulling out her pen and paper again.
“Wait,” said Stink.
“What now?” said Judy.
“Everybody will agree on it,” promised Stink.
“Okay, what is it?” said Judy impatiently.
“I know what our motto should be! It should be, The Super Detectives Stick Together!”
“Great idea!” Everyone agreed.
“What are the clues?” asks Judy, pulling out her pencil and paper for the third time. “Well, before we get started, what time is it, Ben? Any good detective should know the time.”
“It’s ten on the dot,” answered Ben, looking at his sparkly blue watch. Frank said, “At two yesterday, I went to the pet store down the street to get Sparky his dog costume. As I was walking home, a big fancy car sped by. It was so cool, I dropped the costume. I tried to grab it, but I was too late. Sparky was chewing it. He chewed it all the way home. He finally dropped it when we got home, it was so wet and slobbery that it looked like a hippo had chewed on it. I hung it up on the clothesline in the backyard. Then, I went back inside and played and stuff. When I just went to look for it now, it wasn’t there. I looked all around but I couldn’t find it! Then, I started panicking. I didn’t know what to do! Then, you guys came and found me. Now you know what happened, so start searching!”
“No, I have to write it down. Any good detective writes things down” said Judy. This is what Judy wrote:
Went to the pet shop at two o'clock yesterday. Bought clown costume. Started walking home. Big fancy car sped by. Dropped clown costume by mistake. Sparky started chewing on it. Kept walking home. By the time Frank got home it was covered in slobber. Frank hung it up on the clothesline. When he took it off this morning it was gone.
“Was anybody in your yard at the time?” I asked.
“Well, I think my mom’s friend Nancy was over for a cup of tea. She was talking about getting a sweater for her Great Dane, Sylvia. If she did
take it, Sparky's costume would never fit Sylvia. That great dane is as big as an elephant! I also don’t understand why she would want a clown costume. She’s not the sort of lady that likes clowns. I think she was thinking of getting Sylvia a green sweater with a bright pink rose on it. But then, her grandson really likes that kind of stuff. I think his birthday is coming up soon. She could have taken it to give to him as a birthday present. She’s definitely the first suspect,” Frank said.
“What!!! No!!! Like I said, she hates that stuff. But we are doing great!” “We are!” Stink said. “We’re going to get this mystery done in no time!” “Was there anybody else over?” I asked.
“Well, speaking of her grandson, he is staying at Nancy’s house because his parents are on a business trip. Oh, and by the way, his name is Billy. He was over too.”
“What was he doing?” asked Stink.
“He was playing with Sparky,” answered Frank. “He really likes dogs! I think he took it!” Frank exclaimed.
I think that might be it,” I said. “But we have to look around for clues. We can’t just blame him.”
“Okay,” agreed Frank.
“What are you waiting for?” asked Judy. “Let's start looking!” “Wait, wait, wait,” I said. “We should bring our pets back to our houses so they don’t run away.”
They reluctantly agreed.
After we brought the pets home, Frank said, “Let’s start searching! We ran all around Frank's yard trying to find clues. “I don’t see anything!” whined Frank. “I spent all my money on that thing. In my opinion, we should go to Nancy’s house.”
“Guys, I agree with Frank,” I said.
“Okay,” Judy said. “I think that's a good idea.”
“To Nancy’s house we go!” said Stink.
It was a quick walk to Nancy's house next door, but Sylvia went to the fire hydrant to pee first. Nancy was in the front yard watering her plants. But Billy was nowhere to be seen.
“Hi,” Frank said to Nancy. “Where is Billy?”
“Oh, Billy’s at summer camp for the day.” Nancy said. “Would you like some cookies? They're fresh from the oven.”
“Sure,” said Frank.
We started going inside. While we were walking, I slipped on the water from Nancy’s sprinklers and fell on Sylvia who fell on the fire hydrant. We hit the hydrant really hard. We hit it so hard we knocked over the fire hydrant causing water to spray up into the sky. A loud, misting, whoosh sound filled the air as Sylvia and I got stuck up high with the water! Nancy stood in disbelief.
“Well, I think I'm going to turn off the water and call the firefighters!” she shouted over the roar of the water! “Guys, watch Ben and Sylvia! I have to go get a wrench from my tool box!” Then she rushed off to get a wrench. “Ben, are you okay up there?” Frank shouted!
“I’m a little high up here! It feels like the scariest water coaster ever! But I’ll be okay for a few minutes.”
“I’m glad…” Frank started to say.
“I’m back!” Nancy announced. “I called the fire station and they'll be here right away. I also called Ben’s mom. She’s coming too.” While we were waiting for the fire truck to come, Judy started writing. This is what Judy wrote.
Ben slipped on water and fell onto Sylvia, who was going to the bathroom on the fire hydrant. Ben slipped and knocked over Sylvia who knocked over the hydrant. Right now they're flying in the air with Sylvia going poop.
Suddenly a fire truck rolled up the street with its siren flashing. “Over here!” Nancy called. The two firemen hopped out of the car. One man said, “We're going to need the ladder and the tool box.” “Okay, chief!” the other man said, saluting. The chief went to calm down the kids while the other man got the ladder set. As he was climbing up, Ben was yelling.
“Oh no!” he yelled. “Sylvia’s going poo!”
The man was almost at the top, and the poop was on Sylvia’s head. The man was one rung away from Ben as a car was turning onto Smahum
Street. The car parked and Ben’s Mom jumped out. She leaped about 3 feet in the air when she saw Ben! “My baby!” she yelled.
By this time the fireman was carrying me down the ladder. Silvia was on my head and the poop was on her head. By the time I was down, I was soaking wet. I hopped in my mom's car to get changed into dry clothes. When I got out I was wearing a REALLY BIG shirt. I was also wearing very small shorts. I was itching to tell my friends about what I saw while I was on the fire hydrant.
Just then, my mom tells me, “Ben, I’m glad you are ok. I am going to make a work call real quick. Don’t get into any trouble. Nancy, are we going to have tea this afternoon at your house, right?”
“Yes we are, neighbor! See you soon!” said Nancy with a smile. As my mom and Nancy were talking, I was peeking through the gate into Nancy’s mysterious backyard. We’ve been neighbors for 6 fun years, but she’s never let us go in there.
“Ben, sorry but I’m having construction back there, don’t go in my backyard. You could get splinters. I need to go back inside. Have a good day, kids!”
“Ok,” I said.
Rocky whispered, “Back to the mystery!”
I ran over to my friends to tell them what I saw when I was flying high on the shooting water hydrant. “Guys, when I was up there, I think I saw the costume in Nancy's backyard snagged in a tree. There were some mysterious platforms back there too. I find it so strange that Nancy won’t ever let us go into her backyard even for just a little bit because she is such good friends with my mom. She said she is doing construction, but I’ve never seen any construction workers going in or out of her yard.” “She might be a super secret spy!” Stink said.
Judy was writing down what I said.
Ben is fine, though he is wearing odd sized clothes . Ben thinks he sees the costume and some strange platform. He has suspicions about Nancy. He also has a plan to get the costume. Let's hope it's a good one.
“Really? How did the costume get there?” Frank said.
“I’m not sure but it’s great that you saw it. But how are we going to get in her backyard? She just said she doesn’t want us going back there.” “It's going to be hard because she loves her garden and she doesn't let anybody go in, but we can do it. I have an idea and it’s going to work. So I will ask my mom if we can go home and play. She's going to be on a work call, so if she sees us she’ll probably think we are playing in the bushes. We can tape on leaves, sticks, and dirt on ourselves so we can sneak in without being seen. Then we will climb over the fence and climb the tree to get the costume. We can also look around to see what she is actually doing back there. Something doesn’t add up.”
“Okay,” they said.
When we came back we were all really dirty and covered with leaves and sticks. Stink had rolled around in the mud for a few minutes and lived up to his name! He stuck branches to his head and feet! He was carefree as he jumped excitedly through the air. Judy had put flowers in her hair and had wrapped ivy around her body. She was also pacing around nervously and writing in her notebook. “What if we get in trouble? This is never going to work,” she kept mumbling. This is what she was writing.
We are going along with Ben's plan; which is never going to work. There are so many problems; I can’t list them!
Rocky was covered in tree branches and kept tripping over them! He also tied the branches together so he looked like a teepee. Unlike the others, Frank and I looked like actual plants. Maybe it's because we both like to read a lot.
“Guys, are you ready?” I whispered, “It's time!” We tiptoed over to the fence and started climbing up the fence. Frank got to the top first but he leaned forward and fell! He did a triple somersault in the air before landing in the bushes. “Are you okay?” I asked as the other guys jumped off the fence.
“I'm okay,” he said as he started climbing out of the bush. But then he stopped. “ I see it! The clown costume is in that maple tree!” As soon as he said that, we dropped everything we were doing. We turned our heads
toward it. Then we stampeded over to the tree and started climbing up. Frank was the first one to grab it and bring it down. When I saw it, I squinted. “What is that shiny thing on it?”
Frank smiled sheepishly. “When I got it, I noticed something shiny on it but didn’t really think about it. I don’t know what it is, but I think it looks super cool.”
“I know what that is!” I whispered. “It’s gold and diamonds!” When the others heard that they just stood there, open mouthed.
Just then Rocky broke the silence. “Are they real?”
“Of course they are,” said Stink.
“Wait, let me check,” I said. “Let me teach you how to check. I read about this in a geology book. Look inside the diamond. If you see any marks or black circles, then it's fake.” I examined it for a few seconds. “I say…it is real!!” We started cheering! Over the noise, I say, “I have an idea!” We should donate the gold and diamonds to The Paws to Help the Foundation at the carnival!” More cheering!
As we were cheering, I took a good look around the yard. I was surprised by what I saw. There were tons of half-built amusement park rides!!! Now that I think about it, it's an important clue. “Wait, is Nancy the creator of the carnival? That has been a mystery for years!”
“I think I hear my mom chatting with Nancy in the house! We only have so much time until we get caught. Let’s climb back over the fence!” As we were climbing the fence, Frank tripped over some fishing wire that was connected to a complicated system of pulleys that ring a bell when anybody comes into her yard. I had forgotten about it until now. We might get caught! We were forgetting to be quiet! “Shush!” I said. But it was too late! Frank just set off the alarm. Nancy and my mom heard us! Nancy went to open the gate. They stepped inside the yard. Judy, who was pulling out her notebook, froze.
If Nancy was mad she didn’t show it. She just seemed really happy! “Why are you back here?” my mom and Nancy asked. Then we told her everything.
“Do you want me to tell you a secret?” Nancy said.
“Yes!” we shouted.
“The reason I don’t let anyone in my backyard is… I designed the carnival for The Fourth of July Pet Parade!”
“Why did you have to keep it a secret?”
“Oh, I love watching you kids searching for the designer! Mysteries make things fun!”
“That sounds awesome! I’m impressed you were able to keep it a secret with all the kid detective gangs around here,” I said. “Wait!” I said. “We didn't find out how the costume ended up in your backyard!”
“I think I know,” said Frank. “I don’t think I put the clothespins securely enough. I was kind of in a hurry to go practice soccer with my soccer team. It was a little windy. It probably blew away and got stuck in the tree.” “I think he's probably right!” my friends said.
“I think so too!” I said.
“Anyway,” Nancy said, “I was looking for some help-”
“Ben!” interrupted my Mom. “I knew you were up to something! All the neighbors were complaining about 5 robbers snooping around. Do you mean that the whole time you were just looking for a costume?”
“But Mom,” I said, “the costume has real gold and diamonds on it. Let me explain.”
“Okay,” my mom said. “Let's hear it.”
We told them everything. “I understand,” my mom said. “But I have a question. How did the gold and diamonds get on the costume?” “I’m pretty sure that it will forever be a mystery.”
“I think you're right,” my mom said. “Back to you Nancy,” she said like a radio announcer.
“Now that you know I am the designer of the fair, I could certainly use some helpers…I was having a hard time getting it done on time.” “Do you mean that…we get to help you design the carnival?” we asked.
“Yes, but there's more. If you help me plan the parade, you also get to ride on the George Washington float and do the broccoli-chili-eat-a-thon!!”
“Do we have to do that part?” said Rocky, gaging.
“Yes,” said Nancy. “I'm telling Mr. Wumpleberry that we finally have volunteers!”
“No!!!!!” said everybody except Judy.
“Mmmmmm!” said Judy. “That's my favorite!”
“Anyway, let's get designing!!!” Nancy said.
“I can’t forget to write this in my journal!” said Judy. Then she started writing. Here is what she wrote.
Ben’s plan actually worked! We can’t wait!
5 weeks later…
Oh hi! We finished designing the carnival! Let me tell you what it looks like! There is a ferris wheel with seats that turn upside down, a roller coaster that goes underground, and booths with crazy contests, such as hurling cow pies and pillow fight championships! There are also celebrities here such as
Alex Trebec and Bill Gates! There are charity booths too where people can go to donate money to the animal charity. Oh, did I mention that in 5 minutes we are going to go on the float?!
“Okay kids, it's time!” said Nancy. There were 166 steps we had to climb to get on the float of George Washington, but I was so excited, it felt like I was walking on air! When we finally got up, Nancy started explaining the rules. I acted like I was listening, but I was actually having an eye conversation with Stink, Judy, And Rocky. Frank was closely listening to Nancy. Nancy was just about finished when it suddenly started sinking.
“I’m sinking into George Washington's head!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Nancy looked at us with a worried face.
“I've got to call Gary Mash. This shouldn’t be happening!” Nancy said, pulling her silver smartphone out of her blue, customized pocket. “Who is Gary Mash?” I shouted as I was falling deeper.
“Wait, did I forget to tell you about Gary Mash? He’s like, the best balloon designer in the history of balloons!! He has designed more than 10,000 balloons and is world famous! He also runs a school called balloon academy, where he teaches college students how to make balloons! I cannot believe he messed up designing the George Washington float.”
“Wait, we are sinking into George Washington's nose!”
As fast as a jet plane, a man with graying hair, black, oversized glasses, a sports jacket and an angry scowl went running towards us shouting, “This is an outrage!!!” There were also a bunch of college students running behind him, trying to talk to him. They reached the balloon in five minutes and the man, who was Gary Mash, stopped. “Okay,” he said to the college students. “What were you saying?” He asked. A kid about as tall as Gary who was wearing a Padres sweatshirt started talking. I know his name is Jackson because he was Frank’s math tutor in the first grade. Well anyway enough about that. Back to what Jackson was saying!
“The reason that it popped was because that wasn't the balloon that was supposed to be used. That was one of the practice balloons we built. You were helping the other class and your secretary was in charge. That normally wouldn’t be a problem but she was sick, so your assistant was in charge. But she was on vacation, so the janitor was in charge!!! We tried to tell him the balloon didn’t seem right but he said it would be fine. Then today we tried to tell you, but you ignored us.”
“Sorry ‘bout that,” he said, scratching his head. “Apparently, one of the balloons exploded in China, so the phone was ringing nonstop! And Nancy, we don’t have another George Washington, so we're going to have to use the Abraham Lincoln float instead, Ok?”
“Okay” said Nancy. “Kids, let’s go enjoy the fair while Gary blows up the balloon and moves it out here.” Me, Rocky, Stink, and Frank all ran off to the games, while Judy ran off to the broccoli-chili-eat-a-thon competition. Apparently, Judy won the broccoli chili eat-a-thon! She got $20! Two hours, 1,000,000 tickets, $20,13 trips to the bathroom, 35 minutes, and 14 seconds later, we were on the float. It was definitely worth it! It was the best day of my life!! We were so high in the air it felt like I was a bird flying high in the air!
Just then, the mayor’s voice boomed through the air like a cat sneaking up on a mouse. The pet parade will start in 5 minutes! “Go get your pets and sign in and go start marchin’! May the best creature win! Oh Wait! The winner of the pet parade gets $1000 and a stay at the white house!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“Oh no,” I said! I need to go get my blobfish! Me and my friends raced to our houses like the wind. We raced so fast we almost ran straight into the tent! The mayor’s voice boomed again. 20 seconds left before the parade!!! We started marching exactly half a second before it started! We made it, but there is still one problem. We forgot to teach our pets tricks!
“Ben!” Judy hissed. “Our pets don’t know anything! We're toast!!!” “Just march! I told her. But the kid in front of us is eating
beef!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“He is??!” I said.
“Yes!!!” she said. “And Sparky smells it!!” Just then, Sparky soared through the air and straight into the dude’s arm pit!!” Disgusted for landing in his armpit, but wishing for more food, he hopped through the crowd with all of our pets following him. Chewy chomped on his leash and ran after Sparky! And it went on like that for the rest of the 10 mile parade.
Feeling like we would never win, we waited for the mayor, Mr. Wimpleberry, to announce the winner. “The winner is… Frank, Ben, Judy, Stink, And Rocky!!!! Can you please step up here please? Enjoy your stay at the White House!!!” Judy gasped, Frank fainted, and Rocky and I stood so still. It was like we were super glued to the cement!
Just then I saw the Tiger Gang starting to walk to the stage!! “No!” Oh, wait did I forget to tell you about the Tiger Gang?! They always bend the rules in the Mayor’s events! In the last 3 Super Science Slams, they stole other people's projects and won! They can not steal the prize from us!
When my friends saw them, their eyes bulged out. Then we ran like the wind. When the president of the Tiger Bang, Rob “Pecan Sandy” Baker, saw us and our pets running, he gave us the monster stare. It is basically raising one eyebrow and then lowering the black part of your eye so low you can barely see it. Then on the other eye you bend your eyebrow low so it makes you look angry. Then you scowl and wrinkle your nose. I stuck my tongue out at him and ran even faster. Then me and my friends hopped onto the stage, ready to accept our prizes. But before I accepted it, I smiled. The Tiger Gang was never going to take our prize.
“I proudly present to you this prize. Enjoy your stay at the White House! I will tell you in 2 weeks the details of the trip. Oh, thank you for donating $500,025 to Paws to Help! And a special gift certificate to Handel's
Ice Cream! ” Everybody clapped. As we stepped off the stage, I went over to where the Tiger Gang was standing
“Sorry you lost,” I said.
“No, it's ok,” they said. “You deserved it.”
“Thank you,” I said. Then I ran off to my friends, and as we walked home I said, “That was awesome!”
“Yeah it was,” said Rocky.
“We really need to start packing our bags,” said Stink.
“See ya in the White House,” I said as I stepped in the front door. “Wait, I said, we forgot to go to the fireworks! It starts in 5 minutes!” As we started running we saw our moms’ shadows in the distance.
“Come on you're or going to be late!” they called. We got to the park right when the first lights were exploding in the air. It was beautiful.
Well that’s all for this book. I hope you liked it. Hopefully I’ll see you in the White House! Bye!
B Flat
By Aliyah
Do anything on the piano and it’s a chord.
Play a nice song–you will be adored.
People play music wherever they’re at,
Because life without music would forever be flat.
Nightmare
The golden serpent is a beast that you don't want to go near. Its okay to be scared; he’s everyone’s biggest fear
If you imagine a monster, you can imagine he’s very tall. And very few people have ever seen him at all.
As told in his name, he has a fiery golden color
Golden all over, he only has one brown gular.
The only one who can stop the giant snake, you see, Is the winkle, who is very fluffy.
The winkle has brown feet and brown hands,
And if he touches the beast’s brown gular, he can give him commands.
The winkle has the most cutest face,
But just like that, he vanishes without a trace.
Now this is my dream with the golden serpent i faced, And without the kindly winkle, it would have been the end of my race.
I was in the wild animal park, close to his exhibit.
I kind of wanted to touch his cave but that’s what the guards did prohibit.
Then some rowdy girls came around and sat in my car. (Cars were allowed inside; now isn't that bizarre.)
One of them said, “OMG, I adore ketchup and fries!” And then she ate all my Wendys, right before my eyes.
All that ruckus must have awakened the beast,
For the golden serpent came out of his cave for a feast.
When everyone saw the serpent they screamed and ran
but I, being smart, locked myself in my black minivan.
The serpent slithered on the ground and knew
That he was scary and that I had a clue
Of what to do.
So he broke the glass of the car and grinned with glee For his next meal was going to be me
But then the winkle appeared and I knew that I was free
Because then the winkle touched the gular
Of the snake that was the ugly brown color
All of a sudden, there was a flash of blue.
I opened my eyes. I was in a meadow of dew.
The winkle had saved me
And now I see
That the winkle is always watching over us
And that we should never make a fuss.
That was my dream.
And I did it all in rhymes. That part makes me beam.
Glossary
Gular: a plate or scale in the throat region of the body of a fish or reptile (usually a snake)
The instructor said,
Go home and write,
a page tonight,
And let that page come out of you –
I am a lonely boy.
I have few friends,
And don't plan to make any.
My life is quiet and boring.
While there is room for others,
I prefer the solitude of my thoughts.
Many ask me about my friends,
I'm always at a loss for words.
It feels wrong that I don't have an answer
That I have to make an excuse.
I enjoy my life as I think few do:
I play guitar for the enjoyment of it,
I read for the things I can imagine,
I wear the clothes I like,
I discuss the things that bring me joy.
My life is constantly changing
As everyone's does.
That still does not change the fact
That change is hard to deal with.
It's a weight upon your shoulder
Until you eventually find a way to accept it.
When life is hard I sometimes wish
For someone who would listen.
Someone who could help me process my thoughts
Without silently judging,
Without trying to fix what doesn't need fixing.
I know I could make friends.
That is something in life everyone is capable of.
While I know this fact,
I never seem to find the courage.
So I’ll wait for the day I conquer my fear,
When I'm ready for that next push in my life.
I'm never sad, only regretful.
I’m content with my life.
Based off of Langston Hughes poem “Theme for English B”
When Pigs Fly
One morning, in the town of Random, a young boy named Jesse woke up excitedly. It was his birthday. After all, who wouldn't be? Down stairs, a neon-orange birthday present was waiting just for him. He ran down stairs while his family cheered; even his baby sister, Elisha, was gurgling with joy. He vigorously opened the box sitting on the table, which felt rather strange. He hoped it was an action figure of his favorite superhero or a toy car. Jesse was a ten-year-old now, after all. He slowly pulled it out of the box. It was a drone! The latest model, too.
“Oh thanks you guys!” Jesse exclaimed. He ran outside to try it out. Jesse set the drone in a tree-free area to keep it from getting stuck. He then flew it around the yard in great loop de loops. Mother and father clapped wildly. Jesse then activated the camera, which he had been reading about ever since the model had come out three months ago. He spied on the neighbors having tea. He saw Mr. Shepherd in the bathtub down the street,
which made him giggle uncontrollably. He saw Mrs. Nora putting her pajamas on in the middle of the afternoon. As the drone flew by his next door neighbor, Jim's dogs barked at the tiny, round drone. Watching all the fun, Jesse's little brother, Hank, wanted to try too.
Jesse smiled and handed Hank the remote. Hank loved drones; he had a complete set of army soldiers he would fly around in his mini toy helicopter. Hank flew down low to the ground, scaring little kids on the sidewalk.
“I want one of these when I turn 8 years old," Hank exclaimed loudly. “Can I Ma?”
“That is only 2 months away. You will have to wait till you're older and more responsible,” Ma replied patiently. Just then, Jesse let out a cry. A wild boar came out from behind some bushes near the house, grabbed the drone in his jaws, sprouted wings and flew away with it, leaving poor Jesse droneless once more. He really did live in a random town!
“It’s ok children! That is Snort, the neighbors' new flying pig! Jim asked us to watch Snort for him because the dogs won't accept him; so until he finds an alternative, we will be taking care of Snort for a while,” Jesse's mom explained.
“Cool! I want A flying pig!” Hank exclaimed
“Can he give me my drone back?” asked Jesse impatiently. Snort glided down and dropped the drone at Jesse's feet in a heap of slobber.
“Ewww!” Jesse gasped, jumping back in horror.
“It's alright; just a little slobbery,” their dad laughed. Hank Turned toward His brother. “Can I fly the drone again?” “When pigs fly! You broke my drone! Why would I let you?!” Jesse questioned defiantly.
His brother grinned and pointed to the flying pig rolling in the grass next to him.
“I guess!” Jesse chuckled. “Pigs do fly!”
THE END