Forest Cats

Andreanna Ulery, Age 10
Emerson Elementary

It was a cool, misty morning in the forest. Rain was drizzling down and four cats gathered close. Their names were Sparrow, Pine, Blaze, and Fern. Sparrow was a tawny and white she-cat and had unnerving amber eyes. Pine was a brown tabby tom with dark emerald eyes. Blaze was a golden cat with a white belly and paws and ice blue eyes. Fern was a light silver and black tabby cat. She had delicate black paws and golden eyes. She was the youngest also. The wind picked up dramatically and the rain poured to a steady downpour. Fern snapped, “Let’s get on with this meeting instead of sitting in the rain!” Fern was a young cat but she could be very fierce. Blaze meowed, “Ok. I think Fern is right. Let’s get on with the meeting.” Fern purred, “Thank you Blaze.” Blaze nodded his head. The cats’ meeting started.

A couple days later . . .

It had been raining for a quite a while now and Sparrow was worried. She thought over and over again, I wonder is this is going to be a bad storm? On and On. That night, the wind picked up and whirled around, wailing like a piece of prey had been stolen. Blaze and Pine ran to where Fern lived, trying to find shelter. They saw Sparrow and Fern hunched down, their soft coats flattened. “Can we join?” Pine yowled. Sparrow meowed yes. They joined under the rock and saw they had a robin and squirrel under the rock with them. They gave the squirrel to Pine and Blaze and they chomped it hungrily down. Fern and Sparrow exchanged a few words but were quiet after Sparrow hissed. They all fell asleep and Pine dreamt . . .

He was in a dark surrounding. An unfamiliar tabby she-cat sat in front of him. “You may have fought before but now you need to stay alive. That’s what forest-cats do,” the strange cat whispered. Pine heard a crack and woke up. The forest cats were not all different. Now they were one. The Forest Cats.

The Swamp Goon

James Ulery, Age 10
Daycroft Montessori

Long ago on a misty, marshy, uninhabited swamp with lush reed beds and a rickety wooden dock lived a hideous green monster called the Swamp Goon. It lived under the dock. The monster was seven feet, five inches, green, and scaly. It smelled of dead fish and unpleasant dead things. It had a round head and two fins on either side of its head. Disgusting water plants were its hair and lining its mouth was fringe with whiskers. It had large impenetrable metallic green scales except for its belly. It had webbed and clawed hands and feet. It was once human, but was cursed. After eleven stacks no one went there—all but one young man who fought the beast with a knife but it bounced off its scales. Soon it was upon him, and he was on the beach when its vulnerable spot was showing. He stabbed it, and it shuddered and hissed and fell dying into the water, and everyone lived happily.

Mr. Mushroomface’s Brother

By: Jude Sears, 10

When Mr. Mushroomface landed on Mars, his nose was filled with the strong scent of a cherry bush that was full of ripened cherries. He knew he was on Mars because he saw giant ice mountains the size of Mt. Everest. They reminded him of “3-D teepees.” Then he found a martian that looked like his long-lost brother. He went up to him and said, “Brother! I’ve found you! Come back to the spaceship with me!” But the martian spoke in a martian language, which Mr. Mushroomface could not understand, and his eyes turned red. This was not Mr. Mushroomface’s brother. Mr. Mushroomface started to run away. The martian, who couldn’t run that fast, sent a giant moonsoon cloud to chase after him because the cloud could move fast. The moonsoon hurled grey meteor-sized moon rocks onto Mr. Mushroomface. The rocks ripped his spacesuit, so he had to get a new one.