First up, a nonfiction piece titled: Texas.
Texas
Welcome to Texas- the Lone Star State. Did you ever wonder how this state got its names? When spanish explorers came to Texas, the Caddo Indians called them Tayshas, or friends. The explorers named the region Tejas, then changed it to Texas. Many years later, the Mexican governor Henry Smith needed a seal for an important document. He took a button off of his coat and sealed it, hence the Lone Star. And, did you know that you could fit Rhode Island into Texas 220 times?!
During the sixteenth century, Spanish explorers peeked at the area known as Texas. Later, Spanish missionaries established the first settlements near what is now El Paso. Most of Texas belonged to Spain until 1821. Then Mexico broke from Spain and took Texas with it. Texas revolted against Mexico and became its own republic in 1836. In 1845, Texas became the twenty-eighth state in the USA. During its statehood, Texas chose the bluebonnet and the mockingbird as the state flower and bird. The bluebonnet has beautiful purple flowers shaped like the sunbonnets pioneer women wore in the eighteenth century. The mockingbird is a grey-and-white bird which mimics the calls of other birds and is very popular as the state bird of five different states. The current governor is Rick Perry. You can get his autograph in Austin, the capitol.
Texas has eight land regions. There are the Coastal Plane, along the Gulf of Mexico; Northeast Texas, a swampy area; Hill Country, hilly of course; the High Plains, a popular pasturing area; the Panhandle, a flat, dry area to the north; the Trans-Pecos Region, full of mountains; and West Texas, the desert. Texas shares many characteristics with its bordering states: Louisiana, New Mexico, Alabama, and Oklahoma. Only two of these are in Southwest region with Texas: Oklahoma and New Mexico. The climate is very hot and and dry, with only 27 inches of rain per year. July temperatures average 83 degrees Fahrenheit every day, and January temperatures get around 46 degrees Fahrenheit! Or course, this is normal for the 2,200,236 people living in Houston, the largest city.
If you were to get a job in the Lone Star State, what would you choose? You could be a farmer, rancher, fisherman, oil worker, park ranger, electricity worker, and of course any job you could get in any other state.You could also be a tour guide to show people the most interesting places in the big state.
One of the most interesting places is the tiny town of Marfa, Texas. Really. In the desert just outside of town, tiny lights flicker in the night sky. No one knows what makes the light although they have appeared every night for over 100 years.
Many famous people have been born in texas, one of them being Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States. He was born in Denison in 1890. During World War Two he commanded the Allied Troops in Europe and led the D-day invasion of Normandy, France. While president he established the US Air Force Academy. Then he died in 1969.
That's the Lone Star State-- Texas. It became a state in 1845. It has more cattle, oil, and pecans than any other state. Texas is a great place to visit on your next vacation.
Okay, now for an untitled piece on Dogs v.s. Cats.
Arf, arf! That is the joyful sound greeting you want to hear when you walk in from a long day at school and feel just exhausted. I think dogs are the best pets to have. Dogs are useful and can be trained. They have cool features that help them do amazing stuff. And they really love people.
Dogs have many different jobs. It's in their blood to help out a pack leader. A dog can find lost people, run agility courses, and guide blind or deaf people across busy roads. They are loyal, energetic heroes who use their amazing talents to help us with our everyday lives.
All dogs have many amazing features, including their intelligence, to help then be man's best friend. A canine's lean, muscular body helps it run to catch its prey, maybe a duck, maybe a squeaky toy. Dogs are high-powered smelling, seeing, and hearing machines. Capable of separating the contents of a full garbage can, which to us registers as only unpleasantly stinky. These guys are awesome.
Dogs are called man's best friend for good reason. They take to life with a human family like fish to water. My grandparents have two little dogs, Betsy and Roscoe. They are way old and like to sit up on the leather seats and watch TV with Papa. They like cheerios and running around outside, too. They like their people, and my grandparents like their dogs. And that's why I love dogs!
Dogs make excellent pets. They are fun-loving, heroes on four legs. They can be trained, have outstanding abilities, and really love people. Next time you get the chance to take home the the perfect pet, a dog is what you should get. Arf, arf!
And now, for my futuristic story that makes very little sense.
A girl with a future
"What?" I yelped. "We have to go to garage sales today!? But Anna was gonna come over!"
My mom remained firm as ever. "Come on, Emma! It'll be fun! Would you like a few dollars to buy something special with?"
But I was already long gone, huffing and growling as I threw on my sneakers in front of the door. "Hmph. 'Bout as fun as handwashing Timmy's cloth diapers. Beautiful day my foot!" I stormed out to the minivan and slammed the door, hard. Mom and my little brother came out the other door. They hummed a tune while Timmy pulled a slinky. "You know this song, Emmie! My mom called. I rested my hand on my fist and said nothing.
As expected, the first four houses were a total bore. But at the fifth sale, something caught my eye. It was a deep blue disk streaked with every shape and color, and a few more besides. It looked as if someone had taken the most beautiful things in the universe and melded them together in this perfect blue plate. I fingered the change in my pocket. A quarter, two dimes, and a penny. Maybe, if the owners were nice.
"Interested?" and old woman's voice croaked. Without turning, I murmured, "How much?"
Ok, so maybe it was rude, but I couldn't take my eyes off of it. I reached out a hand to stroke its sleek surface. The voice cackled, with delight as the disk began to spin, blurring dizzily, and growing until it filled my whole vision. The world seemed to tilt and lurch under my feet. I stumbled, and my head fell through the glass! Then the rest of my body followed, and I fell onto a cold tile floor, the plate beside me.
I rolled over, still sick, and surveyed my surroundings. It was a large room bare of all furniture and plastered with buttons, dials, meters, levers, scanners, and screens. Seeing no immediate danger, I stretched out-- and was blasted upwards on a cushion of air!
I screamed, and a girl materialized next to me. She was tall, with long blond hair and a Hello Kitty T-shirt. Her blue eyes were wide open with shock. "Who are you and what are you doing getting tossed around on our couch with no security warning?" she asked. Then she noticed my time plate. "Oh my gosh! That's great great great granny Emma's time plate!" she yelped. She ran through the maze of seemingly nonexistent furniture and punched a code into a panel on the west wall. A photo slid out, and she held it up for me to see. "It's you! You look just like me! You-- you have to go back. Granny won't come home without her special youth chemical because she's over 200 years old. I don't know where it is, so you need to talk to her!"
"Ok," I said. "Do I just--"
But before I could finish my sentence, I tumbled off the space couch and was sucked into the plate. I lay on the soft grass of my own time and scowled at the time dish, because my shorts were coming down. An ugly face loomed over me-- a thin mop of frizzy white hair, cracked lips and teeth, and wrinkles. Wrinkles upon wrinkles upon wrinkles upon wrinkles.
"Well," the old woman cackled. "Have you got your great great great granddaughter's message? Look, if you don't want to look this way and be mortified enough not to come see your grandbabies, find it. Drink it. It's made of the same stuff as the time plate. It's in the cella. The access code is the value of pi. Go!" She grabbed my shoulders and shook me. I touched the plate and sailed back to the 23rd century.
I landed upside-down hanging off the space couch with my shirt flipped up over my head. My face reddened, and I climbed down.
In front of me, the girl was literally doing air-chair on the coffee table and biting her nails. A tiny machine hovered nearby with a tray of false fingernails that she was ignoring. When she saw me she tackled me with a bear of a hug. "Did you talk to her? Will you help?"
I nodded. "So where's the cellar?"
In reply, she pushed a button on a small remote control attached to her jeans. The tiles underneath us slid downward, taking us with them. Fearlessly, the girl leaped off me and a tile levitated up to catch her. She splayed her limbs like a surfer, then drew them in as a wave of cold air rose up to meet us. We touched solid ground, and she frowned. "Oh well. Do your duty, Lady Emma. Lights!"
Bright industrial lights flickered to life, and just ahead, brandishing purple plasma torches, stood ten three-eyed, green, shaggy aliens snarling for blood. "Who dares enter our, um, thingy!" roared the first one.
Another alien with a blue handlebar moustache pushed forward. In a deep, exaggerated voice, he cried "Oh Lady Emma and lovely Felicity, dost thee remember the password of thy force field?"
"Um, yeah," I ventured, "3.14, right?" As soon as the words were out of my mouth, the Christmas tree-shaped creatures practically scrambled over each other to hug the walls and leave a clear path to the ominous stone table at the other end of the room. I gave Felicity a thumbs up. "Cool name. Is that what Future me said to drink, that glass beaker with that weird black stuff floating around inside? Ick!"
Felicity nodded grimly. "I'll just go away for this part, ok?" She pressed a button on her ring and disappeared like a mirage.
Before I could lose my nerve, I rushed across the room and chugged down the inky chemical. I shook my head to clear the taste of rats and old pennies. I didn't feel any changes (except lightheadedness). What if it was expired?
A beautiful young woman crashed to the floor, a deep blue plate in her hand. It was just like mine, but the beautiful streaks formed the number two. The woman stood up and pushed three gigantic books into my hands. "Thank you for my beauty. This is all I can do to repay you. They are for everything you will invent in your lifetime. You have a great future, Emma."
I liked that. After I said good-bye and came home to my own time, I jotted in the first notebook, "Time plate. Two in set. Make from comet's tail, gold, and moon dust?"
Okay! I hope you enjoyed that, because I did not. Stay tuned for more of my horrible childhood writing.
One more thing: here's a picture of those aliens I described in this last story
Happy writing!
