Story time!

[WarriorKatz66]

Alright, so, I have been reading other people's stories that they wrote and posted and I thought, hmmm, wouldn't it be fun to share some stories? Like, maybe, instead of posting a thread with only your stories, you could have many stories with many different authors?
Post your stories with your title and the author at the top.
People, try not to hurt the authors' feelings. If you must, have positive criticism and apologize.
Have fun reading!
Katz

EDIT: you can post essays and poems too. Anything that you wrote!

 

[WarriorKatz66]

The Dragon of Dragonborn
WarriorKatz66


She woke up with a scream. Her clothes were stuck to her body and the sheet was tangled around her. She grabbed for the light switch above her head. As the dim light banished the shadows to the corners of the tent, a small hand crept into her clammy one.
“Momma?” A sleepy voice emerged from the tangle of covers. She almost wept with relief. She hugged the toddler, as if making sure he was there. He relaxed in her arms.
“It was just a dream.” She murmured, kissing the toddler on the forehead. She gently laid him down, and slipped out of bed, careful not to wake the two slumbering toddlers. She switched off the light and left the quiet room. She sat in front of the dying embers of the fire and poked them with a stick. She sat for hours it seemed, and later she slumped over, asleep at last. It was dawn by then, and the corner of the sun was just visible over the horizon. A boy walked out of his tent, and sat next to the nineteen year old girl. He picked up the dropped stick and poked at the fire. The girl woke up with a gasp.
“Flynn?”
“Bad dreams again, Alex?”
“Yeah.” Her voice, husky from sleep, was laced with sadness. The boy, Flynn, took her in his arms like she had done with the toddler.
“Don’t worry, sis. We’ll get out of this mess.”

* * *​

The two gray-cloaked strangers, travel-weary and not thinking straight, made quite a pair as they made their way through the forest on horseback. One, the older of the two, looked friendly and kind, a true assessment. The other, with a sword hanging down from his waist, looked more dangerous and less trusting. Neither of them noticed the ferns blocking the path rustling with no breeze. As they drew nearer, the ferns burst apart and four boys rushed through. Immediately the younger man’s sword was in his hand. Three of the boys had crossbows, and two were trained at him.
“Get off your horses and put your weapons down.” The tallest boy ordered. As they slowly obeyed, he gestured with his crossbow. “Sam, search them for valuables and take their weapons.”
As the boy on his right, Sam, began to move, the fresh-faced boy that had stayed in the back pushed past the taller one.
“No Flynn, Sam, stop!” Now that the boy was closer, it was clear that he was, in fact, a girl. And it was also clear that she had a deadly-looking bow in her hand and a quiver on her thigh. The taller boy, Flynn, turned angrily.
“Alex-“
“They can help us. We don’t need to take that from them.” For a moment they stood, glaring at each other, and finally Flynn turned away.
“You can come with us to camp, for now.” He stomped off through the undergrowth.
“Sorry about my brother, he’s just mad that… Never mind. Follow me.” The girl, Alex, led the strangers through a twisting maze of paths. Eventually they came to a clearing full of tents. Flynn was already there, looking angrily into the fire. Other boys but strangely no girls were scattered among the tents. A little girl and a little boy raced toward the group.
“Alex!” the golden-haired pair clung to her legs.
“Hello, little ones.” She picked them both up and settled them on her hips. She led the strangers toward a big tent. Inside, there was a big table and a cooler.
“Welcome to our camp.” She said simply. “Have a seat.” As the strangers complied, more boys trickled in. She gently shooed the toddlers out and closed the flap. “We have a problem.” She began when everyone was seated and comfortable. “It’s best to start at the beginning. Two years ago, all of us lived in the small village of Dragonborn. Legend goes that dragons are born there.” She said bitterly. “That might not be true, but what is for sure is that there is a dragon that lives in the caves at the outskirts of our village.” The strangers gaped. “It’s true. That is why we are here. The dragon ate our parents, our siblings, our friends. Only we survived. The dragon ruined our lives. The only thing that I have left is my brother,” she gestured toward Flynn. “And my best friend’s little siblings. My best friend and her parents are dead, so they have no one to take care of them except for me.” She looked down. “We need someone to help us kill the dragon, or get him away from our village.” She paused for a second, and the younger stranger spoke for the first time since meeting the teenagers.
“My name is Christopher, and my companion’s name is Aaron. We will help you, but on one condition. We will get some of the loot that the dragons collect if we succeed.” Before he finished talking, Alex was nodding.
“We don’t care too much about the loot. Some of our siblings and friends are trapped as slaves in the dragon’s cave. We don’t know how many and who they are, but we hope.”
“I see. Then we must make a plan. Say ‘Aye’ if you can use a weapon.” A chorus of ‘Aye’ filled the tent as everyone spoke up. “Good. We must use bait to draw the dragon out. Maybe one of the youngest kids?” he looked questioningly at Alex. To his surprise she stood abruptly and drew her knife.
“If you even think about endangering my best friend’s siblings, then I will personally tie you up and leave you to the dragon.” She threatened in a dangerous tone.
“Yes Ma’am.” He said meekly.
“Good.” She sat down. “Continue.”
She had never put her knife away and continued playing with it as he explained his plan. One of the younger teens volunteered to be bait.
“You know the dangers of being bait? You have the greatest risk of dying.”
“Yes. I am fully aware of the danger that I might not come back. I don’t have any family to come back to anyway.” He said bitterly. “The dragon ate them all.”
“We are all your family.” She said gently. “And we all continue to hope that our families are trapped in the dragon’s cave. Do not lose hope, because if you lose hope you will not succeed.” The blonde boy looked a little happier, but he still was gloomy.
“I will not lose hope, Alex. I will succeed!”
“Good boy.” Alex patted him on the back and went to talk to Christopher and Aaron. “Hello, Christopher, Aaron.”
“You will need reinforcements. Aaron is a wizard. He will be able to get reinforcements.”
“A wizard?” Alex gasped. “One of the great few?”
“Yes.” Aaron nodded. “Look for me at nightfall on the third day from now. You shall be attacking by then?”
Alex nodded slightly, and frowned. “We start at noon. We will need reinforcements sooner, and we cannot delay!”
Aaron shrugged. “I will do what can be done.” He got up on his horse.
“Godspeed, Aaron.”
“Godspeed…” Alex echoed, still thinking. “Godspeed.”
In a flash all that was left of Aaron was hoof-beats from afar. Christopher turned to Alex.
“We need weapons and supplies.”

* * *​

Someone was shaking her.
“Get off me!” She rolled to her side and grabbed her knife, going to a crouch and grabbing the attacker from the side and turning him around. She put her knife to his throat and opened her eyes. Then she realized it was Flynn.
“Haven’t you learned not to surprise me?” She demanded playfully as she watched him rubbing his neck. “Is it time?” she grew serious.
“It’s an hour and a half until noon.”
“Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“You wore yourself out in the last few days. You’re no use to us half-dead from fatigue!”
“I can manage.” She said, but her sentence trailed off as she fought a huge yawn.
“There you go. Now get out of bed and come on. We need you to get us organized.”
She sighed and got out of bed. She quickly changed and walked out of the tent, yawning. Everyone was already assembled. The twins were nowhere in sight. “Alright everyone,” she fought off another huge yawn and continued. “You know your jobs. Where’s Jacob?” The teen serving as bait walked up. “You know what to do?” He nodded. “If you see any sign of the dragon coming, yell and run.” She turned to Christopher as two wild things each with a mop of golden hair slammed into her legs. She was very nearly bowled over. “There you are little ones.” She knelt down. “I have a very special job for you.” She drew out their favorite teddy bear. “You have to stay in the camp and guard Theodore in my tent. You need to be very brave.” She gave the teddy to the boy as they both nodded solemnly. She stood up with a groan as the little twins went into her tent. “Now, everyone, we have half an hour to get to Dragonsborn. Are you ready to kick some dragon butt?”
“Yeah!” everyone cried. And thus began the long trek to their (And possibly the dragon’s) impending doom.

* * *​

Alex heard Jacob yell and start running. She knew that the time to attack would come soon. She shifted, and then suddenly stopped. Among the creaking of the trees, rustling of the leaves, and unnatural sounds of the dragon, she heard the sound of troops marching, heavily armed, and even worse, she heard the sound of toddlers screaming. She knew that the only toddlers around were supposed to be in her tent in camp, and she shouldn’t be able to hear them scream. For that matter, they shouldn’t be screaming. In a split second, she knew what to do. Silently and swiftly, she ran towards the screaming. Flynn, who was by her, frowned as she flew past. He then silently rose and followed her, slightly slower. She emerged on to the path to a horrible scene. Her best friend’s toddlers, no, her toddlers, were in the middle of the path, with the dragon running straight towards them, mouth open, about to breathe fiery death. He was closely followed by a troop of heavily armed soldiers.
She did the unthinkable. She flung herself between the dragon and her precious children, back towards the monster. She huddled over them protectively. Flynn stopped just short of the path. He took one look at the position his beloved sister was in and almost screamed. He opened his mouth but then the soldiers following the dragon registered in his vision. His silent scream of terror for his sister turned into one of frustration and shock. He could not do anything to save his sister, and he could not do anything to stop the armed garrison of men alone. In frustration, even as he saw the flames exit the dragon’s mouth, he shot a bolt from his crossbow toward the dragon. He turned, not able to bear the sight of his sister being burned, and reloaded his crossbow. As he saw his men emerge from the forest, he gestured to the armed men.
“Get them.” He said glumly, and led them through the forest soundlessly.

* * *​

Alex huddled over the toddlers, pressing them close. She could hear their screams and whimpers. She screamed herself in that terrifying moment. She knew the dragon’s fire would kill her and possibly the toddlers, but she would do anything to give them even a small chance of survival. She felt the hot air that always preceded a fire stroke the back of her neck. She closed her eyes and hunched over more. She felt her hair singe and her clothes turn to ashes. She felt a blinding pain on her shoulder and screamed. But strangely, she felt nothing at all touch her back and bottom, the places where the fire should burn the most. She felt her shield heating up, and realized that the shield was blocking the fire, at least a little bit. For once, she was grateful for shields. Suddenly she heard a scream so loud that she felt her eardrums would pop, and the dragon thumped down, dead, on the sandy path. A crossbow bolt stuck out of his side. At point blank range, a crossbow bolt could kill a dragon, and it did. But Alex couldn’t celebrate for long. Soon, armed soldiers swarmed the path. Alex entrusted the frightened toddlers to Jacob, and joined the mob of fighting teenagers and men.
They fought for hours, until night was starting to fall. Miraculously, Alex’s only wounds were her burned shoulder and a slash on her forearm. The shallow scrape hurt like crazy, but thankfully didn’t bleed too much. Surrounded by enemies, Alex was overpowered. She screamed out to the crisp evening air:

“Where is Aaron?”​

She heard gentle hoof-beats as a rider came up over the crest of the hill, and then she heard Aarons voice booming out. Even the soldiers stopped to listen.
“Brothers, to arms! My friends need help down there!”
And then she heard the mighty sound of many thundering hoof-beats and was filled with joy. Three armed riders stopped at the top of the hill, by Aaron.
“Brothers, charge!”
And then the sound of hoof-beats swelled a thousand notches. The armed riders and Aaron thundered down as the teenagers and soldiers resumed fighting. Alex finished off the last man that had surrounded her, and looked around. She saw and heard many more soldiers marching toward the battle, straight toward her brother. She screamed out a warning, but it was too late. Before her eyes, Flynn crumpled and fell to the ground. She rushed toward him and scooped up his body, grunting with effort as she struggled to pull him free of the fighting. She left his body by the forest, and joined the fighting with a renewed vigor, determined to avenge her brother.

* * *​

There was much celebrating after the teens and mounted warriors rescued the trapped villagers. But Alex was not part of it. She was sitting with the two toddlers, deep in the forest, even though her best friend and her best friend’s mother were still alive. She heard the snapping of twigs and crackling of leaves.
“Who is it?” She asked glumly.
“Me.” Her best friend replied. She and her mother sat down across from Alex. “Thank you for taking care of the toddlers. We are sorry about Flynn.”
Alex turned away.
“We need to take them back now.” Her best friend, Arianna, continued. “Little ones! Come to your big sister and mama!”
The toddlers went over and huddled behind Alex. “We have no big sister, and this is our mama.”
Arianna sat up straight. “They don’t remember us?”
Alex called for them. “Joshua and Morgan, come here.”
They obeyed.
“Little ones, I am so sorry. But I am not your mother. You have a big sister and a mother, but they are not me. You were separated from them when you were much littler, because the dragon took them away.”
The twins, wide-eyed, nodded. “So, is this our mama?” Joshua gestured to Arianna.
“No, dear ones. I am your big sister.” Arianna laughed. “Your mama is my mama too. She is right there.” She pointed.
“Mama!” the little ones chorused, and flung themselves toward her.
“You will live with me now.” Arianna’s mother spoke.
“But mama, we will miss Alex. Can she come with us too?”
“Yes, she will live with us too.”
Alex looked up sharply. “Do you mean that?”

“Yes, I do.” Arianna’s mother smiled and her eyes twinkled. “Alex, come on. We are going home.” They did go home, and they rebuilt the village. And for the first time in many days, Alex was truly home.

 

[Baron]

Moved to Writers' Club subforum.

Excellent story btw.

 

[WarriorKatz66]

Thank You!

 

[WarriorKatz66]

5th grade Essay
WarriorKatz66

I disagree with the statement “Most people will show courage only if their lives are directly threatened”. Many people in literature and in real life show courage every day, when they are not in danger.
In The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, Bilbo Baggins saves his dwarf companions at least twice in the Mirkwood forest. In the forest, the company is attacked by spiders. Bilbo has a magic ring that turns him invisible, so he could escape. But instead, he used the ring to get the dwarfs out of the webs and free. Later in the Mirkwood forest, the dwarfs get captured by elves. Bilbo only escaped because he had the ring. He could have fled, but he came back and risked his life to get the dwarfs out of the castle. This means that Bilbo has courage, because he is very afraid to get his life in danger but is brave enough to save his companions.
This relates to real life. In real life, Firefighters risk their lives to get people out of danger and out of places where people cannot get out. They sometimes give their lives to save unknown people when they could easily just stay at home. They are brave and have courage.
In the book The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin, Turtle Wexler is dared to go inside a house that is said to be haunted by the ghost of a millionaire. She does, and comes back, not crazy. Every other person who has gone inside went mad. This takes courage, to go into a haunted house and bear the scary sights that has driven people mad, yet Turtle is not in danger. This means that turtle is very brave and has courage.
This relates to real life in the simple fact that many people visit haunted houses. Many people, usually around Halloween, go to a scary place and endure many horrors and frightening things. This takes courage, to not go mad and not show that you are so scared that you might run out screaming. These people are never in danger when they go to these haunted houses. They do these things for fun, to prove that they are daring.
Many people have risked their lives for others when they can easily leave them to their doom and live a risk-free life. One person brings this to the extreme in Nazi-occupied France in the WWII novel Under a War-Torn sky. Madame Gaulloise is a heroic figure for the downed Allied pilots. She helped save over 40 pilots, but the 47th did her in. She risked and gave her life to save innocent souls from the monster that was Nazi Germany. That takes true bravery and courage, and she is only one of many.
During WWII, many people helped hide Jews and save Allied soldiers. Marquis staged raids on German troops. Many people risked their lives for people they didn’t know, for the greater good. They gave their lives so someone could live and defeat the Nazis. That takes a plethora of courage and fearlessness, and trust in others.
Around the same time, racial segregation or Jim Crow laws were a big problem for African-Americans in the United States of America. Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry is a novel about an African-American family living in this time period. In the book, a white lawyer by the name of Mr. Jamison shows courage and bravery. A black teenager was accused of murdering a white storeowner. A white mob wanted to lynch, or hang him. Mr. Jamison talked the angry mob out of killing him, facing ridicule and possibly death by hanging himself. His love of African-Americans almost killed him, but saved the teen.
Many abolitionists at the time were as anti-segregation as him. They were ridiculed, ostracized and sometimes lynched. Yet they pressed on and eventually won out, banishing Jim Crow for good.
A myriad of people of all ages, of all races, and of all time periods have risked their lives for others when they could have stood by and been safe. Almost everyone has been to a haunted house at least once in their life. Many people have been courageous, one way or another, without having their lives directly threatened first. That means that the statement “Most people will show courage only if their lives are directly threatened” is false.

 

[WarriorKatz66]

5 limericks
WarriorKatz66

High above, in heavenly sky
Zooming, faster, faster they fly.
Sitting in the straw
Staring up in awe
How I wish to go up that high


Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Finally I know
Five words in a row
Circumference equals two pi R


Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear
Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair
This is a term
That helps you learn
Area equals pi R squared.


Behind enemy lines, far and few between,
There was a bomber co-pilot, who was barely nineteen.
Fighting German planes in WW2,
In his bomber, Out of the Blue,
Thinking about all the horrible things he has seen.

Flying a bomber under a war-torn sky,
Henry forester is only one lonely guy.
Missing in action
To his dissatisfaction
He’ll try to come home to once again fly.

 

[WarriorKatz66]

Poem summary of an article
WarriorKatz66


Of all the Polish Jews during the WWII era, roughly 300,000, or 10% survived the deadly concentration camps. Among them were Robin Seidenberg’s ancestors.
She faces a challenge,
To find her past.
How? Well, she’ll manage.
She couldn’t just ask.
“There are no relatives in Poland to ask,” Robin says. “Hitler killed them all.”
Her relatives were probably killed in the six deadly concentration camps that were all located in Poland. They include Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest and most deadly.
In Oswiecim, Poland there was a concentration camp
The largest and deadliest, called Auschwitz
In which people’s lives went out like a lamp
In killing and mass murdering, it knew no limits.
Kazimierz, a district in Krakow, Poland is the site of many graves of Polish Jews killed by the Nazis. Kazimierz had a big Jew community before WWII. I have been to Kazimierz.
A final resting place
For those innocent that died
A memorial space
For the Jews that gave their lives.
After the war, Jews in Poland were not appreciated as the innocents murdered for no good cause. The communist government did not like Jews, so they spotlighted the 75,000 Christian Poles that died, like my great-grandfather who died in a concentration camp.

The government did not appreciate
About 3 million Jews that died,
But then the tension began to abate
Thanks to the what the Jewish cultural center tried.

 

[WarriorKatz66]

The Mirkwood Poem
WarriorKatz66

Many things lurk in this forest of dread
In this forest, one can be easily misled.
Rely not on feelings of fear
Know that your end is near.
Will you risk death for the greater good?
Or will you turn away, like you should?
Only the best will survive the night
Death awaits those who have fright.

Flee, little bird, you should have flown
O’er the fields of grass and stone.
Rally all the birds around,
Every little chick in town
Saveyour family and friends
This dark and sorrow has no ends.

 

[WarriorKatz66]

Another essay
WarriorKatz66

I think that Mr. Jamison from the book Roll of thunder Hear my Cry believes in the quote from Martin Luther King:
“Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do this.”
The author wrote that Mr. Jamison was the only white man in the area that did not treat African-Americans like scum; he treated them like they were normal citizens. This shows me that he did not go by Jim Crow laws, even though he was a lawyer. He stood out from all other white men in the area, but not in a bad way, but because of his kindness and compassion.
When the white men threatened to kill T.J. and Papa and Mr. Morrison, they beat T.J. up horribly. When Mr. Jamison got there, he ran to T.J. and shielded him with his own body. He talked to the men, saying that all will be settled in court! There was no need for violence! This means that Mr. Jamison would even let himself be hurt for a black child, which was extremely rare back in those times. He chose peacefulness over violence, and in the end, those who chose peacefulness won, and all men were treated equally, black or white.
Now I have seen how Mr. Jamison showed kindness and compassion and caring for African-Americans and how he has chosen peace over violence. It all adds up to this; Mr. Jamison is a good man, better than all other white men and women that put down black men and women and treat them like animals made to wallow in mud. All other men should have been like Mr. Jamison, so that the African-American people could have been truly free sooner rather than later.

 

[WarriorKatz66]

Yet another essay
WarriorKatz66


In the early 20th century, the USA was thought of as the Promised Land because everyone thought that in America, everyone was free to do as they wished, and no one would hurt them or do bad things to them because of their religion or race.
One reason that many people believed that America was the Promised Land was that the other countries where the many immigrants came from had bad economies or governments. People had no jobs and were desperate to earn money. This shows me that because America had a very good economy, everyone thought that if they went there, they would have a better life because they would get more money.
Another reason is that in Europe, Hitler was starting to take control. Jews and other non-Christians fled from the gestapo and the German army. Many of them came to America because in the USA, they would not be taken prisoner and be eventually killed. They believed that America was a free country. This shows me that the captured Jews hoped that they could eventually escape; they made a promise to themselves, to go to America.
Now I understand that many people thought that America was a better place than their homeland, so they immigrated to the only better place they could think of, which was mainly America. Those who could not leave or were forced to stay by Hitler and his Nazi army made it their goal to make it to the free county across the globe. Soon that free country became the salvation of the many Jews and the poor families, the Promised Land.

 

[WarriorKatz66]

Out of this world! (And my Mind!) [Paragraph of the Week]
WarriorKatz66
Extra! Extra! Read this 5 star book by Sharon M. Draper, Out of my Mind. My first reason why I rated this book as a 5 star book is because it made me realize life can be harder than I thought it was. I thought I knew how challenging life can be. I was wrong. It made me learn what hardships people are made to face that I didn’t even know about. I thought I knew the full extent of bullying, how lonely one can be, and how frustrating it is not being able to say anything. My mistake! Another reason is that the author made me feel what Melody, the main character, was feeling. Melody has cerebral palsy, and she is confined in a wheelchair. She can’t talk, walk, or control her muscles. The author wrote so well that I felt like the book sucked me up, nibbled on me for a while, chewed me up and spit me out again. I was there when her flight got canceled. I was screaming when Penny, her sister, darted out of the house. I was at her shoulder when she confronted her mean classmates. I felt like I endured all these things with her! Sharon M. Draper is an amazing author. My last reason is that I learned about cerebral palsy and how others treat people who have it. They treat them like they are stupid and they only want to be friends with them because they want to look kind and they want to maybe show a good example for others. I was shocked how Rose was her friend at first, but then she dumped her to look good in front of the cameras in D.C. I didn’t know people can be so mean! Claire was a liar and a bully. At school she was so rude to Melody, and in front of the cameras she acted like she was Melody’s best friend, when Rose was! I loved this book, and I hope many others will appreciate this work of art and rate this book as a 5 star book!