Faraway Friend, page one -- by Caroline P.

     I look down at my feet dangling above the ground, then I peek through the leaves of the tree I'm sitting in, and look waaaaaaaaay down the street.
     "No mail truck yet," I whisper to myself.
     My letter from my pen pal, Sydney, should get here soon, and I am super excited.  I love getting letters from her.  She always tells me awesome stuff, and one time, she even sent me a picture of herself (I sent a copy of my school picture back to her).  And, another time, she sent me a seashell from her collection, so I could start my own seashell collection.  I can't wait to get a letter from Sydney so I can tell her about my new sea dollar.  It has purple and brown patterns all over it.  One of the patterns is shaped like a heart, and another is shaped like a teddy bear.
     I peek through the leaves again, and this time, I see the mail truck.
     "Yay!" I yell, jumping down from the tree.  The mail truck stops, and the mailman puts the mail in the mailbox.  I run to the mailbox and grab the mail inside.  I flip through it.  Two pieces catch my eye.  One is pink with purple pots.  On the envelope it says that it is from P.  "P" is a girl who goes to my school.  She loves (and I mean LOVES!) the letter p.  Her favorite colors start with p.  And when she chooses her birthday card invitation envelopes she chooses plain pink or purple ones, then she draws something that starts with "p" on them.  This time it was pots.  Anyway, the other one is from Sydney!
     I almost fly inside.  I can't wait to open my mail!  I run into my room and open P's letter.  As it turns out, I am invited to P's pink pea party.  It is on Saturday from three to five.  I check my calendar.  I have nothing planned for Saturday.  But if Mom has something planned, it's "bye, bye pink pea party."
     "Mom!" I yell.  "Do you have anything planned for Saturday?"
     Mom answers just how I wanted her to.  She says, "No, I don't, Kelly."
     When I ask her if I can go to P's house for a party, she says that I can.  I mark my calendar.
     Then I open my letter from Sydney.  I pull out the mail.  It says:

Dear Kelly,

How is it going?  Over here, life's good.  I have 20 seashells in my collection.  How many do you have in yours?  I have a new pet rabbit, and she is super cute.  She is as white as the clouds!  
                                    
Bye-bye for now,
Sydney

Sydney also sent me a photo.  I look at it.  I see her, and a white rabbit.  Sydney is right, the rabbit is cute.

Wolves and More Wolves—Chapter One: Wolf by Liz Genie

This is the first installment of Liz's book Wolves and More Wolves. Please enjoy, and leave comments if you like.

Chapter One

Wolf

“Cecilia, do your chores!”

“But, Mom!” Cecilia Wolf complained.

Cecilia was twelve years old, but she complained a lot.

“No buts!” her mother snapped. “Now do it.”

“Fine,” Cecilia whined.

Cecelia knew where her chore list was. It was on top of her mother's desk.

I wish I didn't have to do chores after school, Cecelia thought.

She read the list:

Make your bed.

Switch the laundry.

Clean the dishes.

Clean the litter box.

Organize the closet.

She stared a the list. It wasn't the litter box that got her. It was the closet. The closet was where Cecelia's father stored his guns.  

They lived in the woods, so there were lots of bears and wolves. Since Cecelia's last name was Wolf, they were her number one fear. After she had done her first four chores, she walked into the closet. It was a walk-in closet, and there was a small window. Cecelia looked out the window. What she saw made her squeal.

Descriptive Essay

Favorite Doll 

      Everyone has a special doll or stuffed animal.  I do, too.  Her name is Ginger.  I got her last Halloween. After we went trick-or-treating, we did a thing called "Switch Witch."  When you do Switch Witch, you can keep a few pieces of candy, but your parents take the rest in exchange for something you want.  I wanted Ginger.  Ginger is my favorite doll.
       When I saw Ginger at the store, I knew she was the one I wanted.  The first thing I thought to look at was her hair.  It was a shiny white-blond.  She also had beautiful peach-colored skin, and she had pretty green eyes.
       Then I looked farther down and was positive she was the one I wanted.  She was wearing a red dress, so I knew she looked good in dresses.  She also had the cutest shoes.  I still have them now.  They were red and had a bow on each of them.  Once I'd seen her from top to bottom, I thought she looked about a foot tall, and she looked like a nine-year-old, just like I was going to be in a few months.
       There are many reasons why I love Ginger.  Now, maybe you will write about your favorite doll or stuffed animal so you will never forget him or her.

-Caroline P.