Books and Stories and More Books!

So, I have been reading and writing lately, nothing much different, huh? Well, I read Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix, which was really sad, but kind of happy, and deep I guess. I read it in a day, not totally happy with how it ended, but my sister pointed out, that if they ended the story the other way, there wouldn't be the rest of the story! But, I expect to read the rest of the series.
Then, I was exploring some other books on the web, when I remembered a title I had heard of last year, called Zack's Lie by Roland Smith. I thought it might be a fun read. I read the first few pages of it, loving it. Then, I thought I might look a little more up about this on the web, since I wanted to understand what I was reading, I mean come on, who doesn't?! So, then, I thought I maybe should write a story about the same topic. It's called USFWPP. That stands for United States Federal Witness Protection Program.
Unfortunately, I cannot publish the writing on the blog for some odd reason without having to retype it all. Post a comment telling me how to do so, or email me and I'll be happy to share it with you! But, since I am a writer, and this is completely fake but I like fake, but fun stuff, so you may need to "sign" (meaning type) the e-contracts I send you before sending you the file. Once you have read the file please instead of responding to the email, post comments on the blog so others may read them! Thank you!

Sweet Honey cont.

Taylor and the cousins strolled around the block rubbing their hands together for warmth and pulling hats down over their ears. But, Taylor didn't care that her ears were pink from the cold. She didn't seem to feel it. She was mesmerized by Honey. Soon, she handed the leash to Dakota and Taylor pulled her hat down and rubbed her hands together, then stuffed them into her pocket. When they got home, there were 4 cups of steaming hot chocolate. They gulped them down. It was 10:30. They got out their toys. Taylor had gotten a dollhouse. She, Dakota, and Brooke played with that. Jordan and Matt messed with the clothes-chute. They would tie a string to a box and pull it up and down, write messages and then receive them. They would peer into the chute with a flashlight, and they would yell to each other through it. Only Matt thought it funny when he tossed his dirty and ah hem... STINKY laundry down onto Jordan. Then, the girls rushed into Taylor's room. This was Honey's new home. They made a temporary bed for her, because later this afternoon they were going shopping at Petco. Then they gave her a food and water bowl.

~~~

At the pet store they bought a bed, a rubber mat to put her dishes on, toys, loads and loads of toys, cute leashes, a carrier, brushes. Then, Taylor's Mom pointed out, that Honey would grow up to be a bigger dog, so the carrier may not work. They put it back. When they had paid for everything with Taylor's allowance they went into a boutique and bought a bouquet of flowers for Taylor's mom. When they got home. They set everything up in Taylor's room and then shut the door. They wrote poems and told fictional stories about adventures that they had with Honey, she lay down and shut her eyes. At that point they all "awwwww"ed. When the boys came in Taylor snatched up the sleeping Honey defensively. Jordan laughed. Brooke shot him daggers. Matt came toward Taylor. "Come 'ere, Honey girl. I'm not gonna hurt you!" "No," Taylor said, "she's my dog."

Sweet Honey (Okay, I changed the title!!!)

Taylor had a box of milk chocolate filled with caramel, a deck of cards, a cherry chapstick, and a stuffed penguin for her collection. She put the things carefully back into the stocking and lay it down on the floor. Jordan and Dakota had already starting delivering presents to people. Dakota brought a box over to Taylor. "It's heavy!" she complained. Taylor took the box from her and looked at the tag. It read: From Mom and Dad with love. Taylor tore off the ribbon and took the top of the box. In it was a squealing puppy. Taylor was so happy! She jumped up and hugged Mom and Dad. They chuckled. The picked the dog up and cradled it in her arms. It was a Golden Lab puppy. She stroked it and whispered to it. She didn't even notice when Matt stole a piece of her chocolate. The puppy growled at him. Taylor looked up. She saw chocolate smeared all over his face. "Matt!!!" she tattled. She looked down at the puppy. "Good girl!" she praised. The puppy closed her eyes. "What are you going to name her?" asked Brooke. "Honey" answered Taylor. Taylor quickly opened the rest of her presents with sweet thank yous to every gift giver. Then she went into the kitchen and took down a bottle from the shelf, then filled it with warm milk. She fed the bottle to Honey. Then, went into the garage. There was some dog food. She put some in a dish and set it on the floor. Dad had come into the kitchen for more coffee. "You know, we just thought you would need a starter bag of food, but after this one, you're buying everything. Food, toys, books about training dogs and HOUSEBREAKING them. The keyword there being housebreaking. I mean, if the puppy, Honey, if Honey makes a mess, you'll be cleaning it up." With that he got his coffee and left. Taylor groaned and picked up Honey and carried her into the living room again. She let Brooke, Jordan, and Dakota hold her. Then she told all of them to get dressed. She put on a teal long sleeve shirt and sweat-pants. Then, she tied up her Nikes. She put on her puffy coat and looked in the box from Uncle Michael. There was a dog sweater. She put it on Honey along with the leash from Aunt Lucy. When the three cousins were back downstairs, they went outside to walk the dog. When Honey made a poop, Taylor had to clean it up. She tossed it in a dumpster, then they continued on.

Bitter Brownies

Okay, I will post a little of the story each time, like a chapter or something, and then soon, after everyone has read the story, I will post more. So, here we go, it's called Bitter Brownies by Anna Raphael.

Taylor rushed down the stairs her monkey slippers warming her feet and her bathrobe flying behind her. It was Christmas morning. Her cousins, aunts, uncles, granparents, were all here to celebrate. She was so excited. When she realized that no one was awake yet, Taylor rushed back upstairs. She woke Brooke and Jordan, two of her cousins. They groaned, and then looked up at her. She was grinning broadly. They quickly each got a blanket, which they wrapped around them and socks and followed Taylor downstairs. They knew better than to go into the living room where stockings her hanging filled with candy and toys. They knew better than to peek under the tree, open presents, then re-wrap them. They all went into the kitchen where they discovered Taylor's mom cooking Cinnamon buns a Christmas tradition. She greeted them and they each sat down and turned on the TV. Jordan yawned and reached his arms up to the ceiling stretching. Taylor and Brooke did the same. Soon, Matt came down. Matt was Taylor's older brother. Following him was Michael, Brooke and Jordan's father, Taylor and Matt's uncle. When Theo Matt and Taylor's four-year-old brother toddled into the kitchen, they laughed at his messy hair. But he reached for his sippy-cup of milk sitting on the table. Slowly, Aunt Lucy dragged herself into the kitchen pouring a cup of coffee and taking a drink. Taylor expected everyone to be more excited. After all, it was Christmas morning. Finally, Dad, Aunt Mary, and Dakota came into the kitchen. Uncle Michael and Aunt Lucy were Mom's brother and sister, and Mary was Dad's. Her daughter was Dakota. She was adopted. When everyone had a Cinnamon bun on their plate and either a mug of hot chocolate or coffee, the grown-ups found a chair and the kids sat on the floor of the living room. Then, everyone emptied their stockings.

More soon!

SOUTH DAKOTA

Hey everyone. We arrived safely last night just in time for warm rhubarb pie and french vanilla ice cream. There was a fantastic lightning storm that we saw just pulling into South Dakota so we were just glad we were not victims of the beautiful show. Well, I always like lists, so here's one to start us off:

What We Are Going To Do:

See both Up and The Hannah Montana Movie in the theaters
Go to the art show at the Pavillion and have fun there
Make some fairy houses
Make our specialty Peanut Blossoms (a visit to South Dakota is never complete without the tasty peanut butter cookies with a chocolate kiss on top)
And probably more things that I didn't know we were going to do!

~Anna~

Random Rambling

My first tangent is not really a tangent since a tangent is when you go off your original topic. But, I don't really have an original topic, so all of this is rambling and tangents going away from the rambling. My second tangent will be about... I don't know what it will be about, because as you know, tangents are not on purpose and they just kind of happen and then you go from, say, mushrooms, to pencils, and you think how did you get there, and then there you go, off on another tangent. There's this girl in my class who does tangents on everything. We were doing the Robert Indiana LOVE thing, and she did fire, and then she went off and was in like fire is hot, like burritos, and then she did a whole list of foods she likes including ice cream which is not hot, nor has anything to do with the word fire. It was crazy. My third tangent will be about tangerines. I wonder if tangerines, the word not the real fruit because then what I say next will be like the root the tangerine grows on. Anyway, I wonder if tangerines come from the same root as tangent since they both start with tang. Tang's a word too, but the three words have NOTHING IN COMMON. So, that's just why I'm wondering. My fourth tangent will be about how if I were actually writing something that you wanted to read, this would be a lot shorter because clearly all this is is nonsense and nonsense is always endless. But, I find that if you make your nonsense interesting than people start reading it and they just cannot stop so I hope that's what's happening as you read this, or stop right now. Haha! Joke's on you! The post is over!

Spring Break

Wow! If I posted my whole spring break "to do" list, it would take up this whole post. Cleaning out my room, watching a movie a day, getting outside, maybe getting Wii Fit, getting together with lots of people, those are just some of my, and my family's goals. Preferably, I would want to do some of the less labor intensive things, but, having a cleaner room would be nice. When are they going to invent the magic spell that cleans your room? Sure, Cinderella's dress spell was nice, but less useful. All in favor of my preposition, comment yay, or nay, depending on your opinion. Those of you "yayers" you have a little project for spring break. Otherwise, I suggest going to movies, being a couch potato, or doing whatever. Sometimes I consider quitting the violin so I have more free time, but then I consider the effects. Nothing to get mad at my parents about, nothing to do when I don't have anything to do, nothing to procrastinate on, and since 66.6% of my friends play it so, then I would kinda be out of the band wagon. But, I have an idea. I am considering writing a continuous story that will cliffhang after every post. For those of you not knowing what a cliffhanger is, it is a point in a story where you stop abruptly leaving the reader in suspense, wanting more, and hanging. Normally used at the end of chapters. Misused by authors at the end of paragraphs. Then, the reader can just go on! But, tell me your opinion by comment or email, for those of you who have mine. A cliffhanging moment at the end is what keeps the reader going. If, for example you were reading along a story about a girl who is on a dangerous mission to kill the dark lord of Andenevea, and you were ending a chapter and you read: "She climbed a tree and peered ahead, spotting the dark lord. She followed him and plunged a dagger into his back." Although, it seems like it would make the reader want to know if he dies or not, they may see about how many pages they have, and realize, he can't die. The story would end. So, now picture reading this: "Belca scurried up a tree and sat on a branch. Slipping, she lot her balance and was holding on with one hand. Struggling to grip the branch with both hands she twisted in mid-air. She was hanging right over a stream over 8,000,000 feet below her." Ask yourself these questions: Do you want to read more? Do you prefer version A over B or the other way around? Can you predict what will happen next by using common sense or knowledge? Are you bored with the plot? Does the author drone on, or does it get to the heart of the story? You know what? This post should be called Cliffhangers, but I'm lazy. So, Spring Break remains. Anyway, ask yourself those questions and post your answers!!!!!