because i want to remember

praying (ava)

I love that this girl loves with her whole heart.

prays with her whole heart.

believes with her whole heart.

 

a start of a novel for 8-12 year olds written by Ava (she has 20 pages typed)

Sometimes, I think. Why did this have to happen to me? But, then I just get over it. I am flying on a plane to… somewhere. My mother stuffed me on this plane and said, it’s still clear in my head, “Don’t come back. I’ll remember you, forever.” That’s all I remember. I didn’t cry, but I wanted to. I will miss my mother. She was all I had. She had tears rolling down her face, and I looked at her, solemnly. The plane shook. I fell out of my seat. “Whoa,” I breathed.  “All passengers, we are having problems with the plane. Stay in your seats please.” I heard the speaker say.  That was it, this made me cry. “MOTHER, I WANT YOU!” I yelled. “I WANT YOU!!” But, my voice trailed off as the plane dropped. Down and down and down. “NOOOOOOO” I cried out. All the passengers were crying. I flew to the side of the plane and to the other side, bumping into walls as I went. It went down so fast. I was scared and wanted my mother more than ever. I was going to die! My mother had paid for me to go on this plane, with the little money we had. And now, that money has gone to waste! There was a woman in a pink ball-gown and she had a baby in her arms. She was crying hysterically and I felt so horrible for her. Her baby’s cries were horrifying. There was a man, wearing round glasses and a beret that was ordering food before, but now he ran over to comfort the young woman. It was all so terrible, the man comforting the woman and bawling, the baby crying, and the mother crying. A lady in a purple dress was screaming, and then there was a flash of a young girl like me, with red hair, flying on the plane door. I wanted to run and save her but, it was too late. She probably broke her neck. The plane hit the ground. It crashed, on its side, the wing. Then, everything was black.                                                                                                             I was stuck, in a hole, somewhere. My face was so dirty and filthy. I brought myself up, noticing I had blood coming off my face and limbs. I tried, slowly, to climb the steep walls in front of me. I slipped the first try. Just leaving more scrapes on myself is what I was doing. Why did war have to happen? That’s why my mother had sent me away, so I could be safe. Me, Winnow, here alone. I was in a hole, with no food or water. My heart beat so fast I was sure someone could hear it. Where was everyone anyway? I thought mutely. I heard voices talking not that far away. Maybe it was someone who could help me! I screamed, as loud as I could, “HELP ME! HELP! I’M STUCK! PLEASE” I cried out. Then, I cried. “Please” I said so silently, no one probably heard. Well, I had to get water to drink. I tried, as hard I could. To get over the steep wall, upward. I needed to get towards some pure water so I could drink and drink and drink.  My throat was so sore, I could barely swallow. I thought I was never going to get out of this hole. Was I? I thought instantly about my mother. I had a horrid longing for her. Her beautiful blue eyes, her shiny caramel curls, and her brown freckles. Her smiling face and how she loved me, ever so much. I glanced around. Suddenly, I saw a small opening in the hole. There was a little tunnel that maybe an animal made. I wasn’t sure, but I started slowly, and carefully climbing through. I was so tired and sore, I just wanted to lie down. I hit the ground with a thud. I was too tired to keep moving. I feel asleep for a long time, in the tunnel.

When I woke, it was morning. The news is probably telling all about the plane crash. Wait till they say I’m missing. I imagined the expression on my mom’s face. She would feel so guilty for sending me away. I kept climbing through the tunnel anyway. I hoped soon enough I could see some light, or I would have to turn back. Who knows where this tunnel could lead? Then, daylight was hitting my face. Boy, it felt so good to be out in the sunshine! I could hardly wait to find water! I tried to stand up, but found my legs were hurting. I army crawled to a fresh, pure, pond. I drank so speedy, and it felt so good on my sore throat. Then, I saw it. The plane all crashed on the ground, laying just a few feet ahead of me. I gasped. Were there any survivors besides me? I thought. “I’m so hungry.” I whispered just to myself. I needed food. Lucky enough, there was an apple tree inches away from me. I crawled to it and forced myself to stand up. I picked a red apple and took a huge bite. Oh, how juicy it tasted! I was stranded, in what looked like a forest. But, as I peeked around the tree, I saw the worst thing ever. It was as very, ugly, swamp. “Oh, no, This is terrible.” I muttered. I kept eating my apple, watching the swamp carefully. Were there alligators in there? I thought, very scared. My black, shiny hair flew in the wind. My eyes were wide staring at the swamp. I was just glad to get out of that hole. My legs hurt so much, I had to sit down. They ached horribly, and were so bruised and scratched. My head fell against the tree. But what I didn’t know was what lurked in the swamp, right behind me.

“I have to build shelter.” I whined. I didn’t feel up to doing that right now, especially with the condition my legs are in. But, never the less, I started building shelter fast. There were clouds rumbling in the sky above. “There was JUST sunshine!” I yelled, very frustrated. I threw a large rock at a tree. “Calm down.” I told myself, and I started to find big logs and build them. A drizzle of rain poured down over my head. “Oh, shucks!!” I tried to say, but the thunder was roaring too loud and I could barely hear myself talk. Instead, I just sat under a tree, the rain slapping my beat up face. Listening to the rain pat against the ground and the swamp, I put my hand out. Drops of rain dripped down on my hand. I just sat there, all alone, scared, and my heart aching for my mother. “Mother, I want you so bad. I will come back. I’m okay.” I quietly said. Then, I drifted off to sleep, yet again. I was so tired from all that happened. I was very cut up and weak.

When I woke, it was night. The rain has come to just a very small drizzle. I had had a dream. I had a dream I saw my mother again, and I had the biggest grin on ever. Thinking of my mother made me cry. But, quickly I stopped crying and started again on my shelter. I gathered big logs and they started to form a wall. I made a door out of logs too. “Ouch!” I cried as I got a splinter. I had to carefully work on pulling my splinter out. It hurt so much and the pain was killing me. My legs still ached horribly. I had to sit on the ground it hurt so badly. “Someone, please help me.” I whimpered. But, I kept working on the door. I went out and collected a bunch of apples from the apple tree. Then, I stored them in my log house. I thought it looked pretty good, but it needed a bed and a soft blanket for me to sleep with. I didn’t know where I was going to get that from though.  I slowly just drifted off to sleep again on the floor. It maybe was a day before I woke again. I woke and blinked a couple of times before I was fully awake. I went out of my little hut and looked behind me. There was that ugly, awful, disgraceful swamp.  I shuddered at the thought of what was in there. I saw a flash of something lurking in the swamp. “Oh my gosh…is it an alligator?” I whispered. I wanted to run, but my feet were firmly planted on the ground. Slowly, its scaly head popped up. I took a big breath. The murky water looked disgusting. The alligator started to come towards me more fast now. I wanted to scream HELP and run and run away, but I couldn’t. The alligator started coming out of the water. Uh, oh. I thought. It opened its jaws and snapped at me. “Get away from me!” I managed to say. My feet finally relaxed and I flew away from the alligator. But, it was chasing me. I ran and ran so fast, I could hardly breathe. Tree branches hit and scratched me in the face, I tripped over a tree log, and I bled. My legs ached so bad, I could have fallen to the ground and died in the pain. I must have run three miles, or anyways, that’s how it felt. I just wished the beast would give up and let me go. Just when I felt like stopping, I reminded myself I had to stay alive, for my mother. So I ran even faster than I had been running. Which running fast was a big accomplishment, because I was already running fast. My legs killed me like crazy, but I ran. As soon as I stopped, I was going to have to sleep. I kept running, and soon the alligator gave up. It went back to the murky water, as far as I could see. I sat down on a log. I was bleeding, bruised, and scratched in many places. My arms were scratched and bleeding from Thorne bushes. My legs hurt so bad, I just had to lie down and sleep, for a couple days.

I woke up, drooling on the log. I had dried tears on my face. I must have been dreaming about a tragedy or something. Oh yeah. The fact that I had to be sent away was the horrible tragedy. I thought about the alligator, and how I had actually got away and lived.  I couldn’t believe it. My legs were still aching, and the blood on my body was dried up. Then, I saw something. The thing I saw was carrot red hair. It was just lying there, by the bush. I pondered about what I should do. Maybe I should look to see if the hair belongs to a person. But, what if the person was dangerous? It must be a girl, because it was long hair. I wasn’t sure what to do. Then, I just decided to see if she was hurt or awake. I took a couple steps, and gasped at what I saw. A girl lying on the green plants and grass is what I saw. She had grey saddle shoes on, a flower skirt, a pink tank-top, a white jacket, and a beautiful golden locket. Her hair was completely messed up. She had beautiful freckles, and I wished I could see her eyes. I mused about her. I wondered what her name was, where she came from, why she is just laying here. Then it hit me. She was the girl that fell from the plane that I tried to save. Suddenly, I noticed her ankle looked twisted. She looked very peaceful. She’s probably dead. Looking so peaceful like that, I’ll bet she’s dead. I thought. I decided to leave her alone. I turned away and started to walk. “Hello? Is anyone here?” I heard a peaceful, beautiful voice whisper. I darted towards some bushes. But, I pulled myself out and said, “Hello.”

The dirty girl screamed. Then, she realized I was a girl just like her, absolutely harmless. I saw her sparkling, blue eyes. “Oh, I’m so sorry! Hello, what is your name?” She asked politely. “I-I-I am Winnow.” I stammered. “You have a lovely name,” She told me. “I am Althea.” “Thank You, you have a lovely name too.” I answered. How could I of even thought this girl was dangerous? She is just a girl stranded, just like me. Then I brought it up. I brought up the plane crash. “Hey, are you from a plane crash? Are you from the plane that was going to… uh, Santa Rosa, South America?” I questioned. “Oh, yes! I was!” She replied, excitedly. “Really, are you really from that plane?” I couldn’t believe it! “Yes, Yes. I am!” She happily stated. “Wow, that’s crazy! Did you have to get sent away because of war?” I wanted to know all about Althea. “No, my uncle sent me to live with my grandma because he was very ill. You see, I have no parents and I lived with my uncle. My grandma lives in Santa Rosa.” She explained this all to me. “I’m sorry about your parents. My father died. He was sailing to America with my family, and the boat sunk. My mother and I were smart and quickly hopped into life boats. My father drowned before we could save him.” I cried. Althea comforted me and asked why we were sailing to America. “We wanted to build a home there. When the boat sunk, my mother and I paddled back to South America. We were starving and thirsty, but somehow we managed to live.” I choked out. “That’s horrible. I’m sorry your father drowned Winnow.” Althea said in a sweet tone. It was still dark in the sky, so Althea and I decided to lie down and go to sleep. We both feel asleep together, lying in a meadow full of grass and plants.

I woke up, very happy and drowsy. But when I looked over to say Good Morning to Althea, she was not there. I screamed, so loud. “ALTHEA, WHERE ARE YOU? ALTHEA COME BACK!” I cried out. No reply, of course. I hurriedly turned over and started to army crawl all over looking. “ALTHEA, ALTHEA! ARE YOU OKAY? WHERE ARE YOU?” I yelled.

After an hour of looking, my voice hurt. I decided to go hunting for some food instead, since Althea was nowhere in sight. I looked around. It was grass as far as I could see. I saw a prairie dog walking cautiously around in the tall grass. I couldn’t kill such a sweet animal. Instantly, a very small pond with some berries caught my eye. It looked near the opening to a forest. Maybe Althea was in there. I slowly crawled over and dipped my face in the freezing water. I drank as much as I could and ate the juicy, sweet berries. I looked at the morning sky with white puffy clouds. I tried to make out shapes of what the clouds looked like. I saw a fish, a poodle, and a dragon. I wondered where in the world Althea was. The day was so silent. Suddenly, I heard a piercing scream. It seemed far away. “HELLO?” I called out. No one answered. I sighed and thought what now? I was getting to be pretty angry. Stranded out here alone, Althea missing, the mysterious screams. I stuck my finger into soft mud, and put two streaks across each side of my face. Just for fun, and it made me feel like an angry person. I punched my fists on the ground, since I couldn’t stamp my feet. “WHY IS MY LIFE MISERABLE?” I roared aloud. “WHY, WHY, WHY IS IT?” I screamed out. I softly cried for a while. I decided to say a prayer. “Dear God, lead me to Althea. Let us go home God. Amen” It was a short prayer, but I felt better already. I felt like God was going to listen to my prayer. I was bored to death, so I stood up. Even though I was in plenty of pain, I picked some leaves and wove them into a leave necklace. My hands worked quick as I tied the green leaves together. It was a warm day, making it easier on me. I didn’t have to find something to keep me warm. That was great because it was hard to find something to keep me warm. Frustrated, I decided to go ahead and look for Althea again. I probably wouldn’t find her.

I was right. I came back to the pond with no luck of finding Althea. I was disappointed alright. I gulped down some more of the amazingly sweet berries. I had a horrible thought. What if they were poisonous? But they looked like raspberries to me, so they couldn’t be poisonous. These berries were smooth though, and very round looking. Oh no! What if they were…? Bitter Nightshade! No, no. They weren’t, they were raspberries. That’s what I made myself think anyway. I stayed away from the bush, just in case they were Bitter Nightshade. I found an apple tree instead. The juicy apple tasted good on my tongue. I wish Althea could have some. I could just picture Althea, lying on the ground dead. Or in a lake somewhere, drown. But then, I could see her sparkly eyes and her beautiful smile crunching into the apple, standing there in front of me. I sighed. “Oh Althea, where have you gone?” I thought. I began to worry constantly. Everywhere I looked I saw Althea’s smiling face. I was thinking so much about her, I was beginning to feel myself slip to the ground, feeling dizzy. My head was pounding. “ALTHEA!” I called, one last time, before I fell unconscious.

I woke again, and it was the same day. It was just darker in the sky. I wondered what had happened to me earlier. It felt like a new day, really. It was just the same day that Althea even went missing though. It was so silent, and somehow that seemed quite strange to me. Was Althea lost, stuck, hurt, or possibly she’s even dead? I wanted to be a doctor when I was older to help people, so maybe it wasn’t too late if she was hurt. But, if I wanted to help her I couldn’t because I had absolutely no medicine or tools. I didn’t even know what to do anyway. And what if she wasn’t hurt, but she was already dead? Or maybe she is still alive somewhere and not hurt at all. Then where would the screams have come from though? I didn’t have answers to any of these questions I was asking myself. I know I sleep so much, but I just had to lie down once more. I felt panicked and very afraid.

I dreamed about my father and mother. I remembered snuggling in my father’s lap, him reading from a storybook to me when I was very little. My mother, how she cared for me and gave me food every day, or at least as much as she could. My mother sang to me by my bed when my father died. I still remembered the song and heard my mother’s soft voice singing me to sleep in my dream. It was so pleasant and sweet.

“Sleep tight, my darling. When you awaken, I will be here. I will be here with you, through everything, my darling, just close your eyes. Have your sweet dreams, and don’t you worry about anything. Because when you wake, you will be here with me.”

But, when I woke, I wasn’t there with my mother. My mind turned to Althea immediately and I decided to go look for her once again. “ALTHEA, ALTHEA!” I hollered. But there was never a reply. My black hair was tangled and messy, so I decided to try to untangle it with my dry blood, dirty fingers. It was no use though. It practically just hurt my hair so horribly; I just stopped and gave aloud sigh. I washed my hands in the pond and my feet and legs. Then, I gave a sigh of relief. “ALTHEA, I’M OVER HERE! ALTHEA; WHERE ARE YOU?” I called once more. Still, like always, no answer. My eyes danced around the trees, in the trees, and on the ground. Everywhere I looked there was no Althea. Where was she? I had to venture on. I couldn’t just stay by this pond forever. My elbows were very unprogressive. I kept on going though, carefully. I was so determined to find my friend. I had a strange feeling it was going to be days before I found her. My elbows slapped onto the hard ground and up in the air. On the ground, in the air, on the ground, in the air, that’s what they kept doing. It almost hurt when they smacked on the hard path way. The path had bushes, plants, trees, streams, and ponds everywhere. I was looking straight ahead and I fell into a pond. Water instantly filled my nose and mouth and I gasped for breath. It was a deep pond. At least I would be clean when I got out. Maybe if I even managed to escape from the deep water. My feet searched frantically for a bottom to the pond. This was the end.  I was going to drown, and never find Althea. I almost let myself sink, but quickly remembered my mother. I had to escape from the strong current that was shoving me down stream. I saw cliff where the side of the pond was underwater and swam to it. Well, doggy paddled because I could not swim. It took quite a while. When I reached the cliff I popped my head up and took in the air. But it was only a minute or two of hanging on to the cliff, when I realized there was an enormous waterfall just below me. “OH NO, I WILL FALL AND DIE!” I cried. I was exactly right. Not about the dying, about the falling. I tried so hard to push my way up to the ground, but it was not successful. The current took me down the waterfall and flung me into the air. I was soaring through the air, and crying at the same time. I opened my eyes and realized I was not heading for the water, but the trees. “NO, NO, NO!” I screamed, so loud that wherever Althea was she could probably hear me. I had to do something quick, before I fell into the green leaves. I would get so scratched and hurt! I held onto my knees, which made me fall downward. Into the water was where I was headed now! “NOT THE WATER, NOT THE TREES,” I yelled. “ONTO THE GROUND IS WHERE I WANT TO GO!” My throat was sore after yelling this. Whether I liked it, or not, I was going to hit the very deep water, and go under. I could at least plug my nose. I splashed into the freezing cold water, almost drowning. I sunk deep down, but pushed around. Water from the water fall was hitting my head. I screamed underwater. Skillfully, I dashed over to the edge and hung onto the ground. “Beautiful ground,” I gasped. Then, for no reason, I just kissed the ground. I was having one of my fits though. I pulled myself up and out of the deep, blue, clean water. But I stormed my wet self right over the rocks and trees. I took a large, hard, tan rock and through it into the water, screaming like a lunatic. I ran around in circles, feeling like an animal that was going nuts. I took another huge rock, this time it was black, and threw it at a tree. “I AM WET AND ANGRY! I CAN’T FIND ALTHEA, AND I’M STRANDED. I AM SO HUNGRY, AND I CAN’T FIND ANY FOOD! I HATE WATER, AND I’M SO FRUSTURATED!” I roared out. It felt good to finally just let it out. I was mad and going crazy about living in the wild. After four or more rocks were thrown in various places, I tried to calm down my dunking my head underwater. It worked slightly, and I felt much better already. I breathed in and breathed out. Time was running out to find Althea. All of the sudden, I had a terrible idea. Maybe, she fell into the water like me, and maybe she can’t swim. Maybe she drowned! I was afraid of that and dipped my head underwater to search for her body if it was there. I looked but saw nothing but sand under the water. I brought my head up. Althea must not be under there. Then where was she? Where was I? How would I ever get home to my mother and my poor old house? I had nothing here. I had no food, Althea, or shelter. I needed to build a new house, because the one I had before is a far distance away now. I then decided to start finding some logs lying around. I found a large log lying just in front of my hands as I turned away from the waterfall. I inched my way up on my feet. The pain shot through my weak legs instantly. Even though I’ve had plenty of sleep, something was wrong with my legs. I got up all my strength and lifted the humongous log. My arms hurt doing it, but I got the log up vertically and that was going be the start of a wall. My green eyes searched for more logs and I found another after a couple of minutes. I trotted over to the log painfully on my two legs. I gathered up my strength again to push or lift it over to the other log. After trying to lift it twice, I gave up and decided to push it. That actually worked and I shoved it all the way to the other log, patiently waiting for the other log to come next to it. I kept repeating this process till I had one wall all the way done. It looked very fine next to the waterfall! It was still morning, I was sure of it. That gave me enough day light to work till I get at least all four walls finished.

It was late afternoon when I realized how much work I had done. Four walls completed and the roof half done. I was going to finish that roof though before night, so I could sleep in my house. I almost wanted to go back to the location of the plane crash and search for items I could use in the person’s luggage. There could be blankets, pillows, clothing, books, and things to do! I almost decided then I was going to go back and get the items. But when I thought about how to get up the waterfall, and all the traveling, and the swamp, I came to a conclusion. There was NO WAY I was going to do that! I pushed some more heavy logs up onto the roof and it was complete. “YES, it’s finally done!” I joyfully announced to myself. I was very happy and pleased with myself. Now, I had lifted a couple logs off of one wall so I could go inside. I stepped inside, onto the hard ground. I was happy with my work, but I needed a stash of food and more. I had to make a bed of leaves or something for me to sleep on. Then, I stepped onto the ground and went out to find leaves and pine needles. Really, anything that could be a nice bed for me to sleep on. I instantly fell on my elbows as soon as I stepped out of my door. I climbed my way around, picking leaves off of low branches. I stuffed everything I found into my pockets. I found leaves, pine needles, berries, apples, bananas, and sticks for a fire. The bananas I had found in a banana tree. Next, I found my way back to the little log cabin and I dumped everything onto the hard floor. I pushed the leaves and pine needles into one corner for a bed. I had collected plenty of leaves, at least enough to cover the ground. I was going to build a small box to put my goodies in later. Right now, I just wanted to eat. I chose a banana after a while of picking what to eat. The banana was so soft and mushy in my mouth; I loved the taste of it. When I finally fished the banana I was trying to savor, I threw the peel out of my house. It was pretty dark now, and I was a bit frightened of the animals that lurked outside. There could be coyotes, bears, and snakes even. I didn’t even want to go to sleep because I already had been sleeping so much. I wasn’t tired anyway, so I just sat there deep in thought. What should I do? Should I look for Althea tomorrow and come back to my house every day I look for her? What if I’m in the wrong place and she’s actually not here? Should I leave my house? But I had just built it! I didn’t know what to do, so I just thought I would sit here and think all night. But after a while of thinking, I decided on my plans. I was going to look for Althea, then come back to my house every time. I just had to hope that I wasn’t in the wrong place. I was bored after that, but I didn’t want to sleep another wink. I was fully rested, and had plenty of energy now. I didn’t need, nor want more sleep. So I simply chose to go outside. It was risky because there could be any kind of thrilling animals out here. I stopped in my tracks at a terrifying sound. I could scarcely hear it over the waterfall. It was definitely, a hiss of a snake. I was on my elbows, so I could barely get back to my house. I was just next to it, maybe five feet away. Before I could even get back to the log house, the snake found me and instantly, its sick mouth bit into my already, weak leg. I screamed in the pain that the horrible snake gave me. I swore it was a Coral Snake. It was red with black bands bordered by white. I barely had enough strength to crawl back to my log cabin. I had to treat the snake bite fast. I could suffocate or be paralized! My legs were bad enough; I didn’t need to be paralyzed! I was in too much pain already. I took deep breaths. Now, I couldn’t even move my legs or I would scream. I heard a faint hiss outside the cabin. “GO AWAY SNAKE!” I was so mad; I could throw a thousand rocks right now. I was in so much pain, I needed a doctor. I wanted Althea there to comfort me. “Go away, mean snake!” I said, under my breath. I think it finally had left. All I could do now was lie there in pain, wishing I had my mother or Althea, or someone to take care of me. I didn’t know what to do, except lie there for a week or so, either awake or sleeping.

I awakened drowsily. It was morning, and I think I had slept for a day or two, but I wasn’t sure. I couldn’t move my legs at all, still. I just had to search for Althea though, so I wasn’t sure if I should try to get out my house. I thought it over and decided I may be in too much pain to even try to climb over the walls. So many horrible things were happening to me. I fell down the waterfall, got bit by a snake, now what’s next? I will never find Althea? I wanted so desperately to find my beautiful friend, I army crawled out of my house, even though I felt I was going to die when my legs hit the sides of the house. “Althea, where are you?” I could only say. I crawled over into the deep forest, on my way to find Althea. I was going to come back to the house of course, but first I had to find my friend. This time I was really going to. “Althea, I need you!” I managed to say. I scampered over to a small clearing. There, I saw the worst thing possible. My head felt heavy and I had to lie down for a second. There, Althea lay, as silent as a rock. She had dry blood, absolutely everywhere on her. It looked horrifying, but I had to see if her heart has still pumping, my hand slowly moved across that pink shirt, with the white jacket on. I felt my way to her heart. I waited a couple of seconds, thinking. I thought, what must have attacked her? But, her heart wasn’t beating, so she wasn’t there to tell me. She was dead. I lay there, sobbing for what felt like hours. Now, I had no friend. I had no one to talk to, to help me when I was in pain. I thought about when we first met, how excited and happy I had felt. And now, that red-headed person was no longer in this world. “Althea, I always loved you,” “and you were a great friend,” I choked out. I really couldn’t believe it, my best friend, dead on the ground. I had had no friends back where I lived before, and Althea was the only friend I ever had. No one ever really liked me. I guess because I go on mad rages and I can be mean and shy. I turned my mind back on Althea. What should I do to her? I wanted to bury her, but decided to leave her alone. I took off her beautiful golden necklace, as a reminder of her as my friend. I turned around and thought about what could have gotten her. Maybe a coyote got her, or a bear. I wasn’t sure. I was in pain still and just sadly climbed back into my house. There I cried more. I wanted a new friend, if I couldn’t have Althea as a friend. I didn’t care what my friend was, as long as it was nice. It could be an animal, a boy, a girl! I didn’t care; I just wanted some company, now that Althea was seriously, gone. I was going on one of my angry crazes, and I went outside even though it hurt me. I picked up the biggest rock I found, which was probably seven or so pounds, and whipped it as hard as I could into the water. It made a huge splash, which even rained on me. I screamed bloody-murder and stormed, on my elbows, back to my house. I ate an apple furiously and went back outdoors. I smashed the core onto the hard ground and took giant sips on fresh water. I lunged into the water, and it felt good on my bite and my whole body. I rinsed my long black hair and I washed myself. I went underwater, plugging my nose and swimming around with my feet touching the bottom of the shallow pool. I was calming down a bit and feeling better too. I came up and played around in the water for a while. I splashed and pretended Althea was here with me, splashing and playing around with me. How fun that would have been! My eyes were getting teary, but I stopped the tears from coming out. I was on my own now, and I just had to deal with it. I took a deep breath and lingered over by the waterfall. I put my clean hands up by the flowing water and the fresh cold water flew down upon them. I tingled with happiness.  I jerked my head under the flowing water too. I cocked my head and looked behind the waterfall. I slowly went behind it. There was just a huge brown wall, which was a cliff. No treasures, or gold, like in fantasies, and movies. This was reality though. I wished there was a door or tunnel to hide out in and explore. That would be awfully fun and exciting. Instead, I just sat down in the water behind the waterfall, and watching the flowing water. It was so pleasant and nice. Suddenly, I heard a noise that scared me. It sounded like horses running, and there were people talking. I frantically pushed against the wall, wishing for some opening or something. I saw a flash of the people and horses. There were two men, and a boy. There were two horses, one a caramel brown and one a gorgeous black and white. The men looked around the ages of twenty or thirty and the boy looked a little younger than me. He had blond hair, but I couldn’t see his face very much from where I was. They saw my house immediately. “Why, this is a fine house!” one of the mysterious men said. “Yes, let’s dump the boy into here.” The other man said, seeming like he was in a hurry. There were no holes or tunnels for me to go into that I could find. I was worried that they would find me, but they never did. They trapped the small boy that was crying into my house. The two men jumped up onto their horses and left the little kid, sobbing in my house. As soon as the horse hooves were distant, I crawled to the little house. When I started to move a log, the boy hollered. He was maybe eight or six. He couldn’t yet see my face, because I barely moved the log. I said aloud, “its okay, I am a girl named Winnow and I am twelve years old. I am not going to hurt you, I just live here.” I said reassuringly. He calmed down and I moved the logs, trying my best to smile and look nice. He smiled back at me and wiped his tears. I saw he had blue-green eyes. “Why did those men bring you here little fellow?” I asked nicely. “They kidnapped me,” He said, in a small voice. “Why did they kidnap you?” I was interested. “The men are against my parents. My dad is the chief of a town in South America, and since they don’t like my parents, they decided to do something mean to them and kidnap me.” He explained. “Oh my, that’s terrible.” I said, feeling sorry for the boy. “What’s your name?” I asked. “My name is Whytt.” He answered me. “That’s a nice name.” I replied. “And, how do you live here? As in, how did you get here?” Whytt asked. “Well, my mother sent me on a plane to be safe from war.” I barely started and he shouted out, “WINNOW! YOU’RE WINNOW! IT SAID ON TELEVISON YOU WERE MISSING!” He was surprised. “Yes, that’s me, but what was the last name it said?” I questioned. “Uhh, Yule, I think!” He answered. “Yes! That’s my last name!” I said, surprised he remembered the name and that it said I was missing on television. “I found a missing person!” The boy shouted happily. I laughed. I them told him that my plane crashed, and how I was stuck in a hole and found a tunnel to get out. I told him about my friend Althea, and how I found her dead today. I told about everything that happened to me after the plane crash. He was a great listener! “I am so happy I found you little boy, because I was getting lonely when my friend Althea went missing.” I said, relived. “I’m happy I found you, because you seem nice!” He said, very jolly. I wasn’t going to let this boy die, I just couldn’t. Althea already slipped away from me, and now I have to keep this boy safe and return him to his mother and father, if I can. “You have food? I’m so hungry, I’ve been traveling for a long time and they wouldn’t give me any food!” He said enthusiastically. “Yes, but I only have berries left. We will get some bananas and apples from the trees though too.” He had already picked up the berries and started shoving them into his mouth. I smiled at him and wanted to take one, but couldn’t possibly take one from him. He was very hungry, plus I could just pick more later. When Whytt finished the berries, I crawled out of the hut and he walked. I already liked this nice, sweet, and very fun little boy. He picked the bananas and apples and berries, because I couldn’t. Once in a while I saw Whytt sneak a berry into his mouth. I just giggled and he giggled with me. I was already so much happier, that maybe I found another friend. I had already for gotten all about Althea, the girl that is now dead. When we finished what we had been doing, we both headed back towards home. As I stepped into the door, on my legs, I realized they felt a bit better. Good enough to stand on them now! I had a sudden thought. Maybe the snake I ran into wasn’t poisonous! Maybe it was the Scarlet King snake! “Whytt, you know the snake that bit me? I think it may be a Scarlet King snake! Those snakes look exactly like the Coral Snake that I thought bit me, but they are harmless!” I said, joyfully. Whytt gasped. “So, maybe you don’t have poison in you after all? So, you won’t suffocate or be paralyzed!” He exclaimed. “Yes!” I replied. I was grinning with joy, that I might now have a poisonous bite. It was already afternoon by now. “Whytt, I think we should head to bed soon,” I told him, a little sad that this day was ending. “Go to bed? No way! I’m staying up.” He exclaimed. “Oh, Whytt, you’re right, its way early to go to bed.” I replied. “Hooray, we get to stay up!” He said. “How long have you been traveling here?” I wanted to know. “Maybe two or three days, we were traveling.” Whytt said. “Oh, you didn’t eat or drink for that long?” I said, terrified. “Nope,” He said sadly. “Whytt, there is a waterfall just outside. Come on; let’s go get you a drink!” I said, all ready making my way towards the logs to go out. “Oh yes, I noticed that!” He said, rushing after me with delight. We stepped outside and ran to the water and gulped down plenty of sips. I went over, actually walking, and took a few sips too. Whytt finally finished drinking the water and I was already done. A light bulb went off in my head. “Hey Whytt, let’s build a fire, okay?” My idea came out of my mouth. It was kind of cold now, because of spring. Some days were warm, and others were freezing. Today was one of those cold days of spring. He agreed to my idea and we walked off to gather sticks. I had no matches, nor did Whytt. Whytt brought up something I had thought of before. “Winnow, do you know where your plane was? If so, let’s go back and get supplies from it! I doubt there would be any matches, but we could find blankets and pillows for us to sleep on.” He blurted out. “Yes, I do know where the plane is. I thought of that before, but there is a swamp over there, and going back up the waterfall…” I was not sure about this. I wanted to keep Whytt safe. “Let’s go!” He said, pulling me along. “Whytt, let’s think about this.” I tried to tell him. “We can come back to the house Winnow, we will be fine!” He dragged me on. “Fine,” I replied stiffly. So, off we went, not even bringing any food with us. When we reached the waterfall, which was right next to the house, Whytt stopped and went behind the waterfall. I followed him. “Where are you going Whytt?” I called after him, my voice echoing. “To find a tunnel up to the ground above,” He shouted to me. I looked and-“I didn’t even finish my sentence before he called back to me, “I FOUND A TUNNEL, COME ON!” I rushed over and there it was a glowing tunnel. Whytt climbed into the small tunnel and I jumped in after him. The tunnel was glowing blue. It felt eerie and strange. The tunnel curved upwards, and Whytt was struggling to get up. I shoved his feet up with my hands. He reached the water above us, not realizing he was about to be thrown down from his spot and back down, because the waterfall was right by him. “Whytt, help me up, and don’t fall!” I called to him. Whytt understood and helped me up and we ran as fast as we could away from the strong waterfall. We were running in the water, so we both had a hard time. My pants were soaked, and so were his. As soon as we had run far enough away from the waterfall, we both tried to get to ground. I jumped onto ground, landing on my face. It hurt, but I got up anyway. Whytt tried but ended up floating downstream, back towards the waterfall. “WHYTT, I’M COMING!” I yelled. I ran with all my might as he tried to paddle. My legs were hurting a little again, but I kept grabbing for his hand. He had such a scared look on his face, but it turned to be determined to swim towards me. He paddled his arms furiously. Whytt actually started coming forward, towards me. He stretched his arm out, and I grabbed his wet hand, pulling him out of the water. Whytt spit out water and gave a sigh of relief. I was happy I saved him, from drowning or falling back down the waterfall. We walked some more. It was dark now, and it was very hard to see. Whytt started running, and I followed. “We have to run okay? To get back to the opening of the forest, and then we shall settle there.” He said, puffing out big breaths. “That sounds good!” I breathed. We ran until we got to the clearing of the forest, which we didn’t have to run that long. I stumbled to the ground, and Whytt sat down by me. “I’m hungry,” Whytt complained, and reached for the bush of berries. “NOOOOOOO, DON’T EAT THOSE!” I screeched. “Why not eat them?” He said, pulling his hand away. “They may be poisonous.” I warned him. “You told me you ate them before, and nothing happened yet.” He said. “I still don’t know about them though, and I don’t want to take any chances.” I told him. “Okay.” He said. Whytt turned to a bush of blackberries instead. He quickly gobbled them down and lay down. “Good Night Whytt.”  I said sleepily. “Good Night.” The last words, I barely heard, as him and I fell asleep, without any blankets to cover us. I had wrapped my sweatshirt around myself and Whytt had done the same. We slept really well.

It was morning, and I was awakened by Whytt shaking me. “Winnow, let’s move on!” He said. “Let me wake up a little first, okay?” I said sleepily. “Alright,” He sighed. “We will find the plane, trust me okay?” I comforted him. “Yes, I believe we will find the plane.” He said eagerly. I sat up weakly and yawned. My legs felt okay, but I stretched and did yoga to help. Whytt got up and started walking, without me. “Whytt, where are you going? Don’t leave me here!” I called, as I got up. I winced at first at standing on my legs, but then I was alright. I ran after him as he dashed into the grassland. “Whoa, where are we?” Whytt asked. “We are in grassland.” I answered. “This way,” I started walking towards the left. The walk was boring and long, and I was hoping the swamp would come in sight soon. I tumbled to the ground though, feeling my legs growing weaker. Whytt stopped in his tracks and said, “Are you okay Winnow?” “I’m fine,” I replied dully. I stretched out and cracked my back and slowly stood up. “I think I can move on,” I said doubtfully. “Are you sure?” Whytt questioned. “Of course I can move on Whytt!” I happily said.

We had been walking for thirty or twenty minutes when we came to the swamp. “Whytt, it’s the swamp!” I whispered. “Is it the swamp with the alligators in it?” He shivered.  “Yes!” I replied. “Oh no,” he muttered. The scaly backs, the chomping teeth, the vicious eyes, that was the alligators. A vision flashed through my head of Whytt getting chomped up by and alligator, and me running, running far away. I screamed and started running. “WINNOW CALM DOWN, WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?” Whytt called to me, but the vision flashed into my mind. His screaming and the alligators filthy mouth chomping.  I finally felt dizzy and just fell to the ground in misery. Whytt ran over to me. “Winnow, what happened?” He said. “I had a vision that you were getting killed by the alligator, and I was running. Do you think it could really happen?” I said my voice shaky. “No, that couldn’t happen as long as we get away from here and down to the plane.” Whytt told me as he stood up. I carefully stood up too and my eyes darted around. I scanned the area for the plane, but it wasn’t where I could see it. I walked around for a while. I was in front of Whytt. My feet walked almost down into the ground, but Whytt ran up before me and shoved me onto my back. “WINNOW! You almost fell into a huge hole!” He cried out. I looked as I saw the hole I had fell into when the plane first crashed. “That’s the hole I fell into when the plane crashed Whytt! That means the plane is close!” I explained. “Oh my goodness, this is awesome!” He cried out. We both started looking around, but saw nothing. “Whytt, I can’t see the plane anywhere.” I sacredly said. “Me either.” He said. I carefully moved leaves out of the way to look into clearings and places. There was one huge leaf that I moved, and it revealed something I was looking for. The plane was sitting there, looking disastrous, but luggage was everywhere. The thing that shocked me was a little cottage. The cottage was made out of logs, but it looked kind of sturdy and very tiny. I wasn’t focusing on that at the moment though. I was yelling to Whytt to come by me. Whytt scampered over to me and I showed him the last bits of the plane that was left. I was afraid there would be dead people. I tried not to focus on that though, and instead on the luggage that was everywhere. I trotted over to a red bag, and Whytt, with his mouth open in surprise, opened a blue bag. The red bag had baby’s clothes inside and a woman’s clothes. “The baby that was crying and the mother, it’s their bag!” I whispered. The bag also held bottles and blankets too. I snagged the blankets even though some of them were small. Whytt came over to me with a brown blanket, binoculars, a washcloth, and two books. “This bag didn’t have much.” I told him. “It just had baby clothes and a woman’s clothes.” I said. “Oh, that’s too bad, because this bag had a lot!” He looked at the blue bag that had held the stuff Whytt now had in his hands. I quickly remembered the cottage. “Whytt, there is a cottage right over there. It is a bit far from the plane, but I can see it. Who do you think lives there?” I wondered aloud. “I have no clue.” Whytt said. “Oh well let’s look in this bag” I said. We opened up a coffee brown bag to revel kids clothing. “Hooray!” Whytt and I shouted. I pulled up jeans and a green shirt that looked like my size of clothing. Then I saw a white dress that flowed beautiful. It was definitely my size, or at least around my size. It had white ribbons tied into the side of the sleeves, and lace around the bottom edges. I hurriedly changed into the dress, admiring it and picking up a brown comb. I combed my hair and then I combed Whytt’s hair for him. He was dressed in shorts and a blue t-shirt that had a saying of a place on it that I didn’t know. At least it was clothes, and that’s all we wanted. Who cared what it said on it, we had clothes! My old white shirt and muddy jeans lie on the ground now. I kept my caramel boots on though, because I didn’t want to be barefoot in a jungle. But my eyes spotted something I shouldn’t have looked at. A woman with a baby in her arms lying kind of inside the plane. They were dead, and I quickly looked away. I found a small mirror inside the bag and I held it up in my face. I thought I looked beautiful, with my hair all combed and my white dress. My green eyes sparkled with delight at the new clothing. Whytt was busily rummaging through the remains of the plane crash. He found dried peanuts that the servants were giving out on the plane. We ate them all up and were pretty happy. We almost had forgotten all about the cottage.

After a while of gathering supplies, I remembered the cottage. I made a swift move and opened up the wooden door. Inside, was a person sleeping. I was absolutely shocked at what I had found. I slammed the door and ran to Whytt. “Whytt, there is a person sleeping in that cottage!” I stammered. “Let me see,” He said, not believing me. I walked back over to the cottage with him and showed him. “I guess you’re right,” He said. “See, I am right! There is a person in that cottage.” I proudly said. It looked like a girl to me. She had long blond wavy hair, her skin was peach colored, and her face was very pretty. I wondered why she was here in the jungle, all by herself. Unless, someone was with her and they just went out to get food or explore. I thought about the possibilities of this as Whytt strode over to the cottage yet again. “Whytt, what are you doing? Don’t wake that girl!” I whispered, following him and struggling to pull him away. “I am going to wake her up and ask her how she got here.” Whytt said to me like I was stupid. “No, let’s not disturb her. She could kill us for all you know!” I angrily said. He opened the door to the cottage and walked over to the girl. When he bent down, I knew I had to act fast. I took a rock and threw it at Whytt. When the rock was soaring through the air, I realized what I had done. “NO, WAIT WHYTT, I’M SORRY!” I screamed as I jumped almost in front of the rock. Whytt jerked his head around but the rock had already smacked him in the head. He dropped, lying there unconscious. “Oh darn, why did I ever do that?” I said, highly disappointed. I knew I had to drag Whytt out of the house, because the girl was stirring. “NO, I JUST WANT YOU!” The girl screamed. I hurriedly picked up Whytt with tears running down my pale cheeks. The girl, what was she screaming about that was so sad and made me cry? And Whytt, he was hurt, and that was making me cry too. I had to stop behind the girl’s cottage and I set Whytt down. Who was the girl screaming about? It was all such a big mystery! I had to see who the girl was, but who knows how. I checked Whytt’s heartbeat, and it was still beating. I couldn’t kill Whytt! Althea was already dead. Thinking of Althea laying there with dried blood all over her just made me cry more. Althea’s sparkling blue eyes and red hair was just too much for me. I started getting really angry. I took a huge stone and whipped it at the cottage. I heard a yell come from the cottage. I didn’t care, that girl that was in there, I didn’t even know her! I picked up more stones and took my anger out on the cottage which was slowly collapsing. Who cares what was happening inside, I just cried and threw rocks. Althea’s blue eyes smiling at me, I could just see them right now. I was so depressed that she had to die; I flung myself at the cottage just as it collapsed on the girl and me.

It was maybe the next day or so, and I woke up. I was in a big mess of logs. I scanned the area for Whytt, quickly finding him in a pile of wood logs. I rushed over to him to find her was still living. It took all my strength to push the logs away from the small boy with the blond hair. I shook him awake and his eyes popped open. “Winnow?” He weakly said. “Hello Whytt. I’m sorry. I threw a rock at you because you were going to wake the girl. Then I carried you out of the cottage and put you here. I was thinking about Althea, and I was throwing stones at the house, and I flung myself at it, and… and...” I was stammering. “It collapsed?”Whytt said. “Yes.” I broke into tears. “I probably murdered that girl in there! She is probably dead because of me!” I sobbed. “Let’s take a look.” He said in his small voice. I shakily got up and walked to the ruins of the cottage which was right by me. Whytt and I rummaged through the logs to look for the girl. “Maybe she got out in time,” Whytt stated. “I didn’t see her escape.” I said. “Well, maybe she got out on the side you couldn’t see.” He suggested. “Maybe,” I said doubtfully. “Who cares about her anyways,” I snapped. “Yeah, I guess,” Whytt said, unsure we should be leaving without finding her. As we were walking back to our stash of items, I saw a bump forming on Whytt’s head where I threw the rock. “I’m so sorry Whytt! There is now a bump on your forehead, and it’s my entire fault!” I cried. “It’s okay, you just didn’t want me to touch the girl, because you’re right, she may have been dangerous.” He finally agreed. We both agreed to forget about the blond headed girl, and move on. But that wasn’t going to happen.

 

*** IF YOU have time, let me know what you think! I love it so far!!!!***

books (ava)

I had ava pose for a quick few snapshots...

I've had this idea in my head for awhile, probably have seen it somewhere, I am sure it's not my

original idea!

 

she wanted to read this book like Matilda does in the movie....

 

and then I grabbed Little Women off the shelf. I so want her to read that book, probably soon! Savannah started it in 3rd grade, but never finished it. I think they should both read it now!

Ava has been a reading machine this school year! She has read so many books! probably around 20 chapter books on her own, plus reading for school, the read alouds we do and then the Mandie Collection I read to both of them at night...she is loving to read lately.

In fact, she is on page 190 in the Hunger Games and LOVING IT! both of my girls can't wait to see the movie now that they read the books! If you need a list of good books for  your 9-12 year old, just ask and I can send you a list. My girls rarely read the same books either, so my list is quite extensive and varies with personality!

 

bitty baby (ava)

we have been cleaning out, packing up stuff.

giving stuff away. to friends. to goodwill.

I have gone through box upon box. drawers, cabinets. dressers.

when it came down to this bitty baby, ava could not part with it.

or her bitty baby twins. she got the bitty baby (bald one) when she was

17 months old for Christmas....we have it on video & I think there are just too many

fond memories for her to part with it. and that's okay.

 

 

I wish I had a photo of her with it when she was 1...I might somewhere around here, but not digital...

glad I took this shot of her with it now. someday she will treasure it, I think?!

reading machine:

Ava has been a reading machine this year, here is the list she has finished so far:

 

1. Henry Reed Inc.
2. Arby Jenkins by Sharon Hambrick
3. Stuart's Run to Faith
4. Trouble At Silver Pines Inn
5. Island of the Blue Dolphins
6. Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
7. Just so Stories By Rudyard Kipling
8. Louis Braille
9. Call it Courage (didn't quite finish the last chapter yet)
10. Kite Fights by Linda Sue Parks (LOVED IT)
11. Mandie Collection( I read this to them, finished Volume 3 & 4)
12. The Rat Catchers Son
13. Meet Marie Grace--AG book
14. Star of LIght by Patricia St. John
15. Beat the STory Drum Pum Pum
16. Marie Grace and the orphans
17. The Land that I lost
18. Journey to Jo'burg by Beverly Naidoo
19. Harriet the Spy (in progress now)
20. there were also a bunch we started for school (Sonlight) that we haven't finished in the Read Alouds, so we need to go back to those. This is all since August and they are all pretty long chapter books.

 

I am so HAPPY that Ava loves to read so much! I hope she keeps this up! We have about 75 books sitting on the living room school table waiting for her!

life in instagram:

 ava taking some pictures of the snow, in her jammies & slippers.

 

 

math time for ava....she's doing pretty well.

 

a photo shoot of her doll in the snow. she was DYING for it to snow so she could get out there and do a photo shoot. she truly is my clone.

 

showing me the picture she took!

reading time: we are reading Arby Jenkins, Mighty Mustang. she already read it, but we are reading it and doing a vocabulary packet with it for fluency.

 

sitting at her desk, having hot cocoa while she works. in her jammies. she has quite the good life.

 

doing her dolls hair while I read....

 

a typical day in the life of ava, age 10.

ava's days:

Ava's days go something like this:

 

wake up at 7:20 to drive savannah to school.

she just stays in her jammie's since it's 2 miles up the street and we just hop into the car

right in the garage (she does put a coat on or wrap in a blankie).

come home & eat breakfast (cereal, waffles, yogurt & fruit)

read for 1 hour, Spanish for 20 minutes on the computer

( I usually work out and shower or do Bible reading during this free time for me)

LA, Math, Spelling/Vocabulary/Reading + work sheets

 

Lunch break anywhere from 11:30 or 12:30, it varies

 

on her lunch break Ava usually does a photo shoot of her dolls or makes a stop-motion video or plays

with her dolls or a game on my phone.....

then we head back to work:

History, Science, Writing (I make her write about the books she has read or journal writing),

and Bible....we do these subjects on the couch where it's very cozy, my favorite part of the day.

unless of course she has a Science experiment or needs to do map work or computer stuff.....

I am loving how in the middle of the day Ava might pick up a book and read poetry or look up

something on the computer to learn more about it. that's my favorite part of homeschooling, when

we get lost on a tangent of learning!

and YES< she was drinking a bottle, she didn't feel well so I put some Emergen-C into organge juice into

a bottle, that way I could be sure she drank it all up. (she had wanted me to buy the bottle for her dolls

a few years ago, but secretly, I think she really wanted to drink from it--better that than still be

nursing from me! ha ha)

 

conversation on careers:

so when my niece, kendra was here, we got to talking with the girls about different careers

(kendra is in Optometry school in Chicago) and Ava has always said she wanted to be a vet,

since she was in kindy. Well, we were talking about how she would have to operate on the animals,

etc. and she says, "I can't do that, I can't cut an animal open" and we told her, " you would

be saving their life" and she says, "well I guess I am screwed, I don't know what career I will have

now".......it was soooooooo funny. lovely. #thethingsaTENyearoldsays

 

 

bits & pieces of our lives:

(making banana bread muffins)

 

(checking her math, grading papers, lesson planning)

 

 

(my sweet puppy, piper, who puts his head by my knees and looks for attention. all. day. long.

 

 

(ava, always editing photos + making AG videos of her dolls.)

 

(yum, chocolate chip cookes + milk just for ME)

 

( I have been giving savannah a card every single day of december leading up to her birthday december 24th, she loves it so much, she started hanging them above her bed! she needs to add the rest, she took a few to school also)

 

(ava has been a reading machine this year! she is doing so well! I am so proud of her because she is reading books from Sonlight Core F--ages 10-13, so she is on the low end of that age bracket and most of them are pretty hard to read, I will have to read a lot of them aloud to her! but she is reading stuff that lots of kids her age aren't even exposed to and I love that!).

 

 

rainy day:

it's a rainy dreary day here, dark and icky. 43 degrees in december. crazy.

but look, our grass is STILL GREEN! impossible!

Ava had the right idea, sitting by the tree (for light) to read.