by Xavier N, age 10

Johnny loves his house. It is a mansion with 15 bedrooms, a huge kitchen, a movie room, a living room with a big flat screen TV, a pool, an arcade, and a big sports field. But he was always afraid of the bathroom. It was in a creepy nook of the house. He’d always washed his hands in the kitchen, showered in the pool and did his business in the garbage can. But one afternoon, garbage day rolled around. So when Johnny needed to take one he had to go to the dreaded bathroom. Once Johnny reached the bathroom he sat down. It was all going well until he flushed. He got sucked into a portal and started sliding down the pipes, rapidly. He got to a very mysterious land.

Next thing you know Johnny was panicking. Luckily he found another portal that could send him back to his normal dimension. “Hey, um do you know how to get to that portal up there?” Everyone was glaring at the human. “Everyone assemble!” The leader yelled. They all nodded. The weird toilet paper people started stacking and Little Johnny started climbing. The stack got very wobbly. Johnny had to jump to get the knob of the portal. He jumped. He grabbed onto the knob and got sucked back into the regular world. Johnny would keep coming back to this other universe. And this kids is why you always flush.

by Xavier N, age 10

It is the NYC Cooking Competition. Each Chef has 20 minutes to cook their favorite meal. Our first competitor is PB Jay. He is a 39-year-old. He will be making his famous shrimp mac and cheese. Then there is Plum Quince, a 21 year old. She will make her mouth-watering cajun wing salad. Then there is Granny MacIntosh, an 81-year-old. She will be making a tart.

As the timer starts, they all begin their dish. PB Jay folds his macaroni and parmesan together and Plum Quince mixes her salad. Granny MacIntosh is slowly forming her tart. 10 minutes remaining, PB Jay and Plum Quince start plating their meal while Granny MacIntosh sits around whistling, waiting to grab the tart from the oven. “3, 2, 1!” Granny MacIntosh barely gets her tart on the plate.

The panel of judges taste PB Jay’s food. “Too much shrimp!” the main judge says. Now Plum Quince. “Not enough spice!” Plum cries. Now it’s time for Granny MacIntosh. She is sweating and worrying. “Mmmm, that’s delicious! Winner, Granny MacIntosh!” This shows that fast sometimes doesn’t win.

by Xavier N, age 10

Staying home too much
Driving each other crazy
Just leave me alone

by Keira E, age 11

In my opinion the
Perfect color is blue,
As in the spectacular sky,
And the pretty sea which
Blue whales go through.

Blue like bluebirds in
The sky soaring through,
Blue as in blueberries in
Which we all chew.

A blue morning glory
Which has a pretty view,
And a peacock which can
Make a pretty good tattoo.

Blue like a blue dart frog
And poison it will spew,
Blue like a blue tang
Swimming in a zoo.

Blue like Neptune where
Some satellites go to,
Blue like a waterfall which
You ride on in a canoe.

Like a blue shield bug
In the forest crawling through,
And a morpho with its
Wings a light shade of blue.

Blue as in the blue shark
And its prey it will pursue,
Blue as in sapphire which
Shows off a spectacular hue.

As in jeans which look
Magnificent when new,
And a mailbox which you
Receive packages through.

A chicory weed in which
plants it will plow through,
And a blue sea star which
Many boats sail into.

Blue like blue candy which can
Be sugary, sour, and sweet too,
Blue like blue eyes that
Sparkle like a polished shoe.

A blue dragon sea slug in
The ocean it drifts through,
And a blue heron fishing
For food to chew.

Therefore I am sure that
The perfect color is blue,
I am also sure that all of what I
Have said is no doubt surely true.

by Noah M, age 11

Twas’ the night of Christmas. I fall asleep only to hear something in my closet. “Marky, come over here,” said the voice. “No way, mate. I ain’t even coming an inch over there,” says Marky. “I’ll give you a present.” ” I know your plan.” “I’ll give you five presents.” “Deal.” Marky was found dead in his apartment. His girlfriend, Panica, killed him, but that was 605 years ago. The ghost haunts the Chicago, and now, she haunts me.

by Noah M, age 11

Went to my Ps4.
Played and talked to my friends,
because you never know,
when the game ends.

Superheroes and villains,
they do it all.

If you are influenced to do it though,
the bucket will fall.

by Kevin C, age 12

One boring summer day, my friend and I decided to explore the woods, midway in, we came upon a haunted house. Upon opening the door, we saw a box that said open. In the box were tools to survive night vision googles, a camera, a book, and a stick. A bit curious about these items we picked them up and started walking down the path. There was a hallway in view however, as we came closer it suddenly turned pitch black. We immediately reached for our night vision googles to see in the dark and avoid incoming zombies. After that encounter we reached another hallway with mirrors on all sides. Looking around we saw nothing but suddenly I heard noises and saw two zombies coming towards us. At this time my heart was pounding like a drum. We had to quickly think which tool would get rid of the zombies, with my quick instinct I used the camera flash to blind their vision so we could run past. We continued down the hallway when we came upon a glass of water and in front of us was a witch. We only had a stick and a book left. I decided to look in the book and on the front page was how to get rid of a witch all we had to do was throw the cup of water on the witch and puff like magic she vanishes. At this point we still had a stick left in our survival kit so we knew we would most likely have another encounter. Cautiously we continued through the hallway. We started to hear a hissing sound that caused us to stop in our tracks, I suddenly saw a snake coming towards us. I grabbed out the stick and started hitting the snake with it but with every hit the snake appeared to be coming closer. Thoughts of escaping looked hopeless, my friend was frozen in fear, I had to act fast, quickly scanning the room for clues I suddenly saw a sign that read hit this I hit the sign with my stick and the snake slithered away. Feeling relieved but exhausted from this haunted house experience we went home and vowed never to come back into the woods.

by Adaora O, age 11

It’s like a glowing drop of rain, splashing upon human minds from the sky. It influences decisions, fuels creativity. It waters the mind like water to a plant. It flows through consciousness, The beginning of many creations. It’s like a refreshing drink to the part of you, your soul, a colorful soul. It flows like a river, scorches like a fire, cools like ice, howls like the wind, births like soil. It all starts with you.

by Rex L, age 11

I didn’t take the cookies I swear
They just vanished into thin air!
I looked around the room everywhere,
But I just fear that they’re not here!
So after a bit of smart pondering,
I went to the space station wandering,
And I fought an alien like a man,
But then I heard your demand!
So I was putting them back in the plate,
But I returned it a little bit late!
And that’s when you came along,
And they’re totally not paper, you’re wrong!