Fiction
The hole, setting there in the middle of the clearing, was by no means small, but the little, wide-eyed girl of thirteen years was still amazed that something as big as a dragon could've fit through it. Penny was a peasant in the town. She had left the city's gates to fetch water for her [...]
Fiction
A mysterious quietness filled the misty morning air as Sadie stepped into her slippers and tiptoed out to the garden. The cold morning air slipped beneath her flannel nightgown and made her shiver. Here in Toronto, Canada, the winter mornings were cold and Sadie disliked them. But she ignored the chilly weather and headed toward [...]
Fiction
“Jaidev," his mother whispered to him, as he ran into her arms. "How was your day?" "Good!" he answered vigorously, as they gave each other their ritual hug and kiss. "And the weekend is finally here!" He bounced around with the energy of a rabbit. But happiness is temporary, and is often struck down. Jaidev [...]
Fiction
Kayla dropped the laundry basket down by the washing machine. This was the last load to bring down. She was hot from running up and down the stairs all morning. She rolled up her sleeves and looked around the basement. The unfinished cement walls looked bare and cold, brightened only by the dabs of paint [...]
Fiction
Have you found a landing site yet, Mallory?" roared General Landings, gray hairs bristling. In the close confines of the ship's cockpit, the sound nearly blew my eardrums out. I gritted my teeth and said, "Not yet sir. I'm scanning as we speak sir." "Well get on with it!" He turned away and I shook [...]
Fiction
The movie droned on: " . . . though today some of the canyons hold man-made lakes. This played an important role in the discovery of . . . " I slumped down in my seat and let out a deep yawn, despite my efforts at fighting it. How could they expect anyone to be [...]
Fiction
Today is gray. A sluggish gray, tantalizing us with memories of the sunny days we could see Popocateptl. The day has been immersed with haze, clouds clotting the sky. It's on days like this that the pollution becomes an accomplice with my asthma, draining my nose and rasping my throat. Rasping my thoughts. My head [...]
Fiction
Tick-tick. Tick-tick. The turn signal silenced as Dad rounded the last curb. After a long car ride, Orchard Drive was finally in view. My soon-to-be new house loomed in the distance. It was a sort of gloomy gray color with a ruby-red door that stood out against the drab surroundings. I had decided to like [...]
Poems
Happiness in the Johnson Family
I smell butter cookies, hot chocolate and the stickiness of sleep As we gallop up the stairs to the family room My brother jumping up and down beside me Like a monkey in his tree-green plaid pajamas The tree is glowing like a pyramid of radium And the presents, mysterious cubes and ovals wrapped in [...]
Book Reviews
The Voice That Challenged a Nation
The Voice That Challenged a Nation, by Russell Freedman; Clarion Books: New York, 2oo4; $18 Marian Anderson was a great opera singer during the 1930s and 1940s. She was also an African- American. Marian was born on February 27, 1897, in South Philadelphia. She was the oldest of three daughters of John and Anna Anderson. [...]
Book Reviews
A Boy No More, by Harry Mazer; Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing: New York, zoo4; $15.95 Harry Mazer's book, A Boy No More, is set during World War II. On December 7, 1941, Adam Pelko, a fourteen-year-old boy, and his friends Davi and Martin were in a rowboat when the bombs fell on the USS [...]
