QUEST PART 3 by MS

Lanaya grabbed another handful of blackberries. She was going berry picking with her sister, Lilana. It had been almost a week since they had found the cloaked figure from Lanaya's dream, and now they were waiting for Seela, a Messenger of Destiny, to come and talk to them about what happened with the cloaked figure.

"Do you think she'll come soon?" Lilana asked.

"Hopefully," replied Lanaya.

She sat on a large mushroom, since she was getting very tired.

Fwimp!

Lanaya jumped. What was that? she wondered, dropping down under the mushroom.

"Lilana," she hissed. "Get down here!"

"It's her, Lanaya," Lilana said, her voice excited. "Seela's back."

Lanaya's eyes brightened as she got out from under the mushroom. Like Lilana said, Seela was there.

"Seela! You're here!" Lanaya exclaimed.

"That's right, I'm here," Seela chuckled. "Now, what did you learn about the cloaked figure?"

"Well, hi name is Gert, and he... wants to stop people from dreaming! It's HORRIBLE! We don't know how he's going to do it, but Taleo picked up a stack of paper labeled PLANS. We didn't look at it, but it probably says how he's planning to get rid of dreams," Lanaya explained.

Seela nodded. "Let's go look at those plans then."

"WAIT!" Lanaya shouted. "Um... in my dream, you said you had stuff to deal with. What... stuff was that?"

"Oh, that... well, someone, somehow, disabled the stem, and we got a LOT of kids who just had normal dreams. So I had to help fix it. It's fine now, though," Seela answered, and Lanaya nodded.

They walked to Lanaya, Lilana, Linko, Lisho, and Taleo's house, which was really just a cave on a hill.

"SHE'S BACK! YAY, NO MORE WAITING!" Linko and Lisho shouted at the same time.

"Taleo, where did you put Gert's plans? Seela wants to look at them," Lanaya said.

"Just in the corner over there," Taleo said, pointing to the left corner in the cave.
Lanaya grabbed the stack of paper and gave it to Seela. She looked at the plans, a confused expression on her face.

"I do not understand this, but I think Gert would need special tools to make this work, so we could put him in the Cloud Prison for now so he doesn't continue what he's doing. That, however, you do not have to worry about. You have completed your quest," Seela said.

Linko and Lisho cheered. Lilana and Lanaya smiled. Taleo said, "There's a prison in the clouds?"

QUEST Part II by MS

"Are we there yet?" whined Lisho.

Lanaya shook her head. It had been a week since Seela, a Messenger of Destiny, had said her dream about a cloaked figure was true, and she needed to look for him. Taleo, another kid who dreamt true dreams, joined her to look for the cloaked figure. Lanaya's younger sister, Lilana, and their younger twin brothers, Linko and Lisho, came too. Lanaya had another dream that the cloaked figure was in a tower, but they still had not found him..

"Hey, what's that?" Lilana asked, pointing her finger at a very large tower.

"I think it's the tower!" Taleo exclaimed.

They rushed through the woods until they finally reached the tower. It was made of stone and had windows every few feet. The top of it was blue. Lanaya reached for the handle of the wooden door, but before she could open it, someone else did.

"Oh... it's you," the cloaked figure said.

"YAY WE FOUND HIM!" exclaimed Linko.

"How do you know who we are!?" demanded Taleo.

The cloaked figure motioned for the five kids to go in the tower, and they did.

"Who are you?" asked Lilana.

"I'm Gert, and I know you because," Gert stopped himself and pointed to the middle of the tower. "Stand here."

Lanaya, Taleo, Linko, Lisho, and Lilana walked to the middle of the room.

"I know who you are because I have an orb that shows me anyone who might come to my tower. When I learned about you..." Gert started, "When I learned about you, I knew you would mess with my plans."

"Pretty typical," Taleo whispered to Lanaya. "People with cloaks are always evil."

Lanaya giggled and Gert glared at her.

"My plans are to make it so no one dreams. First of all, I hate hearing people talk about their dreams. And second, people like YOU, Lanaya and Taleo, are able to know about things no one should know!" Gert snarled.

Lanaya was shocked. How could someone not want anyone to have dreams? And how should she respond to him? Thankfully, she didn't have to worry, since Taleo spoke up.

"So you don't want me and Lanaya and other people like us to dream of something that's going to happen to you and warn you?" Taleo asked.

"Why would someone like you warn me?" Gert grumbled.

He opened the door of his tower and went out.

"How will we escape!?" cried Linko.

"That's easy, we lift up the cage. Gert didn't exactly think about how smart we are," Taleo chuckled.

Lanaya smiled. The five kids reached under the cage and lifted it. They could only lift it up so high, but Linko and Lisho could fit through. They scrambled out of the cage.

"Linko and Lisho, I'm pretty sure Gert pushed a button to bring the cage down, can you find a button to put it back up?" Lilana asked.

Linko and Lisho nodded. They searched and searched until finally Lisho found a button.

"This button might work. It's next to the one that says 'cage,'" Lisho said.

He pushed the button and the cage went back up to the ceiling. Lanaya, Taleo, and Lilana went out from under the cage.

"Let's go," said Taleo, quickly snatching a stack of paper off of a table that was labeled PLANS.

The five of them opened the door just a little bit, in case Gert was still by the door. 

They prowled along the edge of the tower until they got to the back. Then they dashed back in the forest.

"Now we just have to wait for Seela to come here," stated Lilana.

"MORE WAITING!? NO!" whined Linko.

"How will Seela even know where we are?" asked Lisho.

"Maybe she has an orb like Gert," suggested Lanaya.

"C'mon, let's go find a place to stay for the night," Taleo said.

They walked through the forest until they found a cave on the side of a hill.

"This should work," said Lanaya.

Everyone nodded in agreement. They went into the cave and sat down and talked. 

After a while they went the rest of the way down to the ground and fell asleep. Lanaya dreamt of Seela.

"I'm giving this dream to you," Seela said. "I just want you to know that it will be a while before I come there. I have some... stuff to deal with.


To be continued...
(again)

QUEST by MS

Lanaya rolled over in her bed, and wondered where she was for the fifty-sixth time. She had fallen asleep in her bed in her room in her house, but strangely she had woken up on a very large leaf. No one else was there, not even her family.

Finally, she stood up and walked to the edge of the leaf. As she walked across it, the leaf shook as if it was floating in the air. She looked over the edge of the leaf and screamed. The leaf was actually floating in the air! Lanaya stumbled backwards and fell on a lump.

"Ow," the lump mumbled.

Lanaya jumped back up and saw that the lump was actually a person. He had tan skin, dark brown hair, and brown eyes.

"Uh, sorry," Lanaya apologized. "Do you know where we are? And who are you?" I'm Lanaya."

"I'm Taleo, and no, I don't know where we are," he replied. "But I did find this note."

Lanaya looked at the note. In messy handwriting, it said,

Stay on the leaf. I will be there soon. Whatever you do, DON'T TOUCH THE STEM OF THE LEAF!

"I wonder what happens if you DO touch the stem," Lanaya said.

"Me too," Taleo agreed, "But I'm not going to try to find out."

Lanaya nodded her head. Suddenly, she heard a voice from behind her.

"I'm curious about this stem you're talking about! I'm gonna touch it!" the voice shouted.

Lanaya jumped in surprise and turned around. There was a boy with hair that was dyed blue, and he was wearing pajamas like he had just been sleeping. Wait, Lanaya thought. I was just sleeping. Did Taleo and this boy get teleported here while they were sleeping, too?

"You shouldn't touch the stem," Taleo warned.

"Meh, what's the worst that could happen?" the boy said carelessly. He reached for the stem.

"WAIT! Don't touch it, uh... what's your name?" Lanaya asked.

"My name is-'' started the boy, but he touched the stem before he could finish talking. He disappeared and all that was left was his sock.

"Do you think he's okay?" Lanaya asked nervously.

"He should be fine," Taleo said.

Lanaya and Taleo sat silently for a while until finally someone flew onto the leaf. She had wings that looked like leaves, and she wore a green dress. There were specks of grass, moss, and flowers in her brown hair. Her tan skin was dotted with freckles, and her green eyes were soft.

"Hi, I'm Seela!" she said.

"Are you a fairy?" Taleo asked.

Seela snorted. "How could I be one of those horrid beasts?" she snapped. "I am a Messenger of Kismet."

"What is 'Kismet?'" Lanaya asked.

"Kismet means destiny. I deliver people messages telling them," Seela started.

"Oh, so you boss people around and tell them what to do," Taleo said.

Seela glared at him. "Not like THAT. I,"

Suddenly, more people appeared on the leaf. None of them were Lanaya's family or friends. No one was recognizable. Lanaya sighed. She hoped her family wasn't too worried about her.

Suddenly, Seela shushed everyone and spoke. "Okay, everyone! I'm guessing you are all wondering why you are here. Well, what did you dream about last night?"

"A TORNADO!" someone shouted.

"A FLOOD!" another person yelled.

"WINNING A CONTEST!" a kid exclaimed.

Lanaya stopped listening to everyone shouting. What did I dream about? she wondered, trying to recall her dream. Finally she remembered.

"MY DREAM WAS ABOUT A CLOAKED PERSON!" Lanaya called out.

Seela started to speak, but then a kid roared, "I DREAMT ABOUT A DANCING CARROT!"

Seela sighed. "Whoever said that, touch the stem. It teleports you home. Sometimes the wrong kids are teleported here.

The kid who dreamt about the dancing carrot touched the stem of the leaf and was gone.

"OKAY EVERYONE!" Seela shouted. "Jump off the leaf. It will bring you to another place. Lanaya, stay here. I want to talk to you."

Everyone except Lanaya reluctantly jumped off the leaf.Lanaya watched all of them plummet to the ground.

"Lanaya," Seela said, turning towards Lanaya. "Everyone except you saw something happen. An event. You saw someone, and that is... unusual. We'll talk later, I just want you to know that you are special. Now c'mon, let's go down with the others."

Before Lanaya could process what Seela said, Seela snatched her hand and jumped down. Lanaya was going so fast that she thought she would hit the ground and die, but once Lanaya and Seela were just a few feet away from the ground, they magically slowed down and landed softly on the grass.

Seela walked to the front of the crowd of people and Lanaya found Taleo and stood next to him.

"What did Seela tell you?" Taleo asked.

"She said-" Lanaya started, but Seela interrupted her.

"OKAY! So, you are probably wondering what your dreams have to do with anything. Well, all of your dreams were either warnings for the future or... I guess just to get you excited," Seela said.

She snapped her fingers, and a screen labeled DREAMSCREEN came down. On it appeared a kid holding a trophy... it was the kid who dreamt about winning a contest's dream!

"Jako's dream was to get him excited," Seela said.

Then the DREAMSCREEN changed to a dream of water slowly rising... with a village underneath. It was the kid who dreamed of a flood's dream.

"Jeita's dream was about a flood. Her dream was to give her a warning. She can tell her village there's a flood coming... but they might not listen. You'll probably have at least your family listen," Seela said.

The DREAMSCREEN changed again. It was Lanaya's dream.

"Lanaya's dream was... different. She dreamed of someone, not an event like Jako and Jeita. It is very rare when people get a dream like this. When they do... they get a quest,"Seela explained.

"Is this what she told you about earlier?" Taleo whispered.

"Yeah, but not the quest part," Lanaya whispered back.

"Lanaya, come up here," Seela ordered, and Lanaya obeyed. "She gets to choose one of you in this crowd to come on the quest with her. She also can choose three other kids that aren't here, like friends or family members,"

Lanaya looked at the crowd. A lot of people were practically begging to be chosen. Several kids were hiding behind others, obviously NOT wanting to be chosen. The rest just stood still.

"I choose Taleo," Lanaya said. "For the people who are not here, I'll go with my younger sister, Lilana, and my younger twin brothers, Linko and Lisho."

Taleo ran up to Lanaya. Although he didn't look like he really wanted to go on the quest when Lanaya was choosing someone, now he looked VERY happy!

Suddenly, three other figures burst out of the crowd. One looked like Lanaya but smaller: dark skin, black hair, brown eyes, and she was wearing purple pajamas. It was Lilana! Following Lilana were two boys, both with dark skin, dark brown hair, black eyes, and blue pajamas. Linko and Lisho!

"Lanaya and Taleo, you two can wait under the leaf while I explain to Lilana, Linko, and Lisho what's going on. Then I'll tell you all what you have to do," Seela said.

The five of them nodded. Lanaya and Taleo walked over to the leaf and sat down under it. After a very short time of waiting, Seela came over with Lanaya's siblings.

"Okay, so you five have to find the cloaked figure from Lanaya's dream. Find out who he is and what he's doing. Then I will come to you and you can tell me what you found out," Seela explained. "Now follow me and I'll show you where to go so you can start searching."

The five kids nodded and they followed Seela to another leaf.

"Touch the stem," she ordered.

The five kids obeyed. The world around them disappeared, and then seconds later they were in a forest.

To be continued...

Kid Claims Pet Hamster is Evil by MS

Eight-year-old Tleepo claims his pet hamster, Eve L., is evil after waking up to his dog, Glibb, whining because he had a cut on his leg. Tleepo carefully examined his room and saw that the door to Eve's cage was open. His parents assured him Eve was not evil. Glibb just hit his leg on something and Tleepo forgot to close Eve's cage. 

However, the next morning, Tleepo woke up to Eve on his face. Eve's eyes were glowing red. His parents said he was dreaming.

     

After many mornings like this, Tleepo finally decided to buy more locks for Eve's cage. The next day, Eve stayed put, so Tleepo wasn't scared when his parents let him stay home alone for a half hour while they went shopping.

     

Tleepo had to feed Eve, so he went up to Eve's cage and saw that one of the locks was unlocked. Tleepo immediately ran out of his room and found his mom's phone. She had left it for him in case there was an emergency. Tleepo tried calling his dad and also texting him, but Tleepo never reached his dad. 

     

Then he heard a creeeaak as his door opened. Tleepo turned around and saw Eve, slowly walking towards him. Tleepo screamed and quickly dialed 9-1-1 on his mom's phone. The police hesitated, but finally agreed to come. 

     

By the time the police had arrived, Eve L. was holding a pencil, and was charging at Tleepo. A police officer named Deeko put on thick gloves and picked up Eve. Deeko put Eve in mini handcuffs. She was arrested. 

     

The police asked Tleepo many questions. They realized Eve L. sounded a lot like evil, and Tleepo told them that was the name the pet store named her. 

    

 The police talked to the owner of Bad Pets, the pet store where Tleepo bought Eve. Blerfo, the owner of Bad Pets, admitted all of the pets were evil. Bad Pets was sued, and since they had very little money, Bad Pets went bankrupt.

The Banana and the Bandana by MS

I want a banana
and a banana decorated bandana
I'll eat the banana as fast as I please,
and I'll put the bandana on some cheese.
I'll buy another banana for six hundred dollars,
and I'll wear the cheesy bandana for forty-six dollars.
Instead of eating the new banana,
I'll eat the cheesy bandana.
Because of that I will explode
into a mode
where my head
is a bed
and my toe
is my worst foe.
I would regret that,
It would feel like I ate a bat.
Instead what I'll do
is I'll put on a shoe
and I'll get my banana
and my bandana
I'll eat my banana that cost six hundred dollars,
and I'll wear my bandana for forty-six hours.
And then for my cheese
I'll throw it with some peas
They will land on a random person's nose,
And they will say "Ow," and blame their toes.
No one likes when something hits their nose,
Especially when it's cheese and peas,
because it messes with your knees.

Should We Bring Woolly Mammoths Back? by MS

      Humans are currently trying to bring woolly mammoths back from extinction. Woolly mammoths, or Mammuthus Primigenius, was an extinct type of mammoth that was alive during the Ice Age. It had a very good effect on the environment.

     We are taking mammoth genes from frozen woolly mammoth carcasses and putting them in an asian elephant embryo, since the asian elephant is the closest living relative of a woolly mammoth. The baby with mammoth genes will be called a Mammophant. Some people hope to do this by 2027, but others don't want to do it at all.

     The people who want to resurrect the woolly mammoth say we're part of the reason they went extinct and it's our responsibility to bring them back. They also say it could help reverse climate change. People who do not want to bring the woolly mammoth back say woolly mammoths would not like the world they come back to, since it would be too hot. Also, they say if we're too focused on bringing the woolly mammoth back, endangered species could go extinct while woolly mammoths are being resurrected. I personally think we should bring woolly mammoths back, but not too many of them. Woolly mammoths used to scrape away a thin layer of permafrost so the cold air could reach other layers farther down and keep them frozen. Under the permafrost is enough carbon to burn every forest on Earth three times! If the permafrost thaws, the carbon would escape and that would be VERY bad! So for that reason I think we should create Mammophants to help. But I also agree that we should focus on helping endangered species. Woolly mammoths would help our planet, which would help some endangered species - but not all of them. So maybe we should put off the woolly mammoth resurrection project for a while.

     I recently did a nonfiction writing project for school, and I chose mine to be about woolly mammoths. At first, I thought it was pretty cool that scientists were trying to bring woolly mammoths back. But as I kept working on my project, I realized how important it is to bring woolly mammoths back. I hope you realize how important Mammuthus Primigenius is, too.