Amanda

=** The Elephant I Brought to School   **= =       =  One day I came across an elephant On my way to school His trunk was very long And his body was very cool I put him in my backpack So my teacher wouldn't see He stayed there very quietly Until frightened by a bee!

= Why is Dixie Never Sad? =

  Once there was a dog named Dixie. The lonely dog used to be a very sad, lonely German Shepherd. Now she lived in a pound in Delightful City. She had been dumped by her old owner and wanted to leave her prison. But, then, on July 16, a family called the Radiances adopted her. Dixie was overjoyed. Of course, dogs are supposed to be happy. But, for this dog, “happy” was an understatement.

One day, Dixie was just in her yard smiling her huge smile, when Max Meerkat came through one of the holes in the chain-link fence. Dixie tried to look scary, but had to smile because she remembered how cute little Nick (her owner’s youngest son) was. Let’s get back to the story. You see Max has anger issues. He thinks he’s a horse and tries to act like one by swatting (and missing) flies with his short, stubby tail. Of course, he’s just a tiny meerkat, but don’t tell him that!! He walked right over to Dixie and said, “Aren’t you ever sad?”

Dixie replied (panting out of happiness), “Now… I have a new family… and… and…”

“You’ve told me it a million times!! “ Max cut her off.

“Well… it’s true… and at least… I don’t… think… I’m a … big, rude… horse!!!”

“Oh, you didn’t!! “

“Oops!!!!”

“I’m so strong, you will tremble in my presence!!” (He said this as he was tilting his head back to a 90-degree angle) As he reached out to “squash” Dixie with his “hoof” she said, ”Don’t be mad, little boy.”

“I’m not a little boy, I’m a whole six years old!!” Dixie picked Max up in her mouth, walked him over to the chain-links, stood up, leaned on the fence, and dropped him over. Max was furious. “I’ll get you for this, I’ll make you sad, somehow. Muh-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!!!!” Then he ran off laughing manically.

Dixie thought, “Well, at least that guy’s gone. He was actually bringing me down a little bit.” So she decided to go to sleep because she might dream about the Radiants. And she did!! But somebody saying stuff like

“There is no hope in the world” and “the polar bears are all dying” in a dreary voice awaked her. She sat up with a start

“Why are you saying those things? The world is perfect!!” Then, to her horror, Max Meerkat was next to her introducing her to his friend Sid the sad Seagull. “This will never work you little meanie!!!” Dixie screamed at the top of her lungs. But Max wouldn’t give up. He kept urging Sid to say more. Right when Dixie thought she couldn’t take anymore, she got an idea. “If You’re Happy and You Know it Lick Your Nose!” It was her favorite song and it made her happy, so it was worth a shot! It worked!! She was happy again!! But Max wasn’t happy at all. Max kept saying stuff like,

“Darn it” or “Sid, you’re fired!!” Dixie had to do the whole routine again. She picked Max up, and put him over the fence (again). That made him even madder. Then Dixie carefully placed the angry meerkat over the fence. Sid flew over the fence on his own and started to cry,

“Wha-ha-ha-ha… I-I-I-I’m fi-fired?”

Cassie and Sam (the Radiance’s other children) walked out, saw Dixie, thought she was over-heated (she was panting really hard), and got her a huge bowl of water. After she had drunk, they lay down with Dixie. Dixie put her head between the two kid’s laps and fell asleep, smiling. She dreamed about Nick, Cassie, Sam, and all the other Radiances. It was a good dream, about when she had first seen them. She had treasured that moment all her life. It was the moment someone had given her another chance. Another chance to sleep in a human bed, lie on a human couch, and just be herself again.

The next day Dixie woke up to see that nobody was home. Then she realized it was a Sunday. On Sundays, the Radiances went to church and they came home as happy as Dixie herself. They got home two hours later. When they did Dixie greeted them with a huge smile. Mr. Radiance said,

“There’s our smiley dog!” When he said those gentle words, she knew she was loved no matter how happy she was.

=<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Impact, Charcoal, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">Look Out Santa!! =

<span style="COLOR: #9627fc; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"> <span style="COLOR: #d045fc; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive">  <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Impact, Charcoal, sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Palatino Linotype', 'Book Antiqua', Palatino, serif"> Joey, Jasmine, and Sam were having a contest to see who could sprint to the North Pole and make the biggest snowball. Jasmine was the fastest runner and took off with a “Whiz!!” After they were off there was a lot of laughing, snowball throwing, and wrestling. Jasmine got to the North Pole first, but not by a long shot! Joey and Sam came right behind her. Suddenly, Joey tripped and “Bang!!” landed right on his elbow. He didn’t cry, but put on a sad face and limped over to watch. Sam and Jasmine piled up all the snow on the North Pole. Both of the snowballs were enormous! Then Jasmine had an idea. “Hey Sam, you know what’d be cool? If we combine our snowballs to make one monster snowball!” Sam agreed, and “Whoosh” they slid them together. “It looks sturdy,” remarked Sam. He was so tired that he leaned on it to rest.

“Pow!” Sam fell to the ground as the huge ball of snow picked up speed, going right towards Joey!! We frantically screamed to get out of the way, but he was stuck there because of his ankle. The ball ran right over him, picking him up! But then they saw where it was headed. Right in front of it was Santa’s Workshop!!! (Da Da Da Da) It rolled past the elves that were scattering toys, picked up unfinished toys, and rolled on top of Jerry (the blind and deaf elf). Jerry screamed at the top of his lungs, “I’m too old for this, Santa!! I’m going to resign!” And with that Santa called over his shoulder, “ Everyone has bad days sometimes Jerry. It’s okay!!” He turned around to see “Whop” the entire naughty/nice being seized by a gigantic snowball. Joey got it, thought “I wonder if I’m on the nice list” then aloud said “ How could you Santa?” when he wasn’t. Santa explained “Well what do you expect after you threw your sister’s diary in a lake, but give that back, it’s my only copy!!” Santa started chasing after the snowball, saying, “ Do you want coal in your stocking?” Then at the other end of the building, the brick wall “Splat “ stopped the huge rolling ball of snow!! So Santa, Jerry, Joey, Sam, and Jasmine were all happy. Now the problem was getting home!!