The Odyssey Voyager Literary Magazine Fall Issue 2015

The Odyssey Voyager
Fall Issue 2015
Literary Magazine
Fall Issue 2015
Fall Issue 2015
Dear Odyssey,
Now, our sixth year at putting this fall issue together, we again wish to
acknowledge the efforts of many students and faculty who have helped to make this
magazine such a beautiful success. As always, a generous thank you to Mrs. Donna
Leppo for helping to proofread the final draft of the text and to assist with binding and
duplicating the copies. Thank you also to Mrs. Hankins for her tech support and to Mrs.
Bilger for placing it on-line for all to enjoy. For helping to judge nearly seventy scary
short stories, we wish to thank Ms. Sarah Bare, Ms. Laura Groseclose, Mrs. Peggy
Beidelman and Mrs. Laurie Rosenberg our Lower School judges, and Mr. Rose,
Mrs. Metzger, Mr. Gordon and again, Ms. Sarah Bare who judged the Middle School
submissions. Thank you to Mr. Gordon and his creative writing students for their special
collection of collaborative poems, Mrs. Beidelman and the Sloops for their wonderful
support and participation in the story contest and for their collection of Haiku poems. Ms.
Bare also deserves our thanks for nearly 100 photos that the students in photo club
submitted to us. They have added color and variety to our issue. Thank you to all the
Language Tutors and Teachers who had their students submit their writing.
We would like to thank Mia Cicarrone for her many beautiful illustrations throughout the issue and especially for crafting our unique cover. Emil Giese and Erin Ali also
deserve thanks for contributing artwork when they could. Thanks also to those students
who helped with editing, typing copy and conducting research especially, Rafa Sena,
Journey Buchanan and Zach Lutzky. We hope that you enjoy this issue as much as we
enjoyed creating it.
Best wishes,
From All the Staff
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Fall Issue 2015
Staff Artists:
Mia Ciccarone,
Anne Altman,
Rafa Sena
Contributing Artists: Erin Ali,
Aurielle Bender
Cover Art: Mia Ciccarone
Copy Editing/Layout: Zach Lutzky,
Rafa Sena,
Journey Buchanan
Contributing Photographers: Journey Buchanan,
All Members of the Photo Club
Moderators: Mr. Philip Bender,
Mr. Jason Gordon
(Bottom to Top:) Journey Buchanan, Anna Altman,
Rafa Sena, Mia Cicarrone, Zach Lutzky, Mr. Bender,
Mr. Gordon
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Fall Issue 2015
Our Staff Page
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Literary Club
Visits
Westminster Hall
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Animal Life
Diversity Is...
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Fall Issue 2015
Faculty
Best Loved Inspirational
Quotes
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Fall Issue 2015
Nothing gold can stay
Nature’s first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold
Her early leaf’s a flower
But only so an hour
Then leaf subside to leaf
To Eden sank to grief
Dawn goes down today
Nothing gold can stay
—Robert Frost

This poem is found in ‘The Outsiders’ a novel read in
Windjammer language class. The poem is about youth, beauty, and
innocence being fleeting. In class we discuss that in order to “stay gold”
one must appreciate the beauty of life and not become hardened by
circumstances or simply by aging.
–Liz Cannon
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less traveled by, and that has made
all the difference
—Robert Frost

This quote speaks to me about how we all need to make difficult
decisions in our lives. It comes from Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken, a
favorite poem of mine. It reminds me to think carefully about decisions
because there is no going back.
—Ms. Maier

This has always been one of my favorite poems, and these three lines are
particularly special for the road of life .
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–—Mrs. Smith
Fall Issue 2015
You never really understand a person until you consider things from
his point view – until you climb inside of his slain and walk around
in it.
-Harper Lee from To Kill a Mockingbird

This quote reminds me that we should not judge people too swiftly.
There may be circumstances in their lives that explain their behavior.
—-Mrs. Ehrenreich
Don’t cry because it is over, smile because it happened.
–Dr. Seuss

This is my favorite quote because as an emotional person., I do not like
the passing of time. Since I found this quote, which one of my students
found and told me this is how I should go through life, I really try and
embrace my life and all the things that I experience in life - rather than be
sad when people have grown or moved or a trip is over. I change my
language to say, “ It was memory that I’ll always have, good or bad.
—Megan Schuler
Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to
get better, it’s not!! —Anonymous

Just the way I feel
—Laura Groseclose
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Fall Issue 2015
Darkness there and nothing more

–Edger Alan Poe, The Raven
After teaching this poem for years, Jimmy Rukert chose this line as his
favorite. After rereading it, I realized that it had a deeper meaning .I
discovered that the speaker can’t take any solace from missing his lost
love,- only darkness.
—Amy Metzger
“Knowledge is like the bee that made that sweet honey, you have to
chase it through the pages of a book!”
-Patricia Polacco from Thank you Mr. Falke

I love this quote because Polacco inspires the reader to want to read.
Reading is sweet, like the taste of honey.
—Miriam L. Gerstenblith
She was in a class by herself. It’s not often someone comes along who is a
true friend and a good writer, Charlotte was both.
—E. B. White From Charlotte's Web

This always bums me to learn because it makes me think of all my friends
and family who have passed away.
—Mrs. Riordan
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Fall Issue 2015
They’re tiny and they’re teenie,
Much smaller than a beanie,
They never can be seenie,
The atom family!
Ta na na na snap snap…
-Jessica Hughes
Much smaller than a beanie,
They never can be seenie,
The atom family!
Ta na na na snap snap…
This “poem” sung to the tune of the Addams family theme song is a
fun to learn about atoms.

This “poem” sung to the tune of the Addam’s family theme song is a
fun way to learn about atoms.
—Jessica Hughes
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A child’s world is fresh, new, beautiful, and full of wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear eyed vision,
that true understanding for all that is beautiful and awe inspiring, is
dimmed and even lost before we reach childhood. If I had influence
with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of
all children. I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be
sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life.
—Rachel Carson

I love this quote so much that it gives me goosebumps, just as it did
when I was 16! It is a wonderful reminder that we have an enormous role in
guiding children along, fostering and emboldening their innate love of
learning; exploring, and discovering. It reminds us too, that keeping curiosity
and an appreciation for nature and the world around us can feel like gift that
keeps giving. I use this quote for students to learn about Rachel Carson, an
environmental activist, marine biologist, and writer from the 1960’s. I used it
to show students how a scientist like Carson, used to collecting data and
documenting her research could and did write both eloquently and
poetically. I use the quote to explore the word “wonder” itself, defining it as
Carson does and asking students to define it in their own words. I ask
students what they would wish for and if they had the influence of the “good
fairy.”
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Table of Contents
Scary Story Winners
16
Selected Scary Stories
Skylar Hays
Demons In the Dark
18-19
Greta Giese
Time to Rewind
20-22
Michael Tanio
The Werewolf
23-24
Benny Sage
My Perspective
25-26
Lydia Jones
The Jelly Donut
27-28
Ellis Robert Lane
The Ghost Boy
29-30
Maddie Finkle
Seve Sena
Scary Night In The Woods
31-32
Julia Ebert
Sophie Orthwein
The Night Of the Basement
33
Chase of the Zombie
34
Wig Out
35-36
Matthew Updike
The Horseshoe
37-38
Cecilia Frederick
The Swings at Night
39-40
Fritz Fleming
Anna Bull
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Samantha Spencer
The New Social
Studies Teacher
41- 45
Caitlin Zappacosta
Uncertain Noises Next Door
46-51
Rafael Sena
Revenge of the Red Eyes
52-56
Cecilia Frederick
The Basement
57-59
Impressions of
Autumn: Selected Photos
Selected Haiku
Riddles
Ryan Harvison
Dwarfed Rabbit
64
Yvette Villacorta
Squirrel
64
Grayson Finnerty
Deer
64
Carter Maloney
Lizard
65
Bobby Yanega
Caterpillar
65
Noah Schneider
Platypus
65
Brady Nicholas
Kangaroo
66
Benny Sage
Zebra
66
Twill Bruggman
Elephant
66
Poetry of a
Different Color
Mr. Jason Gordon
A Word of Introduction
68
Galleons
A Weird Poem is….
69
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Skipjacks
Deep in the Dark Woods
70
Clippers
My Brain is Better Than Yours
71
Catamarans
From a Litany after Mark Strand
72
Schooners
Ode to Cheese
73
Odyssey School
Playwrights Present
Mia Cicarrone,
Zach Lutzky,
Brier Ziegler,
Kendall West
Back to the Future:
The Fight Against Racism
Holiday Poems Remembered
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75-78
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Lower School Winners
First
Skylar Hays
Second
Greta Giese
Third
Michael Tanio
Middle School Winners
First
Cecilia Frederick
Second
Samantha Spencer
Third
Rafael Sena
Caitlin Zappacosta
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Turn the page
if you dare…
Artwork by Mia Ciccarone
“I am above the weakness of seeking to establish a sequence of cause and effect, between the
disaster and the atrocity” — Edgar Allan Poe
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Fall Issue 2015
Demon in the Dark
(First Place)
by Skylar Hays
Artwork by Mia Ciccarone
The detective asked, “What were you doing that night when he showed up at your
door step?” “I was just doing the dishes right after I put the kids to bed,” she said timidly. “I
looked up at the kitchen window and outside he was standing there” she said. “His hair was
as grey as smoke, his teeth were yellow and sharp, just by looking at him, he looked like a
demon she said, fearfully.” “So I locked the doors and shut the blinds.” I got out a knife just
to perfect myself. Then there I saw him in my house. I screamed. Then he was gone,” she
said.
The detective said, “Thank you for your patience and time, we will get back to you as
soon as we can.” “Bye,” he said.
He stepped into his house and sat down. The detective said, “I just can’t find him.”
Every night the demon roves around the village stalking local people, posessing them. He
ruins their dreams, changes his happy dreams into nightmares. Everyone knows about him
in the village, and every night they pray that they won’t see him.
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Fall Issue 2015
One night, the detective sister Lauren was in her house, sitting on her couch, texting
someone on her phone. When she saw someone outside, and she knew it was the demon ,
so she called the cops. She also wanted to take a picture of this beast because her brother really needed the evidence, or he could get fired.
With fear in her mind she slowly walked outside and scanned the woods. She was
shivering and petrified. She was scared the demon would hurt her or even kill her, but she kept
walking. Then she heard the noise of leaves cracking and someone walking behind her. She
was too scared to turn around.
All of a sudden, she heard a terrible scream. At that point she knew she had to turn
around or she probably would die. It was almost sunrise. She turned around and she saw the
demon and took a picture as fast as she could. Then she backed away slowly. It wasn’t hurting
her, so she just stared. It was evolving into a man that looked familiar to her.
When it was finally a man she noticed it was Ben her brother the detective. She was so
shocked, she just stared. Then she tried to talk to her brother. She told him what she saw that
night. The detective turned himself into the police.
He said solemnly, “This is better for everyone,” “goodbye.”
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Fall Issue 2015
Time to Rewind
by Greta Giese
It was Halloween day and afterschool Kaja invited me over to her
house. I said, “Yes,” because she lives in an old castle and it’s always fun to
play there. We rode home on the bus together and when we got to the castle
Kaja said, “Let’s go into the basement.” I stuttered at first before I said,
“um …okay.”
The basement was dark and unfinished and had lots of boxes. We could
not see each other on opposite sides of the room. Kaja and I were rummaging
through the boxes, packing peanuts and bubble wrap flying. Then Kaja
exclaimed, “Wow! Look at this pocket watch!” I looked over and saw she held
a bronze, circle watch with an intricate design. It was still ticking. It sounded
like a ghost’s thundering footsteps. The room started to spin and I reached out
for Kaja’s hand. We closed our eyes and opened them to the sounds of
gunshots.
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Fall Issue 2015
all around us. There was smoke everywhere. We looked around and saw an eerie
figure close by. He was tall and lean. He was almost translucent. His eyes were so
blue that if you stared right into them, it burned. He started to walk towards us
and we squeezed our eyes shut. We started to spin again and Kaja shouted,
“Hand please!” and reached for my hand. Suddenly everything was silent.
We opened our eyes and in a dark theater. A cheesy play was playing onstage. We started to laugh but looked around and realized that we were in Ford’s
Theater sitting right next to John Wilkes Booth. Under his seat was a gun. Kaja
whispered, “We’ve got to do something.” I replied, “But we can’t save Lincoln, it
will mess up time.” We saw John Wilkes Booth reach under his seat for the gun.
We ran out of the row and realized that we were right in front of Abraham Lincoln’s balcony. I said to Kaja, “We need to get out of here! I learned that this is
where Abraham Lincoln was killed.” “Yes!” Kaja agreed. We found our way to
the back of the theater in the darkness, but a pair of burning blue eyes lit up. The
eerie man had returned! He was reaching for us in the darkness. Suddenly the
theater started to spin and Kaja and I held hands.
When we opened our eyes Kaja asked, “Where are we?” Before us was a
huge, creepy mansion. There were pillars holding up the roof on the porch. Its
front was lit with torch flames. The torches were gold. Not knowing what else to
do, we walked up the path. A whispering wind made us stop in our tracks. We
shivered and went inside. There was a huge staircase before us. To the right of us
there was a dining room table that was set for a feast. To the left of us, was a fireplace with a fire burning inside. We glanced up at the chandelier that looked like
a thousand spirits. Suddenly the fire went out, the glass in the chandelier shattered and the eerie man walked out of the shadows. With the flip of his finger, the
door was shut and locked behind us.
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Fall Issue 2015
The man held out his hand and said, “My pocket watch.” Kaja handed the
watch to the man. “But how did your pocket watch get into my basement?” she
asked him. The old man said, “The house of yours used to be a hotel and I lost it
in the basement. I’ve been wandering through time searching for it. Only I can
get you back to your normal life and time. Take these.” He held up two sapphire
necklaces. As we reached out for them, we heard him say, “Time to rewind.” We
closed our eyes in fear.
When we opened our eyes at last we were back in Kaja’s castle basement.
We were left with the necklaces that we wear to this day to remember our journey forever.
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Fall Issue 2015
The Werewolf
(Third Place)
by Michael Tanio
Artwork by Erin Ali
Two boys named Bob and Timmy had just moved to Maryland to a
farm. While their mom and dad were unpacking their boxes, the boys went exploring the woods. Their mother came out from the house and said, “Come
back before dark.”
“We will,” said Timmy. Three hours flew by. Then Timmy said, “We
should start heading b…’’
Bob suddenly interrupted, “Shhh… look.”
“What?” Tim asked.
“An old hunting cabin. Maybe we can sneak in,” said Bob.
“But Mom said to be back before dark,” said Timmy.
“Timmy, don’t be such a scaredy cat. Where is your sense of adventure?” said Bob.
“No, I am going home. It is a full moon,” said Timmy. Suddenly, a
scratching sound came from the cabin. Then, a gurgle and a grunt. Next, a yell,
more scratching, and more grunting. Then, dead silence. Finally, a long
and deafening howl came from the cabin. Then, the cabin door slid
open and a werewolf stood in front of them.
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Fall Issue 2015
It started to chase them all the way home. It stopped at the end
of the forest but they did not stop running. They ran back to the house
and shouted, “Mom! Dad!” When they turned to show them the werewolf, it had gone. Their mom said, “Impossible.” In the middle of the
night after the boys had gone to bed, a howl came from the woods. It
was back.
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Fall Issue 2015
My Perspective
(Honorable Mention)
by Benny Sage
“I am going to tell you a scary story. Now, you usually hear from the victim’s perspective, but I am going to do something different today… today you
are going to hear from the… killer’s perspective. It was a normal day. I was
looking for my prey and that’s when I saw them… two kids, and lucky me one
had a sleeping bag. This is perfect,” I thought.
I moved in to hear what they were saying and this is what I caught, “Thanks for
letting me sleep over Dave,” said the boy with the sleeping bag.
”No problem Carl,” said the kid named Dave.
So, I followed them to Dave’s house, and Dave being a gentleman, held
the door for Carl. Then he closed it. I looked up to find a window. Then I saw
one that was open. I climbed up a tree and then leaped into the house. I looked
around. ”This looks like the parents’ room,“ I thought.
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Fall Issue 2015
Then right in front of me there was a dog the size of a bear! Now I usually found a dog
on my hunts, but this one was huge! So I grabbed a rope and after a bunch of bites, snarls, and
scratches I tied it up.
Next, I opened the door to find the kids going to the kitchen. They did not hear me
thankfully. I stood outside the kitchen to listen.
”Dude, my mom’s not going to be here tonight,” said Dave.
“Yes! Let’s stay up all night,” said Carl.
“Oh, you bet you will stay up all night,” I said. Then I screamed,
“Jacky’s here!”
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Fall Issue 2015
The Jelly Donut
(Honorable Mention)
by Lydia Jones
Artwork by Rafa Sena
There was a guy named Ted. One day he was going to work, but he thought
– I’m pretty hungry- I need a donut. So, he went to Dunkin Donuts and saw the
donut makers, Eleanor and Jeff. He saw a lot of donuts, but none looked very
good. Then he saw one jelly donut that kicked all the other donuts to the curb!
But the donut makers said, “We wouldn’t get that one if we were you.”, but he
insisted on getting the jelly donut.
He took the donut in a bag to work. He put the bag on his desk and it began to glow. He thought, “How strange!” He ate the donut anyway and then, to
his surprise, a duplicate of him popped out of the donut bag.
“Who are you?’ said Ted.
“I am a duplicate of you from the future. Just call me Ted #2”
Ted said, “Cool, stay here and do my work while I go home and make tacos.”
Then Ted went home and was making tacos when his boss called and said,
“Why aren’t you at work? I’m in your office. I’ll let you off the hook this one
time, but get back in here.”
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Fall Issue 2015
Ted went back to work to see where his duplicate was, but everything in his office
looked different. There were cobwebs on his desk and his boss looked really old with a long
gray beard and white hair. Nothing was the same. Ted didn’t see his duplicate, but when he
went to go home he saw him in the back seat of his car. He was shocked. Ted #2 asked him
if he had made the tacos. Ted replied, “Yes. Let’s go eat them and watch TV and then go to
bed.”
“Sounds like a plan.” said Ted #2.
The next day Ted looked for his duplicate in the donut bag, but he had vanished. I
need a donut he thought and went back to the donut shop and got a box of jelly donuts. He
went to work and everything was normal, no cobwebs and no boss in sight. He found another box of donuts on his desk with a note that read, “Thanks for letting me out of my bag. No
one has ever let me out before. It was my first time in the real world. But don’t worry, I’ll
be back. Trust me on this.”
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Fall Issue 2015
Artwork by Aurielle Bender
The Ghost Boy
(Honorable Mention)
by Ellis Roberts-Laine
One day Regina, Marvin, and Georgina were walking home from school.
They
were all in the same class and lived in London, England. They find an old house with a
marsh on the property which was collapsing and had broken windows with vines growing
out of them. They walked in the house, and it was very cold, dimly lit, and musty smelling. They saw a ghost which was bright white and wearing a tuxedo, and it faded away
immediately after they saw it. They dropped their backpacks as they ran away. When Regina, Marvin, and Georgina got home, they didn’t tell anyone because they knew no one
would believe them.
The next day Regina, Marvin, and Georgina stopped by the house to get their backpacks which were unzipped and open. When they got to math class, their teacher asked
them for their homework. She had brown hair that she tied back in a ponytail. Regina,
Marvin, and Georgina rummaged through their backpacks, but they couldn’t find their
homework.
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Fall Issue 2015
When the teacher found out, she scolded them and sent them to detention where they
had to write “I must not forget to do my homework” one hundred times. They thought it
was very unfair because they knew they had done their homework and that it was in their
backpacks.
That afternoon they went back to the old house to see if their homework was there
because that was the last place they knew they had seen their homework. There were three
crumpled pieces of paper by the front door and a trail of huge, slimy footprints leading to
the front porch. They looked closely at the papers, hoping it was their homework, and saw
their division problems on them. They were happy at first to find their homework until they
noticed that each had a different note written on it.
“Did you have fun at Detention?”
“Did you enjoy writing your one hundred sentences?”
“Why did you come bother me?”
They broke out in a sweat and panted. They scooped up their papers and ran as fast
as they could to their own houses.
The next morning they turned in their homework, trying their best to erase all the
notes. Their teacher was happy that they had their homework.
After a few weeks, they went back to the old house to try to find the ghost. It wasn’t
easy for them to go back because they were still so scared. They searched and searched
every inch of the house, but the ghost seemed to have disappeared. As they were searching,
they found a letter on the kitchen counter saying, “I’m on vacation in America to find more
children to scare” signed Fred, the Ghost.
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Fall Issue 2015
Artwork by Aurielle Bender
The Scary Halloween Night In the Woods
(Honorable Mention)
by Maddie Finkel and Seve Sena
William, Sam, Graham, and Maddie were walking through the forest on
Halloween night. It started to rain hard and they heard weird noises coming
from the East. Maddie and Graham went into the barn to get some wood to
make a fire. William and Sam went to find some food. They saw a tornado and
ran to the girls to tell them. Then Maddie and Graham saw a cute coyote but it
was really a werewolf! They ran away and they bonked into the boys. The
werewolf started to chase all of them and the tornado was catching up to them.
They ran back into the forest to hide from the monster and the tornado. They
tried to catch the werewolf by putting a net over a deep ditch with food on top
of the net. The werewolf fell into the ditch. They thought they caught it but it
jumped out and ran away. They forgot about the tornado so they turned around
to look for it and saw it was gone.
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Fall Issue 2015
Maddie brought a magic book just in case anything happened to them.
The girls told William and Sam to get the special ingredients to make a magic
potion that would fix the werewolf. They needed to find yeast, acorns, frog legs,
a pumpkin, leaves, a gold coin and some glitter glue. Graham and Maddie went
to get the frog legs, a pot, pumpkin, and yeast and the boys went to get leaves, a
gold coin, glitter glue and acorns
When they found everything they came back and put it in the pot. They
started stirring and saying magic words from the book to make the spell. They
had to say all of the ingredients. Suddenly a bottle popped up in the pot with the
magic liquid!
They put the potion in a bowl and hid in a bush so the werewolf wouldn’t
see them. They wanted the werewolf to drink the potion. Then the werewolf
came . over to the potion and started to drink it. He thought it was very sugary.
Then he turned into a little, cute, harmless bunny!!
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Fall Issue 2015
The Night of the Basement
(Honorable
Mention)
by
Julia Ebert and Sophie Orthwein
Artwork by Julia Ebert
It was a dark and stormy night when I was 7, and I had to sleep in the
basement because my room was being renovated. I just wanted to take down
this portrait of a creepy man hanging on the wall. When I took the picture down,
I found a door to a secret room.
As I entered, the room I began to see myself as an infant. The passageway
was journey back into time. From the end of the hallway, I heard an old creepy
voice saying,” I’ve been waiting for you.” I walked slowly towards the voice,
and soon discovered from where it was coming. The scary man in the picture
was alive in the secret hallway.
As fast as I could, I ran out of the secret room and hid under my sleeping
bag. But, oh, no, the man had followed me because I had forgotten to rehang the
picture close to the front door.
From my sleeping bag, I heard an evil laugh, and I tried to scream, but no
one came out. Suddenly, I woke up and saw my brother at the top of the
basement steps. It was his evil voice telling me it was time to get up.
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Fall Issue 2015
The Chase of the Zombie
(Honorable Mention)
by Fritz Fleming
Artwork by Aurielle Bender
It was midnight after Halloween when a ghost made a lightening bolt that
struck a grave and made a zombie! Jack and Zack were walking and saw the
zombie so they ran. The zombie chased the boys through the graveyard as they
ran as fast as they could. They made it out of the graveyard and ran to a nearby
abandoned house. When they reached the house, they went through the front
door. The zombie pounded on the door all night long, but he could not get to the
boys.
Then, as the sun came up, the zombie began to turn to stone. When the
boys came out, they saw the zombie hardened and quickly ran home to tell their
Mom. Their Mom did not believe them so she went to see for herself, but the
zombie was no longer there. However, there were footprints leading into the
woods.
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Fall Issue 2015
Wig out
(Honorable Mention)
by Anna Bull
One night at Field Wreck High School four were at the school: The
class clown, Ron; the wiz kid, Peary; the artist, Thomas; and the nature lover,
Alex. After the dance they all went home together. Ron wanted to drive, so
they let him.
It was a winding road- right, left, left, right and a swerve- which resulted
in the car breaking down right in front of an old, creepy, spider-webby house.
Alex started freaking out. “OMG!” she exclaimed, “We’re in the middle of
NOWHERE!!! Our phones are dead, we have no food- and now the car
broke down!!!”
Peary started complaining because she was hungry. Thomas offered her
a pear, but Peary thought for a moment. “I don’t want to be a cannibal, so…
No thank you…”
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Fall Issue 2015
Since they had no other option, they started walking up to the creepy
house. They were shaking in their boots. They knocked on the old wooden
door, but it just creaked open by itself. Bats came flying out, hitting each
other and everyone in their faces, scaring the stuffing out of Alex’s stress
teddy bear.
They walked in cautiously. Ron found a clown’s wig on the floor. No
one believed he didn’t bring it himself.
They decided to explore. Suddenly Ron saw a black cat. He jumped up
and hid behind Alex. “don’t be such a scare-d-cat!” said Thomas.
They kept walking down the seemingly endless hallway when out of
nowhere there was movement. It stood in the hallway looking over them:
Creep, Red-nosed, Lots of makeup and deadly red wig. The clown grabbed
Thomas’s shoulder and said “BOOO!!” in a quiet screechy voice.
All of the kids screamed in terror and ran out of the house. Luckily
a tow truck had come and fixed the car. They looked back, but the house was
gone. All that was left was the red wig Ron had found.
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Fall Issue 2015
The Horseshoe!
(Honorable Mention)
by Matthew Updike
Artwork by Rafa Sena
Back in the day there once lived a young charming man named Bob.
He was a kind of nice man so he went to find his friend John. They both had
fun together when they played horseshoes. Till one day when they were
playing horseshoes, Bob accidently hit John in the head with one of the horseshoes which hit his brain and killed him. After John’s funeral, Bob went to
bed without care for what he did, because he inherited everything from John.
While Bob was sleeping that night he heard a big scary whoosh and
then a cling and he heard someone whisper. “I remember what you did.” So he
said to himself “Oh, it’s nothing” then he heard it again whoosh and then a
cling and he heard a voice whisper it again “I remember what you did.” He
quickly understood that it sounded like a horseshoe being thrown. Soon he
heard it again, whoosh and then a cling and a whispering sound, “I remember
what you did.”
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Fall Issue 2015
So he got up and ran all the way to his friend Robert’s house to sleep
there. When he got there he knocked on the door and there was no answer. So
he barged in and looked in Robert’s room, and there was a horseshoe on his pillow. Then he went to his friend Evan’s house. His door was wide open, so Bob
went straight up to Evan’s room and there was a horseshoe on his pillow and his
window sill. So he just hid in the bushes till morning.
Early the next morning, Bob went back to his house because he thought it
would be safe to go back. When he got to his house he went straight up to his
room. When he got there he went to his bed and there were horseshoes in his
bed that spelled I remember what you did. Then he heard a whoosh and
that was the end of Bob.
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Fall Issue 2015
The Swings at Night
(First Place)
by Cecelia Frederick
Artwork by Rafael Sena
On a dark night Margaret was swing on her swing set when she heard a
noise. “Whoooooooo” when she heard it, she almost had a heart attack then
screamed and went inside. For the next few nights it happened again and
again. Three weeks later she decided to stay outside and see what it was. After
she heard the sound she stayed and outside and looked around then pointed a
flashlight where she heard the noise coming from but there was just a small
jar on the other side of the street, she went to go look at it.
When she picked it up, the label on the jar read, “Go home now or I
will eat you.” She went inside but took the jar with her. When her mom saw
the jar she said “Where did you get that jar dear?” Margaret was about to
reply when the jar said in her voice ,“I found it outside and it looked nice”
“Oh okay, honey” said Margaret’s mom. Margaret ran upstairs because she
didn’t say that to her mom, the jar did but it sounded like her!
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Fall Issue 2015
The next day when Margaret woke up ,she looked around and everything
looked a little different. When she went to go get dressed. She hit a wall of glass.
Then she looked up and saw the lid of the jar above her. She screamed for help
but no one heard her. Then she heard her mom calling for her, she was about to
scream but the jar said “I’ll be right down mom.”
And then the label appeared again and it read “Don’t worry this won’t
hurt a bit” then it giggled and said “At least it won’t hurt me, Haa haa haa.”
Margaret then experienced the worst pain she had ever felt. When it finally
stopped she looked out of the jar again, she realized she wasn’t in a jar anymore,
she was looking out of her own eye! The jar had shape shifted into her! The jar
went down stairs and played the part of Margaret very well. Margaret never escaped but when she died the jar turned back to its original form and kept scaring
kids and taking their forms until it broke 807 years later.
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Fall Issue 2015
Artwork by Mia Cicarrone
The New Social Studies Teacher
by Samantha Spencer
Jessica was walking home from her best friend, Stacy’s, house. Jessica was fourteen
years old and lived in Little Rock, Arkansas. When she got inside, her parents were fighting; so
she tried to break them up. They were fighting about Jessica’s grades. Jessica had been failing
Social Studies class for a year now and her parents were sick of it.
The next morning Jessica woke up, changed into her school clothes, had breakfast,
brushed her teeth and hair, said goodbye to her parents, and hopped on the school bus. When
she got to school, she found out she had a new teacher for her worst class, Social Studies. She
thought to herself that this could either be a good thing or a bad thing, but she decided to think
of it as a good thing. Maybe he taught in a different way that would make things easier for
Jessica.
When Jessica got to Social Studies class, she was a little nervous. When she went into
the classroom, written on the chalkboard was “Garrett”. She sat down and a kind looking man
with light brown hair walked to the desk in the front of the room.
The man said, “Hello, students, I am your new Social Studies teacher. You guys can
call me Garrett.”
Jessica thought to herself that he seemed really nice. Then he asked everyone what their
names were, but he started with Jessica, which seemed a little weird to her because she was
sitting in the middle of the classroom.
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Fall Issue 2015
After the class was over, she thought to herself that this could be really great. He seemed
like a great, nice, fun teacher. Then Jessica started noticing out of the corner of her eye that
Garrett was almost always in her sight, which seemed very mysterious to Jessica.
After Jessica got home, she ran to her parents telling them all about her wonderful new
Social Studies teacher. Her parents were so happy and thought that it would be great for Jessica
because she could start pulling her grades up.
The next day when Jessica got to school, she met up with Stacy. After third period
Jessica went to Social Studies. When she was about to go into the classroom, she noticed
Garrett standing by the door. When she looked at him, he started walking towards her, and
then he said to her,
”Can I talk to you after class?”
Jessica answered,” Yeah, sure.”
After they got in the room, class started. At the end of the class, Jessica stayed in the
room when everyone else was leaving.
After everyone was gone, Garrett said, “Jessica, I have noticed that you have been
having a little more trouble in this class than the other students; so I have thought of a way that
could help you a lot.”
“Yeah, Social Studies has always been a hard class for me and some extra help would
be nice. What is your idea?”
“Well, I thought that it would get you caught up easier if I tutored you, but of course
first you would have to ask your parents first; so what do you thing about that?”
“That’s seems like a good idea. As long as I can actually succeed in this class, I am sure
my parents would love the idea.Ok, great. Well you should probably start heading to gym class
now but make sure you talk to your parents about it.”
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Fall Issue 2015
“Okay, I will. Thank you, I am sure this will help me a lot. It is a great Idea.”
Jessica thought to herself, how did he know that I had gym class next? Some things about
Garrett seemed a little weird to Jessica, like how he always knew everything, but the one thing
that was strange to her more than anything else is that it seemed that he only knew lots of
things about Jessica. Jessica decided to get that out of her mind and thought to herself that it
was probably just all made up in her head.
After school when Jessica got home, she told her parents about Garrett’s idea. They
thought it was a wonderful idea and said they would contact him to talk about it. After that
Jessica went upstairs to go do her homework; meanwhile her mom was on the phone with
Garrett. When Jessica went downstairs for dinner, her mom told her that Garrett would be
coming to their house on Sunday to tutor her.
Jessica had a regular week at school and now it was Saturday. Jessica was over at
Stacy’s house, watching TV when all a sudden they heard tapping on the window door. Jessica
and Stacy were really scared and didn’t want to look over, but they told each other they would
do it at the same time. When they looked over, they jumped because standing there was
Garrett!
They both said to each other “Why is he here?”
Jessica went to go answer the door. When she opened the door Garrett said, “Hi, Jessica.”
“Hi, Garrett, what are you doing here?” Jessica replied.
“I am here to tutor you, remember?”
“Yes, but that is tomorrow and it’s also at my house.”
“Oh, I thought it was today, and I knew that it was at your house, but since
you were over at Stacy’s, I thought maybe for some reason you wanted to have it
here.”
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Fall Issue 2015
“Oh, no I still have it planned for my house; so is it all right if you
come to my house tomorrow?”
“Yeah, that’s fine I will just come to your house tomorrow. Sorry about
that.”
“That’s ok. I will see you tomorrow.”
“All right, bye.”
After Jessica closed the door she went back to the couch to tell Stacy
what had just happened. Jessica told everything to Stacy, and Stacy said,
“Wait, how does he know that you were over here and how does he know
where I live?”
“Oh, my gosh. I have no idea. He freaks me out a lot! I feel like he
knows everything about me and I just met him for the first time two weeks
ago.”
“That is so weird. Tell me if he says anything else tomorrow.”
“Ok, I will.”
After Jessica left Stacy’s house, she had a great rest of her Saturday.
Sunday came around and Jessica was ready for Garrett to come over. When he
came to the front door, Jessica’s mom greeted him. Then they went into a more
quiet room. Jessica was so confused half way through because he started talking about ancient basements. Jessica thought that was ridiculous, but she just
went along with it. Then oddly enough he asked to see Jessica’s basement; so
she showed it to him. When they got down the stairs, Garrett closed the door
which was a little creepy to Jessica. Jessica’s back was to Garrett when all of a
sudden Garrett pulled out a gun. Jessica turned around.
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Fall Issue 2015
Right when she saw the gun, she starts moving but Garrett pulled the trigger right away. He missed by a hair, and Jessica ran as fast as she possibly
could she ran into the laundry room and out the window. She sprinted to
Stacy’s house, grabbed the key under the mat, and locked herself in.
Stacy came over and asked her, “Jessica, are you okay? What happened?”
Jessica told her everything. Meanwhile Jessica’s mom heard the gun
shot and ran downstairs to the basement. She saw Garrett holding a gun
and looked for Jessica. She saw the open window and immediately called
911. The police showed up a few minutes later and took Garrett away. Jessica saw the police car drive away with Garrett in the back; so she knew it
was safe to come home. Jessica was so scared and so extremely thankful to
be alive.
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Fall Issue 2015
Uncertain
Noises Next Door
(Third Place)
by Caitlin Zappacosta
It was a brisk fall evening. Around the time when the leaves were just
starting to change their hue, and trees were just starting to turn bare. Halloween was right around the corner and the wind was just starting to kick up. Life
had that spooky feeling, sending chills up people’s backs and catching them
off guard. A young girl name Michaela, was walking home from school with
her friend Olivia, Livy for short. Both girls were 13 and attended Lincoln
Academy.
Michaela was about the size of a small elm tree with blonde hair
straight as a pin, she had captivating blue eyes that when you looked into you
saw adventure. She had a look to her as if to say she was tough, trouble,
almost. Livy was the complete opposite.
She had deep brown hair, and
anxious eyes that told you she feared all of the surprises that life held for her.
She was always alert and tense. Somehow these two became best friends when
they first met in kindergarten, they both needed the other to keep them in line.
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Fall Issue 2015
They both live in the same neighborhood, so they walk home together
every day. On this particular day, Michaela stopped to get the mail, they only
had a couple of more houses until they passed the Stein’s house, that house was
across the street from Michaela’s and Livy’s houses. The Stein’s house was a
horror story waiting to happen. It was a run-down yellow house with brown
shingles and an ominous black door. The sounds that would haunt your ears
echoed of screams, “cakals”, and branches snapping off in the distance. That
house was motionless but every once in a while you would see their mysterious
black car rolling out of the garage and an hour or so later they would come back,
not saying hi to their passing neighbors, nothing.
Today was unusual because their house smelled like smoke, and there
wasn’t the same normal silence, it was broken by the sound of shattering glass
bottles. So Michaela turned around to observe what was happening, when she
did she noticed that there was smoke coming from the basement window, and
faint screams could be heard.
Livy was scared as normal and wanted to leave it alone, but Michaela
refused. She insisted at least going over to see if everything was okay, for all she
knew , the Stein’s could be in danger. When Michaela eagerly went over to the
door, she grasped the big brass door knocker and swung it down hard. There was
no answer, but slowly the door started to creep open, the two girls went in unwillingly.
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Fall Issue 2015
They peered around the corner to find a faint light coming from the basement door that seemed to be the where the smoke was originating.
As they walked down the steps, they started to see sparks flying, and it
smelled more and more like ash and smoke. When the two girls finally mustered
up the nerve to open the basement door, they were horrified by what they saw.
This particular sight would haunt them for the rest of their lives no matter how
hard they tried to forget it.
Placed in the center of the room was a blue operating table, laying ay with
on the table was a cadaver. To the right of the OR table there was a little metal
tray with operating tools on it. In Mr. Sein’s hand he had what looked to be like a
torch, there was a huge flame alone with smoke pouring out. Hanging on the
seller walls were descriptions on how the human body works, along with pictures
that Mr. Stein had taken once he cut open the corpse.
Running back up the stairs, trying not to be heard the two girls looked for
another way out. They found a window on the first floor that had been cracked
open, just enough for them to fit through. Racing out the window the girl
sprinted home like their lives depended on it. They each made it home vowing
not to talk about what they had seen.
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Fall Issue 2015
The next day at school, as hard as they tried, things were not normal. The
two girls just couldn’t shake the feeling about what they had seen last night.
They peered around every corner, and found themselves constantly looking over
their shoulders. Finally, Michaela broke the ice. “We can’t keep acting like
what we saw didn’t happen, we have to do something about it… right?” she said
questionably. “I guess your right” Livy moaned. “What do you think we should
do?” Livy asked. “Well, we can’t call the police, they won’t believe us,”
Michaela said disappointedly. “Where do you even think they are finding the
bodies ?” Michaela continued, “I don’t know, but we need to find out soon.”
said Livy worriedly. Let’s go to the library to find out more information, they
dashed off.
When Livy logged on to the computer a news bulletin popped up and in
big letters said, Breaking news, Several bodies stolen from local cemetery. She
clicked on it thinking it had some correlation to the Steins. She called over to
Michaela who was reading the papers. She came rushing over! The article
described the cemetery they were robbing, but had no information about any
suspects. The girls assumed that they might rob it again that day.
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Fall Issue 2015
.
After school, they rushed over to the cemetery expecting to see the Steins.
After hiding behind an old oak tree for over an hour, they were starting to lose
hope. They started to get up and head home. Michaela then noticed that there
was a black tinted window car just like the Steins had, parked in front of the
entrance. Then, two suspicious characters got out with a big long gray bag. It
looked even big enough to fit a body. Michaela wanted to go over and confront
them, but Livy knew they should wait to see what the Steins did before making
any judgements
The two characters were clothed in black from head to toe, with big boots
on and a hat to hide their faces. They looked very aware, or at least were trying
to be, they were intently looking at each grave reading the names. Until they got
to one that had roses on the top and cross stuck in the ground in front of it,
Michaela couldn’t quite make out the name. Then looking around causally, they
pulled out two shovels from the gray bag and started digging.
Michaela couldn’t just stand there and watch anymore, she bolted over to
strange shadowy figures with Livy close behind her. Michaela flicked their hats
off from the back as she yelled, “What do you think you are doing there Mr. and
Mrs. Stein?” As the two turned around they got madder and madder by the
second. The girls weren’t sure what to do so, they stood and held their ground.
Little did they know that was a mistake!
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Fall Issue 2015
The Steins were making a lot of money by robbing the graves then
operating on the bodies inside, and they weren’t about to give that up because
of two dumb kids. Without hesitation, Mrs. Stein swung her shovel with all her
might hitting the two kids on the heads. She meant to knock them out but the
force was to strong. Those kids were never heard from again. It is said that their
souls still haunt that graveyard, and that if you go there at night you can hear them
whispering to you “Help… Help us!!” I guess no one will ever know.
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Fall Issue 2015
The Revenge
of
the Red Eyes
(Third Place)
by Rafa Sena
Artwork by Rafa Sena
George and Mary had recently passed flight school and were flying their
first Boeing 707 passenger airplane on December 20, 2016. They considered
themselves lucky because many people in Mexico would fly into the US to
celebrate with their families and they would have a full plane to show how good
they were. They both arrived early so that they could receive a briefing from their
captain. The captain told them, “If you see any danger to the plane, relay what it is
to me, so I can announce it to the passengers without them being alarmed.”
When they were in the cabin and everyone had themselves buckled, the
captain announced that they would be taking off. As the plane nosed upwards, the
wheels started making a loud shrill noise echoed back in George and Mary’s ears
and distracted them while a silent buzzing noise slowly continued until the plane
had taken off. They were excited because this was their first flight to America.
A few hours passed when they realized that their navigational system was
off and it was leading them into a category five hurricane in the Bermuda
Triangle. They quickly told their captain, but the captain did not announce it to the
passengers instead he worried about his own life and decided to save himself by
parachuting out of the airplane with the only parachute.
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Fall Issue 2015
At this time the passengers were wondering what was happening, so Mary
grabbed the microphone and said to the crew, “We are heading for a category five
hurricane do not worry we will be trying to land on the water!”
As the white plane edged towards the water, the massive black hurricane
lurched forward. The plane was thrown off it descent and disappeared head first
into the hurricane. The airplane cabin fortunately nosed out of the dark clouds into
the eye of the hurricane.
The rest of the plane was torn apart by the restless
winds of the hurricane. George and Mary saw the people being ripped out of the
aircraft and becoming enveloped in swirling dark clouds. A big section of the
airplane was torn off like a giant’s hand ripping putty. The metal curved around
and hit the airplane cabin with enough force to knock out Mary and George. As
they were losing consciousness they heard the screams of the passengers die out it
was replaced by the howling of the wind.
One last thought before they lost consciousness was that they had caused
the death of these people. While they were knocked out, the plane was pulled
apart to shreds. All that was left of the plane was the cabin and tatters off the rest
of the once magnificent airplane.
The hurricane’s wind was so strong that it tore itself apart and became a
tropical storm. The tattered remains of the airplane were dropped off at a dark
and gloomy island in the Bermuda Triangle on the beach. When they woke up,
Mary and George climbed out of the cabin and looked at the remains of the plane.
They then realized that they were on land and at first, they rejoiced, but then they
mourned for the death of the others.
When they were finished mourning the dead, a low gray fog enveloped
them and made them lose all sense of direction. They wanted to go near the
water, but since they lost all sense of direction, they headed into the dense and
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Fall Issue 2015
creepy forest. As they went into the forest, they did not know that if they went
too deep they would never get out.
When they entered the damp forest, they did not realize that two glowing
red eyes were following them and if you could read the eyes’ intent you would
know it wants to kill them. It then screeched out, “I’m coming for you!” George
and Mary heard the shrill noise and knew instantly something wanted to kill
them, so they would have to be on their best guard.
As they went in to the ghastly forest, they felt like the malevolent red eyes
were still haunting them. George thought he heard a rustling of leaves, but when
he turned back, he saw writing in slime that that chilled them to the bone. On the
writing it told them, “There is no escape! That I promise!” George almost fainted
at the gruesome writing. He felt the tap of a bony and slimy finger cheek and he
fainted right away.
Mary did not know what had happened, so with false bravado she
announced, “Where are you?” There was no response excepted for an evil
crackling sound that vibrated the twisted trees, which made her almost want to
cry. She then looked around and saw nothing, so she thought she was getting
delirious because she was dehydrated. Her survival skills told her to carry
George to a shelter.
After walking for an hour, she came across a stream. She knew that she
was dehydrated, so she went for a sip. As she scoops some water, she does not
notice that the river was full of transparent faces that recoiled and screamed in
pain as they were washed down into the murky depths of the water. As soon as
she took a sip, the tortured souls pulled her into the rushing water and she felt
like she was eternally drowning in lava and water at the same time.
In a second George woke up and pulled her out of the murky water and as
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Fall Issue 2015
they started leaving, they heard the tortured souls screech, “Come in! This is the
only way you can escape from the red eyes.” They ran as fast as they could until
they came across a large fort that looked like a Roman one. They went in to look
at the captain’s journal. After they found the journal, they started reading it and it
said, “ Day 22 two of our mission on this island. Gregson died at 9:00 in the
morning as soon as we set up camp. Day 23 our scout reported that two beady
red eyes were observing our fort hungrily in this horrible and creepy forest. Day
24 the red stared pick and killing are scouts and it was reported that it was
throwing the dead people’s bodies into the contaminated river. Day 25 it started
destroying our defensives and any defender or team we sent out to kill it. Day
26 our scouts found a temple, which had writing and a red gem that was
glowing. The writing said that if the gem was destroyed, the red eyes would be
killed. What we found interesting was that Gregson’s body was on the alter. Day
28 any attempt to destroy the gem failed. Day 29 it stared attacking our fort and
…”
Soon George and Mary had figured out they had to go to the temple to kill
the red eyes. A few hours later they were at the temple and they went inside and
on the alter was their captain.
They both whispered, “Captain.” Then the beady red eyes appeared on top
and screeched, “Yes my mortal form is this lame body but now, I am all powerful.
They felt bony fingers pull them back as soon as they saw the gem. Then the eyes
inflicted torture upon them and said, “I will have my revenge because you lead
me straight into a storm.” George instantly fainted because he felt like he was
being drowned in slime. Mary ran forward with all her might, but as soon as she
did, a black cloud surrounded her. An evil laughter escaped from the eyes. She
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Fall Issue 2015
was running around in circles in the darkness while slimy hands tried to grab
her. She then ran forward and punched a hard object and it broke. The darkness
cleared and the bony hand disappeared while the eyes slowly vanished. It let out
one last guttural cry, “NOOOOOOOOOO!” Since then they contacted the
authorities, and here taken to the USA. They never told anyone what had happened on the island.
They both whispered, “Captain.” Then the beady red eyes appeared on top
and screeched, “Yes my mortal form is this lame body but now, I am all powerful. They felt bony fingers pull them back as soon as they saw the gem. Then the
eyes inflicted torture upon them and said, “I will have my revenge because you
lead me straight into a storm.” George instantly fainted because he felt like he
was being drowned in slime. Mary ran forward with all her might, but as soon
as she did, a black cloud surrounded her. An evil laughter escaped from the eyes.
She was running around in circles in the darkness while slimy hands tried to
grab her. She then ran forward and punched a hard object and it broke. The
darkness
In a pawn shop in New York a broker touched a newly repaired red gem.
Suddenly, his vision went dark, but he heard it screech, “I’m back!”
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Fall Issue 2015
The Basement
by Cecilia Frederick
(Honorable Mention)
One cloudy windy night there were footsteps in the basement. I turned my T.V. volume up louder to block the noise. I heard the door knob from the basement jiggle. I Walked
out of the family room to see what was up. I heard the door creak open. Running through the
house I went to my room. The door to the basement shut, then I heard creeping footsteps
and heaving breathing coming up the stair well. Suddenly they stopped as the reached my
room. The door knob to my room jiggled. I was trapped with no way to get out from whoever was at my door. Then the door swung open it was just my mom with her broken leg.
“Mom! Thank goodness it is you!” I said. My mom said “Larry stop being so gullible.
You’re going to give yourself nightmares and I don’t feel like dealing with you!”
A week later construction started on my front door. So everyone came in through the
basement. One day my mom was expecting a package of new clothing, but she had to go to
work. So, she gave me the job of getting the package from the mail man. Knock knock
knock someone was at the door.
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Fall Issue 2015
Running down the steps I almost fell over. Luckily I got to the door and got the
package. The man at the door said “hello! I have your package in the delivery van” “ok” I
said “I’ll come with you to grab it”. As we were walking out of the basement he ran inside,
and he pulled me with him. He locked the basement door and all the doors and windows in
the house. I stared screaming “what are you doing!! Get me out of here”. He laughed
“you’re not too bright are you?” “What do you mean?” I whimpered” “I’m holding you
captive” said the delivery man. He pulled his face off and I realized it was a mask, but half
of his face was burned off. It was bright red, bumpy, and had gushing blisters all over. I
stopped, I was frozen, and my heart skipped a beat. He stared at me and said “what are you
looking at!?” I did not reply. He grumbled and grabbed my foot. Dragging me to the van I
was screaming because he was a surprisingly fast runner. When he locked me in the van
my whole body bloody from him dragging me over the concrete. We drove for about an
hour or so and finally reached the destination. I knew that because his GPS was talking the
whole way. He yanked me out of the car and hit me
“Delivery van” “ok” I said “I’ll come with you to grab it”. As we were walking out
of the basement he ran inside, and he pulled me with him. He locked the basement door
and all the doors and windows in the house. I stared screaming “what are you doing!! Get
me out of here”. He laughed “you’re not too bright are you?” “What do you mean?” I
whimpered” “I’m holding you captive” said the delivery man. He pulled his face off and I
realized it was a mask, but half of his face was burned off. It was bright red, bumpy, and
had gushing blisters all over. I stopped, I was frozen, and my heart skipped a beat. He
stared at me and said “what are you looking at!?” I did not reply. He grumbled and
grabbed my foot. Dragging me to the van I was screaming because he was a surprisingly
fast runner.
When he locked me in the van my whole body bloody from him dragging me over
the concrete. We drove for about an hour or so and finally reached the destination. I knew
that because his GPS was talking the whole way. He yanked me out of the car and hit me
in the head with his baseball bat. He was dead with swing he should be a baseball player
once he is done with his life of crime.
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Fall Issue 2015
When I awoke I was in his basement strapped into a metal chair with a plug on the
end. I said “Hey buddy what ya doing this for? I can’t feel my legs.” He said “STOP
complaining before I actually kill you! I’m about ready thorough you out my basement
window.” I saw him walk over to the plug on the chair I was sitting in. “Hey dude what’s
your name? Cause if I’m gonna die I want have a dramatic death where I scream your
name.” he turned slowly and growled “CHESTER!!!!!!!!” “Really that’s not impressive at
all. I was expecting a name like Bruce or Buster.” “shut up” Chester said. He plugged in the
chair and a weird feeling of pain came over me. “I just got electric shocked in a electric
shocking chair right?” I asked. But his response was muffled because my ears had fallen off.
Oh wait, I think I’m dead. Uh Oh I am dead and the only thing left on the chair is my head! I
can now observe his living conditions because he has hung my head on the wall like trophy.
I lived happily ever after in the afterlife.
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Fall Issue 2015
Impressions of Autumn
Selected Images
Submissions by
the Odyssey School
Photo Club
It is not enough to photograph the obviously picturesque.
——Dorothea Lang
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Fall Issue 2015
Celebrating Bio Diversity
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Fall Issue 2015
We took to the woods …..
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Fall Issue 2015
“If I could talk
with the
animals”
—Dr. Doolittle
Selected
Haiku Riddles
Artwork by Anna Altman
Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance. – Carl Sandburg
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Fall Issue 2015
Dwarfed Rabbit
by Ryan Harvison
Tall ears but they’re small
Teeth continuously grow
Furry and Fluffy
Squirrel
by Yvette Villacorta
Some live in treetops
Steal bird seeds from bird feeders
Tail talks to others
Deer
by Grayson Finnerty
Giant fluffy tails
Eats grass and lives in woods
Small hooves go click, clock
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Fall Issue 2015
Lizard
by Carter Maloney
Scale, spikey, hard,
Eyeballs on both sides of head,
Turns black when angry\
Caterpillar
by Bobby Yanega
Likes to munch on leaves
Changes from land to the sky
Later likes nectar
Platypus
by Noah Schneider
Striped beaver tail flaps,
Amazing, soft, furry skin,
Incredible bill.
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Fall Issue 2015
Kangaroo
by Brady Nicholas
Soft brown built in purse
Tall ears and long curly tail
We hop up and down
Zebra
by Benny Sage
Own black and white stripes
Share some features of horses
Lives in Africa
Elephant
by Twill Bruggman
In credibly smart
Weighs over 300 pounds
Huge mammal small tail
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Fall Issue 2015
Artwork by Mia Ciccarone
We love the things we love for what they are . ——Robert Frost
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Fall Issue 2015
A Word of Introduction
by Mr. Jason Gordon
In this section, you will read collaborative poems
that explore a variety of topics.
While the poems are all quite different, the one thing they
have in common is a sense of
playfulness and joy - a willingness to explore and
discover the music and power of language.
Enjoy!
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Fall Issue 2015
A Weird Poem Is…
by the Galleons
A poem is a dead drawing that you drew.
A poem is a green Teddy Bear climbing a tree.
A poem is a running man tripping onto his fat face.
A poem is a weird shooting poem.
A poem is a dear yelling in your sad face.
A poem is a dog eating leaves.
A poem is a pair of fluffy pants eating rings.
A poem is six flying ears on our heads.
A poem is an overweight rhino bouncing with a hippo across the stream.
A poem is a wild piece of cheese rolling down the street.
A poem is a bunny getting used as guinea pig food.
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Fall Issue 2015
Deep in the Dark Woods
by the Skipjacks
Deep in the dark woods was a boring old table with a shadowy bird protecting it.
Deep in the dark woods a Lalaloopsie attacks helpless students.
Deep in the dark woods was Billy, and he had a cute little bunny that was pink.
Deep in the dark woods there is a giant watermelon monster haunting my dreams with its
watery barf.
Deep in the dark woods Little Red Riding Hood is turning into a fierce werewolf and is
howling at the full moon.
Deep in the dark woods a flying octopus squirts ink on the faces of trees.
Deep in the dark woods there was a scary zombie that wanted to chase me into a river.
Deep in the dark woods is where the frightening, cursed phantoms go to haunt you for
eternity.
Deep in the dark woods is a harmed monster that jumps when someone walks by.
Deep in the dark woods the little goblins eat peoples’ faces and turn people into goblins
exactly like zombies.
Deep in the dark woods my restless spirit runs.
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Fall Issue 2015
My Brain is Better Than Yours
by the Clippers
My brain is slowly being crushed by a blue book shaped like a hippo.
My brain is blue, black, white, red, yellow, and colors, and it’s as dangerous as a dangerous
animal…sadness.
My brain is blue just like a crocodile.
My brain is a purple hippopotamus because I want one for Christmas.
My brain is yellow like Odell Beckham’s hair.
My brain is a bright pink, navy blue, orange, light green, and blue hippo tiger.
My brain is a golden squirrel.
My brain is infested with pink fluffy bats!
My brain is filled with venomous reddish orange snakes.
My brain is a fiery piece of glass with a hint of a purple liger.
My brain is an explosion of pink horses.
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Fall Issue 2015
From a Litany
after Mark Strand
by the Catamarans
I praise the pineapple being eaten by the pineapple eating a red evil bunny.
I praise running blue people.
I praise my family jumping.
I praise the moon in the beautiful dark night sky.
I praise pink pandas while narwhals play with beach balls.
I praise the blue pineapple that hugs my fat cat.
I praise the crashing blue oceans.
I praise jumping purple pencils.
.
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Fall Issue 2015
Ode to Cheese
Schooners
Never mind the blowing up cheese that is soggy!
Never mind the green flies buzzing around my head.
Never mind the dead cheesy Egyptian Xbox on the side of the road.
Never mind that the cheese was fast but not fast enough.
Never mind the big Egyptian tie jumping up and down with cheese.
Never mind the fat cat that sat on a mat in lava singing cheerleader,
eating cheese puffs and ice cream, while watching Dora.
Never mind the cheese behind the cheesy curtain.
Never mind the extremely difficult tornado.
Never mind the stupid Xbox and the gross cheese nibbles.
Never mind the naked man with purple hair.
Never mind the dead flying cow.
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Fall Issue 2015
Odyssey
School
Playwrights
Present…...
Artwork by Mia Cicarrone
What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out. —-Alfred Hitchcock
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Fall Issue 2015
Back to the Future:
The Fight Against Racism
by
Mia Ciccarone, Zach Lutzky, Brier Ziegler, Kendall West
Artwork by Mia Cicarrone
Synopsis:
A play about a little girl and an old man who attend a protest against racism
and during the event the old man explains to the girl the meaning of racism. As
the play develops we are brought back in time to an era of tribalism. The old
man shares a story about a traveler and one of the tribesman and how they
become friends. Soon the friendship is shunned by others tribesmen because the
traveler is of a different race. The play ends in contemporary time when the
characters return to the future to discover that the fight against racism
continues.
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Fall Issue 2015
Scene 1: People are protesting about racism. We hear the chants of “Black
lives matter!” and “ All lives matter!!” from opposing sides
Sally: Hello
Mark: Hi
Sally: Is this the field in front of the school?
Mark: Yes my gr anddaughter is here to protest against
racism.
Sally: Really?
Mark: What’s your name?
Sally: Sally. How about you?
Mark: My name is Mar k. Are you here to protest too?
Sally: No, but my sister is.
(Sally sister waves to her as the crowd exits)
Mark: I hear d that some kids bullied another for having different
beliefs in this school.
Sally: So that’s why we are protesting here? What is r acism
exactly? Why does it matter?
Mark: Racism is a hor r ible matter. People treat people badly be
cause their looks are different or their beliefs are different.
They make judgements, accusations sometimes even cause fear
and hate.
Sally: Has it been for many year s at this school or in histor y?
Mark: Both.
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Fall Issue 2015
Scene 2: Flashback to tribal times
Jack: Hello
Rick: Hi, how’s it going?
Jack: Good, you?
Rick: J ust fine.
Jack: So what are you doing out here?
Rick: J ust doing a little hunting.
Jack: Same!
Rick: I think we should hunt together. Par tner ing may br ing us more
food!
Jack: Sure
Narrator: The two men of different tr ibes become good friends, hunt
together and then…
Joe: OMG, what is going on here? Are you two friends?
Rick and Jack: Yes
Joe: This cannot happen. I am going to tell ever yone else.
Rick and Jack: Oh no! Please don’t!
Joe: Oh, yes I will.
Rick and Jack: Oh, no!
Jack: Please don’t do this!
Rick: Pretty please!
Joe: I’m sor r y but I cannot let this happen. Two tr ibes cannot mix as one.
Jack and Rick: No! We can! There’s really no difference...
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Fall Issue 2015
Scene 3: W e are back in time to our first location.
Mark: Racism still happens today, but it’s popular ity has decreased
immensely since a while back.
Sally: Does that mean there is no more r acism?
Mark: No, though it is not as apparent or visible it is still there.
Sally: So, how can I stop it?
Mark: Well there are a couple of things you can do.
Sally: What can I do?
Mark: Well, one thing is to protest like your sister to have your voice be
heard.
Sally: Is there anything else I can do?
Mark: You can also march in Peace Walks.
Sally: What are Peace Walks?
Mark: They are also a way to have your voice hear d. They are walks that
emphasize peace.
(Mark’s granddaughter ,Cathy and Sally’s sister, Ellie enter )
Cathy: What are you two talking about, Gr andpa?
Mark: I am just telling this fine young lady what racism is.
Ellie: Oh, really? How interesting!
Sally: Yep, he’s been telling me all about it.
Cathy: You know there have been plenty of people who have fought
racism.
Ellie: Like Mar tin Luther King, J r. and Ghandi.
Mark: Yes, but not to wor r y. As long as there is racism, there will always
be a fight to end racism.
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Fall Issue 2015
Happy Holidays
Light the Festive Candles
~ by Aileen Lucia Fisher
While Stars of
Christmas Shine
Light the first of eight tonight
by
~ Emilie Poulsson
The farthest candle to the right
Light the first and second, too.
When tomorrow’s day is through
While stars of Christmas
shine,
Lighting the skies,
Then light three, and then light
four
Every dusk one candle more
Let only loving looks,
Till all eight burn bright and high,
Beam from our eyes.
Honoring a day gone by
While bells of Christmas
Rescued from the Syrian lord,
ring,
When the temple was restored,
Joyous and clear,
Speak only happy words,
All love and cheer.
Give only loving gifts,
And in love take;
Gladden the poor and sad
For love’s dear sake.
And an eight day festival
Proclaimed The Festival of Lights -
well named
To celebrate the joyous day
When we regained the right to
pray
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Fall Issue 2015
Preserve
Family
Traditions
Artwork by Brynn Peddy
“Culture is the widening of the mind and the spirit”
——Jawaharlal Nehru
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Fall Issue 2015
Cover Art by Mia Cicarrone
The Odyssey School
3257 Bridle Ridge Lane
Stevenson, MD 21153
410-580-5551
www.theodysseyschool.org
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