Alyssa's writings

These are two of Alyssa's stories that she's written this year in fourth grade. These are the two that she says are the best. The assignments were for a scary story and a fantasy story. I tried to type them exactly has she had them with her punctuation, capitalization and spelling.

The Ghost on Idstien Street

One dark and dreadful Halloween night three kids set out trick-or-treating for delicious sweet goods. The three kids were named Lucy, Alex and Sally. Lucy was the oldest at eight, Sally was the middle child at five and Alex, who is a boy was the youngest at four. They went from house to house begging for candy. As the three kids walked down the street, Lucy thought this to herself. "Why did mom make me take the babies with me? I can't go trick-or-treating with my firends because Sally and Alex are to annoying. Alex throws temper tantrums every ten minutes. I would have my pillow case overflowing with candy if Sally wasn't so slow." Lucy looked down at her watch. "Wll look on the bright side, nobody's been hit by a car yet. Plus it's eleven o'clock, just one more hour of trick-or-treating and we can go home. Besides at the rate Sally is going and Alex being a wimp at every house with a scary decoration we should probably be able to make it to 20 more houses before we go home." She rounded the corner on to Idstien Street. Idstien Street was the scariest and weirdest street in Lucy's, Sally's and Alex's neighborhood. On Christmas Idstien Street had no Christmas lights or decorations. No fireworks dared burst on the Fourth of July over Idstien Street. But on Halloween decorations put on a great display on every lawn. "Oh well." thought Lucy "More decorations, more candy. Besides nothing bad is going to happen." But Lucy was wrong, very wrong.

Lucy, Sally, and Alex walked down Idstien Street as quiet as mice. But each child knew something was wrong. "Where are all the other kids," Sally asked. I don't know, replied Lucy. "Sniff, Sniff. I don't smell any candy," Alex said impatiently. "There is some around here somewhere," Lucy said with a little worry in her voice. "None of the houses have lights on," complained Alex. "That one does," said Sally. The three children looked at the house Sally had pointed out. Fog creeped out from every corner of that house. There were skeletons, vampires, ghost and more in the front lawn of that house. That house was scary! "Come on!" Sally shouted, running toward the house. "You two go without me. I'm exhausted," Lucy said as she slumped to the ground. "All right," said Alex as Sally and him ran up to the house. An old lady answered the door after Sally had rung it. The old lady was wearing a red dress decorated with swirls filled with the brightest yellows. Her smile seemed kind. She had a face full of wrinkles and her skin was snow pale. "Why hello there" the old lady said with a smile. "Come on in for some candy and a cookie or two." "OK" Sally said, pulling her brother inside.

10 minutes later Sally and Alex still were not out of the old lady's house. Then Lucy heard a muffled shout. She turned around and saw a dark figure carring a bag. Lucy squinted hard and saw the bag moving! But that wasn't all! The figure looked like the old lady!!! The bag was talking too! Wuwy, Wuwy is what Lucy could make out. She dropped her bag of candy on the ground. She couldn't believe it. Her brother and sister had just been kidnapped by an old lady while trick-or-treating. Trick-or-treating on Idstien Street that is.

"Ow," Lucy yelped with pain. There was a sharp pain traveling dwon her side. Lucy was running through the woods at maximum speed trying to catch up with the old lady. For an old lady that old lady was fast. Lucy looked down at her watch. It was 11:15pm. Only 45 more minutes to find Alex and Sally. BONK! Lucy was too busy looking at her watch to notice the giant house in front of her. Lucy got up and gazed up at the house. It was the oldest house she had ever seen. It was about 3 stories high. The windows were missing. The boards were rotting. There were a million spiders, bats and other bugs. Mud was leading to the front door. Aha, foot prints of the old lady leading into the house. "The old lady must be hiding in that house," Lucy thought. She ran inside. "Perfect," the old lady thought to herself. The old lady had been looking over Lucy's shoulder ever since Lucy had ran head first into the house with the loud bounce. Who was this old lady? Lucy was about to find out!!!

Brrrr, Lucy shivered. The outside of the house looked bad but the inside was much worse! It was damp and cold and disgusting. Lucy was too busy thinking about how horrid the house was to notice the odd leaves in front of her. SNAP!!! Lucy was caught in a large net. She kicked and thrashed but it was no use, Lucy was stuck! The old lady came out of the dark. "I finally have you my pretty" she said. Set me and my brother and sister free you monster," Lucy said as she thrashed in the net. "Oh no, my pretty, I have different plans for you," said the old lady as she reached for Lucy.

Lucy kicked, pulled and thrashed but couldn't get free. Lucy finally gave up. The net was to strong for Lucy. "Who are you?" Lucy asked in a snarly voice. "I am the ghost of Idstien street" said the old lady as she laughed an evil laugh and threw Lucy in a large cage. "Then why did you capture my brother, sister and me?" Lucy scowled. "That is because the nourishments I need to stay in my human figure are found in children. So every Halloween I go down to Idstien street to take innocent trick-or-treaters." "That's terrible," Lucy said, as her eyes froze with terror. "Maybe for you but not for me," the old lady cackled. Then she locked the cage Lucy was in and left. What was Lucy going to do?

Lucy was now exploring. I mean what else was there to do? So far in her cage Lucy had found darkness and stone walls. Lucy was walking when oof Lucy fell to the ground. What had Lucy tripped on? She got up. "Huh? Why are these rocks here?" Lucy whispered to herself. She moved the rocks out of the way and found a box. Lucy lifted the lid of the box and dust flew to her face. Lucy cleared the dust and glanced in the box. There was a note. It said:

Dear reader,

I was too a victim of the ghost of Idstien street. I didn't escape, but you can. Just use the items provided. There is a costume that blends in with the walls. Also a key that opens any door.

Good luck!

Sincerely,

Krystal

Lucy quickly slipped into the costume and grabbed the key. She lowered the hat on her head and started toward the cage door. "Here I go" Lucy said.

"Yes," Lucy said. She had just opened the cage door. She started toward her brother and sister, who were in a seperate cage. She scurried down the hall and unlocked the cage door. "Sally, Alex," Lucy whispered. "Lucy," said Alex and Sally as they stepped out of the darkness. Lucy ran to give her brother and sister a big hug. "Come on, we have to get out of hear" Lucy said.

Lucy, Alex and Sally were running like crazy. They came to a door. Lucy peeked inside. "The coast is clear," she said. They did this for 4 doors intill they came to an odd wooden door. Lucy opened the door and saw the old lady staring at her. "RUUNNN," Lucy shouted. "Was that the old lady?" Alex asked. "Yes, " Lucy answered. Just then AAAH, OOF, OW. Lucy had run into the front door, Sally ran into Lucy and Alex ran into Sally. Lucy got up and opened the door. They were almost out when the old lady grabbed Alex's legs. "Grab an arm!" shouted Lucy. The old lady tugged. Lucy and Sally tugged. Just then Alex flew the air towards Lucy and Sally. All three kids got up, ran home and never tricked-or-treated on Idstien Street again.

The End

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mr. Linden's Library

In the big city of Paris, on a big street there was a tiny library. There laughs and smiles, terror and denials all wrapped up in that library. This was Mr. Linden's library. In his library in one of his ordinary books lived something extrordinary.

One day Mr. Linden sat polishing his desk. This very day the library was very quiet and not just because it was a library. It was because nobody was there. Now Mr. Linden was a plump man with white, fizzy hair. He wore a light brown shirt and grey pants. On the tippy top of his nose there was a pair of glasses. Mr. Linden was also magical. In his books there was always a touch of magic. Usually Mr. Linden's books were only a little magic but in a few of his books there was big magic. That's why everybody loved his books.

Just then Mr. Linden heard the door creep open. Since it was summer the lady that had just came in was wearing a pink dress with colorful flip-flops and on her head there was a big floppy pink hat. On her shoulder there was a purple purse. "My name is Lola Gafu and want a book. I hear there magical." she said in a stuck up voice.

Now Mr. Linden knew people like Lola; the forgetful type. he didn't mean to take advantage of Lola but he needed her to forget about returning the book so she would have to pay the fee. Mr. Linden was a poor man. He barely had enough to buy food for himself. He spent almost every cent he had on books. Wonderful, wonderful books. Mr. Linden slept in a crooked run down house. The roof leaked. The floor creaked. There was only one bedroom. There was barely enough room for a bed, a stove and a fridge. "Right this way," Mr. Linden said. Mr. Linden showed Lola all his chapter books. She passed each one with out a care. Then she stopped. All of a sudden Lola stopped. She pulled out a book. The book was titled That Darn Weed.

"I want this book," Lola said in her stuck up voice. "Uh oh," thought Mr. Linden. The book Lola had was bad news. About 30 years ago Mr. Linden made a huge magic mistake in that book. Now a beast lived in that book. And Lola looked just like the person who would upset the beast. "What about another, more peaceful book," Mr. Linden asked. "No," replied Lola. Then Mr. Linden grabbed Lola, trying to wrestle That Darn Weed from Lola's greedy hands. But Lola simply pulled away. "No, wait, that book is trouble," Mr. Linden called after Lola. But Lola just dropped her library card on his desk and left. Mr. Linden stood there, Dumbstruck. He had warned her but it was to late.

"Hello Ingus" Lola said in a squeaky voice. Lola was now home in her apartment and now about to feed Ingus. Ingus was a rare, exotic plant. There were about 500,000 left of Ingus' kind. Lola had gotten Ingus as a birthday present from Lola's mom and dad. Lola had loved Ingus ever since. Lola sprinkled powerful plant food on Ingus' soil. "Good-bye, Ingus," Lola called as she skipped into her room. Lola opened up That Darn Weed and started reading. Lola absoloutley loved That Darn Weed!! It was about a girl who had to battle a giant weed. Lola fell asleep after the first chapter of That Darn Weed. While Lola was asleep a leaf started growing out of That Darn Weed. Then a vine started to grow. More and more plant life grew out of That Darn Weed. Soon a monster arose out of Lola's book. The monster grabbed Lola out of her bed and took her to a dark basement.

Slowly Lola opened her eyes. "Where am I?" Lola mumbled. Just then Lola's eyes sprang open, wider and wider. Lola had a small heart attack. "You're a.... You're a...... You're a weed," Lola stamered, her mouth wide open. "Yes, I'm a weed" snapped back the weed monster. Now the weed monster was a monster made from many weed vines. The weed monster also was about two heads bigger than Lola. The weed monster DID have a good heart but when he got mad the weed monster could be pretty harsh. Right now the weed monster was REALLY mad. "But why are you here and where did you come from?" Lola asked, her voice shaking with worry. "I came to punish you and I came out of the book That Darn Weed," the weed monster said in a snarly voice. "But why did you come to punish ME??????" Lola asked tears in her eyes. "I came to punish you because you nearly destroyed my home!" the weed monster said straight to Lola's face. "What home?" asked Lola as her heart beat faster. "The book, the book!!" the weed monster screamed. "That Darn Weed" Lola exclaimed. "Yes," said the weed monster. "You have bent back the cover, torn the pages and gotten grape soda all over my illustrations!!!" "Sorry" mumbled Lola. "Sorry's not going to cut it," the weed monster yelled. "I'll give you money," Lola said in a whiny voice. "Nope," said the weed monster. "Why not" Lola asked. "Because what is a weed supposed to do with money!!!!!!!!!!!!" the weed monster shouted. "Uhhhhhhhhhh" Lola replied. "Be quiet" shouted the weed monster. "I'll........." Lola began. Lola had to think quickley. "I'll give you my car!" Lola exclaimed!! "Well...NO," shouted the weed monster. "How about a......" Lola stamered.

Then all of a sudden a lightbulb went off in Lola's head. Lola couldn't believe what she was about to say but she said "I'll give you a friend!!" "Really another talking weed wthat will like me" the weed monster said gently. "Well my plant isn't actually alive but it is rare." Lola explained. "Then NO deal!!!!" shouted the weed monster "It's a walking talking plant or no deal." "But my plant is rare," Lola winced. "I don't want a rare plant, I want a talking plant!!! Now, do you have anything else to offer" the weed monster asked. "No," replied Lola. "Okay then, follow me," said the weed monster. Lola gulped. She knew she was in trouble. Big trouble.

The weed monster picked up Lola and tucked her under his arm. Without being seen, the weed monster made his way across town. He reached a forest and went in. Then the weed monster started up a cliff. The weed monster climbed and climbed and finally he reached the top a cliff. Below the cliff was a deep, deep, deep river. "Welcome to your doom" the weed monster said happily. Lola looked off the edge of the cliff. Lola suddenly got dizzy. Then Lola looked up at the weed monster, waiting for an answer to why she was brought to the cliff. The weed monster read her mind. "I've brought you to this cliff because I am going to throw you over into the deep river. Then I will never have to see your pathetic face again!!!" the weed monster shouted happily. The weed monster went to pick up Lola. Lola had to think fast or she was doomed. "This is turning out to be just like That Darn Weed." Lola thought. That gave Lola an idea. She pulled That Darn Weed out of her purse and flipped to the last chapter. It said the girl in the story threw plant food, distracting the weed monster. The girl ran away and was safe. Lola formed another idea. As the weed monster wound up to throw Lola off the cliff with Lola in his arms. Lola dug in her purse for Ingus' plant food. "Yes!" Lola whispered as she pulled out a small packet of plant food. Lola ripped the packet open and sprinkled plant feed over the cliff. The weed monster dove off the cliff, trying to catch the plant feed. The weed monster had dropped Lola on the cliff. In result the weed monster landed in the water. Lola watched the weed monsters body spread apart.

Soon the weed monster was a bunch of weed. Dead, unliving weeds. Once Lola was sure the weed monster was gone forever she walked home, returned That Darn Weed and went to bed. Lola had decided to never tell anyone about the weed monster. She kept everything about the weed monster to herself. She decided that only she and Mr. Linden should know about the weed monster. And that is the way it stayed forever.

The End