Crazy Cat Lady

Hey it has been more than a year since our last post.  So I am going to make the first post of 2014.

The Crazy Cat Lady 

Once upon a time there was an old lady named Lanna Henderson.  It was the fourth of July and Lanna and her husband Steve Henderson were going on a hike.  Of course they went on their favorite trail, Cupcake Trail.  Lanna looked at Steve and calmly said, "Don't even think about jumping off the cliff."
Steve sighed, "Why? I have done it a bunch and never gotten hurt, come on."
"Fine."
He ran like a child and stopped right at the edge.  He jumped.  Lanna heard him scream then crash into the water, she thought he was just screaming for fun.  She turned her head and could not see Steve.  Right away she screamed "Steve, Steve!"  She tried to call 911 but they were too far down the trail.  She ran as fast as she could and told the first person she saw, which was at the start of the trail. They called 911 and the police showed up about five minutes later, but he was never found.  Two weeks later Lanna got two cats in honor of how many weeks since he passed.  A year later she had 52 cats, until one got rabies and bit her.  

Connor: The Thrill of The Hunt

It was the year 2013 CE.  The human race was entirely hunter-gatherer, hunting animals and gathering plants.  We kept moving no matter what.  Sometimes we would split up, half of us would hunt and the other would gather.  I was almost always in the hunting group, my name was Walter Vladson.  I had taken my best spear to kill a mammoth, a really hairy, ugly elephant.  Our diet consisted of berries and fruits for days now and we needed meat.  I managed to sneak up on one when I found it.  A fossil, millions of years old and not belonging to any dinosaur we knew of.  It wasn't just a bone, but an entire skeleton perfectly preserved in the middle of nowhere.  We named our locations only after we'd passed through them.  Some we named after the people who found them.  The big ones were Greg Valley, Williams Forest, and Lake Vlad.  The land bridges that never seemed to vanish for more than one season of the year were not named.  In hindsight it would probably have been better to not name the locations after people.  Unfortunately we also went about naming dinosaurs after the surroundings.  That resulted in names like Tangerinesaurus Rex and Applesaurus.  I decided to name it the Waltersaurus, although I refused to let anyone know about it.  I walked away from it and immediately attacked the mammoth.  I lodged the spear right in the leg, but due to the design the mammoth would bleed to death in an hour.  The other hunters helped me to carry the mammoth meat back to camp.  We ate well for about a week or two before we had to hunt again.  I spotted another mammoth and ran up to kill it, but behind me was a saber-tooth.  All the other hunters noticed it fast enough to run away, but I was too slow.  I had killed the mammoth, only to turn around and see the creature that would bring about my demise.  The saber-tooth grinned maliciously at me and growled, then it lunged toward me.  My last sight was the massive jaws and claws as it tore into my flesh.

Connor: A Depressing End

Greg could see the death and destruction from the hillside.  An entire village full of people had been almost completely destroyed.  He focused solely on the area in the center of the chaos.  There Greg saw a sobbing girl standing and ran over.  He introduced himself with a grim, malevolent grin.  He said "Hello there, I'm Greg, a  demon here to offer you a deal.  I could protect you from danger, but at the cost of your delicious mortal soul.  In order to enter into this deal you must tell me your name."  The moment he finished his sentence his orange eyes lit up.  The girl said "My name is Radonia princess of Yirawin."  Greg smiled at her, he could see that her soul was going to be particularly tasty.  Greg stared at her and said "Now I'm going to function as your bodyguard, until your natural death."  The following week in the kingdom of Yirawin Greg had began performing the role of a bodyguard.  It occurred five or six times a week that someone attempted an assassination on the princess.  As such Greg would use his demonic powers to subdue or even kill the would be assassin.  Greg quickly became her most trusted adviser, much to his chagrin.  With the king and queen deceased Radonia had a lot of power, but was unable to become queen due to her young age.  Years had passed and eventually Radonia had married and become queen of Yirawin.  Greg started to seem distant by this point, he tried to attack everyone that came near the queen.  His mental state, even for a demon, was starting to degrade.  He often acted as though he knew something that she did not.  Greg's smile often came across as cocky or even arrogant.  It was when Radonia was most depressed that Greg turned on her.  He entered her throne room carrying her breakfast and killed her with the plates.  Greg enjoyed a feast that night, a pure and innocent soul that had aged to perfection.  He smiled at his victim's family as they mourned her death.  Greg then went on to make the exact same type of deal with many other young children over millions of years, a single pure and innocent soul is not enough to completely satisfy his evil desire.  Although he had kept pictures of the queen he once served and constantly weeps over not killing her later.

Connor: A Hero's Despair

He sat there upon his steed pondering, pondering what had led him to this point.  It was weeks ago, and yet it felt like years.  He met them first in a local tavern, a mere inn by the name of the Drunken Dwarf.  The shortest of the lot, a halfling cleric in medium armor, was unable to see over the table.  This halfling maiden was the reason he agreed to the quest, he couldn't remember whether it was something she said or how she said it.  She had grinned at him, despite not being able to see under the hood he wore.  He had just signed an adventuring license, allowing him to accompany her and her party.  The party, until now, consisted of a fighter, a cleric, and a rogue, but this intrepid group lacked an arcane caster.  He, being the wizard that he was, completed the group.  He looked at his new companions, the rogue was a human man, the fighter a brave and noble woman, and the halfling cleric was beautiful.  He was a half-elf wizard, he had greater power than any of the rest.  He never spoke and that unnerved some of the party, conversation would often occur on a quest.  Truth be told he couldn't speak, to speak the right words at the wrong time would be catastrophic, more so as a wizard than anyone else.  He stared at his companions, PCs the lot of 'em. He, himself was a PC, player character, as well.  They began their quest by riding to a monster's lair, the  Castle of Death, wherein sat the Dragon King.  The Dragon King was said to be the most dangerous and vile man that ever lived, half man and half Dragon.  The man in the hood sat and listened as the Cleric spoke to the fighter.  "He seems quite nice, Julia, even though I can't see his eyes or hear his voice." Greta, the halfling, said.  Julia responded "Honestly he's kind of creepy, I can't help but feel he has other reasons for joining our cause.  Maybe its a chance at power..." She was cut off by Gregory walking between them, then Greta gazed at her with round innocent eyes.  "But why take power from the Dragon King, Our strange new companion has the power of the wizards.  People within the circle of wizardry have been killed in the name of the Dragon King."  Julia kept her eyes on him at all time, the hooded individual noticed.  "Well, after you've been doing this kind of work for as long as I have you realize that some people will do anything to further their own agenda.  For all we know this wizard is a lunatic, or worse a wanted criminal.  The only reason I keep him around is to watch him, in case he tries anything."  Julia stated.  The hooded half elf rode betwixt the two women and started riding alongside the rogue.  Gregory stared at him and said "Julia doesn't tend to trust anyone she just met.  She's stubborn like that, but you'll get used to it.  Honestly, I think we're in the same boat, name's Gregory by the way."  The hooded elf smiled at this, a smile that Gregory couldn't see.  Gregory looked at him some more and said "Ya know, the only reason Julia trusts me is because she's my wife.  She disapproves of my career, but she'll willingly allow me to come along.  You don't speak much do ya?"  The hooded man nodded as they moved forward coming to a clearing.  Here he and Gregory set up the campsite while Greta and Julia caught up.  Night then passed rather uneventfully with Greta and the hooded man keeping watch.  The next morning Greta had prepared a breakfast of fish and eggs, with Gregory's help.  Greta said handing a piece of fish and a plate to the hooded man "Careful its still hot."  It didn't mater the wizard was high enough level to cool the food down if he needed to.  His smiled after biting into the fish, this time the smile was visible.  Just a day's walk ahead was the Castle of Death.  The hooded man prepared all his best spells and was now helping Greta prepare lunch.  During lunch the group started wondering about what he looked like under his hood.  Greta said "maybe he has a stoic, heroic look to him, or even an endearing appearance."  Julia disliked this thought and said "Or perhaps he has a devious malformed appearance to match his evil scheme."  Gregory disliked both ideas and decided to put in his own two copper pieces.  "I'd like to think he's an amiable and approachable gentleman and that he has no malicious intent, but that he doesn't look perfect and his personality has a few flaws."  The conversation carried on throughout the day and lead to a big ordeal at dinner.  During dinner the others of the group were arguing so viciously that the poor wizard had no choice but to lift his hood.  They looked at his face and saw that Greta was most correct.  He had a handsome face that looked stoic and heroic, but as the other two had guessed his appearance wasn't perfect.  This solved they then started to argue over what his voice sounded like, although he wouldn't let them hear it and he hadn't yet had to cast a spell.  While he and Gregory were guarding the camp at night something attacked, a big creature on two feet.  He recognized the species of monster quickly, a werewolf probably from the castle.  Gregory started shooting arrows and suddenly was overpowered by the creature, but wasn't cursed.  The wizard spoke the words "Cone of Fire!" and soon the werewolf felt flames coming from the deep voiced, hooded wizard.  The monster was now burned to death.  Gregory smiled and said "So now I get to hear your voice, finally!"  The hooded man then said "I thought you'd happy that I just saved you from a monster.  As I haven't yet introduced myself I am William a wizard from the college.  The last wizard of the college, my associates were killed by the the Dragon King."  The next morning they ate a quick breakfast of berries and marched onward to the castle.  They made it into the castle, almost too easily when suddenly they reached the throne.  Upon the throne sat the Dragon King.  The Dragon King jumped up and said in a hissing, yet booming voice "Welcome to my castle.  I am the Dragon King, I see you've brought a wizard with you.  Prepare to die!"  He attacked with two katana and decapitated Gregory first.  As Gregory fell he looked toward William and screamed, no words just a simple brutal scream.  Julia looked at her husband's headless body and charged at the Dragon King.  The sword missed entirely.  He glared at her and said "You rolled a two and yet you didn't critically fumble.  No mater you shall die soon!"  The Dragon King hit her with a fireball and she incinerated thoroughly.  All that was left now was Greta and William fighting side by side against this Half-Dragon villain.  The Dragon King saw their battle formation and charged at William.  Suddenly Greta jumped in front of William and sacrificed herself to do damage to the Dragon King.  Greta lay dying in the same instant as the Dragon King and between the two stood William.  He looked at her mangled body and cried as she passed away.  She looked up and with her last breath said "We accomplished our mission, I only regret that we died for it."  With that the life faded out of her face and her body lay still and cold.  William went about burying the bodies and marking their graves before he rode away.  Once upon his horse he started to ponder why this had happened and what would have happened if the outcome was different.

Connor: Ashes to Ashes

One night I had allowed a strange pale woman to enter my house.  It seemed like a bright idea to give this poor woman food and shelter for a single night.  That was when things got crazy.  I woke up the next night, somehow managing to sleep through the day.  I was unchanged then, the only difference was the puncture wounds on my neck.  They didn't hurt, but they looked fresh as though they had appeared during the day.  They couldn't have, I thought I was going mad.  I awoke again the following night and discovered I was now slightly pale, my eyes were bloodshot.  I was frightened then, but it would get much worse later.  Over the span of the next week I kept changing until I was no longer human.  My canines became sharper and more pointed, my eyes became blood red, and I had become paler than an albino.  I stepped out and heard the people speaking, complaining about their daily lives.  I felt nothing but disdain for mortals now, the only reason I walked among the living was for nutrition.  Blood banks run by other vampires gave out blood for a price, the laws dictate that I not feed on humans.  However this was a dark world, a world of darkness, if you would.  Others would go out and drink from humans in public, leading the hunters to come after all of us.  America had it worst of all, vampires masquerading as humans, werewolves running around, mummies, ghouls, mages, hunters.  All the things that go bump in the night are real, take my word for it I'm one of them.

  I didn't trust my own kind, a fellow vampire would sell you out for blood.  I vowed to spend my afterlife hiding and feeding off criminals, if I drained them dry no one cared.  But I couldn't feed in a public place, nor on an innocent.  At that point in my afterlife I hadn't met the hunters, I, like others, thought they were just a myth.  Then I met one, in a back alley holding a stake, a gun, and no doubt hiding holy water on his person.  Guns and stakes hurt, but they don't kill me.  Sunrise and holy water though will.  I took out my own gun a trusty shotgun I taken off a bank robber.  I leveled the shotgun at his torso and fired.  Fortunately I missed the man, but hit the holy water container he concealed in his jacket.  Then I fled, the man undoubtedly ran back to report to his team.  Hunters were cowardly opponents who traveled in groups, the leader was usually the most dangerous.

   After my first run in with a hunter I started selling my services, I kill werewolves and the like in return for a blood pack.  The humans held up their end of the bargain and I was able to live for another week.  Often other groups of hunters would berate the group who was paying me, some would even attempt to slay me.  Other vampires said I knew too much or was too crazy to predict, they weren't quite so far off.  I heard voices in my head, malevolent evil voices telling me to slaughter my kind and the humans.  I was always hearing the voices, sometimes obeying and other times not.  An insane vampire hit man is hard to control, as the hunters soon learned.

  Months had passed since my initial employment by these hunters, I had since quit and gone through shooting 'em all.  I moved on toward other hunters making the same promise never mentioning the killing again.  All groups turned me down, or the voices would say "They know, THEY KNOW!  KILL THEM ALL!"  After two years had passed I had killed enough hunters to alert the city leader.  She tracked me down personally and followed me to my hideout.  In the dim light of my safe house her orange hair appeared brighter than out on the moonlit streets.  She wore a black business suit with a pink bow tie, she carried an emerald studded, golden firearm.  Upon inspection I realized the firearm was a Glock.  She aimed it at me, although she was aware it wouldn't kill me she leveled it at my heart.  She said with a scowl "This is for all those hunters you killed!" and fired.  I didn't make a show of dodging the bullet I simply stood there.  She then added, still scowling, "And this is for the families of the hunters you've slain!" as she fired five more times.  I allowed each shot to hit me, as it wouldn't kill.  She glared at me, an obvious hatred in her eyes, she pulled out the stake and shouted "And THIS, is for my poor brother Marcus, who's body never turned up!"

As she ran I soon remembered who I was fighting, at the mention of my name my blood red eyes lit up.  Poor Henrietta probably thought I was relishing in the thought of a wonderful kill.  Before she ran the stake through my heart I said "I suppose I should tell you who I am.  The reason Marcus's body was never recovered is because....  I am Marcus!"  She tried to stop herself, but the momentum kept the stake moving.  I said quickly "Henrietta, I wish for you to take me outside.  Sunrise is fast approaching, sis, and I would like to see it one last time.  I shouldn't have caused you so much trouble, but the voices, they demanded it."

  She stared at me awhile and said "Of course, brother.  I can't believe you're alive, or rather were alive."  She placed me in the middle of the graveyard and looked at me once again.  You're not yet finished, the voices said, You can still kill her.  YOU CAN STILL HAVE REVENGE!  I thought about it and then replied to the voices, No I WILL NOT! SHUT UP!  As the sun started to rise Henrietta stood over me.  I saw the sunlight, this was my last sunrise.  My body started changing again, this time to dust and it was happening quickly.

Gabe: Woodworking Project

I have been working on my Woodworking project and it is going great. I have been trying to find plans and blueprints for my Woodworking project. I have found plans for a wiffle ball, a bird house, a tray and a fishing pole rack. I found this cool program called SketchUp. It is a program where you make 3D models for thing you want to make. Here is a picture of my toolbox plan.

Here is one pic from a test town I did!!!!!!

Max: Minecraft Bridge Project

I am working on a Minecraft bridge project.  I want to make another bridge over that bridge.  My bridge is made out of wooden planks.  Here is a drawing I made in my project book of the bridge.

Here is a picture of me with the first part of the bridge I built on Minecraft.

Connor: Projects I'm Working On.

As I haven't yet posted my planned projects allow me to get you caught up.  I am studying mythology, specifically I am studying Shinto mythology.  It's quite interesting, for instance unlike many religions of the time, and all the modern religions, Shinto states that gods can die and are created in the same way as human beings.  They focus most of their tales on animals and human kind's interactions with them.  Two of the three main gods are Amaterasu, goddess of the sun and reigning god.  Susano, god of the sea whom had tried to take his sister's place as the reigning god.
  I also started watching a documentary about the gruesome French Revolution.  Which covered the early lives of the people involved right up to their deaths by guillotine.  The leader of the revolution was a man named Maximilien de Robespierre, who had at first opposed the use of the guillotine.  However he agreed that it should be used to behead King Louis XVI.
  Another thing I am working on is figuring out how to make a video game.  So far this is going quite well, even though I have not actually started on making the game, the research is quite important.

Mason: Japanese Project

One of my other projects is to learn how to speak Japanese.  Here is my progress on speaking Japanese. My mom and I have found an online program that works for me, it is not hard or confusing.  I have already learned a lot from it and I am really excited. Here are some words I have learned so far:

dog- inu
cat- neko
homework- shukudai
yes- hai

I have also learned how to count to 10. The next step in the project is that mom is going to buy the book that goes with the website, which is called YesJapan, and she will help me with it so that I can speak and write Japanese.

Marney: Swim Project

I have been working on a few projects. You have seen one of them, the paper mache project, which I have done more on. I have also been working on writing nicer. One of my big projects is working on my swimming. I have a swim meet coming up in September, it is in Round Rock. I will be swimming 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke, 50 freestyle, 50 breast stroke and 100 IM. A IM is when you swim fly, back, breast and free. I am pretty good at 100 IMs. You get really tired after it because it has fly in it and you have to work really hard when swimming a 100 IM. I love swimming. One of my other projects that I want to do is start a home school swim team with people that are interested in swimming and do not want to pay that much money. I have a bit of a plan for that. I want to post about it on Facebook and ask people if they are interested. Before I do that I need to figure out where it would be, how much it would cost and some workouts. I was thinking I could research some easy workouts and some hard workouts. I could help people and I would be the coach. I have been practicing by helping Max and Kiki with their swimming.

Gabe: Woodworking Project

My project for school is Woodworking!! I have always been interested in starting to do some woodworking, but I have never been motivated to do it.  So I never did it and finally, I have found a way to do it.  So I will be working on making things like swords, fruit and airplanes out of wood. Here is a list of all the things I am going to make for this project:

Strawberry 

Airplane

Sword  

Handgun

Shotgun

Tool box

Chair

3D Self Portrait 

Dragon Fruit

Rocking chair 

Suit Of Armor

I have not started building yet, but when I do I will post pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!  First, I will learn how to use the tools.  I know a homeschool kid who is really good at woodworking and has some tools so I am going to ask him to teach me how to use the tools.  I want to learn to use sanders, jigsaws, nail guns and the dremmel.

  

Kiki: Project Ideas

We are making projects for school.  I am really excited about my projects, they will be fun.  These are my projects so far:  I want to learn how to make finger print art, I am going to research about famous artists and I want to plant a flower bed.  For the flower bed I want to plant daisies, morning glories and marigolds.  For the finger print art I want to make a self portrait and I want to look at famous finger print art.  For researching famous artists I want to research different types of artists every time. Today I researched an artist named Wassily Kandisky.  He is from Russia.  Here is one of his paintings that I really like.  I like it because it is abstract and colorful.  He made it in 1911, that is 102 years ago!

Marney: Paper Mache Project

We started school up this week and there is this thing we do now where you can make something, research something or learn something by yourself. We are calling it projects and we got a whole book to write ideas. I have a few ideas, one of them is make a sculpture of a swimming pool out of paper mache. I have covered one whole area of the box I am using and I will paint it blue and have lane ropes and people in the pool. I might even makes life guards on the side of the pool. I am using a cardboard box, newspaper, flour and water. It is really sticky and I get it all up and down my arms when I work on the paper mache.  I like making projects and that is why I am happy with this idea.  Here is what it looks like so far.

Mason: Project Ideas

This week for school everyone made ideas for projects they would like to do. Here are the projects I came up with that I am interested in:  learn to drive, model making, scuba diving, study marine biology and speak Japanese.  I am excited to learn to drive. Mom is going to help me figure out what I have to do to learn to drive.  I am also starting my model making project.  First I am looking for model kits for beginners.  I'm interested in building some kind of vehicle.  I like this old airplane from Pearl Harbor called the Tiger Shark.  I did some research and people said it was a good kit for starters so we are ordering it to try out.

Connor: Adventures Of The Leopard: The Origin of The Leopard

It started years ago.  At the time I was just a blond boy of about six.  I remember everything, the screaming, the blood, my own bitter tears as I realized my parents were dead.  For days I cried and wished that this hadn't happened to me, that my parents hadn't been murdered by some lowlife criminal.  I recall his face, he had black hair, blue eyes, and yellow teeth.  He wore a brown cloak and a mask, probably nothing more than a mugger who got a lucky shot.  His eyes were cold, but not unfeeling, he seemed to fear that the cops were after him.  His yellow teeth showed in an ugly frown as he ran into the night.

   After that event, I ended up in an orphanage, it was a nice enough place.  I made some friends in this place, the three girls who became my friends and later allies.  Ashley was fifteen, making her the oldest among us, her red flowing hair was shoulder length, no shorter.  Ashley had brown eyes and was always willing to listen to our problems.  Beth was the second oldest, about thirteen, she had green eyes and black hair.  Beth was an orphan for as long as she could remember, having taken out her frustration on buildings around her.  She was an artist, and a brilliant one at that, she drew designs on our shirts, each design matching our personalities.  Cindy, the youngest of the three, was only three years older than me.  Cindy spent her time going on adventures and exploring the area around our orphanage.  Her long golden hair was always down, unlike Ashley who wore her hair in a pony tail.  She had amber eyes and almost always smiled.

   Eventually she walked in, a rich woman with green hair.  This woman, known as Linda Rogers, was the richest woman in the city.  This was the first time one of my friends left the orphanage, and it would not be the last.  Ashley was the first to be adopted, then after a few years Beth was adopted by Linda.  I heard from Ashley often, as she kept in touch with Cindy and I, but I later found out the fate that met Beth.  Cindy was next to be adopted, and I became lonely as Linda had taken all my friends.  I felt like I would never be adopted, but eventually Linda took me in as well.  After a ride to her mansion in her limo, she took me to a hidden location on her property.  Here she handed me a costume and instructed me to go change into it.  The outfit was of an orange color, to offset her grey outfit.  Mine had a giant letter C emblazoned on the chest, the C stood for Cub.  She called herself Madame Aye Aye and explained what happened to the previous Cubs.  Ashley went on to become Dark Claw, Beth died before her work with Linda was over, and Cindy was hospitalized, but lived unable to fight crime.

    I spent the next ten years training with Madame Aye Aye.  We fought crime and took down many villains, all were pretty pathetic.  Eventually I left the duo and was subsequently replaced by a new cub.  When I left I went to work with Ashley, doing the exact same thing.  This worked out quite well, although I went by a new name, Ocelot.  As Ocelot I had fought alongside Ashley for years, later she told me she worked best alone.  I was now solo, and desperate to join a team of heroes.  The team I joined was called the Band of Sidekicks, and most of my new allies weren't solo.  I left after two years due to differences from the group, I was completely solo now and I embraced it.  I became a hero know only as Leopard Man.  I wore only orange with black dots as my super costume and had inherited my parent's wealth which equaled Linda's exactly.  I looked at my family tree, a piece of paper my parents left in a safe with the money in our mansion.  I looked at the family tree and set a picture down next to it.  I would never forget the start of my superhero career, working with my aunt Linda.

Connor: The Way The Empire Crumbles

We stood before the representative of Nova Britannia.  The Nova Britannian people united as one standing before the governor, Marcus Antonius LVI.  Our overlord and true leader stood across the Atlantic in Rome.  We were ruled over by Gaius Julius Caesar XCIX.  He went by the name of his ancestor, Julius Caesar, the original emperor.  Millions of years ago Julius Caesar had ruled, he thwarted an attempted murder by Brutus then later a revolution.  Now here we stood looking our representative in the face.  Marcus was by all means a just and noble leader for the people of New Rome, not quite as harsh as Lady Claudia of Britannia.
My name was Tullius Celsus, my appearance gave the impression that I was average, but I would soon become a hero.  Lady Claudia, my cousin, was appointed governess of Britannia by our brilliant emperor.  I was slowly growing sick of Julius's reign, unfortunately I was to remain here under my his orders.  I knew that eventually the power-mad emperor, my grandfather, would have me slain.  In my little and inevitably short exile I had been forced to take my father's last name.  I, Tullius, son of Marius and Julia XCI, had a brilliant plan to either take over the empire or eliminate it.
I wrote letters to my cousin as often as I could, but I always wrote in code so that my letters could only be read by her.  It had been ten months since I received her last letter, and it wasn't written in her hand writing.  I fear my grandfather had found out, or worse that she was dead.  The letter was strange, not in the code nor in any language I knew.  I had also been communicating with the princess of Egypt Cleopatra XLVI.  We had plans to meet up in person at the next convention.  We were planing my rise to power one year before we were to be married.
Cleo and I met up the next summer in Nova Graecia.  There we got married and moved toward the Imperial city of Rome.  I brought swords daggers and other such pointy and deadly objects, while Cleo had brought soldiers from her country in a giant wooden Lotus.  I climbed inside the false flower and rode toward the throne.  My grandfather and his guards moved us into the city, positive that the lotus statue was a gift.  When the guards lowered their guard and slept I lead my soldiers toward the my grandfather's sleeping quarters.  "Carefull men." I whispered as we walked on "We don't want to kill any civilians, guards, nobles, or poets.  We are here to kill Gaius Julius Caesar XCIX!"  Soon we were in the emperor's chambers, most of my soldeiers fled in fear.  I was left alone to do the work of an assassin, I was a noble doing an assassin's job.  Unfortunately he woke up while I was standing over him with a sword.  I whispered to him, as there were no guards in the room, "I have come to claim the throne, grandfather.  You will either surrender it or be killed!"  He chose to fight back, but he was old and frail,  This old man was too weak to defend himself.  Rome needed a more capable ruler.  As such I ran the dagger through his chest and decapitated him with the sword.
I had succeeded I was the new ruler of Rome.  I stood triumphant over the corpse of the old emperor and wept, for I hadn't thought he would fight back.  My plans were for him to surrender, but here he lay, bloody and deceased in his bedroom.  I looked around for a place to hide the tools of my triumph, after washing the blood off of course.  When the guards came in they were shocked, I told them "I am Tullius Celsus, your new emperor!"  It wasn't until Cleo and her soldiers walked in that I realized, she didn't want to help me gain power.  She wanted to end the empire, and here I stood, disarmed, and weak from battle.  I was shoved to the ground by one of her soldiers as she slit my throat.  My last glimpse was of her face, frowning and unhappy.  The last thing I ever felt and would ever feel was betrayal as she slit my throat.  The End

Gabe: The LARP

      The Larp

Gabe Jones

          One day a man named Bentley wanted to go to an end of the world comic con. It was called end of the world because you where supposed to go all out.  When he got ready he dressed as The Flash. He got his dog dressed as The Beast. He is a Teacher so he has his gun but he put in knockout darts instead of bullets.  He grabbed a nice, big, hot, juicy cup of coffee.  He got a yummy burger for his dog. Then they got in their shining new KIA and walked out the door.
        When he got there there was a big, ugly guy in a Orc costume.  He joined a larping(Live action role playing) Game with other people. There were two teams, The ham(the other team) and the awesomeness(Our team!).We had five people on our team Jeff, Kim,Kenny,Max and Jerry. I was the heavy so I had a awesome warhammer I ran out and just crushed the other team. Kim and Jerry were the archers so they both shot the same guy and killed him with their foam arrows. But then Jeff,Max and Kenny got crushed by the other heavy's warhammer. It was just kim and I and two of them, So I went out shot a bow at one and killed him then did a matrix move and stabbed the other. WE WON!!!
       We had a lot of fun but we also won. Then we bought a BIG robot and and led hula hoop for my dog. Then I started to leave and it was great. A women ran at me with a knife!So I shot her and the took the knife. It was a really really good day.

     

       THE END

Gabe: My Garden

This spring I made a mostly basil garden to make lots and lots of pesto!! I planted lots of plants like tomatoes and peppers. Here they are.

 This is the Asparagus 

The Thai basil 

 This is the rose bush

 CLOSE UP!!

 Zucchini 

 Peppers 

 Grapes!!

 Boxwood basil

Big Basil

Connor: Life of the Last True Pharaoh

I grew up in Cairo, Egypt.  My surroundings generally involved servants, slaves, nobility, or foreign diplomats and lots of sand.  I stood in the bustling city and stared at the civilians, toga clad priests and priestesses of the gods, workers scurrying about like locusts, and of course father's government officials telling people how to live their lives.  I was standing there when one of our guards, a tan man in his twenties, said "Young prince, your father requests that you come in and pray to Aten."  Reluctantly I agreed and the guard led me back to the palace.
Amenhotep IV, or Akhenaten, was my father's name.  As we didn't quite get along I only referred to him by name.  There were many reasons I didn't like him.  The most prominent being that he tried to completely undermine centuries of tradition.  He insisted that Aten, a god of his own creation, was the only god.  Father had successfully created a cult in his own kingdom.  This monotheistic cult was not one of which I approved, but I put up with it.
  Mother was slightly less strict, although being queen of Egypt and my father's wife couldn't be easy.  Her name was Nefertiti and she reigned as my father's favorite wife.  She, like my father, also pushed for this new religion, but she was more lenient on the subject of worshiping other gods in the palace.  She was beautiful, or maybe that is just the blind opinion a young boy has of his mother.  They both communicated easily with the Greek delegates.
Following my father's death, and his burial rites that entailed being protected by Aten, my mother fell ill.  Once both were deceased, I as the eldest son took to the throne at a young age.  After I became king of Upper and Lower Egypt I went directly to an oracle.  When i asked of what my future held she said "I see death of a wound, a man sits on the throne with a grin, You will be murdered at the age of eighteen."  I was depressed to know my end would come in my eighteenth year.
For the next eight years I lived happily with my wife.  I was seventeen at this point and knowing death was a year away I went to the oracle again.  "Ah" she said "the ghost king returns.  What shall you ask of me today Pharaoh?"
I looked into her dark green eyes and said "You told me of my personal future now tell me that of Egypt!  What will become of my kingdom?"  I asked this with dread and fear as if this answer could mean the end of my home.
She breathed in the hot Egyptian air and said "I see a man from Greece, He shall prove to our people his worth, he shall create a prosperous dynasty."  I walked away from this prediction a little happier than before.  Then I realized I hadn't asked for any particular time.  For months I had pondered this answer with more questions arising.  Next thing I knew I was out hunting ostrich with Ay and Horemheb and came home with a wound, caused by Ay's lousy aiming.  Before long I had malaria as well then I understood my fate, the wound was no accident this was how I'd die.
I stood in the room of the weighing of the heart in front of the scale and the feather.  Next to me stood Anubis, master of mummification, and Amut, the monster that consumes the heart of the damned.  My heart weighed against the feather was light and so I traveled to the afterlife.  This world after resembled home so much that I could of sworn I never left.  Suddenly a man walked into view wearing the typical armor of a Greek.  I understood enough of his language to know he was called Alexander the Great.  He visited my tomb and praised me, then left.  He carried himself like a true son of Horus, a true god among men.

Connor: The Tale of Sir Robin of Loxley

         The Tale of Sir Robin of Loxley

   By Connor M. Jones

It was an average day at first.  I, a rich noble, had enjoyed sitting around in my estate.  As was my job, I taxed the villagers of Loxley.  It was the late 12th century and the king was going on crusade.  My family had been friends with the royal family for centuries.  As such it was assumed that princess Maid Marian and I would fall in love.  My name was Robin and this is my tale.
           I had gotten permission from King Richard to hunt the royal deer.  When I did so, however, I was set upon by the sheriff's men.  The scoundrels said that I had no business in Sherwood forest hunting the king's deer.  Later I got John, the king's younger brother, to help me out of this mess.  John was a nice person, even if he did believe that he and Richard were above the law.
         When I got home I saw that the villagers, whom I'd often donated small amounts of my own money, were starving from all the taxes.  John, whom Richard left in charge, had been taxing my people and much of England.  As for who collected those taxes in the king's name, it was the Sheriff of Nottingham.  At this point I had had it with that sheriff and left the village with a good sum of gold.  I took my best green garment, a hat with a yellow feather, a bow, and with these belongings I ran off into Sherwood Forest.  I went about in multiple disguises giving out money to the poor of England, and when my gold dwindled I stole from John.  Soon there was a price on my head and the posters called me Robin Hood, after that the name stuck.
                    Eventually I heard that the sheriff was in charge of keeping a watchful eye over Maid Marian, I also heard that the same sheriff locked her away in a tower.  As I was alone at the time I couldn't quite pull off a jailbreak.  I also heard that a knight by name of Sir Guy of Gisborn was hired to find and kill me, but I was sneaky and cunning.  Fortunately Marian had been trained in swordplay by her father, Unfortunately the sheriff was no doubt keeping her away from swords.  Soon enough I had my band of merry men including John Little, whose name was often made fun of by friend and foe.
         My band of about a thousand men and I moved toward the castle where Marian was being held.  We carried swords, maces, bows, arrows, and other such weapons.  We traveled for a while before we ran into Sir Guy, who then challenged me to a sword fight.  Being a gentleman I had to agree to duel him, even though he decided to duel to the death.  The duel began he swung the sword at me and I parried, next I swung at him and he blocked it with his shield.  The battle continued in this manner, until his shield was wrenched from his hand.  We continued to swing and parry until I managed, with a lucky strike I might add, to decapitate the poor fellow.  Twas his fault, for he should have known not to challenge me to such a duel.  I am just as good with a sword as I am with a bow and arrow.
       Upon reaching the castle, we subdued the guards and proceeded to tie a rope to an arrow and shoot the arrow at the piece of wood under the window.  After that I tugged the rope to make sure it was secure and went about climbing.  Eventually I got to the room, but in front of me was the obese sheriff himself.  We had a quick little duel and soon he was running away in fear, or to get something more effective.  I got to Maid Marian, who was already turning a leg of a chair into a sharp stick.  Until she realized that I had come to get her out she held the stake to my throat.  Soon, after she put the stick away, we were running to get out.  I sent Marian down the rope first and as she climbed I found myself face to face with the sheriff.
        Again I fought the sheriff, only this time I had been wounded, he brought the sword down and gave me a large gash on my arm.  Fortunately it was not the arm I use to handle a sword and thus again I sent him running off to John.  Soon enough I saw John walk in wearing an elegant robe and the crown.  He looked at me and, like Marian, recognized me quickly the prince drew a broadsword and went crazy trying to murder me.  I did the one thing I could possibly do, I ran and jumped out the window.  Seeing as I gave Marian enough time to reach the ground in the gigantic pink dress she was wearing, I had no trouble falling out the window.  Fortunately I was caught by Maid Marian and we all escaped back to Sherwood Forest.  Once there, my wounds were tended to, Alan-a-Dale sang of our heroic escapades, and I married Maid Marian, who insisted that we move back to my small castle in Loxley.  Years later when King Richard returned he pardoned me for my crimes against the crown and the murder of Sir Guy.  A few years later, the rightful king we had waited for years to return passed away and John was once again on the throne.  At least now things wouldn't be as bad, or so it seemed.