Story teller

Annie gazed out of her window at the sunny world outside. Blissfully, she fantasized about the warmth as she danced out of her calm country home. It was finally spring. Wandering as freely as a bird in flight, Annie felt the sun caressing her shoulders tenderly. As the cool breeze went through her unbraided hair, Annie ran through the trees, which were near her house, towards the meadow. Across the shining grass, the flowers had started to blossom. Annie lay down in the soft field outside to take a nap under the sunny sky.

Awaking with a start, Annie discovered that the sky had turned dark while she had slept and that it had begun to rain. Swiftly, she got up and started running to the edge of the trees. Despite the sun's previous warmth, the soaking rain sent a sharp chill through Annie. How long had she slept? Annie, who had been rapidly soaked, arrived at the sheltering forest. Although the trees proved some protection from the rain, underneath the branches of the trees, Annie observed that it was quite dark.

Suddenly, there was a booming clap of thunder, and the sky ignited with a dangerous bolt of lightning. Annie, who was a highly educated girl, feared that one of the trees might get struck by lightning while she was under it. The house was in sight. While the rain poured down on her head, Annie raced across the distance that separated her from the house. Drying herself off inside, she stated, "I'm finally safe now." After she perceived that there was no longer danger, Annie sat down to read with the softened sound of the thunder and rain in the background.

Once there were two adventurous boys, who loved to play outside, but were both quite stubborn. These boys both thoroughly injoyed frolliking in the forest, and because they were neighbors, sometimes they would run into each other in the woods, just between their houses. Fortunately, while they were playing one summer, it was a literal bumping into.

One day while they were both playing by themselves, they meet on opposite sides of a creek, in between their houses, which had been discovered by both of the boys. Because they had often crossed the narrow bridge while playing, they knew it only had enough space for one of them to cross. The boys both started towards the bridge, so that the other one of them would have to wait. They both strongly felt that they should go first, and so the first boy declared that the second needed to let him go across, since he had found it first. But the second boy argued that he had found it long before the first boy. So since neither one would consent to wait, they both tried to dash to the other side. Once they ran into each other, they both fell down into the creek.

Finally, the issue was fixed. Because neither boy was fighting for his way, as before, they decided to get along. They both laughed and splashed each other in the water, which had resolved their stubborn minds, to be friends at last.

One sunny afternoon Mom was mixing a cake in the kitchen.The cake was for supper. She speedily mixed all the ingredients in a big bowl. She departed for outside to check on Tom because she was worried. Mom left the bowl on the counter, which was a mistake. Tom, who wanted to experiment with the batter came in the back door because he wanted to help Mom. He spotted the full bowl on the counter. He wanted to know what would happen if he slowly poured in vinegar. Tom finished his experiment. When Mom hotly returned without finding Tom she was upset. She spied the bubbly mess on the counter. She dumped out the batter and started over. She made a beautiful cake in time for supper. Dad, Mom, and Tom enjoyed the cake. Mom was mensely happy.

"Mistuh Wilbur."

"Ah, yes Martha, set that tray right here" James Wilbur cleared a place on the coffee table beside him. James and his family lived in a grand house on a plantation that was full of slaves, for they were very rich. After Martha set down the tray, she hurried out of James' lounge, to go make breakfast for the rest of the household and slaves.

"Rosa!"

"Yah ma?" answered a fourteen year old girl whose face showed lines of wiriness and fear that no girl so young should have.

"We mus finish breakfast, den start washin’ de clothes so dat we cans get em ironed all today and gets da meals prepared too!" Martha stated as she bustled around the room finding the corn powder and water for the regular meal of corn mush. A bit later Martha realized how slow and droopy her daughter walked, "Oh Rosa" Martha said as she pulled Rosa into a bear hug.

"What are you doing you lazy pigs? You are supposed to be making breakfast, but when I come into the room you are hugging with wet eyes. I will tell on you, and be there to watch the whip land and leave a bloody red mark on you sows backs!" and Nelly the spoiled rotten daughter of the Mr. and Mrs. stalked off with an air of pride that matched the wicked cackle that came forth from her mouth.

“Don’t you ever speak to these women like that again!” came a voice Rosa knew, Jesse was striding down the path,

“Thank you Jesse!” Martha said,

“No problem Missus Roger” Jesse replied and he tipped his hat. Rosa stared after him a while, Jesse was a kind boy, and she had been grateful that he was on this plantation many times, and then she went to work seeing as the day was never long enough. Around three in the afternoon Rosa noticed that her mother had slowed, and began to drag her feet in a shuffle; this bothered her because her mother almost always had a light jump to her step.

"Ma?"

"Rosa, did you say something?"

"Yes ma, I noticed a slow in yas walk."

"Nothin, I-just-am more tired than usual" Martha half mumbled, which again was not like her at all, this frightened Rosa more.

"Ma, yo go set down ova dere."

"Rosa,"

"Oh, now you are talking swine's? You little brats!" Nelly then spat in their direction, and her friends began to snicker and whisper among themselves. This was when Rosa wished that Jesse could be here, and give the girl a talking to. At the end of the day, Martha admitted to Rosa that, yes, she was not feeling quite right. Rosa then told her ma to go to bed, and get some sleep,

"But Rosa, you could never finish da chores by yore self"

"Ma, GO TO BED!" Rosa almost yelled impatiently. Her mother could be quite stubborn sometimes.

"Alright, alright, I will go to our cabin, and tidy it up."

"No, Ma, GO TO BED! You need de sleep more dan you are lettin on, I am old enough to tell that you need sleep, off you go!" Rosa demanded her ma. That night, Martha called Rosa to her bed side.

"Rosa, yo ma ain't ganna live much longer-"

"NO, ma no!" Rosa cried, her mother had been her only real friend, well, except for Jesse, and she could not imagine life without her.

"Listen dear" Martha chided "You don't needs ta cry, cause when this body dies, I will be with da Good Lord!" Martha said with a twinge of joy in her voice.

"What about me? What will I do? Without you I will surely die!" Rosa was silently crying now, and her tears fell on her ma's lovely thick black hair.

"You are still my selfish little Rosa!" Martha teased with a smile forcing its way through her dry and cracked lips "Thinking about yourself, when I'm headed to see da Good Lord. Rosa, as soon as possible, you need escape! You are one who needs to be free! So leave, tonight if possible. Free, just think of it, FREE." Rosa could not think of the word free, she had heard it a million times, and it had never meant anything to her, because every time someone tried to escape, or even just talked about freedom, they were caught, whipped and beaten, so severely most died if not injured for life. This Rosa did not want to happen to her. Martha saw the doubt in her daughter’s eyes, and comforted her with her last words. "Rosa, I know you don' wanna go wit' out me, but you must, go or die, yore pa is at the Henderson plantation." At that Rosa lost her emotions, and anger started to creep in because her ma had never let her ask questions, or even know that she had a pa. "Ma! You nevah told me 'bout Pa. Why, why did you nevah tell me?" "'Cause, I just found out he was alive, and at da Henderson plantation." Martha said stumbling for she was out of breath, and her end near. Martha died that night, and Rosa was at a loss as to what to do. She couldn't escape tonight, the day was too close and even one day, doing the work her mother had done, and her own would leave Rosa too exhausted to flee. After a while of thinking she thought of her one other friend, Jesse. Jesse had to work in the fields, so Rosa didn't get to see him very often, but he was one of tender spirit. He had helped Rosa carry heavy buckets of water from the well before she was strong enough to carry them by herself, but Jesse was not only kind, he was handsome as well, he had short black hair, was tall and very muscular. Rosa thought of how nice it would be to have him along during the journey, and maybe to one day be his wife. But she quickly pushed that thought out of her mind; there were more important things to think about now.

Rosa ran out through the night to Jesse's cabin, and asked if he could help her. "Jesse, please help me, my ma d-died a couple hours ago" Rosa could hardly get herself to say those words, before her eyes started to well up with tears.

Jesse wrapped her in a quick hug not knowing what else to do, and said “Oh Rosa, I am so sorry”, and then released her to set to work coming up with a plan. "Rosa, da only option is to leave tomorrow night, you would nevah make it if you left now"

“But Jesse," Rosa protested, "You know I could nevah make a day wit’out Ma helpin’ me".

Jesse thought, and then snapped his fingers, "I know, pretend to have da small pocks today, I will tell ‘em, and day should leave you be for a couple days, then you can be rested to leave tomorrow night." At that Rosa straightened out, and dried her tears,

"You're a genius Jesse! You can come too right?"

"Well," came the masculine voice of Jesse, "I have to stay and work; harvest is in a week."

"Please, please, please," Rosa begged, "come with me. I don't even know where I'm going!"

"I will think about it, and tell you in the morning, in the meanwhile you need some rest!" Rosa left Jesse's cabin, and headed to her own cabin, her mind whirling with thoughts. The next morning Jesse went to the house and told James Wilbur that Rosa was sick with the small pocks and could not work that day. He then went to work with Rosa and their escape in his mind. Rosa tidied the cabin and packed her meager belongings in a satchel. She waited for evening to come and the trip to begin. When Rosa heard a knock on the door, she flew to the door and opened it to see Jesse standing there, his hair reflecting the moon, and his piercing brown eyes looking at her with the loving protection of a father. In that moment Rosa’s heart skipped a beat, but she quickly recovered.

“Hurry, we don’t want to be caught!” Jesse said in a whisper. Rosa hurried inside, grabbed her bags, and glanced at her mother’s body, she almost lost her emotions to start crying, but quickly straitened up, she could not let Jesse see her weakness. And so, they started their journey into the forest pushing as hard as possible to get away, and going through every stream, and river to throw off their scent.

They had traveled three days, when they reached the Henderson plantation, and there found Rosa’s pa, he eventually worked for his freedom, and then they all got certificates stating that they were free!

When they were of age, Rosa and Jesse had a simple wedding, they lived their lives with purpose, and strove to end slavery.

"That person probably weighs 800 pounds!" My sister pointed out a larger lady who had just walked out of the store.

"Probably not," I told her. "And you shouldn't point at people; it's not polite." This wasn't the first time my sister had made up stories about random people in parking lots. On long waits, she'd even make up stories about people eating unsuspecting kids!

My sister didn't pay attention to anything that I had said, and she was already looking around for someone else to make up stories about. "Look over there," she pointed. "That guy looks like he's 1,000!" I sighed and looked helplessly at the ceiling.

"And you'll look like that too, one day," I told my sister. "That is, if you stop making things up about people," I muttered under my breath. "You need to stop or I'm going to tell mom, when she comes out of the store," I said. "Would you like it if someone made up stories about you?" I asked. At that, my sister started laughing. "Why in the world are you laughing?" I asked.

"Now you're making up stories about people," she said. She burst out into laughter again, and I sighed again.

"I wasn't making up stories about anybody; I was simply asking if you would like it if someone else made.." I started to explain, but right then she cut me off.

"There's mom!" She shouted. I got out of the car to help mom get the groceries loaded. I knew I needed to tell mom about my sister's behavior, while we had been in the car... And all the times before.

Ethan had no idea why he had just gotten that message or why it had come incepted but he knew he had to get home quickly. He called Kayla over: “You just got that message. I’ve already got your stuff and the speeder ready."

"I’m driving.”

“Fine,” he said.

“Sup Eth?” Cassidy asked, “And where you taking that bot?”

“Trouble, trouble, and trouble,” he replied.

“We’ll bring her back in one piece,” she said.

“She is mine,” he shot back playfully (although it was true) as he headed out to the speeder.

“Ethan, can you help me get this ship configured for takeoff?” Isaac (his 15-year-old brother) said. “It’s been a long time since this thing flew. And Kayla helped Lilian move some stuff in here.”

“Lila moved all this stuff? She’s only 7!” Ethan said accusingly.

“No,” Isaac replied, “I moved most of it. Now let’s configure this ship and hope it still can fly.”

As they entered Ethan asked, “Why are we leaving?”

“You know how our parents were kidnapped or disappeared or died.” Isaac said.

“Yeah,” Ethan said, “We have been without them for a while now.”

“Well, I believe they were kidnapped or killed because someone is after us,” Isaac commented.

“Why do you think that?” Ethan asked.

“Because I got an e-note from a supposed government sender saying that someone had filed a complaint against us saying there were no adults.”

“Great,” Ethan said. “So the government knows about us?” “No,” Isaac said, “Remember how are parents were supposed to go to a supposed government event when they disappeared and when you checked into it the event was non-existent? So I think the event was faked to kidnap them and it’s going to be the same here.”

“Guys,” Kayla said, startling them as they didn’t hear her come in. “We need to get going. We got everything packed?”

Isaac got up out of the co-pilot’s seat and moved into the navigator’s chair as Kayla moved to the co-pilot’s seat and Lilian climbed into one of the passenger seats. “So where are we going?” Lilian asked as their home planet Tarus grew smaller.

“Kayla, what planet would be under the radar by the Tarus senator?” Isaac asked.

“Well,” Kayla replied, “We should probably go to Heroas; it’s the first planet outside the rulings of the government Tarus is under.”

“With Lila?” Ethan exclaimed. “Heroas is no place for a 7-year-old!”

“I agree with Kayla,” Isaac said, “Ethan, you can stay with Lila in the ship. I’ll take Kayla out to get repairs that will be incurred to this ship.” Ethan started to object but they already jumped to hyper-speed. So he contented himself with muttering about reprogramming Kayla.

So Lilian said, “Come on, Eth, let’s go to the drawing room.” The drawing room had a couch/bed on one wall. On the other wall, right next to it was a book shelf. Across from that was the door. Right next to the bookshelf was four chairs around a table with a charging pad in the middle, a fridge dock, and on the side, a hologram projector. In the other corner was the galley which consisted of a counter, a fridge dock, and above that was a speed cooker/freezer. The kids sat in the chairs except for Lilian who lay down on the couch and picked up the book she had been reading. (She probably had read every book they had at least ten times.)

“Look,” Ethan said, “There is a message that has been transmitted. Should I play it?”

“Well-” Isaac started.

“The probability of it being used for tracking purposes is 34.2%.” Kayla interrupted.

“No, it should be approximately 3 to 5,” Ethan said.

“No, it appears to have been sent 1.5 years ago and I didn’t see it come in so it has a smaller probability.”

Ethan looked like he would reply to that so Isaac said, “Just open the message.”

“Fine,” Ethan answered. As he hit some buttons, a 3-D image of their mom appeared.

“Get up!” The command came as the line of horses galloped out of the yard. Peter and Jock had decided to go and find a group of soldiers that they had seen crossing the river. They were going to surprise (and hopefully subdue) them. As they neared the place, Jock took half of the group off the trail they would be the backup group.

As a scout came up he said, “Over the hill their coming this way. Come on.” Peter quickly told his group plan and then galloped forward. As they came to the top they yelled and came down the hill at a terrific speed. As they came close a round of shots came and the line stopped, and then charged. But another round came from the enemy. Peter yelled for retreat and they ran hard back. As they rode into camp they were surrounded with girls that knew the news was bad. Half of Peter’s group had been killed. Jock had come and surprised them and killed the rest.

As Peter and Jock sat in their hut they said, “We should have posts so we don’t all get killed.”

“Agreed,” said Jock. John went out and called those who could build it to get ready. Quickly they started to build so they could get it done and as soon as possible. One day a shot came from the East tower. One shot meant that somebody was coming!

Once, not so long ago, there was a war. Almost every town was in ruins and most parents were dead or separated. The children were gathering in groups and living where they could. There was one place that one group lived: the river hills. It was vastly covered in trees and small clearings. The band was moving with horses when ahead in a clearing were two boys with horses. Quickly the two boys mounted and rode off quickly. But the leader, whose name was Jock, told his boys to follow. With a shout they rode of in pursuit.

“Man! those boys can ride well.”

“And fast,” said John. Soon only the fastest horses were in the race. Then the boys turned into the trees. As they rode a tree fell down in front of them.

As they stopped a voice said, “Put down your guns; you’re surrounded!! A group twice their size came out of the trees. The boy they recognized told them to stay put; he was going back.

As Peter, who was the boy they recognized, rode up to Jock’s group, he yelled, “You want to be taken captive easy or hard?” Jock immediately realized he had no choice, so he gave in. Peter yelled for guns to be taken and then they started out. As they rode through the trees, Jock saw a clearing and then they went into it.

“What in the world?” cried one girl. There were girls and boys washing and building.

Peter rode along the line and said, “Who is your leader?”

“I am,” Jock said quickly. 

Peter looked at him and said, “Good, you are just the boy I need for a right hand boy. You and I will go and plan right now. The rest of you can go where you please. Come along. What is your name?”

“My name is Jock.”

“Alright, come along then,” answered Peter.

Dear Journal,

“Stretch out. Roll those wheels.” Those were the words that told us our dream had come true. We were really going west! As we went out that fine day we never thought of the danger that might befall us on that wagon train of supplies for the soldiers in the western forts. The first day out we learned that (watch out for snakes) the horse in the front was bit and was sent back. Then the next day we were attacked by Indians. We were out-numbered; we all ran at a gallop, firing as went. More tomorrow.

Dear Journal,

The horses were pulling the wagons as fast as they could go, but we still needed to go faster. If only help would come! Help did come; it came fast. A group of army horses had escaped, and the army was looking for them. When they heard our shots, they came galloping over the ridge and chased the Indians away. We were on our way after we had thanked the soldiers.

Dear Journal,

Because of fight after fight we lost man after man until we had few men and we made it to the fort. After a rest, we were on our way to the next fort.

Dear Journal,

They set off to the next fort with more men. Quick as they could, they went on hoping to get done before winter. On their way, they encountered some outlaws, but no Indians. Then the last days they spotted Indians. A large group came down the hill at a terrific speed, crying wild, war woops. I was in one of the wagons when Tom cried out, “We’re doomed!” Tommy, who was closest to them, cocked his rifle, scanned the crowd of Indians, and shot. We had a fierce battle with them, but they finally left.

Dear Journal,

We got to the fort today. Whoopee!! Hurray!! We are in OREGON!! My journey is over!! This is to be my home sweet home!!!

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” I shouted. “I spent years finding the right tree and now you say…”

“Yes, I do say. Dad already said not to go across the fence, Jordan,” interrupted my brother, Bill.

“I think it’s a great place and as long as you don’t tell, Dad won’t find out…”

“I say it’s a bad idea to keep it from Dad.” Bill shrugged. “I guess if you really want to, you can build your own; I’m building my own in the back yard. Did you notice the big cotton wood?”

I nodded. I hated when I was in the wrong and Bill pointed it out. I always felt like he, just because he was older than me, knew everything that I shouldn’t be doing and always let me know what he thought. Bill was always good, and me? I was the worst kid in the neighborhood, which was us and Grandma. We were the only kids, Bill, Gary, and me.

I started walking out when I walked smack, right into Gary, who was coming into the house. “Hey! Watch it, Jordie!” he yelped. “You just about knocked me down.”

I smiled. Gary was the fun-loving, middle kid, who was quiet but could make you happy in a second with just a few words. I loved when Gary called me ‘Jordie’. It was a different story when Bill called me that, though. Normally he called me that to make fun of me. I was better friends with Bill, but Gary was a good friend too. He was closer in age to me, but he was always helping around the house while Bill and I went exploring.

“Say, what’s going on in here? Deciding where to build the tree fort? Well, I found a big cotton wood out in the backyard. How ‘bouts you come and look at it?” I looked at the ground. Had Bill and Gary talked about this before? Had I missed an earlier meeting? I decided that they were right.

“We shouldn’t build across the fence,” I stated.

“Yeah, and besides, it’s two against one,” Bill said.

“Two against one? I’m on your side now, Bill,” I said.

“Both Gary and I had the exact tree in mind and we didn’t even talk about it…”

I shrugged. “I guess it couldn’t hurt to try it.” A cheer went up from the others. I felt happy- even if I didn’t get my way… It was a nice feeling having all of us on the same page.

Today was Kally’s birthday and she could not be stopped from singing and shouting all through her chores.

“Where’s my gun?” Max shouted as he dashed into the house.

“Over the door. What’s the matter?” Catherine asked.

“No time!” Max shouted as he ran out the door. A moment later and a bang came followed with whooping. Everybody in the house ran out to see a big brown bear, lying on the ground with a bloody spot right near the heart.

“W-w-what in t-the world?” Catherine stuttered.

Kally ran up to the bear and studied it. “I’ve always wanted to see a bear up close!” she said excitedly. “What a birthday!”

“Yes, my granddaughter,” Max said right behind her. “This is what was getting into our barn and now he is dead!”

“Wonderful, Papa, lets’ go inside and have a feast!” Catherine said. So the whole family went inside to have a feast for Kally’s birthday… and the death of the thief.

The mess in the barn continued to happen for two more nights! Finally on the second afternoon Max decided to find out what was getting into the barn. As they figured out the day before, the chickens had been raided, and four were missing from the flock; many of the eggs were as well! This was too much for Max. “Tonight I’m gonna sit myself out, and watch for the thief! Whatever or whoever is getting into the barn will perish tonight!”

“Oh, Papa, whatever got into that head of yours?” Catherine said, exasperated for the dynamics. Then she added, “What if it is a person; would you do just the same thing to them as you would an animal?”

“Well I suppose not,” Max replied. That day was a wreck! Dyson was being as naughty as a three year old could be.

“Kally!”

“Yes mother?”

“Dear, please watch Dyson and Molly.”

“What?” Kally almost yelled; “I can’t keep them in order any day, no less the day when Dyson decides to be naughty!”

“Kally!” Cathrine said with a look of shock! “I can’t believe those words fell out of your mouth!”

“Sorry, Mama, sometimes Dyson drives me more than nuts; he drives me nutty”.

“Okay, well, just do your best to keep them out of trouble, okay?”

“Yes, Mama,” Kally sighed as she slowly walked to Dyson and Molly’s room. Things went well until Dyson and Molly decided to go to the storage room. Kally walked behind them and tried unsuccessfully to persuade them to stay in their room. “Ouch! You, you, whatever you are, I’m ashamed you’re my brother! Ugh, OOOWWWWWW! Stop it! You are the worst kid on the earth,” was all Catherine needed to hear before she predicted Kally would run out of the twins’ room and run outside. Just as she predicted Kally ran out of the house muttering about her horrid brother, and, well, her sister too.

“I’ll just finish what I’m doing, and then I will go see what the problem is”. Unfortunately waiting was not the right thing to do, the twins’ had already spread the black stove cleaner all over themselves. Every square inch beside them was black, and a can of jelly preserves was open with finger prints where they had stuck their hands in for a bite. “Kally really can’t watch these children, can she?” Catherine sighed to herself as she observed the mess. That night at supper things were arranged that Kally and the twins, with Beth’s supervision, would clean the storage room.

Everything in the barn was a disaster! Tools, bridles, harnesses, halters, yokes, and anything else that might be in a barn were strewn all over the floor. “What in the great heavens and earth, the Lord hath made, got in here?” Max roared.

“Grandpa, look! My calf is limping, and is scratched; see the blood?”

“Oh, I see, my boy. Lets tend to that calf of yours.” Max hurried to the tack room for the calf cleaning supplies. “Jase, hurry and pump me a bucket of water.”

“Yes sir.” Jase ran to the pump with the buck flying out behind him. After quickly bandaging the calf, they set out to pick up the tools.

“Get a move on, we still have to do the chores and anything else your mother decides for us to do,” Max prodded when Jase’s pace slowed down.

“Yes sir,” Jase replied. He went to work picking up the tools and gear.

After a total of an hour and a half of picking up the tools, Jase and his grandpa were finished. “Feels good to be done, don’t it?”

“Doesn’t it,” Catherine reminded her father, rounding the corner of the barn and startling them both.

“Good grief, daughter! You can startle me better than David could!”

“Papa! Please, I don’t want Jase to have the heavy reminders of his papa.”

“I can’t complain about that.”

“Anyway,” Catherine continued, “Jase does not need any more bad grammar than he was born with!”

“That, your right on,” Max replied to his daughter.

“What took you so long to…? Oh my! You’ve not even done the chores! Jase, your calf! What happened? My! This barn is cleaner than I’ve ever seen it! What is the occasion to clean the barn?” Catherine prattled.

“Take it easy, Catherine,” Max said, “I will tell you at lunch, if the Lord does not tie up my tongue!”

“Papa, Papa, Papa, Papa! You sure can annoy me with your exaggerations.”

At lunch Max told the well exaggerated story to his family; and Jase added, “That’s not what happened,” whenever Max exaggerated too much.

Kally is ten and soon to be eleven. “Hooray, hooray!” shouted Kally, jumping down the stairs three at a time. After reaching the end of the stairs, she headed toward the kitchen where she could smell her mother (Catherine) and older sister, Elizabeth (who is called Beth) making breakfast.

“What’s the racket?” Beth asked irritated.

“In three days is my birthday…and I can’t wait!”

“I do believe you can, now come wash your hands; it’s breakfast time. Beth, please go get…” At that moment screaming and wailing came from Molly and Dyson’s room (they are twins at the age of three).

“Great jumping Jehoshaphat!” Max (their grand-father) said as he jumped up and hurried to the twin’s room with Catherine right behind “They sound like a tornado is after them.”

“Thankfully there is no tornado,” Catherine replied calmly to her exaggerative grandfather. When they reached the bedroom it was quite except for a few moans and whimpers from Molly and Dyson, “Are you okay?” Catherine asked. She said without waiting for an answer, “Let’s take you to the kitchen, so we can eat.”

After breakfast Max and Jase (Kally’s older brother) went to the barn to chore the family animals. When they reached the barn, the barn door was open! Inside, was a nightmare.

Dear Journal,

We haven’t had time to go history-traveling for a while because of summer coming on, but today… I was sitting in my room reading a book when Mercy and Micah came in. “Paysh,” Mercy said. “I was reading the story of Elijah on Mount Carmel.” I looked at her, waiting for more. “Me and Micah though t that…” “Micah and I,” I corrected. She nodded and continued. “… We should get Bethany and go there in the time-machine.” “Yeah,” Micah put in. “We can go right now if you aren’t busy.” “Not too busy to miss seeing Elijah on Mount Carmel,” I replied as I placed the bookmark in the book. “Thanks for suggesting it.” We got Bethany and headed out. We found ourselves marching up a mountain- following King Ahab’s servants. When we got to the top, a man, who Bethany told us was Elijah, said, “Choose one bull for yourselves, and call on the name of your gods, but don’t start it on fire.” We watched as they did so. They then began to call on the name of Baal to send fire down. I was more focused on the servants of Baal trying to get Baal to send fire than I was listening to Elijah tell us that Baal might be busy with something so they need to shout louder. At around mid-day, Elijah said it was his turn. He piled twelve large stones to make the alter. He then dug a trench around it. We helped pour water into the trench as Elijah instructed. Then Elijah prayed, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.” All of a sudden fire came down from heaven and burned the alter and the bull and the

water, and the dust. We all fell on our faces and said, “The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is God.” After a while we walked to the time-travel-machine. We silently got in and typed in home. When we got home, no one talked because what we had seen was too much for us… That’s why I’m writing this down- I’m so amazed right now.

Dear Journal,

With school I don’t have much time to catalog our adventures, but as it is my turn I will proceed with the story. We all assembled in the time machine “So when did the Revolutionary War start?” asked Patience. “April 19, 1775, but we aren’t going there,” I replied. “Where are we going?” Mercy asked. “I think I’ll show you,” I said. I typed in 1748 Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. We climbed out of the time machine. “Wow! This is cool.” Bethany said. Mountains, rivers, and forests, all untouched by man spread out in front of us. “I didn’t know it would be so amazing.” For a while we marveled in God’s creation until I saw George. “Look over there,” I said pointing at George. “That is the official surveyor for Virginia.” “Who is that and how old is he?” Bethany asked. “That is George Washington and he is 18 years old.” I answered. “This is probably great training to know the land for future,” Patience remarked as we climbed in to the time machine. I typed "Great Meadows, Pennsylvania May 28, 1754" in. We heard gunshots and there were some French men surrounded by some men some wearing British uniforms, some just the coats, and others just normal cloths. “Is that George Washington?” Mercy asked. “And if it is, why is he wearing a British uniform?” “That is George and he is wearing a British uniform because he is the commander of the Virginia militia and this is before the Revolutionary War.” I answered. “But this is in Pennsylvania, not Virginia,” Patience said. “This is in land that was claimed by multiple colonies,” I replied. The battle was over and only one of George Washington’s men were wounded. “We won,” Patience said. “And we need to get moving,” I said as we climbed in the time machine. “I think I’ll skip his time serving under General Braddock, his marriage and go to his time in the house of burgesses after the stamp act.” I said typing in "May 29, 1765, Williamsburg, Virginia." Then we climbed out and in front of us was a nice two-story building. The lower story had round windows. It's rectangular shape with two tower jut outs we entered. A man was talking. I recognized him as Patrick Henry and he was talking about the stamp act. After the speech we returned home. “We need to go back to the Revolutionary War,” Patience said. “Yeah, I want to see George in action,” Mercy agreed. 

“Stretch out!” It was the call they had waited for for one month. As the wagon train started, John rode quickly up to the wagon. As the day was about to end, a lookout, out of breath, came up.

“INDANS!” He shouted. John cocked his gun. As the Indians came over, the men fired. The Indians took one look and went away, so little by little they got there. As the wagon train came over the ridge, people threw their hats in the air. Soon they had there claim. The more they worked, the better it looked.

One day as John rode his horse, a band of Indians attacked. As they rode toward him, he fired. With a yell they rode toward him, he again fired. Still they came on. Again and again he fired. Then they stopped and started drawing. He came and there was a peace sign!

A boy rode his horse along, tears were in his eyes. Then he saw his family cabin on fire men rounding up the cows. His family tied up against the wagon. He cocked his rifle armed and fired. Riding hard he fired his pistol. Again and again he fired. This is the story of John Swan. John was born in the Louisiana frontier. Moving then to Iowa. Now to Kansas.

We were having devotions when I looked out the window and saw an army marching down toward us. I told my family, and then Beth and I went for the barn. We finally hitched up the horses and rode for the house. My family got into the stagecoach as the army was just coming up. We were out of there! But the bad thing was that we had to get to town before the army.

When we got to town we told them what was happening and then my father, Sam, and Bill got down and started toward the wall. And me? Well I was on my way to the next town. Why was I going to the next town? Well, to tell the truth the town needed reinforcements. When we got closer to the next town a band of soldiers came out of the brush and attacked us. Beth and I started to shoot at them as soon as they started to fire. We must have shot the leader for they ran towered the brush again. When we got to town and as soon as they knew what was happening they grabbed their guns jumped on horses and rode off!

We rested the horses and the next day we headed back. When we got to the town the fight was over but Sam had been shot. But the enemy had lost more men then we had!

"Quick Jack, Quick!" screamed sixteen year old Katie Brow. "I can't lose you too! Grab my hand." Katie and her little brother Jack, who was at this time floating on a river, had been fishing on a bridge when it gave away. Katie made it to shore but her brother, a stubborn dare devil, had refused that the bridge was falling. And if it was falling, refused to get off, for he was always ready for an adventure. "Jack, hurry."

"I can't reach, Katie." Jack yelled back.

"Oh Jack, we lost Carolyn during birth, Mother when the tornado wiped out our farm, and Scott when he, for some reason could not breath. If you die too..." Katie never finished her sentence, but both knew what would happen. Katie, two year old Clara, and their father would be the only ones left out of their family, which used to be seven members. Just then a strong wind blew Jack into Katie's out-stretched arms. "Jack!" Katie embraced her youngest brother so tight he thought he would die of lack of breath. "I thought you were gone." Katie felt tears behind her eyes forcing their way out.

"Man, oh man, that was fun." Jack stated with a smile that threatened to overtake his wet face.

"Jack Clearance Brow," Katie just about yelled exasperated, "I just about lost you, and you say it was fun? We must go home". That night Jack received spankings for his stubbornness and a long talk with his father.       

Things like this happen