As I watched Mahitabell, I realized her dark eyes were wetter than usual, and she kept her mouth pressed tight. It occurred to me that she might be on the verge of tears.
     "Mahitabell," I asked, "what's wrong?"
     She showed no sign of answering. "Mahitabell," I said it softer now. "Please tell me what's wrong, please?" She stared at me. There were pools in her eyes. "Oh, Mahitabell," I said, "what's wrong?"
     "Bridges."
     "Bridges?"
     "Yes," she replied. I could tell she was holding back tears, but all because of bridges?
     "You see," she started, "we have to go over a bridge tomorrow to get to our destination on the field trip right? I don't really like bridges because of what happened to my brother."
     "Wait a second, you don't have a brother," I interrupted.
     "Oh, I do, or at least I did," she sobbed. This caused a sudden burst of tears.
     "Cry baby," called someone from across the room.
     "Mahitabell," said the teacher, with a cool air, "why don't you take a minute to calm down?"
     This angered Mahitabell even more. She yanked up her backpack and heaved it over her shoulder roughly. She bolted out of the room. We all waited until the door slammed. We then resumed class.
     Later, I went over to my friend Sandy's house. We baked cookies and played board games. I had nearly forgotten about the earlier troublesome time I had with Mahitabell when Sandy came up with by far the worst idea I had ever heard in my entire life.
     "I know, we can play Mahitabell and Ms. Agler. I'll be Ms. Agler. She was like so collected and Mahitabell was totally uncontrollable."
     Mahitabell was my best friend. I felt for her. Suddenly, out of the blue I developed a plan.
     "We'll start from the part when Ms. Agler tells Mahitabell to calm down, NOW!" She made a sweeping gesture with her arm and started, "Mahitabell, why don't you take a minute to calm down?"
     Perfect, that was my cue. I tried to act just as Mahitabell had, throwing my bag over my shoulder. Just as she had I slammed the door. And didn't come back.
     The next day I anxiously waited for Mahitabell's arrival, although I didn't much count on it considering what happened to her brother. It was odd that we had been friends and she hadn't once mentioned she had a brother.
     "All right class, it's time to leave for the field trip. I guess our friend Mahitabell won't be joining us after that little incident yesterday."
     "Yes I will," came a faint voice from the back of the room. It was Mahitabell.
     We all piled into the bus. Mahitabell and I sat at the front. As soon as we reached the bridge she started crying hysterically and did not stop until we reached the park. We got off the bus and took out our lunches. We were so quiet we could hear each other eating. The silence was later broken by Denise calling Mahitabell a cry baby. For the rest of the day she just sat there. I, however, was determined to have a good time. I busied myself with games such as tether ball and soccer. When it was time to go I was a little upset. On the bridge Mahitabell's dark eyes again became red and swollen.
     "CRY BABY," the whole bus yelled, and this was enough. Mahitabell walked casually up to the wheel of the bus. Before the bus driver knew what was happening, she gave it a good hard turn, just hard enough to send us lurching off the bridge.

Alex A.
fifth grade

Possessed eyes stare at her
Scared people glare at her, and what she used to be.
Mumbling words basically unhear her
And she thinks, she tells what she'd like to become of her
And where did she come from? From what does she know?

The word alien crossed the minds of others
An actor is what she would have been

Emily B.
seventh grade

Soula H.
sixth grade

I was floating through the stream of endless clouds. They obscured the 3 moons hovering in the trees. Balloons plummeted to the ground while fish swam in the sky. Gravity was erroneous in this world. Toads hopped about on the clouds. Toasters had wings and flew around flying pieces of toast. All of a sudden there appeared a whirlpool that pulled the toasters, toast, and frogs into a dark void. The colors blurred together into black clouds inside which Julia and Mandelbrot sets ruled the horizon. Three-dimensional objects dilated and reflected off one another. Colors mutated continually in every little 3 by 3 dot area. A giant strobe light inverted its colors as it morphed into giant aliens. I tried to scream, but the fractals paid me no attention. I felt lost in a chaotic world. I stumbled for reality and woke up.

Lee B.
eighth grade

     I braked sharply and the back of my car swung around and smashed into the guard rail on the side. Damn guard rail. Why does it have to be there? Why won't it let me fall off the edge, why? Why? Why am I doing this?
     "You know quite well," my conscience told me. "You know exactly why," it muttered unhappily. Just as I stepped out of the car it dangerously teetered and fell off. I listened for a while, then heard a heavy splash, and wished I'd stayed in that car. I'd be dead by now. "It's fated for you to live," my conscience warned me in an angel-like voice, but I ignored it and proceeded. I climbed onto the suspension cable that disappeared high into the sky.
     "I didn't want to," I defended myself, even though I knew it was unnecessary. "I was driven to it. I have no choice!"
     "There are alternatives, though," it tried to persuade me. "You have a choice."
     I knew I didn't have to argue. Who was in charge here? I shrugged it off and meticulously proceeded up like a monkey; I was determined to die.
     If I were going to kill myself, I had previously concluded, I might as well go out in style. Why take a pill when you could have a thrill like this?
     I reached the top and realized for the first time that I was attracting a crowd. Many cars had stopped to watch, and I saw a brave young man trying to follow.
     I yelled out to him, "Don't kill yourself, you have your whole life ahead of you!" He was undeterred, though.
     I heard another man say to his wife," C'mon honey, it's just a construction guy. Besides, we have to go to our grandson's wedding."
     I inched up the thick metal pole, with the sun reflecting off the metal, my thighs sizzling like frying eggs. I began to feel dizzy and saw the man behind me was making steady progress, and I quickened my pace.
     As I reached the top, I smiled; it was nice to be on the top of the world. That was why I was here, you see. I was always on the bottom, being the second youngest, with three older sisters, a younger brother, and four older brothers. First of all, my parents, although they never outright told me, which was another reason I didn't like them, really wanted another boy, not me, a girl. They also wanted me to be like all my older siblings, "Something productive, like a doctor or a lawyer or something like that." But she had to be different," they used to say.
     But all I wanted to do was please them. I took ballet when they wanted me to, I played piano when they wanted me to play piano, and most of all, I acted like a boy to be what they always wanted me to be. I didn't go crazy or anything. I was just a tomboy: is there anything wrong with that? But it wouldn't satisfy them Oh no, they thought I should be something better than a basketball player. Hey, I was always tall, anyway. Why not try it? I tried it and loved it. I couldn't play anything but it.
     But no, basketball wasn't a girl's sport; I should try ice skating, or something like that. But I was determined to play basketball; for once I would do what I wanted. And I did. I went to UCLA and started all four years. I was proud, buy they weren't. No, never good enough for them, oh no.
     This I was going to stick with, though, and when the Women's League opened, well, that was it. I was going to play professional basketball. But...well...without my parents' consent...I don't know...and that's just why I'm here. My parents want me to go one way, and I want to go another way. I just can't decide. I'm usually good at making decisions, but this one is different.
     It's going to affect my whole life. I don't want to let my parents down, but I really want to play basketball. What would I do with my life, start over? Death is better than that.
    
     Last night at 6:47 p.m. a witness claimed to hear a splash in the river near his house," began a TV report. "Says a neighbor, 'Well I's nearly fainted when I's hud the c'moshun. Then I sees ol' Eddie running right down the bo'dwalk. He jus' keeps a runnin' 'til the rivah. Den he doan take no clothes off, he jus' jumps right in. Aft'r a while, I spoat him turnin' up a hafa mile off shore. But dis taym he's wif a young'un. Not too young, maynd you, a lady, 'bout twenty."
     "Using other sources, this reporter has accumulated a series of facts which confirm that the victim was floating when Edward-Joe Grishire reached her, half-submerged."

Dylan T.
seventh grade

     Amazing as it may seem, this assignment is really hard. Believe it or not, my English teacher is making me write a story that has twenty-six sentences, and each one must start with a letter of the alphabet, in alphabetical order. Can you imagine submitting this to the litmag? Destroy this story the second we get it back, is my thinking---I mean, it is the silliest plot I tell you. Even think about it and you get dizzy; so I am going to complain (if you do not call this story a complaint). Forget it, I say, this is a mad craze.
     Great, she tells me I must do it or I will be sent to 9-1 for a week. How can I get out of this writing assignment? If only I had a twin, he would do all the work for me, and I would not have to do any school work. Just think how bored I would get during the day---maybe I would end up going to school once or twice a year. Kindly, my twin would do my homework without any fuss. Let's get back to complaining.
     Man, oh, man, if I could choose another topic I would. Nextroide, the newest planet discovered, that's the topic I would choose. Or how about Oxen; I was born in the year of the Ox, which is known for its strength, but many people do not know it is good at complaining, too.
     Power to the kids in the 5-E English class, that's what I am for! Quickly, I must gather support from the kids in my homeroom. Reconsider, teachers: the children have the majority in the school, so give up Ms. Meslow and let me be teacher for a day. So vote for Teo for teacher for a day. Teo, I say, and I will give no homework for the rest of the year. Unfortunately, I will only be teacher for a day, so we may get homework on Wednesday. Vote for me anyway, and we'll play Jeopardy all day long. Whether I get in trouble or not, I do not care; I will deal with that tomorrow.
     X-ray, that is the only word that I can think of that starts with X, so that is what I will use. You may think this is cheating, but I think this is.....

ZEE END

Teo Q.
fifth grade