Planet Hopper

January 10, 2023 Homepage Story, Kid's Stories, Space Blog, Workshop, Young Authors

Written by Quincy

A boy is sleeping when he somehow falls onto his bed, bounces off of it, and tumbles to the ground. He starts wondering how that’s even possible when he looks around and realizes this isn’t even his room. Scared, he dashes to the window and looks outside. But there aren’t people walking on sidewalks or buildings everywhere. Instead, it’s wastelands as far as the eye can see.

He starts hyperventilating and rummaging through stuff, trying to find anything that will give him answers. He eventually stumbles upon a phone that looks exactly like his. But the second he presses the power button, cosmic lights start flashing in his face and he starts feeling himself getting pulled into the phone. And then, everything goes black.

When his vision comes back, he sees that he’s on his back. But no, he’s not on top of a bed or anything, he’s FLOATING THROUGH SPACE. He begins to think about how he’s even breathing right now, but he decides to ignore it and look around. Beside him are Mars and Earth. Beside Mars is Jupiter, and beside Jupiter is Saturn. Beside Saturn is Uranus, and beside Uranus is Neptune.

“Well at least everything else is normal,” Calvin thinks to himself.

He spots a satellite being dragged towards Earth and grabs onto it, wanting to go back home. He takes one last look at the rest of the planets and notices a completely unfamiliar planet. Just when he’s about to start theorizing on how it got there, the satellite slams into a force field and they start floating in the direction of Mars.

He floats, and he floats until he hits Mars and somehow loses 10 pounds out of nowhere.

“WHY IS THERE A FORCE FIELD ON EARTH?!” he screams, falling to his knees.

“FORCE FIELD?” an alien asks, smiling. When Calvin looks up, he sees a 6 feet tall alien with red skin and more muscles than he could ever get. Normally he would bolt away the second he saw it, but he was calm. For some reason, the alien looks oddly human and sounds younger than him.

“Um, how old are you?” Calvin asks the alien.

“I’m 7 years old. NOW WHERE’S THE FORCE FIELD?” the alien screams, looking around.

“I’ll tell ya soon. But for now I need to look for—WOAH,” Calvin says, cutting himself off after seeing what was ahead of him.

There is building after building, each one exceeding 50 feet. I guess Mars was already inhabited. Calvin trudges through the dusty planet to the massive buildings while the 6 foot tall 7 year old follows after him. But the 7 year old isn’t the only tall one. There are 5 foot babies, 6 foot kids, 7 and 8 foot teens, and then 8 foot adults. Calvin was normally happy that he was 5’10” in grade 9, but even the KIDS make him look tiny.

He expects them to gossip about him not having red skin, but they all seem to know he is from Earth.

“Uh, when did humans come to Mars?” Calvin asks a girl.

“Stop acting stupid,” the girl says. Calvin makes a confused face and then walks away.

“Wait, you actually don’t know?” the girl asks. “We came to Mars in 2026.”

“2026?! I THOUGHT IT WAS 2023!!” Calvin shouts as sweat rolls down his cheeks.

Calvin then explains to the girl how he got there, but she just shakes her head and walks away. Because he just lost 10 pounds, Calvin rushes to a restaurant. There, they have all sorts of exotic foods like Dust Chicken, Red Rice, Dry Ice Cola, and much more. Eventually he decides to settle on a hamburger since it is really the only normal food there.

“I want a BLUE STEAK!” the 7 year old says. Calvin reluctantly takes out extra money for the 7 year old, but then the cashier tells him it’s not nearly enough. Turns out, 10 dollars in Earth money is just a dollar on Mars. He tosses all the money he has at the cashier and sulks. And he sulks. And he sulks.

Eventually he notices a poster that reads “The Raid of Granthor! To learn more, come to Jupiter” with a picture of the same planet he was on earlier. He’s about to sprint out the door when a question comes to his mind.

“Why is everyone ignoring this? Surely it’s important.” But he also stays because he obviously needs to eat. Once the food comes, he scarfs it down his throat and heads out the door. He shoves his hands into his pockets looking around for his phone while running when—

*CLANG!*

—a metal pole sends him to the ground.

Darakalas in the Argilia forest

November 28, 2022 Kid's Stories, Space Blog, Young Authors

Written by Marwo

One very hot day, Darakalas was born in the Argilia forest. Darakalas had four legs and red, yellow, and orange wings. He had a red body, and a red and orange tail. He also had light yellow hair. 

When Darakalas was born, he opened his eyes and saw all the people around him. Soon he realized that he had 2 older brothers, and 3 older sisters, because they were the ones who were always with him. Darakalas was happy with his life. He had amazing parents and wonderful siblings. 

By age two, he had a lot of friends. But something was missing. One day, when his parents were going hunting out of the forest, he asked, “Mom, Dad, can I come with you?”

They said, “No, you can’t. The outside world is too dangerous. Even your older siblings can’t come.”  

When Darakalas turned 5, he started having flying lessons. He asked his parents, “Can I go out of the forest, now that I can fly?”

They said, “No you can’t. The forest is very big, and you can’t fly all the way over it. You have to be older.” 

Darakalas tried anyway, but within minutes, he fell to the ground. 

“See!” His parents said. 

Darakalas thought, “When I am older and stronger, I will fly all the way over the Argilia forest and be free, but in the meantime, I’ll have fun.” 

Years passed, and Darakalas was still in the Argilia forest. One afternoon, when Darakalas’ parents were in the house, he decided that was the day he would get out of the Argilia forest. He set off from the ground and into the sky. He said, “Wow this is easy.” 

Suddenly, he felt something pulling his back leg, and when he looked down, he saw his parents pulling him down. Finally, when he was back on the ground, his parents started yelling at him, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING DARAKALAS?”

“Um,” said Darakalas, “I was just trying to fly around the forest.” 

“Stop with the lies Darakalas. We know that you are trying to go out of the Argilia forest”

Darakalas just walked away. 

“Sorry.” said Darkalas’ best friend Taragalas. “I want to get out of here too, but instead of doing it during the daytime, why don’t we do it at night?”

“What a good idea,” said Darakalas. “Let’s do it tonight.”

 When it was midnight, Darakalas and Tarakalas flew over Argilia forest. Somewhere they found a cave, and stayed there for the night.  

“Tomorrow we will explore this new world,” said Darakalas.

On and On by Jordan

On and On

November 13, 2022 Homepage Story, Kid's Stories, Space Blog, Workshop, Young Authors

Written and illustrated by Jordan

KABOOM! A volcano erupted! 

The potatoes from Taterville could only count on one person for the job; Baba G was his name! He came flying out in his potato truck. Once he got there, he realized that his best friend, Cupa Luppa, was there too. He had a potato launcher and a mega beam potato. Suddenly the volcano stopped, but Cupa Luppa received a call saying that there were three huge megalodons trying to eat the cows with ADHD that randomly ended up in the ocean! 

WIthout any hesitation, Baba G and Cupa Luppa zipped off. But the lava from the volcano got on the potato truck! Luckily Baba G could fly. Cupa Luppa couldn’t, but Baba G said that he could handle it. 

BAM! Baba G shot a laser from his hand like Iron Man and killed the first Megalodon. The two other Megalodons swam fast towards Baba G. He took out his potato gun and fired off several potatoes killing both the Megalodons. They dropped like flies. The cows were close to dying, but they didn’t, thanks to BABA G! 

Both Cupa Luppa and Baba G went home thinking their day was over. But on the news, they said that In New York, Godzilla was roaming the city! Plus it was very dark, and raining. People were panicking and going nuts. They were super tired but knew they had to keep the peace. 

Baba G put on his armour and flew out. Cupa Luppa met up with Baba G and was not nervous. They both did everything they could, yet nothing worked except one thing. What no one had seen before was that Baba G evolved into something else! Godzilla looked surprised like he had seen a duppy. With laser hands, ice breath, speed, and an iron punch, it was too much for Godzilla to handle. One shot, two shots, three shots, Baba G used everything he had. One more hit would knock Godzilla out forever.  Cupa Luppa wanted to finish it all, so he did one again with a big mega beam potato.

Godzilla knew never to start problems with them again. From that day on, Taterville stayed in peace. 

Michelin Star Employees

November 4, 2022 Homepage Story, Kid's Stories, Space Blog, Young Authors

Written and illustrated by Siyu

The sound of an alarm ringing wakes Lucia up. The sudden loud creaking sound of the awfully built wooden floor of her room echoes in the darkness of the cave that she calls home. Lucia excitedly gets ready and cooks a delicious breakfast for herself. Today she was going to check if anyone had signed up for an interview to be an employee at her newly built restaurant. Lucia was excited and anxious. 

“What if nobody signed up? What would I do then?” Lucia mumbled to herself. 

As she walked out of the dark cave called home she received a text. It was from Candy, her best friend, and well, only friend. 

“I’ll meet you at the community board,” the text read.

Approaching the community board, Lucia walks slowly in the magical forest called Luraincean. Looking at the beautiful colours of the forest, it feels peaceful until Lucia is startled by a tap on the shoulder. 

She lets out a sort of squeak and said, “Candy! One day you’ll seriously give me a heart attack!”

While laughing Candy said, “Okay! I’m sorry, it’s not my fault that you do that every time.” 

Lucia huffs while Candy keeps laughing. 

They arrive at the community board in a good mood, but it quickly changes. Looking at the community board, it was blank, there was nothing at all. As Lucia stared at the board, her expression became worse. Lucia pulled out her phone and went online to her webpage but still, there was nothing. She walked home with Candy by her side, clearly upset.

Days, weeks, months later and still not a single person even touched her poster looking for help.

“August 28, yes, that’s the date where I give up my dreams and live a normal life in my dark cave with my sensitive right eye, horns, wings, and  weird tail!” she shouted angrily to herself. 

While walking back to take her poster down, she bumped into someone. Lucia muttered, “Sorry,” before reaching to take down her poster when the person yelled in a childish tone. 

“Please don’t take that down! We would like to sign up for an interview if we’re not too late!” 

Looking back at them, Lucia sees a cat woman and a rabbit boy, both younger than her. 

With pure excitement, Lucia said, “Yes, it’s still open! We can go to my house to talk    more!” 

At Lucia’s house the interview goes well—maybe even better than well. Lucia learns that the cat woman’s name is Cynthia and that she is 21 years old. The rabbit boy’s name is Rain. He is 14. 

Cynthia completed her cooking degree in the eastern part of the Luraincean Forest and went west to start a new life. Rain didn’t want Cynthia to do all the work by herself so he wanted to work as a waiter—since he was old enough. Cynthia gave Lucia her contacts, Lucia also stated that she needed more people for the job and if she couldn’t find any, they could start in about a month. Lucia told Candy about it when she was visiting, and Candy was happy for her. Candy suggested that she could work as a cashier as well to help.

Breathing in the fall air and seeing the leaves fall while wearing a light jacket, it was September 24, exactly three weeks before the day the restaurant would officially open. 

“Lucia!” A small voice in the background said, “Lucia!”

 It was loud enough to make Lucia realize it was Rain. Rain and Cynthia clearly had something good to say. They found chefs for the job and a whole team!

“Sorry, for the last-minute notice. My friend Iris, recently lost their restaurant and is looking for a job.  Their restaurant was quite far away, so I didn’t hear from them,” said Cynthia walking beside the long River of Dawn. 

This was a great surprise for Lucia as she needed more employees.

October 15, 2033, three weeks passed—it was the official opening day! Lucia interviewed Iris and their team; they were all very qualified. Iris had also helped Lucia’s restaurant by posting the opening day online. It was popular since a lot of people loved Iris’s food. Opening day was a huge success! Customers rushed in, the line was down the street, and people were posting the food on their social media. The day was awesome! 

Dear Future Me,

Crying tears of joy, I ran to the restaurant texting everyone to meet there. It has been two years since opening day. I am 24 now. Today, I got my first Michelin star. This was always a dream for me. I was happy with the restaurant I had, but I did it—me, Lucia Woods did it. What will happen in the future? The future is uncertain, but the present is clear now. Thank you, dear employees. – October 15, 2035 

Love, Lucia, your past self

All of this was sealed in an envelope for the future, an unknown place that will never be known.

THE END

Darkness

September 25, 2022 Homepage Story, Kid's Stories, Space Blog, Young Authors

Written by Kratos

My story is about a snake named Skull Snake who wants to find his family and then go back to where he came from. 

Skull Snake has a skull snake dragon as a pet, and he can fly, slither, and teleport to anywhere he wants. He can slither like a snake, and he can fly like a dragon. He has 50 sharp tails, 550 dragon teeth, and 550 claws. His body color is black and red, and his elements are fire, void, darkness, water, lava, earth, and telekinesis. 

He lost his family to some alien catchers. Alien catchers look like humans, and they have a power called “controllable movement.” They can control stuff like objects, the ground, the furniture, and other stuff. The alien catchers used some objects to build a cage for Skull Snake. Skull Snake found out, and made a new power called “disabling people’s power,” which allows him to disable other peoples’ power by using his mind. 

To save his family, Skull Snake went to Area 51 and took control of the guards with his mind. When he took control, he disabled their powers. He flew down to another area inside Area 51 and found some unknown creatures.  The creatures flew home, scared. Finally, Skull Snake found his family. His mom, dad, brother, and sister are happy ‘cause Skull Snake rescued them. 

“Let’s go back home guys,” Skull Snake said. 

So they got their dragon, and flew home. And that’s the end.

The Legendary Art Piece of Miko

August 19, 2022 Homepage Story, Kid's Stories, Space Blog

Written by Fatimah

Shenhe is an old swordsmith ship member, and she’s trying to earn a badge from them. She is a human with white luscious straight hair and curled pointy horns with a red stripe on them. She is trained with the art of cryo/ice and uses her hand gestures whenever she is in danger. She has white eyes and her pupils are pale blue and shaped like stars. She uses a katana/sword if she has to defeat a being that is not allowed in the existing new world.

Thunder and lightning keep on making loud noises on the mountain. As she gets closer to the art piece she encounters a festival that is happening. A person who is hiding their face with their hat said, “Would you like to join the art event?” Shenhe says yes as her favourite hobby is painting. She gladly joins in. 

As time passes by she says with a confident voice, “Hah! I won and you lost, now what’s my prize?”

“Oh, the prize is the legendary art piece of miko. I believe you were trying to get a hand of it right?” 

Shenhe’s 10 friends came and said, “Woah, was it that easy?” 

“Yes it was, it really was,” Shenhe says. 

After she gets the art piece she goes back to the dojo and her dreams are fulfilled. 

The Free City

July 28, 2022 Homepage Story, Kid's Stories, Space Blog

Written and illustrated by Penelope

Sky, the blue panda and her friends Ruby, Rick, Nick, Kiwi, Lisa were swimming in the pool of her mansion when there was an earthquake in the middle of Everyone City. It left a big hole. 

Sky’s mansion was close to the big hole that the earthquake made, and the mansion and other people fell into the big hole. There, they were teleported and woke up in another city where they explored. 

“This is weird,” Kiwi said, and then found lots of stores, shops and malls. 

Meanwhile Zippy was at Sky’s house and said, “Hmm where is everyone and where is Sky’s house? This is very strange.”   

Everyone looked inside the shops and saw there was no price tag on the items.

“Why is there no price tag? Maybe everything is free,” Lisa said jokingly.

Sky laughed. There was no cashier in the shops and stores when they noticed that everything was free!

“Wow, everything is free!” everyone said. 

Then two months later everyone was teleported back to Everyone City. 

“That was the best two months of my life” said Rick and Nick. Then Sky built another mansion.  She and her friends go back to swimming in her pool every sunny afternoon.

“This is relaxing,” said Ruby. “I wish Zippy was here.”

 THE END

What To Read Based On Your Favourite TV SHOW!

July 20, 2022 Book Lovers' Club, Space Blog

What should you read based on your current TV fave? Let’s find out! 

Just like Netflix’s Stranger Things or All of Us are Dead, something strange is afoot when ghost-seeing Jake realizes he’s caught in a game of survival. Try Ryan Douglass’ The Taking of Jake Livingston.

Heartstopper and To All the Boys got us in our feels, and trans teen Felix will too as he navigates romance and the greatest love story of all–loving himself. Will it happen in Kacen Callender’s Felix Ever After?

While the heroes of Uncanny Counter and Lovecraft Country face terrifying monsters for family, exiled princess Shiori finds her brothers turned into animals–and must save them and her kingdom in Elizabeth Kim’s Six Crimson Cranes.

Where Bridgerton and Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung gave sweet historical romances, Sophia wants to change her own story–and oh, overthrow the monarchy–in Cinderella is Dead.

Like Avatar‘s Aang and Encanto‘s Mirabel, Maya discovers there’s something special about her: she’s half-god, and must protect the veil between worlds before it’s too late. Leap into Rena Barron’s Maya and the Rising Dark. 

What To Read Based On Your Favourite ANIME!

July 12, 2022 Book Lovers' Club, Homepage Story, Space Blog

After Demon Slayer, leap into another tale of family and demon-fighting when sixteen-year-old Bree stumbles upon a magic secret society in Tracy Deonn’s Legendborn!

Like Naruto, a mysterious power lurks inside sixteen-year-old Deka, who journeys to the capital amidst a magic war to find out who she really is in Namina Forna’s The Gilded Ones!

Like Ash, seventh grader Nizhoni is doing her best ⎯ to save her dad from ancient monsters, she must pass a series of trials in Rebecca Roanhorse’s Race to the Sun!

Just like Midoriya teamed up with All Might, thirteen-year-old Sikander teams up with the hero Gilgamesh to save New York in Sarwat Chadda’s City of the Plague God!

After Haikyuu!!, try the world of basketball with twelve-year-old Josh and his twin brother Jordan in Kwame Alexander’s lyrical The Crossover!

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