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One cool summer day, Kitten was pretending he was a fierce lion attacking a zebra with his blue yarn. He tackled it until it didn’t look like blue yarn. It looked like blue snakes. After that he decided he was going to go outside and do real hunting. But when he stepped out outside he suddenly fell in a deep dark hole.
When he landed there in front of him was a peaceful looking place. The peaceful looking place had birds chirping while the sun was shining. The flowers were blooming and next to the flowers were diamonds that were growing on top of rocks.This place was next to a big, blue waterfall. Next to the place there were cherries, pomergranetes, oranges, apples, and salmon. The salmon were swimming in the pool where the waterfall was at. Kitten just ate the salmon.The place had lots of food, water, and wood so he collected them for night time. When it was nighttime he made a fire and ate. He thought the place was perfect. When it was nighttime he was lonely and not lonely at the same time.He was lonely because he had no one to talk to. Also he wasn’t lonely because it was so quiet except for the sound of crickets chirping. Little did he know that it wasn’t going to be a perfect place for long.
When he was done eating four juicy salmon until he was very full, he decided to go to sleep. When he was half asleep he heard a rustle in the bushes. The rustle became louder and louder until a green monster sprang like a rocket above him. It had eight legs and two arms. Kitten did the only thing he could do. He screamed and ran. But it ran faster. Suddenly, Kitten slid on a cliff. The monster was green and purple.The monster had a wild look in his eyes.Kitten fely scared.He felt scared because what if eats him up.He felt queasy before he fainted.
When he awoke it was a dream, he was also being licked with slobber from a cute but vicious puppy. He thought the puppy was vicious because it was bigger than him.The puppy was light brown.Her eyes had a saying that would make people want to play more with her. He did the only thing, he hissed and arched his back. But the puppy just cocked her head from side to side like when you’re clueless. So he knew he was safe. They became best friends forever. They played fetch with Kitten’s yarn, chewed on catnips, they hunted birds, frogs,and fish.When they were tired they had catnaps.Kitten curled up beside the puppy.Also if Kitten fell on a pond puppy was there to save him.They imagined that they are in different continents like Africa or Antarctica.
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In last week’s episode of “Lola’s Passage, “ Lola nestled in a nest of 125 tutle eggs on a beach in Gulf Shores, AL. This weeks story begins just after Lola’s emergance from her safe, sandy nest. To read Savanah’s first and second drafts of episode one scroll down the page.
We all rushed towards the vast ocean ahead of us. My brothers Sam, Max, and Josh were right beside me when the ocean waves pulled us quickly into the deep, dark water. I frantically looked for them and my other brothers and sisters and could not see them anywhere. I was completely alone and frightened not knowing what I would do next. It wasn’t long before I saw the first streaks of sunlight across the horizon. The warmth of the sun hit my face. I could finally see this new world around me. I was exhausted from the long night and hungry too. Soon I came upon a mass of Sargasso weeds which I crawled upon to rest. As I was laying on my Sargasso weed bed warming myself in the sun, little fish swam around me. I slid off my resting place into the cool water and had a little snack. Before long days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. During that time I grew bigger and stronger than the day before. Life was good, but I was very lonely.
As we write stories we sometimes come up with better ways to express ourselves and make the story fuller and richer. Savannah continues to edit and develop her story about Lola. See if you can find differences between this version and the one we printed last week. (Click here to see last week’s Cub Reporter ).
Episode One / Version 2
The Journey of an Alabama Sea Turtle…Lola’s Passage
The year is 1998, in the beginning of August in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The days are long and hot but the nights are wonderfully cool with the breeze coming in from the ocean. It is nighttime so you can imagine it would be cool underground. Luckily, I have my brothers and sisters to keep me warm. There are 125 of us all together. I am about to hatch as well as my brothers and sisters. I have spent the last 55 days safe underground and I am about to come out. My brothers and sisters and I are all struggling to get out of the sandy nest and into the vast, cool ocean waves. I am on the bottom of the group which means that I am struggling the most, especially when you have 124 brothers and sisters squishing in on top of you! After laboring for what seemed like lot a long time I broke free to the cool sand to find the most astounding sight. I looked up to see a big, dark sky above me. There in the night sky was a bright and shining circle called the moon. The moon was surrounded by tiny, sparkling dots called stars. They shined so brightly that I could see the ocean before me. The salty smell of the cool night air left me wondering what this new adventure would be like. I looked around to see my brothers and sisters bursting forth from their sandy nest. They looked as amazed and shocked as I did. This was only the beginning.
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What’s the biggest number?
Caleb Etris, age 6
The Cub Reporter enlisted the help of mathmatics professor Rick Brantley an Auburn graduate who teaches at Bakersfield College, Bakersfield, CA.
Dear Caleb,
That’s a big question! Think of the highest number you can imagine. Add one. Keep adding one until you fall asleep. When you wake up, start adding one again. You can go on adding one FOREVER! You can always add one more.
Now I have a question for you…how long is a piece of string?
Keep those math questions coming!
Professor Rick