Kids are picture perfect at

"Taste of Camp Write-Away."

Improv games provide a terrific warm-up for writing.

Scroll down for pictures, published stories and poems by the campers.

Stuck

(A Mystery in Progress)

Jamie knew it had been a mistake to come here. Most kids would love to spend a day at their grandma's. It wasn't that Jamie didn't love her grandmother. She did. It was the prunes that she hated! Grandma Jane was obsessed with dried fruit. Jamie didn't mind the apple chips, dried apricots, or banana chips, but the thought of eating shriveled, dried up plums made her sick. Refusing to eat what she was offered was not an option! Now she was stuck with a day, choking down prunes.

To be continued. . .

Cori-Age 11

The Fruit Pudding Caper

(A Mystery is Cooking)

Start with three clues: Cracked China Bowl, Fruit Pudding, Scrap of a torn nightshirt

Add a Red herring? The suspect was not wearing his own nightshirt

Beginning: Teresa and her family discover that somebody has eaten all the fruit pudding for an upcoming celebration.

Middle: Teresa finds three clues.

End: Teresa puts the clues together and solves the mystery. A possibility? Her little brother Tommy ate the pudding while sleepwalking.

More details coming soon.

Kate-Age 10

The Stain

What once was hot chocolate in a mug,
Is now a stain upon the rug.
I gripped the mug in my hand
But it would soon crash land.
Fate itself would make it fall.
Like Humpty Dumpty off the wall
I feel filled up with bitter pain.
Woe is me, when mom finds the stain.

Kate-Age 10

Runaway Homework

I caught a monkey yesterday,
And this is what he did.
He dove down deep into the sea
And raced a giant squid!

Then I turned around to see
Him dancing on my roof
I climbed to where he was
But he vanished with a poof!

Next I went into my room
And guess what I saw there
That mischievous monkey peeling a banana
While sitting on my chair!

You see I tried to catch him
But I was just too slow.
And then guess what? He grabbed my homework
And jumped out of the window.

So that's how it happened.
Those are the facts. Just why I cannot say
But that is the true story of how my
Homework ran away.

Jack Chakerian
Age 9

The Shimmering Pearl

A shimmering pearl over the sea
Was reflecting on the water,
When the wind came strolling by,
And noticed moon above so high

The moon invited wind to tea,
To thank her for her company,
Together with needles from the sun,
They sewed the clouds up one by one.

They sipped their tea. They had some pie
And idly talked the hours by
As moon drifted through the blue
Wind soon had to bid adieu.

Grace Chakerian
Age 11

A Dreaming Man

Glassy eyed and stony faced
The motionless man gazes unblinking
At the corner of the room
Where he has been imprisoned
Since the chisel hit the stone
That shaped his perfectly formed features.
Lonely he longs
For the day when
His thoughts, knowledge, and feelings
Could be expressed
Other than
In the ways of his creator.
Will he fantasize forever more?
Will the well dreamt of day ever come?
The day this statue becomes
Human.

Hillary Hansen
Age 11

Siege of White Fire

(Section from a novel)

Page 341

"Now, we must find a bridge to Elgaya." explained Stashlone.

"How?" a wolf yipped, slightly whimpering.

Stashlone and Shyla thought about it. How would they find a connection? No one knew. But flashes of puppies and another forest -a lush one, came into their minds: Spirit's Courage; Their kin; and then there was the girl, Eva.

"We'll die!" cried the wolf.

Another worf snarled out, "We've come all this way and wasted our lives for nothing! we won't make it to the desert in time. We wouldn't know what to do anyway. Just like in Chayn. The world is lost. . .both worlds!"

"Hush!" Shyla growled.

"But we won't be able to help! Everyone will die--"

"She said, Hush!" snarled Stashlone.

Just then, an awkwardness filled Stashlone. He whined, his head throbbing. The wolfdon opened and closed his eyes many times. Fur bristling and teeth showing as his tail tucked between his legs, stashlone howled out. It felt as if something was pulling--no pushing him toward someplace. Like his own mind had escaped him--or even his soul and it was driving him. Herding him. And then, all at once, they felt themselves stumbling and falling and running and sliding at the same time, until they finally stopped. Yet all the wolves, one by one, fell with loud thumps upon the ground.

There was darkness. Nothing but black.

Erin Marty

Age 14

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