This is Anja. This is a story I made up.

Once upon a time, in a land far, far, far, far away there lived a princess in the tallest tower. And this princess wished that a prince would come and save her. So she waited in the tower for a long time. And then finally, a prince came. And he slayed the dragon. And he saved her from the tower. And then he took her to a castle far, far away from the tower. And he dropped her off and went back to his home. And then the prince came back and asked if she wanted to marry him. And the princess said yes. And they all lived happily ever after.  And then a terrible dragon came, and then it ate the king and the queen. Then the prince came and slayed the dragon again. The next day, the exact same dragon came to life…again! And then he slayed the dragon for the last time, and it stayed dead. And then they all lived happily ever after…maybe. There might still be more, though. And then all the dragons came. And then he tried to slay all of them. And he didn’t make it. The princess went out to look for another prince. And she found one and they got married and they lived happily ever after. The End.

By, Anja.

This story begins as most stories do.
It’s got a ‘Once upon a time’ and a happy ending, too.
It begins in a land far, far, away.
It’s got princes, and dragons for the princes to slay.
It’s got a maiden in distress, a dwarf in a dress,
Gold in a chest, and a villain none the less!
There’s an enchanted kiss for an enchanted girl,
Who needs an enchanted prince to save the world.
It’s got a bad guy with powers, a dwarf with a glower,
An apple that’s sour, and a magical tower!

There’s a fire-breathing dragon, and a sea-monster, too!
And a boat that the sea-monster is waiting to chew.
There’s a man on the boat who plays the kazoo.
St. Nicholas Oswald of Cusco, Peru.

There’s even a guy who hangs from vines, swinging his sword.
But he does that for fun. Just cause he’s bored.

Now I shall tell you this magical tale
Of excitement, adventure, danger, and peril.
A story so moving, and touching, and sad,
It’ll bring tears to the eyes of your dad.
Okay, now. I’ll give it a shot.
Once upon a…Darn. I forgot.

I don’t know why I’m mentioning this (it happened almost a year ago), but it’s just a cool story, so I’ll tell you.

When we lived in our house in Peoria, Illinois, we entered a program where we would take fertilized eggs and watch them hatch. We got all the supplies, the incubator, and everything we needed. Well, after a long time of excited waiting, they hatched. Not all of them though, but most of them. I didn’t know until then that chicks could be black and red. They were all so cute and soft! Mom went to throw the ones that didn’t hatch in the woods. But then she had a thought. She decided that she would crack them in the sink, just to see what they looked like. One of them had its insides on its outside. Yuck. Then one time, she cracked one and she heard a loud peep. Quickly, she plugged in the incubator and put it in there. Mom started to help it hatch (which you are NOT supposed to do), and it came out. It was a tiny black chick. It was so weak––it couldn’t even lift its head. When it managed to turn over, Mom saw that it had a hole in its stomach. We wrapped it in a towel, and I held it. I know this seems dumb, but I prayed for it. It does seem strange that God would heal a chicken, but I did anyway. We tried to hold it shut with a special tool, but the hole was to stiff. Not even the best vet in the world would’ve been able to close it, it was just to hard. When we were going to check on the hole, it was completely closed! There wasn’t even a sign of one! We named her Hope. It was funny watching her with the other chicks. She was so short, but she still bullied them. She’d jump up and peck the other chicks in the eye. Also, I was the first one she saw, so she really loved me. I would set her in my lap and cluck, and she would run up to my neck and just lay there. Then she would run in circles around my neck, and finally settle in the back. I would just walk around with a sleeping chick on the back of my neck. I really miss her, and was sad when we gave her away. I would like to do that again, but now we live in an apartment, so no pets.named her Hope. It was funny watching her with the other chicks. She was so short, but she still bullied them. She’d jump up and peck the other chicks in the eye. Also, I was the first one she saw, so she really loved me. I would set her in my lap and cluck, and she would run up to my neck and just lay there. Then she would run in circles around my neck, and finally settle in the back. I would just walk around with a sleeping chick on the back of my neck. I really miss her, and was sad when we gave her away. I would like to do that again, but now we live in an apartment, so no pets.