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The Story

Page history last edited by Marlo Gaddis 14 years, 11 months ago

 

 

What Did You Say?

 

     “Hey, that’s not the right answer! Five times five is 25 not 32!” I look around to see who is telling me answers. “No, no, no, six times five is 30, not 35.” As I move my math test around on my desk, I see a face looking up at me! AAAAAHHH! The teacher says, “What is going on back there? You better have a good reason for screaming during a test.” I still don’t know what is going on, and why does my desk have a face?

     Could my desk be the one trying to tell me the answers to the test? I hear someone or something mumble. I look down and see the desk talking to me. “Be quiet and stop telling me the answers because I don’t want to cheat,” I say to the desk. The teacher looks back and says, “What is going on back there? There is too much talking, so move your desk to the wall!”

 

 

Continued by Ms. Sipe's 4th Grade Class (Bolton Elementary)

As I started to slide my desk to the wall, I was not making any progress. I pulled harder, making my muscles bulge like the Incredible Hulk. My face was as red as a tomato, and I felt like steam was shooting out of my ears. Still, the desk would not budge. The whole time I was straining to move the desk it was singing, “Na, Na, Na, Boo, Boo.” Angrily the teacher came storming toward me and my desk. I was terrified!

When the teacher got there, the face disappeared back into the top of my desk. Without any effort the teacher pushed my desk into the corner. That’s when I realized the desk had complete control. Then, with a point of the teacher’s crooked, wrinkled, finger, I knew I must sit. My mouth dropped open, my legs were shaking like oodles of noodles, and the tears of embarrassment began welling up in my eyes.

As I wiped the tears from my eyes, I didn’t notice the face in the desk had reappeared. “Man, I thought you were a goner! Now suck it up! Crying on me and getting me wet isn’t getting this math test done.” That’s when I said to the desk in a whisper, “You listen to me you obnoxious hunk of wood. I was just fine before you got here. LEAVE ME ALONE!” 

 

 

 

 

I was so frustrated that I started rubbing my desk as hard as I could with an angry and balled-up fist.  I just wanted that face to go away!  Soon, my elbow was aching, my arm was burning, and my head was spinning.  Exhausted, I looked down and noticed that the face had disappeared.  “It’s gone,” I said to myself with a sigh of relief. 

No sooner had the words leapt from my lips, when all of a sudden a blue-green plume of smoke began swirling up from my desk like a slithering cobra dancing to the song of a snake charmer.  Seconds later, my desk and I were surrounded by a mysterious and magical mist.  My eyes grew as wide as saucers, and with a blinding flash, “Poof!” a green pocket-sized man appeared and floated over my desk.  He was dressed in strange clothing, had a turban on his head, and wore shiny gold jewelry.

Suddenly, I pushed back my chair with a jerk and then quickly looked to my left and then to my right, only to see that everyone was still working on the math test.  I realized that I was the only person who could see the odd little man!   I stared at him as he hung in the air with his arms crossed over his chest, and all at once I recognized his face.  It was the face from my desk!  “Wh-wh-who are you ?” I said in a whispered snarl.  “Unless you’re here to grant me three wishes, please just LEAVE ME ALONE!”  

 

     "How dare you insult the all mighy Ivan!  I WILL NOT go away, as I am the manipulation master!  I have been sent by the King of the Desk,  Faullin the Fierce, " thundered the odd little man.  

     "What king?  A desk can't have a king, it is an inanimate object.  Plus, I am bigger than you, so you can't take me away!" I shrieked.

     "Oh yeah?  Watch me!" threatened the genie.  As soon as the words had popped out of his sinister mouth, I knew I was in deep trouble.  He began humming a hypnotic tune and I was sucked into the desk, trapped like a fly in a spider's web.

I peered at my surroundings, not believing what I was seeing. Giant notebooks, small scraps of torn paper, a broken pencil, a yo-yo, and even a forgotten, moldy bologna sandwich.  No wonder it smelled so bad in here! To my right, I noticed movement, and as my eyes focused, I realized that I was seeing dozens of children chained to uncomfortable desks, working on a never ending pile of math worsheets and tests; as soon as one was finished, another boring assignment appeared.  They worked in complete silence; all I heard in the background was a truly irritating buzz, which grew more intense as I approached the students. That buzz would drive me crazy if I had to listen to it for any length of time.

Two of the older students stood up as I approached and yanked me harshly by the arms.  By now, I was sobbing hysterically.  Was I going to be the next victim of this torturous exercise?  I was hauled before Faullin the Fierce, who was just as menacing as I had feared.   His large bald head was the size of the Goodyear blimp, and his eyes shot daggers at me. He had changed very little since he had been the principal at my school. 

"I thought you retired?" I wimpered.

"That's what we WANTED all of you to think.  In reality, I am now working with Mrs. A the Atrocious, who captures students who have not learned their math facts and forces them into desks for eternal punishment.  It is my job to ensure that all students stay on task 24/7-NO BREAKS, NO TALKING, and certainly NO RECESS!"

I was terrified.  What was I going to do?

 

 

 

 

     Mrs. Banning's Class at Old Town

     Suddenly, the not-so-retired principal, Mr. Faullin, disappeared to attend a meeting.  In his place, a fly appeared.  “Get to work!” it said.  “You’re not my mom,” I replied.  “No, I am Professor Fly and my job is to continually  keep you on task!” “BUZZZZZ!”  Instantly, I was in a chair working on a math worksheet.  Now I knew where the obnoxious buzzing was coming from.  I knew I wouldn’t be able to stand that buzzing for long.  I was sweating like crazy and kept swatting at the fly.  I felt like I was in a jungle on a hot summer day.

     When I was on about my fifteenth worksheet, I noticed a green puff of smoke.  Another genie appeared, but this genie was a girl with a bright purple shirt and deep red hair.  “Wha-wha-what are you doing here?  What did I do this time?” I asked her. 

     “SSSHHHH! I am not here to harm you, I am here to try and save you.  My name is Lorana.  I am the genie of kindness.”  While she was trying to think of a way to save us, a boy named Tommy whispered to her, “Please, please, please help us.” 

     “I am so tired of all these worksheets,” whispered another student. 

     “Well, I’ll try my best to save all of you,” said Lorana, “but first we need to get rid of Professor Fly.”  As I thought about that, I had a great idea.  I whispered to Lorana, “I have a plan, but I need a bologna sandwich and a fly swatter!”  I wondered to myself, “Will this plan work and will we be able to escape this place?”

 

Ms. C. Parker’s class at Rural Hall School: 

 

The bologna sandwich was easy, but the flyswatter presented a challenge.  Lorana looked and looked, but still didsn’t find a flyswatter.  She went outside the desk and back into the classroom where she spotted a flyswatter on the teacher’s desk.  She returned with the flyswatter.  When Lorana returned, she saw that the children had placed the sandwich on top of a student’s desk.  One of the students remembered the yo-yo in the desk and removed the string from the yo-yo.  All of the children pretended to do their work while the fly approached.   The fly ate the entire sandwich and while the fly was eating, the children used the flyswatter to knock the fly unconscious and tie the yo-yo string around the fly.  Lorana shoved the fly into the closet.  Not knowing if the fly was regaining consciousness to escape the string, the students ran to the opening of the desk and jumped out.  Thinking they were safe back in the classroom, the students’ relief was short-lived.  The teacher was furious and demanded to know how they escaped.  The teacher used her phone to text the retired Mr. Faullin and he appeared in the class.  The students were shocked to see Mr. Faullin and the teacher were working together!  Trapped again!

 

Mrs. J. Merritt's 4th Grade Class - Southwest Elementary

 

Dragging the children back to the opening in the desk, Mr. Faullin heard a buzzing sound coming from the desk entrance.  Immediately the fly soared out of the darkness and surrounded the former principal's head.  Professor Fly had regained consciousness and managed to escape from the closet by using all of his six legs to untie the yo-yo string.  His escape was complete when he squeezed through the opening under the closet door.  "Sir, he buzzed, "Release these innocent children."  Realizing the blow from the fly swatter had given Professor Fly amnesia, the children knew that the fly had become their friend and was there to help.

As the fly distracted Mr. Faullin, the children moved to escape through the classroom door.  The teacher shoved the enchanted desk, barring their escape.  The children frantically tried to move the desk out of their way, but the desk would not bulge.  In a sinister mock, the desk chanted, "You can't escape!"  With a jolt of the desk, Lorana emerged from the desk world into the classroom.  With a wave of her hand, a misty cloud surrounded the desk and slowly a transformation took place.  Mr. Faullin's face turned as white as a ghost!

 

 

 

          Suddenly the room began to spin and out of the cloud that made everyone gasp was what Lorana had made.  It was a smoky blue cloud that began sucking in anything close to it! Then, the smoky cloud sucked up Mr.Faullin so fast he had no time to scream.  Next the cloud was gone, along with Mr.Faullin.

          Watching all of the commotion, the desk was not paying attention to the kids, so they knocked the desk over and burst through the door, into the hallway.  Running as fast as they could, they did not take the time to look back to see that the Almighty Ivan was chasing after them, shooting pencil missiles.  Running into a storage closet, they forgot that Ivan could easily go through the door.  Before they could run out, Ivan came through the door.  With the most mocking look on his face he said “You can’t run away!” in a most teasing tone.  “I win because you can’t defeat me!”

          “Oh yes we can!” yelled Tommy.  And then, as fast as he could, he grabbed a loaded can of Pine-Sol conveniently lying on a shelf and soaked Ivan in the face.  “Ahhhhh!” yelled Ivan, “My eyes! My beautiful red eyes!” The kids rushed back to the classroom.  Emmett asked for Lorana’s help.  They needed the blue, smoky cloud back.  Then, BAM! The door burst open, and there was Ivan, eyes glowing, teeth clenched, and fists balled up tight.  “ONE!” I yelled to Lorana, and she raised her arm.  “TWO!” I said and Ivan moved closer to me.  “What are you doing?!” Ivan smirked.  “I’m sending you back to where you came from!” I said.  “THREE!” and Lorana brought back the smoky cloud.  Then, “POOF!” the desk turned into a gigantic bowl of spaghetti. Not paying attention to the cloud, it inched closer to Ivan. Ivan shrieked in horror as he got sucked up into the mist, and got sent to where he came from, the Land of the Kingdom of Desks. As we thanked Lorana, she disappeared into thin air, never to be seen again. Then there was a flash of light brighter than the sun, and the kids were back to reality.

          The next thing I knew, I was back at my desk doing my same math test and was on the same problem. It was like time never moved.  That night I dreamed about writing a story about my magical adventurous day.  The story would be called,

 

“What Did You Say?”

 

By: Emmett Robertson

 

 

The End

 

Comments (19)

rwilcox@wsfcs.k12.nc.us said

at 9:06 am on Feb 9, 2009

Great start. I definitely want to read more!

Marlo Gaddis said

at 1:37 pm on Feb 13, 2009

I love the imagery!!! You are all doing a fantastic job. I love the legs shaking like "oodles of noodles."

Shelley Smith said

at 3:48 pm on Feb 13, 2009

I love the story. Both classes have done a wonderful job. I am so excited to find out what happens next. =)

danderson1@wsfcs.k12.nc.us said

at 5:52 am on Feb 16, 2009

My kids are anxiously awaiting their turn...

Sam Walker said

at 7:42 am on Feb 16, 2009

What a great direction to take this story - It could go anywhere from here! I hope many people get a chance to see how smart all these classes are!

Melissa Edwards said

at 12:17 pm on Feb 16, 2009

The students who wrote the first part of the story really love the second part, especially the steam coming out of the student's ears! We can't wait to see what happens next! :)

April Patterson said

at 1:26 pm on Feb 16, 2009

Wow! Great story with nice descriptions to help us imagine clearly what is happening. I look forward to reading more!

Leslie McMillan said

at 6:58 am on Feb 17, 2009

Your story is so interesting! You have done such a good job writing I can see exactly how things are happening! Can't wait to read what happens next! Love your illustrations too!

Nancy Shrewsbury said

at 1:50 pm on Feb 17, 2009

This is a great story! The way you describe what is going on makes me see it! What's next? Hurry and write it, I can't wait to read some more! I love to read great stories!

Shannon Dykes said

at 5:48 am on Feb 18, 2009

My kids were anxious to get their part of the story published and had so much fun with the entire process! We are now working to get an art piece to go along with the story. Can't wait to see what the next class does!

Melissa Edwards said

at 5:57 am on Feb 18, 2009

What a great new addition to the story! I can't wait to see what happens next!

Emory said

at 6:15 am on Feb 20, 2009

Great illustrations. :)

Sam Walker said

at 9:51 am on Feb 23, 2009

I love the "genie effect." I had no idea the story could go here. It was a great twist! Here's my favorite line!
"a blue-green plume of smoke began swirling up from my desk like a slithering cobra dancing to the song of a snake charmer."

Shannon Dykes said

at 10:56 am on Feb 23, 2009

Thanks for the comments - I will share them with my kids!

Melissa Edwards said

at 9:54 am on Feb 27, 2009

What a great new addition to the story! The student being pulled inside the desk to do neverending math sheets certainly provides a new twist for the story! I can't wait to see where it goes next.

danderson1@wsfcs.k12.nc.us said

at 5:52 am on Mar 12, 2009

We have been sharing the progress of the story with several classes, and everyone is truly enjoying it. My class can't wait to find out what happens to those prro students!

Sam Walker said

at 7:25 am on Mar 12, 2009

Wow - I never imagined the story could go in this direction. Just shows what wonderfully creative writers we have in Winston-Salem. How will these poor students ever get outof this mess?

Mary Jane Everhardt said

at 1:06 pm on Mar 20, 2009

Mrs. Merrritt's 4th grade class really enjoyed working on the "What Did You Say?" story. The students thought that each school before us did a great job and we wanted to make sure that we did the same. Hope you like our addition. Good luck to Old Richmond!

Melissa Edwards said

at 1:13 pm on Mar 27, 2009

Yay!! Love the ending to our collaborative story!(and all the other parts too). We have had such a good time participating in this and everybody has done such a good job!

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