2014, IN THE AGES by Branden Wang

      Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four... it is the countdown to midnight or known as the dropping of the ball at Times Square. I have something about 2014 to tell you that will make you laugh. Laugh like crazy!  

         It was a regular January day; my dad was shoving snow when... my brother and I started to bombard him. We kept doing this until he threw a giant snowball at us! My brother and I waited until my dad got back to shoveling snow, then we carried out our elaborate plan to launch snow grenades until my aggravated dad threw snow bombs at us, but he did nothing. Eventually that got boring so Presten and I collected snow bunches and guess what we did. WE THREW THE SNOW BUNCHES AT MY DAD!!! This adventure is something I would not want to forget!

         ‘Twas an August day, a super steaming one when we took out our water guns for a spin.  Fun. Right? It was fun until my cousin Connor shot Presten by mistake. That was when the Water Gun Civil War started. Connor and I (team red) were against Presten and dad (team blue). Team red had a pistol, a battery powered gun, and Old Reliable (my favorite water gun). Team blue had an average gun, a shotgun, and heavy artillery (a gun you have to pump first then shoot). The funniest moments were when Presten complained if any of us shot him. That was definitely a time I don’t want to leave behind.

During a regular day in Easter break, I was in the bedroom watching Imagination Movers, DON’T JUDGE, when suddenly... CLASH! It was what I heard when Presten “accidently” knocked my golden ninja meck from Ninjago down. I felt madly mad, he always breaks my stuff. But this time I was really pissed off. I broke some of his so-called “ships” (his ships are actually platforms with two pairs of wheels on the bottom and a bunch of stuff on the top of them). Then the day-long warfare started. That is definitely something I want to leave behind.

      Kling, clang, went the express New Haven line Metro-North wheels. My aunt, my grandmother, Presten, and I were going to an aquarium at South Norwalk, which is in Fairfield, Connecticut. You would say traveling there is easy but what happened was unusual. Presten and I were fighting over the window seat. Yes, the window seat. You cannot look out the other side because the train design did not have a window on the other side. I don’t know why he wants the window seat, I just kept telling him I was here first ,but he kept trying to squeeze in and move me over. I would like to forget this annoying time.

        What I am hoping for next year? I hope there will be another really, really snowy day. I hope there will be another really, really hot day. I hope Presten will become less annoying and by less annoying I mean NOT ANNOYING. Finally, I hope I will win all the clashes between Presten and me. Let us get back to the countdown... three, two, one. It is now officially 2015, a new era!

ULTIMATE WIZARD POWERS by Branden Wang

Alakazam, hocus pokus, abracadabra… etcetera. You think that is dumble dwarf, Hogwarts wizard. Right? Nope, that is me, if I had magical powers. Who says I can’t have magical powers?

If I had magical powers, I would make myself overlord of all potatoes. You are probably like WHAT? (Like my dad) so, I will break this up for you. Since I love all types of potatoes, why not be the over lord of them? One thing I will do after I am the leader of all potatoes, I will make it rain mashed potatoes or a.k.a make it potato heaven! I will also make the whole world a big potato paradise and then potato lovers Malem, Ashton and a bunch of other people will be enjoying the great potato life. If you don’t like potatoes you are the Grinch who stole all of the potatoes.

Wizard of trains... why not? If I am good with trains all around the world, I will never get lost in a new place! Let’s say I am at 207 street, Inwood. I would say take a Brooklyn bound D or A train the Seventh Avenue, Columbus circle. Next you take a Brooklyn bound D or B train to 57st street  and then take a Queens bound E express train to Queens plaza for a Forest Hills 71^st avenue bound M or R train to 65^th street, simple right? Well, if it is not simple for you it is simple for me so DEAL WITH IT! If I were the god of all trains, that would be a great help and some great knowledge. Don’t you think that is great?

Stickmen, a great choice for a power! Stickmen can do many things because they are your creations. They can jump, hop, sword fight, skip, go crazy, and unsuccessfully fly a plane. The greatest thing is that you can make them act out the stories they are in. Basically if your story is weird and unusual, the stickmen will act unusual! That would be awesome! I made a completely drawn book with stickmen in it. In the book there was a garlic and onion dimension. Everybody’s eyes burned and the room smelled quirky. If it occurred in real life, that would be very weird. In another part of the book, there would be a guy falling down the stairs. Who can forget the part where there was a guy continuously pressing a button! You can obviously tell that being the god of all stickmen is obviously awesome!

Ice, a pretty good element to possess.  I want to able to control ice! You want to know why? If I can control ice, I can basically do what ever I want with ice. So, I can make the Abominable Iceman and then make it attack everything! I can also create a World War Ice I and have trench warfare… with ice! Don’t forget in the summer you will never be steaming hot during the war because you can make ice cubes and cool yourself down!

Crucio Sectumsempra Morsmordre...finally, a potion of crazy wizard powers. These powers, pretty cool right? Yes they are.

UNTITLED by Grace Tran

Everyone says all the little things in life count, no matter what. For big things, they count even more.  Although this is something everyone says, I’m grateful for my family, friends, teachers… and everyone I’ve even met in my life.  They each taught me a special lesson and I will hold them dear to my heart.  My mom has disciplined me when I needed it.  For example, the time I was watching too much youtube and couldn’t stop.  Although she had to hide my laptop from me, my habit was soon diminished.  She taught me from right and wrong and sometimes she acted like my age and we talked about boys, shopping, and outfits.  Dad works hard to support the family, and he uses his hard earned money to get me tutored.  My friends have always been there for me and made me laugh in times of hardship, they understand me when nobody else does.  

I would like to express my thankfulness to my family but we don’t have a gratitude ritual for it.  We’re dependent on each other but we don’t say how we feel to each other.  I think my family’s more of the shy kind.  Mr. Lieber’s idea of writing a list of things you are most grateful for appeals to me.  I would be willing to write that list because it would make me appreciate my life and think about all the positive things everyone has done for me.

Everyday after school I rush to my laptop and check social media.  I listen to songs to calm myself down after a long day from school.  I watch everything from youtube because my family doesn’t own a television.  I write all my writing assignments on google drive and print them out.  I never cleaned it and even accidentally misplaced it on the sofa a couple times so that it slid and fell on the hardwood floor.  Surely something I couldn’t live without should have better treatment.  I will start taking care of my laptop and give it the correct attention it needs.  

Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful of everything you appreciate.  I appreciate my mom teaching me about the obstacles of life and how to overcome them: my dad working long, stressful hours to support the family.  I appreciate my friends for understanding me when nobody else has.  I even appreciate all the people I used to loathe, knowing that with each hated experience comes a lesson.  Now go to whoever you’re thankful for and tell them with serious face everything you love about them.  

THE THANKFUL LIST by Branden Wang

     Time for the feast! Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November. Thanksgiving, a time where families come together and are thankful. Hey, what am I thankful for?

     I am not thankful of video games, (something many kids will say) but books! To me, books are “imagination activators”. For example, the book Scat by Carl Hiaasen was a real activator. Nick’s (the main character) dad was in Afghanistan fighting, a grenade blew off his arm and now all there is where his arm was supposed to be is a stump. Because of that, Nick straps his arm to back of his back. That makes me think of a boy with their arm strapped onto their back. There is also The Sea Around Us by Rachel L. Carson. On the first page it said “realm so vast”. That made me think of a room that is so large, took you a year to get to the other side. Books are actually imagination activators.

     Pencil and paper? Something I am thankful for. With a pencil and paper, the possibilities are endless. With a pencil and paper, you can write amazing silly stories. I wrote a story about three boys, Spant, Johnly, and Benjy. Because Benjy has the hiccups, Johnly has to guide Spant through Benjy’s body in a submarine. Pretty amazing don’t you think?

     If you thought all you can do with paper is write, then you were wrong. I am pretty sure many other kids are thankful for drawing. When you draw you open a door... to the drawing convention dimension. I once drew a dragon, a three headed one with three people riding it, along with a pair of jugunda wings; I can’t forget the claws, and they were a literal inch long! I was able to draw this because of the drawing convention. I think you agree with me, don’t you?

     I would like to award trains for being one of the things I am thankful for. The IRT started the trains, and then comes the BRT or also known as the BMT. I am fond of trains because of how it services New York and because of the map. Yes I am serious, the map. The map inspired me to draw the awesomeness transit (it is a little like the transit of the future based on the trains of today). There in Awesomeness City, there is the new eight, nine, and ten trains as well as the reopened H, V, and W trains. With reopens, there is always shut downs. I shut down the G train because it is useless. It is only a Queens, Brooklyn crosstown. This inspired me to be a train driver until I am J. K. Rowling famous; you know not all writers become THAT famous. The power of the trains really, really took me in ... deep!

     It is seven o’clock; everyone is all done with the feast and are watching football. I am really, Really, REALLY, sure you have hundreds of billions of questions. But first, I have a question for you. What are you thankful for?