by Sadie Boroff 

It was a nice, crisp, cool winter day about 3 in the afternoon. A boy and his dad are headed up on the chairlift on their second to last run. Luke is 6 and has been skiing for about three years now. Luke’s dad has been skiing pretty much his whole life. Luke especially loves trails in the woods. Even though his dad’s knees and skis aren’t built for the tree trails, he is happy to do them with his son. 

Luke usually does a half day lesson in the morning then skis with his dad in the afternoon for the rest of the day. His instructor this morning showed his group a new tree trail that they went down. Luke is excited to show his dad the new tree trail. “Dad?” “yes” “can we try a new trail in the woods? Please”  Luke asked “um sure what is the name?” his dad asked “ it is called header” Luke said. His dad said great lets do it but it had to be fast because it was the second to last run. 

They got off at the top of the chair lift and Luke said, “I’ll lead, Dad. Follow me.” Luke started off. At the top there was a little steep part but it wasn’t a big deal for him. They got to the opening of the woods trail and Luke said, “Are you ready?” His dad said, “Yeah” and they were off! 

Luke felt comfortable leading even though there were a couple places he was unsure of the turn, but he did alright. Luke’s dad was having a good time too. He noticed the turns were a little tight with his long skis but he could still get down. 

Luke and his dad were about halfway down the trail. His dad was not far behind him, about 10 feet. The way they were supposed to go through the trees wasn’t marked and Luke started to forget which way to go. There were some people in front of him he thought he could follow because he figured they would go the right way, but it turned out they were going down bike trails, not the real trail. They also were going really fast and he couldn’t keep up with them. 

Luke stopped and saw that his dad was not behind him. He look up and

down the hill and did not see his dad. It was getting late and harder to see especially in the trees. ¨Dad!¨”luke yelled.  No answer. He started to worry. ¨DAD!¨ he yelled again. Still no answer.  Luke was really worried now. 

Luke sat down and waited on the cold snow covered ground freezing. About 5 minutes passed and still no sign of dad. So Luke got up and went down the hill a little further until he saw a trail.Then his legs were so tired and his gloves filled with snow he cried for help. ¨Help!¨ he said with tears running down his face. He started skating to the trail and his legs were so tired he took his skis off to walk 

As Luke walked to the trail he felt like his legs were going to fall off, more and more. When he finally got to the trail, a boy and girl stopped to help him. They were probably about 15 years old. They said, ¨hello, are you ok? Where is your mom or dad?¨ Luke said, ¨I am lost. I am ok, but I don't know where my dad is.¨ They replied, ¨Ok. Do you know his number?¨ Luke said, ¨Yes, it is 203-456-7890.¨ The girl said, ¨Ok. Let's call him on my cell.¨ So they called him and told him where Luke was. His dad came and found him about 10 minutes later. When his dad finally arrived he gave Luke a giant bear hug. Luke had been scared, but it turned out his dad had been even more scared about losing Luke. They were both relieved to be back together. Luke´s dad was so grateful to the teens for stopping and helping Luke that he offered them $100. But they refused because they were just happy to be able to help. 

Jake was the most loved ball. He was good, cool and happy, but that all changed when John a new basketball came into the court. He was blue he was awesome and he always made the hoop. He was known as the lucky ball. He was always picked and Jake was out of the court. When the first time he got picked after John came it was in a tournament he made his team lose and was named an unlucky ball. He was never picked again. Jake was so mad and then thought about making friends with John so then one day he went up to John and they both became friends. There was another tournament and there was a new kid and he picked Jake. He made the team win this time and was now again named the lucky ball with John they were the unstoppable duo. Their team won the finals and were now the ruling champions of the court Jake was happy to have his fame back and a new friend which he could count on.

I am fox

Welcome to my world

The morning sun shines it’s rays

Into the depths of my cave

My parents are still sleeping

All of a sudden

I feel the hunger

I need to eat.

I come back later with a mouse in my jaws

To find that my parents have awakened

They greet me with a slight nod of their heads

My mama says

“Today I want to spy on the Twolegs.”

My papa

Does not agree

“Too dangerous,”

He growls

“Yuka, what do you want to do?”

I want to go and spy on the Twolegs.

I decided to eat the mouse later

As we crawled out of our den,

The sun shone on my russet colored fur 

My white-tipped tail

Brushed some soft moss on a rock

My black paws

Accidentally stepped on a thorn

“Ouch!” 

I yelped

That really hurt

As we trotted along the well-worn path

That Twolegs often walk on

My papa showed me

The best hunting areas

Best sources of water

And we even stopped to hunt

“Why is this trail so long”, I ask

Mama says

“It is because we live on the other side of the woods,

So Twolegs don’t come and hurt us.”

Good enough for me.

I never wondered why

We were so scared of Twolegs

I never asked

We reached the Twoleg settlement by midday

When the sun was high in the sky

And burning brightly

Mama loves this time of day

We crouched down into our hunting stances

And we peered through the bushes

And we saw the ugly Twolegs

With only fur on their heads

They only have two legs!

And look at their squid-like paws

And then meer two legs that they have

Are long, spindly, and ugly.

Ugly, ugly, ugly.

They look nothing like foxes

More like chimpanzees

I wanted to get a closer look

I crept slowly under the overhang on one of the Twoleg dens

Bright yellow,

And nearly shrieked

There was a Twoleg right in front of me

Taking a big bucket thing

And pouring water over plants

And the plants were in giant cups

Seriously, I do not understand these Twolegs.

I rustled a bit in my hideout

The Twoleg hear me

They bent down and looked under the overhang

That I was hiding in

Oh, Lord help me

The Twoleg peered into the darkness

But they could not see me,

Because in the dark,

A Twoleg’s vision is not stellar

The Twoleg did this weird gesture

With their shoulders

They moved them up and down

And walked away

I had had enough Twolegs for one day

I wanted to go home

I rushed over to my parents while no one was looking

And greeted them with a yip

“Thank the Fox Lord you’re okay!”

Mama said

Papa nodded.

“Let’s go home”, I said

And we started up the trail towards home

Halfway through the trail,

Mama shushed my yapping

“Twoleg,”

She whispered

We all crouched down.

The Twoleg came out through the bushes

It wasn’t just any Twoleg

It was a meanie

Papa signaled for me to go hide

Mama and papa were going to hide too,

But they were too late

The Meanie spotted them

Mama shouted at me to run away

But I stayed

And I saw

The Meanie took out his long stick

With the hole on one end

Pointed it at Mama and Papa,

And fired

There was a burst of blood and bones

Flesh and fur

My parents were no more

All that was left of them

Was a massive pool of blood

I cried out for my parents

“Mama! Papa!”

The world went gray

All I could see

Was the blood and bones of my parents

Oh, the tears

My head drooped

My shoulders sagged

The Meanie laughed

I slumped back home

All night I cried

I cried myself to sleep

I cried myself awake

I ate and cried

Cried, cried, cried.

I slept all day

Having nightmares about Meanies

Killing my parents

Then killing me

I was so sad

Yuka the happy fox

Was no more

——————————————————————————————————

4 years later

I wake up

To the sound

Of my cubs whining

For food

My mate Bex

Comes back a few minutes later

With a juicy water vole in her jaws

One of my cubs,

Berry,

Leaps up

And begs for the meat

And my Bex,

And her sweet bark,

Calms Berrydown

She says

“There is enough for all; I brought a rabbit too,”

Like the kind fox she is

As we eat

I savor the juicy meat

While my cubs munch their food down

With no thoughts of saving the rest for later

Their little jaws pierce the meat

And I thank the Fox Lord

For putting these wonderful foxes in my life

The four hard years of life I faced

I remember them clearly

The sadness, the pain

I was so lonely

But I choose not to look ahead or look behind

I choose to stay in the now.

 I raced to the teacup ride to see if my mom and the girls were still there, they were gone. I raced to the Pixar Pier to look for Harry and Robert, they were gone. I raced back to the Haunted Mansion hoping someone would be there, Walter and Dad were not there. I had been able to do it….I had gotten myself lost at DisneyLand. 

Moonie

I sat by a palm tree about to give up my hopes, when I reached into my coat pocket and found 20 dollars. I had been relieved because of my hunger. We had not eaten scenes at 6 a.m and now it was 11:32 a.m.  I grabbed Cotton Candy, a hotdog and a lemonade. I knew it would be a long time to find my parents, or not find them. I was looking at the games that I could play but only one caught my eye. ¨ Come one come all, to get a floating star and win a prize!¨ ¨ Always win no matter what!¨ The Carny shouted. I always liked to win prizes, and if you could get a prize no matter what I had to play. ¨Can I have a shot?¨ I asked. ¨Sure kid, it is just 2 dollars.¨ I only had 8 dollars, but it was worth a shot. I got the finishing pole and stuck it in the water. Before I knew it, I had a star. I looked at the bottom and there was a S on it. ¨ Nice job kid! You got a small prize!¨ The Carny said. I looked at the prizes and only one got my eye. Every single one of them were stars with eyeballs. The one I saw was a Moon with cute little eyes and as light as the real moon. ¨ All take him,¨ I said pointing to the moon. ¨ Nice choice!¨ The carny said back. I was not alone anymore, I had a new friend named Moonie.

Moonie talks?

I found a bench and sat down thinking of where I had last seen my parents. I knew I would never find my parents again. I started to cry thinking about it. A tiny tear hit my new moonie. ¨Are you okay?¨ I hear a soft voice say. I turned around to see no one near me. I looked forward and no one was there either. I checked both sides up and in and down 10 times until I could find the voice. ¨Who said that?¨ I 

¨ We're going to Disneyland!¨ My mom, Amy, yelled in the car. My mom was the best mom in the world. That year she took us to Hawaii, Paris, New York City, and Disneyland twice; now three times! She was an adventurous, sweet woman who loved traveling. She felt more like an older sister than a mom because of her actions. She went on the Pixar Pier ten times with my brother and threw up ten times after. 

Dad, known as Mr. Martian or Joel, was a farm boy growing up and never really enjoyed roller coasters. When he was introduced to technology at age 19, he fell in love. All day he was playing Call of Duty or Candy Crush. He grew up to be a technology expert. And now was the owner of Candy Crush.  ¨Do we get candy!¨ My sister MaryAnna asked about jumping out of her seat. My sister was a candy-holic. She had 7 silver teeth and 2 fillings, she never brushed her teeth (well she did but with candy lollipops.) My sister and I did not get along at all. She loved candy and playing on her ipad, and I like veggies and loved surfing off the coast of the pacific. ¨Only some candy,¨ my dad replied. “If you have any more, your teeth will pop out of your head,” I say, waiting for a high-five from my best friend Walter who joined us.

Walter high-fived back, he was a dare devil with pranks everywhere up his sleeves. I was nothing like him, but we were friends over our likes of scary rides and smooth perfect hair.  I was always the kid trying to be as perfect as I could be, perfect hair, perfect surfing, perfect healthy meals, perfect grades. You get what I was trying to be. ¨You take that back, Charles, about MaryAnna´s teeth,¨ said MaryAnna´s best friend Molly. Molly was joining us, too, and was the smallest kid you would ever meet. She was smaller than a Kindergartener and she was in second grade. Molly got a nickname by one of my best friends and it kind of stuck, Minnie. ¨Minnie be quiet, Robert and I were about to beat a guy in Fortnite but you just messed us up!¨ said my older brother Henry. 

Everyone called Henry, Harry because of how he took care of his hair. It was always looking like he had just woken up. His hair was scattered all over and he did not brush it one bit. Harry was nothing like me, just like MaryAnne. He wore ACDC shirts with ripped up jeans and a necklace saying ¨Rock on!¨ I wore a button down shirt with khaki pants and a bracelet that said number one class pet. ¨Come on Harry, let's get back to our game.¨ And then there was Robert, Harry´s best friend that acted and looked like his twin. Everyone asked  Harry if he had cloned himself and how much they looked alike. That was everyone with me, but they wouldn't be with me for long.

         Arrived 

When we got to Disney MaryAnna and Minnie hopped out of the car and started chanting, ¨ Teacup ride, teacup ride!¨ ¨All take the girls on the teacup ride Joel.¨   ¨You can take Charles and Walter on their ride.¨ ¨ Harry, I think you and Walter have your phones right?¨ ¨ Yes mom, Walter has his phone but I don't know where mine is.¨ ¨ Harry can you give your coat over to your brother? ¨He needs to stay warm or else he will get sick again.¨ ¨ Ok,¨ Harry replied, not too happy. ¨Ok everyone, one, two, three, break.¨ We all went in different directions. Walter and I wanted to go to the Haunted Mansion first.  The girls went on the teacup ride. Harry and Robert went on the Pixar Pier.

 Walter and I were speed walking and Dad was dragging behind looking at his phone. When we got in the line we were jumping with excitement. When we got in the first room the lights turned off said, holding my tears back. ¨ Look! I'm in your hands!¨ I looked down to see my moon moving around, well at least trying. His eyes shimmered in the sun and his smile was as big as himself. ¨Ahhh!¨ I yelled in shock. ¨Ahhh!¨ He yelled back. ¨You can talk!¨ I said in shock! ¨Yeah I can talk! Only I Monnie Lunnie can talk!¨ He said it was normal for every stuffed animal to talk. ¨ Why are you so sad? You look like you were just crying out Niagara Falls!¨ Moonie said. I had to smile a little, imagining me crying out every tear was funny. ¨Well you see...¨ I told him the whole story of how I lost my family and that I went in the wrong cart.  ¨..Ok?¨ Moonie replied. “You wouldn't be scared!” I looked at him the way I looked at my brother when I was mad. ¨ I can help you find your parents!¨ He said like this was what he did everyday. ¨You can!¨ I yelled, forgetting about giving up my hopes. ¨Yeah! First thing to find your parents, find the highest place that we could find them from.¨ I looked around to find the 160 foot mickey ferris wheel. ¨That,¨ I said pointing to it. ¨Ok, good now let's get a ride from it and see if we can find your parents!¨ ¨But, there are thousands of people here! It will be impossible to find then,¨ I said. ¨Not if you have me! I am a master of finding people. I saw your little sister passing by me, so I think I can find them.¨ Moonie said all confident. ¨Ok.¨

The Mickey ferris Wheel

We raced to the ride and finally got on it. It was now 4:43 and my family would be leaving by now. ¨Do you see them?”I asked Moonie. ¨ YES! They´re heading toward the exit!¨ We got to the bottom and hopped off the ferris wheel. I raced to the exit, with Monnie guiding me. ¨Left, right, left, stop.¨ I looked at where he told me to stop, it was a cart of lemonade. ¨Why here?¨ I asked, confused. ¨I'm thirsty,¨ Moonie said, his cheeks red. ¨Not now Monnie! You´re not running like I am.¨  We continued to run and we finally found the exit. I looked for our car, but it was gone.

They Come Back

I sat down and started crying into my hands. If only I ran a little bit faster. ¨Are you ok kid?¨ Moonie asked. ¨NO, I lost my parents and then when I thought you could find them you don´t!¨ I said. ¨Really I didn't find  your parents?¨ Moonie said. ¨CHARLES!¨ I looked behind me and my mom was there with my siblings, their friends, Dad, and Walter. ¨MOM!¨ I ran into her arms happy that I found them. ¨I want to go home!¨ I yelled. We got in the car, which was moved to a different parking spot because they tried to check the other side of the park. ¨So how did you get lost?¨ Walter asked when we were 4 minutes away from DisneyLand. I told him the whole story for the second time that day. I didn't add in Moonie because I knew my brother would make fun of me. ¨So why did you go to the exit?¨ MaryAnna asked me. ¨I had a little trick up my sleeve.¨ I said looking at Moonie who looked the same as he did when I first won him. I looked in my pocket to see if I could find the extra money I had left over. I reached in and found something bigger than 6 dollars. It was my brother´s phone!