Bear Tracks - Volume I - Spring 2014 - Bergenfield Public Schools

48 Pages·2014·2.22 MB·English

Jefferson
School
BearTracks

Student Literary Magazine
Jefferson Creative Writing Club

Spring 2014 Volume 1

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Table of Contents

It’s About Time
The First Time I Got Stitches by Alyssa Greenspan ................................................................................... 3
The Time I Got My Dog by Mia Fitzmaurice .............................................................................................. 4
The Time My Dog Passed Away by Janelle Guillen.................................................................................... 6
The First Time I Learned to Ride a Bike by Riya Patel ............................................................................... 7
The Time I Went to Sri Lanka by Archana Arachchigedon ....................................................................... 9
The Sunshine State
The Time I Went to Florida by Marielle Joyce Gelaver............................................................................ 11
The Time I Went to Florida by Nicole Torres ......................................................................................... 12
Everything You Need to Know About Disney World by Emilio Aleman ................................................. 14
Can You Imagine?
Joey and the Pencil Factory by Madison Kaszner ................................................................................... 16
What Will Happen in the Future? by Cecilia Jones ................................................................................ 17
The Bull Racing Contest by Christian Guillen ........................................................................................ 18
The Time the Animals Came by Liam Hughes ........................................................................................ 19
It’s Finally Over by Kristabel Pineda ........................................................................................................ 20
Honesty by Astrid Pagaduan ................................................................................................................... 22
All About Jefferson School by Madison Kaszner ..................................................................................... 24
Out of This World
The Bike of Space by Matthew Lewis ...................................................................................................... 25
Video Game Awesome by Brian Kelly .................................................................................................... 28
The Surprise at Longorian Hill by Giovani Gomez ................................................................................... 30
The Search for the Emerald Mine by Aidan Kaszner ............................................................................... 31
The Day I Met Unikitty by Donato Falcone ............................................................................................ 34
The Mystery at Budder Hill by John Gallagher ........................................................................................ 36
Jake and the Pirates of Azlathia by Brian Joseph .................................................................................. 38

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The First Time I Got
Stitches
By Alyssa Greenspan
I had just had an amazing day at Great Wolf Lodge. At the water park, the
waterslides were awesome and at the arcade, I won the jackpot playing a game that
I love. This was officially the best day of my vacation! Now my brother and I were
racing down the hallway to our room.
Once we were in our room, I was so tired I got into my pajamas right away,
and then I climbed up the ladder to the top bunk of the bunk bed. The light shut off
and I had trouble going to sleep because I didn’t want this great day to end. After a
while, I finally curled up and fell asleep, dreaming about the most amazing day
that I had just experienced.
I awoke with a sleepy start. My Dad and Mom were crowding me and asking
me questions. “I’m fine,” I said, not really knowing what was going on. There
were many people in the room, and my Mom was holding something on my head.
Then, my Mom told me what had happened. I had fallen off the top of the bunk
bed and hit my head on something. We didn’t actually know what I hit my head on
because we were all asleep. I was then rushed into an ambulance and taken to the
hospital. I was scared because I had never been to a hospital for something like this
before. My Dad stayed in the ambulance with me. I was freezing. The nurse took
my temperature, blood pressure, etc. I was scared and didn’t understand what was
going on. I was glad my Dad was right by my side.
At the hospital, I was sent to a room where I had to wait for the doctor and
my Mom. My Mom arrived before the doctor. I was really happy to be reunited
with her. Unfortunately, the doctor didn’t arrive for about another half hour to fix
my forehead. First, the doctor put numbing cream on the place where I had gotten
hurt. Then, he said I needed stitches. Luckily, I didn’t feel anything because of the
numbing cream. I had a total of six stitches: five external and one internal. Then, I
was ready to go back to Great Wolf Lodge. I was glad it was over and happy I had
my family by my side during the time I was at the hospital. When we reached the
hotel, I felt tired and dizzy. All I wanted to do was go to bed. It was about 3 a.m.,

and I felt so tired. The next day, I was able to return home to Bergenfield. Hurray!
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The Time I Got My Dog
By Mia Fitzmaurice
One day, my Dad and I were at my friend’s birthday party at Bounce U. I ate
my last bite of cake and told Dad the party was over. Dad held my hand and took
me to the car. My Dad and
Mom are divorced, so I was
going to Mom’s house
because it was her weekend.
My Mom and Dad trade
weekends, so every other
weekend, I’m with my
mom. Mom called and said
she had a surprise for me. I
couldn’t wait! We finally
got to her house. It was fall
so there were red, brown,
yellow, and orange leaves. I
thought I saw a big brown
leaf, but it was a dog! I
couldn’t believe I had a
dog! Dad pushed open the
car door for me, and I ran
up to Mom. I gave her a
super duper big hug.
My Mom was so
nervous that I wouldn’t like
him. She kept asking, “Do you like him?” I always wanted a dog, and now I finally
got one! Mom said we should name him, but I couldn’t think of a name. My
Mom’s boyfriend kept calling him Mongo, so that’s his name. We researched it
and found out it’s the name of the big gingerbread man in Shrek. It fits him
because he’s the color of gingerbread cookies and is very big.
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He’s now two years old and the best dog ever! He’s part Lab, German
shepherd, Husky and a lot of other things – a mutt. Mongo lives with my Mom
because my Dad’s apartment doesn’t allow pets, even though some people have
cats. He doesn’t have space to let a dog out because all he has is a balcony, and he
doesn’t want to get it dirty.
Whenever I lay on the couch, Mongo hops on with me and snuggles under
the blanket to watch Chopped or Disney Channel with me. I LOVE Mongo!
One time, my Mom and I made a fort out of blankets, pillows and pillow
pets. After we finished the fort, Mongo came in, too! He’s so big but also so loving
and sweet. Mongo is also DEATHLY afraid of our dishwasher. Whenever it gets
turned on, he hides. We think my Mom’s boyfriend opened it and Mongo got
frightened when he couldn’t reach his food.
Having Mongo is so much fun and so much hard work, but it’s worth it.
That day I couldn’t believe I had a dog, and now, I can’t imagine living without
him!

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The Time My Dog Passed Away

By Janelle Guillen
It was New Year’s. My family and I were going out to
see the fireworks, and it was beautiful. My eyes were probably more amazed than I
was. We took lots of pictures to remember the night of fun. We ate lots of food, got
glow toys, and I got a sword that glows.
The next day, we had visitors and my Dad put our dog Cocoa in the
basement. After the visitors left, Dad called Cocoa but he didn’t come up, so Dad
left the door open. When we got back home, we saw Cocoa lying injured on the
floor. I ran to him crying. When I asked my Dad what happened to him, he said he
had no idea. But then he started to move. We put a towel under him. It started to
get dark, so we went to sleep. The next morning I saw that he wasn’t dead, so I was
glad. Then, I went to school. When I came home, I found out that Cocoa had
passed away.
We dug a hole for him in my backyard. All of us were crying after we said a
prompt goodbye and went inside. It felt different walking into a house without any
pets to take care of. Cocoa was a Yorkie. When I got him, he looked like he was
about three inches tall and two years old. I remember the fun times with him. He
loved to be petted. I remember I took him to school just for the drive, and he was
shivering. I remember grabbing him by the arms and swinging him in the air, and
we both fell to the ground laughing, even though dogs don’t laugh. I remember
bringing him home and hugging him and giving him love and care. I would have
loved five more minutes to say goodbye. He was a sweet dog, and he will always
be in my heart.

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The First Time I Learned

To Ride a Bike
By Riya Patel
It was a cool, windy day. It was a great day
for bike riding. I was six years old, and I really
wanted to learn to ride a bike without training
wheels.
“Hey, can you help me ride a bike?” I asked
my Dad. He answered, “Yes!”
I got out my bike from the garage and started wearing my helmet. I also
wore my knee and elbow pads in case I fell off when I was riding. My Dad started
taking off my training wheels with a wrench. I hesitated and began doubting
myself because I didn’t think it was a good idea. I was frightened that if I fell off
my bike I might get injured. I was also scared I would give up trying if I didn’t
learn how to ride my bike.
First, my Dad started to ride his bike so he could teach me how to steer.
When he was done, I started to get my bike and copy him. He was holding onto my
bike, so I knew I wasn’t going to fall off. I started to lose control, and I was
trembling. My hands were sweaty, and my face was red as a tomato. My bike
started to tip over. I closed my eyes because I knew I was about to fall off.
Suddenly, I felt my Dad’s hands catching me.
After a few more tries, I started to get how to steer. Now the next goal was
to learn how to ride my bike without Dad holding on to me. I started off pedaling
slowly, and then I started to go fast! My Dad couldn’t keep up, so he let go. As
soon as I didn’t feel my Dad’s grip, I started to get frustrated and to lose control.
The wind pushed against my face and, before I knew it, I was lying on the street
with a bloody knee. Water rushed across my face as I started to cry. My Dad
dashed toward me. He dabbed a napkin on my knee, which was pretty painful.
Good thing my house was close to where I was riding, or else I wouldn’t have been
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able to walk home. I was pretty exhausted and sore, so I decided to continue to
learn to ride the next day.
The next day, I felt pretty confident and knew I shouldn’t give up. I got on
my bike and started to ride with my Dad holding onto me. This time I started to go
normal speed so my Dad could keep up with me. After about 15 minutes, he let go
of the bike. This time I didn’t notice and kept on going. When I turned at the edge
of the street, I saw him by my house. My mouth dropped to the floor. I was
shocked. I had finally learned how to ride my bike!
I went toward my house beaming with a smile. After that, I started to ride
my bike. I liked the feeling of not having training wheels. All I needed was a little
bit of confidence and to believe in myself.

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The Time I Went to Sri Lanka

By Archana Arachchigedon

“Are we there yet?” my brother asked my Dad.
We were on a plane, and we were halfway to our
destination: Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is a tiny country off
the coast of India. It is where I was born, and so were
my parents. My brothers though were born in the
United States. We were over France. I watched a
movie. We still had 17 more hours to go!
Well, time did not go fast on an airplane, I thought.
I felt like I was going to die, and my ears popped when
we reached our destination. I got out of the plane, and
Sri Lanka looked nothing like the U.S. It was sandy,
and it had palm trees. I jumped off the plane, ran to the
airport, and bolted out the doors. I saw my Grandma and mobbed her; I was so
happy to see her!
She said, “Komada hona putha, aney mang oya tagodak arerael!” That means,
“Hi, I missed you and I love you!”
My cousin Ihahan was also with her. I was so happy. We then jumped into the
car and drove to the place we would call home for the next month.
“What?” I asked as I looked at the house. I expected it to be a mansion or
something. At least it had an upstairs. It was big with a bamboo roof. We didn’t
have a backyard. I unpacked my things and took a shower. We didn’t have hot
water, but the house was huge. It had a balcony, and from it I could see the street
and a lot of trees. We switched between my Mom’s mother’s house and my Dad’s
mother’s house. We stayed at my Dad’s mother’s house, mostly.
We did a lot of things in Sri Lanka. We went to the beach, we played cricket,
we watched a movie, and we made our own fireworks! The time went by so fast. I
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no time, I had only three days left. THREE DAYS! We went to a wedding. I was
really tired. We got to go to the pool for two days. Finally, the last day had arrived.
We would be living the next morning. I ran and ran as fast as I could to the pool
and jumped in. When I was in the pool, I felt like all my fears were gone. But they
weren’t. I was leaving my family. I was sad. Finally, I got out and forced myself to
go home.
The next day, I woke up. This was the day! I was going to leave. I cried my
eyes out. I couldn’t stop crying. I looked at my family for the last time, as we
headed to the airport. I got on the plane, getting ready for the long, long, long,
long, long, long flight back home.
I made it. I looked at New York and realized how different it was from Sri
Lanka. I really wanted to go back. But I knew in my heart that someday I would go
back to Sri Lanka, again.

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