Student Writers
Lost in the Woods
By Natalie M.
One day in Hawknblockel, a seventeen year old beauty named Amy was pacing in the woods when she thought she eyed a figure behind a tree. It was a boy about seventeen or eighteen years old.
“Hello,” the boy said, “I am Adam.”
“I am Amy,” she said.
“What are you doing out in the woods all by yourself?”
“Oh, just wandering around.”
“That’s very dangerous, you know. Where do you live?”
“I live in Hawknblockel.”
“Oh. Why don’t you let me walk you back?”
Without an answer, Adam started off in the way he thought Hawknblockel was. Amy followed hesitantly, for she was unsure of the way back.
Roughly an hour later, Amy said,
“We should have been there by now.”
Adam agreed and suggested that they’d better ask for directions. They came across a bridge and spotted a cottage straight ahead.
“There!” Amy exclaimed.
So Adam and Amy jubilantly walked towards the bridge. Before they could cross, a short, slimy, orange troll jumped up from beneath the bridge.
“Who are you, and what do you want?” The troll asked in a deep, scratchy, monotone.
Adam was the first to speak, “I am Adam and this is Amy,” he explained, gesturing towards Amy as he spoke her name.
“Well, what do you want?” The troll asked impatiently.
“We just want to cross,” Amy said in a frightened tone.
“Nobody crosses,” was all that the troll said.
“We just need to ask for directions.”
“Nobody crosses,” the troll repeated.
“Well then, do you know where Hawknblockel is?” Adam asked.
“Uh … Oh yeah, I do …”
“Well … do you think that you could tell us?”
“Nope. Now go ask for directions somewhere else, you two are getting on my nerves.”
“Okay, thanks anyway,” Amy said, as she cautiously turned away. Adam followed. And soon they came across three women, sitting on a giant boulder. As Adam and Amy neared them, they realized that they were witches.
Adam walked up to them and asked, “Which way to Hawknblockel?”
“Just keep going straight and you should reach it in about ten minuets,” the first witch said.
Amy and Adam thanked her and continued forward, but never came to Hawknblockel.
“Shouldn’t we have been there by now?” Amy asked worriedly.
“I think so,” Adam said, “Stay here and I will go a little bit further to see if Hawknblockel is ahead.”
“Okay, be careful.”
Amy watched as Adam disappeared through the trees. She was starting to get worried. Just as she was about to go looking for him, the trees in front of her shook.
“Adam?” Amy whispered.
There was no answer. Amy could see a big figure slowly creeping out of the trees. This shadow was too big to be Adam, and Amy knew it. Amy was frozen in place.
The figure stepped into the light, and Amy was looking into the hungry eyes of a Boickelnock.
Amy turned around and ran for her life. She heard the heavy steps of the Boickelnock following behind her. Amy didn’t know what to do. She saw a tree with a low branch and took the chance of climbing it, because she knew that Boickelnocks couldn’t climb.
Amy desperately reached up, but wasn’t able to grab the branch. She jumped as high as she could and finally grabbed ahold of it. Just in time, Amy pulled herself to safety.
The Boickelnock clawed at the side of the tree ferociously, but soon became tired and left.
Amy carefully climbed down the tree and returned to where she had first met the Boickelnock. She hoped to find Adam waiting for her. When she arrived, Adam was nowhere in sight.
“Adam?” Amy quietly called.
There was no answer.
“Adam?” she called, more loudly this time.
Amy thought that she heard something, so she stayed quiet, but she didn’t hear anything else again.
Amy looked around for Adam for hours. She knew that she would never find him, so she kept walking.
It soon started getting dark, and Amy had to find a place to stay before the night sky took over. She kept walking, hoping that she would stumble across a cave or a place where she would be safe.
A little further and she caught a glimpse of a small grotto straight ahead. She ran towards it.
The cave was dark, cold, damp and creepy.
‘I should be safe enough here,’ Amy thought.
So she laid her head on a slimy, wet rock and tried to sleep. She couldn’t. She kept hearing angry growls behind her.
‘It’s just my imagination,’ she told herself.
The growls continued, so Amy turned around and looked into the bright, deathly, yellow eyes of a Monnock. She could feel its hot breath on her face. She stood up and slowly backed out of the cavern.
When she thought that she was at a safe enough distance, she turned and ran.
She frantically kept running until it felt like her lungs would burst. Then she stopped and sat down on a patch of dry grass.
‘This will have to do,’ Amy thought tiredly.
Amy lay down and closed her eyes. In a moment, she was asleep.
When Amy awoke, it was very dim. The only light was shining through the tops of the trees. She got up anyways and started looking for someone who could help her.
It seemed like she had been walking for hours when she saw a village of elves just ahead. She didn’t know what to do. She took one more step and heard a high pitched squeal say, “Hey! Hey! Watch it!”
Startled, Amy looked down to see an elf sitting on the ground.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t see you.”
“Aw, that’s alright. It happens all the time.”
“What does? People… step on you all the time?”
“Yeah. If you haven’t noticed, I am not the biggest guy around.”
“Oh.”
“Who are you anyways?”
“My name is Amy. And you are?”
“Fladoodle, Freddie Fladoodle. But you can call me Fred.”
“Oh. It is nice to meet you Fred.”
“It is nice to meet you too. So what brings you to Migitell Corner?”
“Well, actually, I am lost. I’ve been trying to find my way back to Hawknblockel.”
“Oh, Hawknblockel,” Fred said, nodding his head.
“Have you ever heard of it?” Amy asked hopefully.
“Yeah, but we can’t go there.”
“Why not?”
“Uh, I’m an elf and there are hawks there. You know…hawks eat elves.”
“Oh, right. Well then, do you know how I can get back?”
“Yeah but I don’t really know how to explain it. Here, come with me.”
Fred led Amy to a small hut. She had to crouch down just to fit inside.
The hut was warm and cluttered with books and papers. An old elf sat at a table, reading.
“Phil, this is Amy. She is from Hawknblockel.”
Phil looked up and said, “What can I do for you?”
“Amy is lost and she needs to find her way back to Hawknblockel.”
“I see, well I have just the thing.”
Phil walked over to a wooden table with papers and books scattered everywhere. He picked up an old scroll and handed it to Amy.
“Here you go. That should help you,” Phil said as Amy unrolled the scroll. It was a map!
“Oh, thank you so much!” Amy said.
“You should be back to Hawknblockel in the morning.”
“Thank you,” Amy said again, “Well, I should leave. It was really nice meeting you.”
Fred and Amy walked outside.
“Thank you so much, Fred.”
“Oh, it was nothing,” Fred said, blushing.
“It was really nice meeting you. And sorry for almost stepping on you.”
“Oh, it’s okay. It was really nice meeting you too Amy.”
“Uh, yeah, so I guess I will see you later, maybe.”
“Yeah, o-okay. Goodbye Amy. Come and visit any time you like.”
“Yeah, okay, I’ll try. Goodbye Fred.”
“Bye.”
‘He was kind of weird,’ Amy thought as she walked back into the green woods.
The weather was changing, getting colder by the minute. A fierce wind blew on Amy and she shivered.
‘I need to get home soon,’ Amy told herself.
She took out the map just as another strong wind came. The wind blew the map right out of her hands. She tried to chase it, but it was out of her sight in a few seconds.
“Now I’ll never get home,” Amy cried.
She knew she couldn’t give up. She had looked at the map many times before, and the path to Hawknblockel was almost perfectly straight ahead. So Amy tried to walk in a straight line but, to her, everything looked the same. She decided to rest a while, so she slumped against a tree.
Right when she was about to continue, she heard a noise behind her. She ignored it and got up, but then something came out of the trees.
It was a Mongwin! It was staring at her with small, green, beady eyes. Amy turned around and ran as fast as she could. The Mongwin followed close behind. Just as Amy was about to stop and give up, she saw a light through the trees ahead.
‘Maybe that is Hawknblockel!’ Amy thought hopefully.
As she broke through the last of the trees, what she saw wasn’t Hawknblockel. She was on top of the biggest waterfall that she had ever seen. She was at a dead end, and had to stop. Amy turned around just in time to see the Mongwin charging at her. He didn’t stop on time and they both fell over the edge.
Just as she was about to hit the sharp, pointed rocks at the bottom, she heard her mother’s voice.
“Amy,” the voice said, “Amy, wake up honey.”
Then Amy opened her eyes to see that she was safely in her bed.
“Amy, you’re going to be late for school.”
“Oh, mother,” Amy cried, as she hugged her mother tightly.
“What is it?!” her mother asked, alarmed.
Amy explained her dream as she got ready for school.
“Well, I am glad that you are back at home safe and sound, now go on or you will be late.”
“Okay, bye mother.”
When Amy got to school, the late bell was ringing. She ran to her class.
“We’re glad that you could join us Miss. Wilt. Please take your seat now.”
As Amy sat down, Mrs. Pepper, her teacher, said that she had an announcement.
“Class, we have a new student with us now.” She said, gesturing towards the door as a boy walked in.
“There is a seat for you right there,” Mrs. Pepper said, pointing to empty seat next to Amy.
He walked to the empty seat, smiled and held out his hand.
“Hello, my name is Adam. It is nice to meet you.”
Amy smiled as she shook his hand, remembering her dream.
********************************************************* Build Your Writing Resume
Yes, there are places where you can get published now as a student writer!Many students come to me with a novel in progress. Unfortunately, that is the most difficult way to get published when you are first starting out. The best way to build your writing resume and establish credibility as a writer is to publish short stories, essays or poems in magazines, or send your work to student contests. The following list should help you get started. Go to the site. Click on submissions or guidelines and follow those guidelines carefully!
|
Creative Communications
|
sponsors poetry and essay contests | www.poeticpower.com |
| Mad Hatter | Johns Hopkins University creative writing mag. | Ron.watson@hopkins.kyschools.us |
| Mystery Writers of America | Joan Lowry Nixon Award | www.mysterywriters.org |
| New Moon Magazine | Girls only | www.newmoon.org |
| Read Magazine | Poetry, fiction, non-fiction | www.weeklyreader.com |
| Stone Soup | Book reviews, poetry, fiction, non-fiction, up to age 13 | www.stonesoup.com |
| Teen Ink | Poetry, fiction, non-fiction ages 13-19 | www.teenink.com |
| Writing! Magazine | Poetry, fiction, non-fiction | www.weeklyreader.com |
| Write on the Beach | Yearly contest | Oswotb.com/literay.html |
| Writer’s Slate | Poetry, fiction, non-fiction | www.writing conference.com |
| Pine Tree Poetry | yearly contest | www.pinetreepoetry.com |