The Commentator by Clara

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Welcome to the annual Sports Day,
Where the contestants are warming up now for the egg and spoon race.
In the line-up we have: Timmy, Lucy, Robbie and Barbara.
The headteacher is setting up the eggs and making sure they have not been tampered with.

The parents are very excited,
Lucy’s mum is holding up a banner with her child’s name on it.
She is now being told off for trash-talking Timmy, Robbie and Barbara.
Meanwhile the headteacher is counting down from three and they’re OFF!

Barbara has dropped her egg straightaway,
She does not look very happy.
She has burst into tears and is escorted off the race track.
Timmy- previously trailing behind- is gaining on Robbie.
Will Robbie run ahead?

Oh no! Robbie has dropped his egg!
While he picks it up, Timmy races past him.
It’s tense between Timmy and Lucy.
There has been well-known rivalry between them ever since Timmy broke one of Lucy’s toys.
Halfway through the race,
Timmy is slowly but surely getting nearer Lucy.

Lucy’s mum is on the track!
She is blocking Timmy!
The headteacher dives, bringing Lucy’s mum down with them.
Timmy runs past Lucy, stepping over her mum on the track.
The casualties are quickly removed by the First Aid team.

Timmy zooms straight to the finish line and he’s WON!
He walks over to the headteacher for his sticker,
But the headteacher is shouting,
Timmy is being told off for keeping his egg down with his hand!
This is truly a shocking scandal!
He is disqualified, Lucy is declared first!
Lucy’s mum is cheering from her restraints on the playground while Lucy walks to the headteacher to collect her sticker.
This glorious moment concludes this year’s (very dramatic) egg and spoon race, and what a race it has been!

This has been Clara, coming to you live from The Richmond School for Sports Day.
After a five-minute break,
We have the sack race, in which Timmy will attempt to redeem himself.
See you in five minutes.

An Extraordinary Adventure by Clara

“Will! How would you like to walk around Little Weirwold today and explore the area?” Zach ran up to Willie and excitably cried.

“Erm…alright,” Willie muttered.

“Or…I could teach you how to cycle! I could borrow Mrs Fletcher’s bikes. Let’s go and ask her now!”

“I need to get my gas mask,” Willie mumbled.

“You don’t need that! There won’t be an air raid. We will be completely fine.” Zach reassured Willie.

“O-OK.” The pair walked to Mrs Fletcher’s house, which was only down the road, and by the time they arrived, Willie’s legs were aching after walking around the blackberry-picking field all day yesterday.

Mrs Fletcher was in the back garden. Hanging up wet pieces of clothing along a line that stretched from either side of the garden. Zach coughed to signal his presence. Mrs Fletcher turned to face Willie and Zach and exclaimed, “Ah! Hello, boys. Excuse me. I was just letting some clothes dry.”

“Hello, Mrs Fletcher! Willie and I were wondering if you had any bicycles you could kindly let us borrow?” Zach beamed, his curly hair tumbling over his eyes.

“Why, yes, I have! You can borrow George and David’s bikes if you want. They have grown out of them, and I think my older one’s bikes will be too big for you two.” Mrs Fletcher led them to a large door. Bracing her muscles, she lifted it straight up into the roof, revealing a room cluttered with bikes, boxes and broken toys. “There you go, boys,” Mrs Fletcher gestured to the closest two bikes, “They should be in a fine condition.”

A few minutes later, Willie and Zach were walking around an empty street, bikes beside them. Willie’s bicycle kept falling down until Zach told him, “No, don’t tip it away from you, keep it straight up.” By the time they t had reached an empty cobbled road far away from the village, Willie’s entire body was aching. “Watch me, Will.” Zach instructed, hopping onto the bike and pushing his legs onto the pedals. Willie watched as Zach turned the handlebars to switch directions. Willie tried to mimic Zach, but his legs could not reach the pedals. “It’s alright, I’m sure Mrs Fletcher won’t mind if we change how low the pedals are.” Willie found what Zach did next very confusing. First, Zach twisted a knob to the right of the pedals, and, after that, he lifted the pedals straight up the bicycle. Standing back to consider the placement of the pedals, he cheerfully exclaimed, “There! Now try that, Will.” Willie anxiously clambered onto the bike, not wanting to cause trouble for Zach, the first friend he had ever had. However, he found that the pedals now fit perfectly. Feeling happy, Willie tried to mimic Zach’s demonstration, only to fall off the bike again, adding another injury to his collection on his body.

This continued for a couple of hours, until Zach, frustrated at how Willie still could not even learn the basics of bicycle riding, exasperatedly sighed, “Maybe we should stop with this for today? I know, we could cloud gaze in the field next to us!” Wheeling the bikes through a gate to a green field filled with wildflowers every colour of the rainbow. Willie was reluctant, thinking of the worms in the grass but was fascinated by the clouds that swirled in abstract patterns above his head. “Look, that one’s like a rabbit!” Willie remarked.

“I think it looks like a dolphin,” Zach replied.

“What’s a dolphin?”

“It’s a thing that lives in the sea. It looks like a shark, but it has a round fin on its back and it makes these adorable clicking noises.”

“Have you been to the seaside, Zach?”

“I’ve lived there for a few months a couple of times.”

“What does the sea look like?”

“It’s blue and shimmery most of the time, but on sunny days it can look green, and on cloudy days it can look grey. I love going to the beach and building sandcastles.”

“What are sandcastles?”

“They are miniature castles made out of sand. You use a bucket and fill it with wet sand and when you turn the bucket upside-down, the sand slides out and makes a cylinder. You can do this a few times and it looks so spectacular when it’s done.”

“What’s that thing in the air?”

“That’s-That’s an aeroplane. It looks awfully low to the ground. It’s getting lower- look!” The plane swerved and whirled until it landed on the ground with a sudden CRASH!

The boys sprang up and ran up to the plane wreckage. Inside was a man with brown hair and brown eyes. He looked like he was only eighteen or nineteen. “Are you injured?” asked Zach, helping the man out of the cockpit.

“No, I-I think I’m fine. My leg just hurts a little.”

“I’m staying with a doctor. I’ll help you over there,” Zach said,” Willie, could you take both the bicycles back?” Willie nodded, a little worried about how he would carry two bikes. Luckily, Willie was feeling well-rested after lying down in the field, so he was able to take the bikes back. At Dr Little and Nancy’s house, Zach and Willie were told that he man was in good hands, and that they should return the bikes to Mrs Fletcher.

A few minutes later, the boys were in Mrs Fletcher’s garden. They knocked on the back door and asked for Mrs Fletcher to open the garage door. While they were putting the bikes away, Mrs Fletcher asked them, “So, did you have a good day?” Zach replied, “Yes, it was great. We saved a pilot from a plane. Could we have the bikes again tomorrow?”

“Yes, of course you can.” As Mrs Fletcher walked back inside, she muttered to herself, “Boys and their imagination. Saving a pilot, indeed.”

That evening, Tom read Willie a Bible story and another ‘Just So’ story. Willie yawned as he got ready for bed.

Food of the Gods by Clara

My food of the gods (my favourite meal) would be a three-course meal. Of course, everything would have to be gluten-free.

My starter would be one of my mum’s miniature homemade burgers - no bun - with melting grated cheese covering it entirely. It would also come with a small portion of spicy curly fries. The starter would come with tomato ketchup and salad cream, ready to be mixed together and create the perfect pink sauce: tangy, but able to cool down the curly fries. The taste of the burgers and cheese is amazing; the cheese perfectly adds some more flavour and makes the texture smooth in your mouth. The burgers smell delicious, as the cheese bubbles give an amazing aroma as you eat.

My main meal would be a meal at my favourite restaurant. I would order ham, egg and chips with tomato ketchup. Once I had it in front of me, my mouth would start to salivate. The ham would be cut into a thick chunk, and I would eat the slightly smoky ham first. Next, I would pop the egg’s surface with one of the best-tasting chips in the world. The chips crunch in your mouth and the best way to eat them is to dunk them in the egg and the ketchup before eating them. As your plate is delivered, you catch the scent of the warm chips, and can’t wait to eat everything on the plate.

Finally, my dessert would be a chocolate brownie and vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, and melting chocolate all on one plate. This is probably my favourite dessert in the world. The warm brownie smells of luxurious chocolate, and the contrast of warm brownie and cool ice cream mix together in your mouth, you wish you could eat it every day. The chocolate sauce joins with the ice cream towards the end, as the ice cream. By the end of your meal, you feel like you could burst, but you don’t regret eating every last crumb of it

Michael's Midnight Mission by Clara

As fast as lightning, I sat up, sweating. What happened in that dream? I remembered the baby… and blackbirds. Suddenly, I realised I had a mission… a mission I had to do. For a couple of minutes, I listened to Dad’s soft snoring and the baby’s hissy breathing. Dreading getting out from my warm duvet, I stuck a foot out of bed. My room was freezing cold! Taking a deep breath, I kicked the covers off and had to stifle a scream. The cold trickled down my back like running water. While my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I searched the room for my oak wardrobe. Once I had discovered it among the murky gloom of midnight, I grabbed whatever my hands could find. Luckily, it was a woolly jumper, tracksuit bottoms and a bobble hat. After dressing as silently as I could, I snatched my wiry, ancient slippers to wear on my feet. I inched slowly to my bedroom door. I hoped the baby didn’t wake up, or I would be in BIG trouble. I crept along the corridor, until CREAK! I had forgotten about the groaning floorboard. Mum muttered in her sleep, and I froze. I dropped to the ground and crawled the rest of the journey to the bathroom.

In the bathroom, everything was pitch black. I switched on the lights and started looking through the cupboards, desperately trying to find aspirin. Eventually, I found the small, white bottle. Despite there being twenty pills in the bottle, I decided to take them all just to be sure. Tiptoeing to the top of the patched-up staircase, I took a deep breath. This was by far the most exciting (and equally nerve-wracking) thing I had ever done in my life. As I descended the staircase, my pockets jingled because of the aspirin. “Was it really a good idea to take all the aspirin?” I thought. At the bottom of the stairs, I thanked my lucky stars I had gotten this far. Creeping to the kitchen, it suddenly dawned on me that I didn’t know where the keys were. No! Now I would have to blunder around looking for the keys for who knows how long. Thankfully, the keys were by the stove in the kitchen. Fearful of what was to come; I shoved the keys into the door, twisted them around and opened the door…

Stepping out into the messy overgrowth my parents called a garden, I soon spotted a monstrosity of a building looming over the estate: the garage. Beautiful stars glittered in the sky; moonlight paved the way along a long, winding path to the garage with a secret. To my right, 27 and 53 were lying in a bag on the bin. The char sui was really sticky, red and cold (it was so disgusting). Tipping the spring rolls in with the char sui, I grabbed the tray and continued my journey. My clothes were tugged at by brambles, I must be careful. What would Mum and Dad think if my tracksuit had holes in it? Before I knew it, I was outside the door of this stranger’s makeshift home. Should I do this- I don’t know…

Standing with my hand on the garage door’s handle, I contemplated my decisions. Is this dangerous? The stranger won’t even be pleased. Why am I risking getting into trouble for some old ‘person’ I don’t even know? And now I have wrecked my favourite clothes on brambles. Afraid, I pushed the one-hinged door open...

The Lost Thing Paradise by Clara

The bland, grey door opened. A world full of billions of colours, full of Lost Things just like me! I was ecstatic, my owner and I could live together in a paradise. But then I realised my owner could not live with me here. He had owners; he was not a Lost Thing. I would be lonely in this world, or alone in the human world. My eye-sensors drooped. With my claw I jangled a bell solemnly. My owner thought this meant I was happy. He backed out of the Lost Thing paradise, and flicked a switch. The door began to close, symbolising the infinite gap that will separate us for the rest of our lives. I sort of waved using my bells, and he waved back. I hoped he would be happy without me, although part of me wanted him to be so sad he would come back to rescue me.

I turned around to observe the scenery. Colours burst out at all directions. There were so many Lost Things: one had an old television screen that turned flipped to create a moving image, like a flip chart; another looked like a moving chess board, which an accordion and a robotic bird were playing chess on. A bird-cage that had a pulsing heart-like thing inside had a swan decoration on the top of it. I walked across rolling, golden hills (like a desert, only more beautiful and not as hot) I thought, and “Maybe this isn't that bad?"

Later that day, I found a house where Lost Things that were new to the area could stay for a while. It was difficult for the housekeeper to find a room big enough for me. It was ten metres tall, with a seven-metre-tall door to a bathroom. I wandered down to the communal living room and played chess with the accordion thing I had seen earlier. As I triumphantly announced, “Checkmate!” I felt like I was going to enjoy Lost Thing Paradise…

The Best Day Ever by Clara, Stuart and Darcie

“Well, this is disappointing,” huffed Mum, staring at the dreadful room. The walls were encrusted with dirt. The estate agent was driving away, while shouting “You can move in today!” Dad rolled his eyes. Upstairs, the house was no better. The bathroom had horrible bright green tiles, no bath, and a trickling shower. A cracked toilet looked like it could fall apart at any second. Jerry and Stephanie’s rooms were exactly the same size (they were very small). Henry (the dog) whined at the depressing, ripped-up dog bed.

The next day, after a very uncomfortable night’s sleep, Mum and Dad set about repainting the house. Jerry and Stephanie took Henry for a walk (they were extremely bored). While Mum and Dad were taking off the previous paint, they discovered a secret oak-panelled door. “That’s odd…” exclaimed Dad. They tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge.

When Stephanie, Jerry and Henry arrived home, Mum and Dad showed them the door. They thought it was really suspicious, and Jerry was terrified. Stephanie sighed, grabbed the door-handle, and pushed it. It opened with a loud click. Gasping in wonder, they looked at the magnificence of its contents…

The door opened into an amazing room, it was a parallel version of their own house, only much more luxurious. There were at least twenty diamond-encrusted phones lying on the grand table. “Wow!” screamed the children, rushing to grab a phone each. Ancient tapestries decorated the pastel blue walls. “I call the biggest bedroom!” shouted Stephanie and Jerry, sprinting upstairs.

 All bedrooms were the same size (the size of the other house). “I have a pink laptop,” exclaimed Stephanie, “And it is the latest version.” The walls were wallpapered with light pink roses. She had her own bathroom, with hot pink towels. White shelves held all the things she most wanted: bags full of make-up, five brand-new pairs of high heels and one million pounds worth of jewellery.

Meanwhile, in Jerry’s bedroom, posters of Star Wars characters hung everywhere. Even his bed had a duvet cover of a Stormtrooper. Jerry had a dark blue laptop, with a screen cover of the Star Wars sign. In his wardrobe was a Yoda costume designed for Henry (their husky). Gazing in wonder at the priceless Star Wars figurines, Jerry called out to his family, “This is the best room ever!” Mum and Dad knew at that moment, they were going to make a lot of memories there.

Clara's Review of R.J.Palacio’s Book ‘Wonder’

In Wonder, August Pullman (Auggie), a boy with facial disfigurement, starts fifth grade (Year 6) at Beecher Prep Middle School in New York City. August meets Jack Will on his first visit to the school, and they get on well. However, Julian Albans teases Auggie and makes fun of him, while being nice to him in front of adults. Things come to a head on Halloween, when August hears Jack and Julian with a few others talking about his face. At the end of the year, on a trip, August is picked on by older boys, but Jack and some other boys, previously Julian’s friends, come to his rescue. And as they say, all’s well that ends well. The story is about August’s journey through the first year of middle school, making friends and enemies. The book covers from the first term of school to graduation day. The book shows that although August does not look normal, he goes through life mostly like every other child. The opening of the story shows an insight to August’s world, as he explains he may not look normal, but inside he is completely like everyone else. The events of the story followed on in chronological order, with one or two flashbacks at the beginning. It flowed smoothly, and each chapter ended in a way that made you want to read the next.

The main characters in this book are August and his friends and family (Via, Mum, Dad, Jack and Summer). At the beginning, August is quite dependent on his family, and was a recluse and rarely went out. However, at the end, August is a lot more independent. Most of the characters learn an important lesson: Jack and Summer (August’s best friends) learn not to judge a book by its cover, Via (August’s sister) learns that it is alright to want to know people without them knowing August, and August’s parents learn not to keep him from the outside world. August is described in detail by Via, ‘His eyes are about an inch below where they should be on his face,’ ‘He doesn’t have eyebrows or eyelashes,’ ‘He doesn’t have cheekbones.’ I thought Via was the most interesting character because I could empathise with everything she said. Also, I felt sorry for her, having to grow up faster than everyone else because her parents needed to focus on August. As the story develops, she quite enjoys high school, where there were not many people who knew her, and, therefore, knew August. She gets a boyfriend, called Justin, but does not have many friends. Her two best friends from middle school, Miranda and Ella, abandon her and do everything together.

This book is written in first person, and moves between narrators every few chapters. This is important because you can see someone’s actions with another person’s viewpoint, and see someone else and what they thought of it. Sometimes the setting was described in detail, like in the school, and sometimes it was not. Feelings were described in detail sometimes, too, although sometimes it was not. I think this was a good story, as it was interesting to read, and taught you that even the most unusual people can be just like you on the inside. My favourite moment in the story is when, on a trip, August is bullied but lot of people in his year come to the rescue, because it is the moment that August finds out that people do like him. I do not think there was anything that could be improved.

I think the author had a reason to tell this story because it is a true story and it teaches children to be tolerant. During reading it, I felt intrigued to know more and live in the story. After reading it, I felt saddened I had reached the end, and I did not want it to end. I also felt like I had changed, because while reading the book, I laughed when August laughed, and cried when he cried. It was like August had become a part of me. I would recommend this book to children or adults because it makes you look at what you have in life and be proud and grateful for it. I would read other books by this author.

Spaghetti Petals by Clara

Spaghetti petals by Clara

 

As golden as a gleaming trophy,

Spaghetti petals wait.  
Nectar shyly hides from sight,

Spaghetti petals wait.

Petal soldiers protect nectar,

Spaghetti petals guard.

Babies crouch from the spotlight,

Spaghetti petals guard.

All the petals hold a feast,

Spaghetti petals dance.

Babies sing a silent song,

Spaghetti petals dance.