Hi, my name is Bethany. I am 9 years old and I love to write stories. I will post them here for you to read. I hope you enjoy them! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BethanysStories/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Sun, 18 Jan 2009 22:17:00 -0600 Sun, 18 Jan 2009 22:17:00 -0600 I suppose you will lose all interest in this story if I don't skip to when Jim was almost better, so I shall skip. One morning, when Kat had gone to town, a letter came from Mother and Father. We ran upstairs to show Jim, but he was already walking down. Everybody gasped at once, and that sounded so funny that we all laughed at once too. We ended up dancing up and down and laughing, crying and talking all at once, while Jim watched our performance with interest. ''Well,'' said uncle,coming in,''you sounded like elephants!'' We all grinned sheepishly. ''Jim's better,uncle,'' explained Anne matter-of-factly.Jim kicked her, and she pulled his nose. Oh, by the way, it was coming up to Christmas. I know you'd much rather hear about that, so I hope you don't mind this chapter being so short. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BethanysStories/647187/ Sun, 18 Jan 2009 22:17:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BethanysStories/647187/ It is quite annoying, you know, when your mother buys sweets and puts them up high, where you can't reach them. Cook put our sweets very high up. She says that she doesn't want to find them all gone. She said that when she went to the dressmaker's with Kat.We were all bored that day. Anne, Hazel and I were in our room, very busy being bored. Jim knocked on the door and came in. His blue eyes were shining. ''Do you know what?'' he asked. ''What?'' asked Hazel.  '' I' m going to climb up to the cupboard and get a SWEET!'' ''You durstn't! '' Hazel looked frightened. '' I do so! I'm hungry, and we shan' t have any lunch until Cook gets back. I'm going.'' And with that he ran downstairs into the kitchen. Anne and Hazel and I went down to the staircase. Peeping down through the banisters, we saw Jim get a chair from the diningroom table. He put it beneath the cupboard and climbed up. When Jim saw that the sweets were a few shelves up, he put his feet on the bench and began to climb up the shelves. Now, there was a very loose nail holding the third shelf to the wall. I couldn't bear to see Jim put his foot on it-- There was a big CRASH!!! Uncle and all the maids came running. We watched, and we saw Jim, with his eyes shut; one of them bruised badly. One leg hung in such a way that I knew it must be broken.  ''Humm,'' said Uncle. ''Marjorie,''(to the maid) ''tell the butler to get the doctor.'' Just then Cook and Kat arrived home. They were amazed to see Uncle and all the maids kneeling on the kitchen floor.  Even Grandmother came down the staircase. She and Cook both began to talk at once,  but Uncle said he would explain later.  Suddenly Cook spied us. We sped back to our room. Hazel began to cry.                                                  *   *   *   *   *   *   *  *  The next day, Jim was not at breakfast. We had known he wouldn't, and it was quite quiet. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BethanysStories/563870/ Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:20:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BethanysStories/563870/           "And today," said Anne triumphantly, "we shall go OUT!"      We were all three standing on the verandah in the early morning sun.  It was exactly six o'clock, I could tell; there was a clock in the hall.  Just then Uncle came round the corner.  I was going to the other end, and it was too late to stop;  I'd crashed into him and he fell backward onto the verandah, knocking both his elbows!  If he had been an enormously huge man, he would have kept on crashing right through, and would have landed in the middle of the gorse bush just below the place he was lying.      Instead of being angry, he picked himself up, rubbed his elbows, and grinned; he was none the worse for his fall.      "Good shot!" he said, which was quite strange.  I never would have expected he'd want to hurt himself.  He was up, trotted round the other coener, and left me and Anne looking so dumbfounded that Hazel remarked:      "Y'ought to have a spanking, Laura Stuart."      "So ought you," I said.      "I don't!"      "You do!"      "Aw, stop arguin' you two." Anne was ready to join the conversation, " 'member we're goin' out."      Hazel recovered herself and with a last vindictive "you do!" ran through the screen door, and into the bedroom.  She came out soon enough, wearing a gingham brown dress.  She was tying her bonnet strings round her chin.       "You oughta get ready too," she told us.      "Don't be silly, we're not goin' yet," I replied.      "Who says?"      "I do."      "Stop arguin' you two." Just then, Kat came though the door.  She said, "We're going in a few minutes."      "Tol'ja." Hazel stood with her hands on her hips.      "Who cares?" replied Anne.        We were on our way.  Quite soon we stopped at a shop.  We went inside and while Kat and Uncle Herbert (he was with us too) looked for sugar, coffee, gruel, and navy beans, Anne and I explored the shop.  I admired the thick sponge cakes in the bakery area, and begged Kat to buy some; she wouldn't.       I liked the toy shop and the blacksmith's (we went to have a look) but my favourite was the sweet shop!  There were big round cannisters of jaffas and aniseed balls; there were tall, thin tins full of stick candy; but best of all were the juicy, chewy sweets wrapped in paper, and the toffees.  Kat bought some jaffas and orange flavoured candy; to everyone's delight (even Uncle Herbert's) she got a whole bag of the wrapped sweets.  I could hardly wait to get home and taste them; but Uncle had a few more purchases to make, and so did Kat.      When we were at last home, I asked if we might have a sweet.      "No," said Cook, "not til afternoon tea time." So we waited, and waited, and waited, til at last it was time.  Kat poured out tea, and Cook served the raspberry muffins.  She even let us get the sweets ourselves.      Altogether it had been a wonderful day out. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BethanysStories/559414/ Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:03:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BethanysStories/559414/      Next day, we were all ready for a new day; not to mention breakfast. We ran down as soon as we were dressed, and Cook 'shooed' us out of the kitchen. "Why don't you go and explore the gardens?'' she suggested.      We decided to, as there was nothing else to do, and ran out of the house. After walking at least a mile over the grass, we came to a grassy slope, decorated with fern and cherry blossom, and daisies scattered over it. At the top, it was quite wide, and bordered all round with gorse-bushes.We climbed the hill, only Hazel, on the way up, thought of strange things that might happen, lost her footing, and tumbled down, grazing her knees on the stones at the bottom. She didn't want to come up again, after all that, and she ran back to the house.  Anne said the bushes were a thicket, but they didn't seem to be. Just then Hazel returned to call us for breakfast, so we went.      Anne, Hazel and I had breakfast in the nursery. Nursery, indeed.( Read the list of  characters and note my, Laura's, age.) Kat and Chris got to eat theirs in the dining room with Uncle and Grandmother. Our breakfast was porridge and treacle; we were dreadfully hungry, and Jim had at least three bowls full.      Afterwards, we explored the house. If you come in by the front door, you find yourself in the kitchen, which is very disconcerting because there are all sorts of smells, and you can't eat them and sample Cook's spongecakes.  Leading out of the kitchen is a staircase; you go up it, and there is a hall.  On the right side is the boys' room.  Next to it are Grandmother's and Uncle's rooms.  On the left are our rooms.  At the end of the ahll there is a screen door.  You go through and there is a big verandah.  The bathrooms are of no importance; I expect you want to know what we did next.      We went outside again; there are lots of pathways walled in with hedges.  We went down one pathway and we came to the stables.  Hazel ran inside at once:  her favourite animals are horses, and it took quite a time to get her to come to the stream, where we found some long sticks.  We sent Hazel to the house for string and got bits of bread from the remains of breakfast for bait.  Hazel came back with the string.  We tied it to our sticks, baited them with bread, and sat on the grassy bank for a solid hour, fishing.      By and by, it was lunchtime. We went inside.  I was very hungry.  Anne said she was "positively starved"!  Lunch was ham sandwiches and sponge cake.       After lunch, Jim and Hazel had an afternoon rest.  Kat stayed inside, but Chris, Anne and I went fishing again.  Chris caught a trout.  I caught one too; Anne had no luck and came home grumpy: wouldn't have fish for supper.  The rest of us did though, and we thought it was jolly good!      We really had a thorough exploration of the house that day.   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BethanysStories/555635/ Thu, 3 Jul 2008 14:00:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BethanysStories/555635/      At first no one answered. Hazel repeated her question. I knew that we should see her (Grandmother) at supper, but I didn't say so.  But Kat said, "Perhaps we'll go to our rooms before supper.'' Cook rang a bell. A maid appeared, in a blue serge dress, with a starched white apron and cap. 'Take them to their rooms.' The maid turned, and Kat followed. The rest of us trailed after.      The maid put the boys into a room  and Kat into hers; she had a desk and a sofa. Anne,Hazel and I had a nice high room, with a fire and washstands.There were roses carved on the bedposts, and lace curtains; a chest of drawers and a wardrobe. Hazel is scared of wardrobes. Don't tell her I said that. She has read C.S. Lewis ( have you?) and is afraid the White Witch will come out and turn her into stone.  But that's all make believe.       Before she went I asked the maid, "Are there any tarantulas or spiders in America?"      "Both," she said, and sneezed, running downstairs for her handkerchief.  When I see a spider I get all wriggly inside and I feel cold all over.  Tarantulas have an even worse effect!  When we went to supper, Grandmother and a gentleman were already there. We supposed he was a guest; but he turned out to be the last person we had thought of: Uncle Herbert! He was Grandmother's son, of course. But we didn't know we had an uncle. All our other uncles were either dead or gone to Australia.  At first we were all too busy eating to talk, or introduce ourselves, or anything of that sort.  But when Uncle Herbert turned to Kat and said,      "Katrina, you are, aren't you?" we had to start.  Kat said afterwards that Uncle hadn't much grammar or manners.  But she said anyway,      "Yes," very fast, with a mouthful of tea.  It didn't go down properly, and she got red in the face and coughed.  Jim giggled.       "James," said Uncle, "aren't you meant to be in school?" Jim giggled again.  He wouldn't answer, so Hazel did.       "We have lessons here," disgustedly.       "Hazel!" Kat was horrified.       "Yes?"      Hazel turned to Kat, with such an angelic expression that Anne, Jim and I all laughed at once.  Anne had a mouthful of bread; she choked and shook her fist at Hazel, who looked quite innocent.  There was a pause,      "Perhaps we'd better go to bed."      Even Kat was tired.  We all followed her upstairs and as soon as our heads touched the pillows, we all fell fast asleep.    http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BethanysStories/476815/ Wed, 2 Jul 2008 10:38:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BethanysStories/476815/      This is New York, America;  but we aren't Americans.  We used to live in New Zealand.  That is, Father had a job in America, and Mother went too.  First, they doubted taking us at all.  There are six of us, you see;  and that doesn't help.  Mother thought we should all go to a hotel.  Father said they wouldn't have room for eight.  I asked if we mightn't go to Grandmother's house (she lived in New York, you see) and Mother said, "That's it!" in such a loud voice that it made us all jump.  Of course Jim jumped highest;  he's the youngest, and the lightest, Father says.      But let's get back to explanations.  You really have to explain in a book.  Here is a list of characters:      Grandmother:  Real name Alicia.  Age unknown.  Very short, curly whie hair, blue eyes.          Kat:  Real name Katrina.  No one likes the name, except for Mother.  Age 17.  Quite tall, blue eyes, yellow hair.  Very pretty.  Awfully silly about parties, and makes quite a fuss dressing, even for breakfast.       Chris:  Real name Christopher.  Age 15.  Tall for his age, Mother says.  Brown hair, blue eyes.  Hates school.  Tells Kat she needn't remind him to do homework as he's fifteen now!       Laura:  She has no nickname (you can't nickname her).  Age 12.  Tangly brown hair, brown eyes.  Quite a tomboy.  Plays boys' games, says girls games are stuck up.       Anne:  Real name Lucianne.  Age 10.  Short, brown hair, greenish eyes; pretty much brown.  Tries to imitate Kat.      Hazel:  Age eight.  Curly yellow hair, blue eyes.  Awfully pretty.  Absolutely loathes sums.      Jim:  Real name James.  Age 6, so doesn't like sums any more than Hazel.  Blue eyes, brown hair.  Thinks all pirates and heoes are stupendous.      I don't know anyone else to put in.  Now I've described the people, let's get on with the story.       When we were packing (I shan't tell you about the boat trip; it took too long), Hazel and Jim forgot their stuffed chipmunk and teddy bear.  We had to go back, and were just in time for the train.  Kat scolded them a great deal for that.      The train, surprisingly, was slow coming up to the station.  I don't want to tell you about those two, long, endless hours, with nothing to do.  I was longing to get to the station, and so was everyone else, when screeeeeechhh, there was a horrible sound, and the train stopped!  Everyone was relieved.      "Station!" cried Christ, for no reason at all.      "Station!" echoed Anne.      "Station!" chirped Hazel.      A pony and trap were waiting; and a tall man, with almost no hair, came to meet us.      "I'll take you," he said, "hop up." We didn't hop up: rather, we jumped.  We drove only a short while, compared to the train, but Kat, who is very exact, says it was half an hour.  We were very squashed in the trap; we were glad to get out.      "I'm flatter'n a pancake!" grumbled Anne.      "I'm hungry," said Chris, "it must be suppertime already."      "I should think so!" Kat, also, was simply ravenous.           When we went into the dining room at the house, we saw the table.  I marvelled at all the platters filled with corned beet and bread, and at the big bowls of preserved fruit, the apple pies, the thick, smooth, blobby cream, and the savoury smell of mustard sauce.  Anne closed her eyes and let the smell "into herself."      Hazel began, "I am so...."      Kat cut her short by explaining very fast, "It took quite long, didn't it?  Very long, so long I though it should last forever," to the cook, who was in the kitchen.  Just then Hazel said out loud what we had all been thinking:      "When will we see Grandmother?" http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BethanysStories/476762/ Thu, 7 Feb 2008 20:16:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BethanysStories/476762/ Welcome to my blog.  Here I will share the stories I have been writing.  I would love for you to comment and let me know what you think. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BethanysStories/476750/ Thu, 7 Feb 2008 20:15:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BethanysStories/476750/