Lulu’s Expedition
Hello! My name is Lulu. Lulu the adorable, furry hamster.
I mostly spend my days sleeping, stuffing my cheeks and running on my wheel. You know – typical hamster activities. However, I’ve grown tired of it. Tonight, I’m breaking out of my cage! I told the two fish in the tank next to me of my daring escape plan. I don’t think they heard what I said though.
Anyway, I must focus on the task at hand: sleep.
It is now night. My humans have all crawled into their nests for the night. They are unaware of what their fluffy cutie is about to attempt. This is one of the advantages of being nocturnal.
I use my super hamster strength to pop open the door of my cage. My humans don’t know my strength. I sniff around the outside of my cage, looking for any food my humans might have dropped.
Aha! A sunflower seed. I gently stroke my precious treasure before storing it in my cheek pouch. I move on to behind the fish tank. The fish food container is sitting there. I wonder… what does fish food taste like? I accidentally knock the container over while trying to sniff the top. Some flakes fall onto the ground. Picking one up, I shrug my shoulders. What’s the worst that can happen? I put the flake in my mouth and slowly chew. Quickly, I spit it back out. Fish food tastes horrible! What is in that stuff? I am never eating fish food again!
I start to crawl forward, but my paw bumps into something long and slender. My chest bubbles with excitement. A yummy and chewy cord! I’ve always wanted to chew on a cord! I rub my paws together in eager expectation. I bite into the first one and feel a small tingle. My eyes light up with electricity. I chew a couple more times to get the full flavor. With eyes ablaze, heart racing and joints tingling, I feel ready to go! I run around in a few circles before taking off in a beeline. I just wish someone would have told me that I had been living on a countertop this whole time.
I fall off the ledge and tumble onto the kitchen floor. I uncurl myself to find a pasta noodle sitting right before my nose. Delicious! Then a realization strikes me. I have a whole new area to explore! I excitedly search the rest of the kitchen floor for more yummy snacks. I find two whole peanuts, as well as pieces of pretzels, strawberries and chicken nuggets. I stuff the peanuts in my cheek pouches to save for later.
I sniff my way into the living room. Underneath the couch I find some popcorn crumbs that are a little stale. I explore underneath the entire couch before moving on. That’s when I find the TV. There are more cords to chew on behind the TV, but remembering my last incident… I decide not to. Instead, I eat one of my peanuts.
Continuing my expedition, I come across another wire cage much larger than my own. I can’t even see into it because it’s so tall! My heart breaks for the poor creature inside. They must be so lonely locked up, like I was. I must free my fellow creature! I call up to the cage, hoping the member inside is awake. I receive a response from two rabbits, who tell me their names are Caddy and Lilly. Boldly I declare that I will free them from their captivity! They are both excited to run around the house without our humans watching. I get right to work figuring out how to free them.
That’s when I ran into some problems…
Problem 1: I am a hamster, which means I’m too short to reach the door of the cage.
Problem 2: Rabbit paws aren’t as nimble as hamster paws, which means Caddy and Lilly can’t open the door themselves. (If they could, they probably would have already escaped.)
Problem 3: I am too hungry to think correctly.
I pull out my sunflower seed and eat it. Not wanting to leave any evidence, I shove the shell pieces back into my cheek. I apologize to Caddy and Lilly for getting their hopes up, but there is just no possible way for me to free them.
I eat my last peanut before moving on to the room next to the rabbit cage. I start exploring, but soon realize I’m not alone. One of my humans is sleeping in here! I try to be quiet, but I accidentally walk across a piece of paper which crinkles beneath my paws. All of a sudden, I am blinded by a bright light! I make a getaway and hide, but my human finds me and picks me up.
She scolds me and carries me back to my cage. I wave to Caddy and Lilly on my way past. Setting me inside my cage, she mumbles that the cage’s door had been left unlocked.
Excuse me? That was super hamster strength!
Ava S., 14, Wisconsin
The Surprising Account of King Arthur’s Ascent to Kingly Authority
Hi. I’m Juan, squire for Sir Felipe, who is one of the most greedy, lightheaded knights that ever lived. We dwell in a small town, not far from many massive mountains, which was in need of a new king. You see, our cherished King Ferdinand had recently died from dysentery.
One day, while quietly sitting inside the church, a very strangely dressed man walked in carrying a large stone with a sword engraved on it. He bowed low and quickly walked away. We all just sat there, too stunned to speak. These words were inscribed on the stone:
WHOSOEVER TOUCHETH THIS SWORD SHALL EITHER GET ZAPPED OR BECOME KING
First Sir Felipe tried it. He did not get zapped. “Hal Ha! I must be king!” he proclaimed. Just then the sword spit out fire and quickly zapped him on the nose.
One by one, all of the young knights tried it, and all of them got zapped.
The next week, a tournament was held, by request of the noblemen in the land. Sir Felipe and Sir Greg were going to joust each other. I saw Sir Greg’s parents, Sir Ector and Madame Gwen, bid him luck and bravery. His squire, Bill, helped him dress and when it was time for the sword, he did not have it.
“Go get it, you fool!” the quick-tempered man had exclaimed with a scowl, “and be speedy about it!”
So Bill hurriedly went off to the great man’s apartment. Later, he told me that he had not found the sword there, so he decided to try the one at the church. Amazingly, he had successfully taken it out of the rock without getting hurt and hastily took it to Sir Greg.
“Not that sword, you, you…hey you brought that sword from the church – I must be king!” he had whooped. “I’m king! I’m king!” He quickly had Bill take the sword to his father, telling him that not Bill, but he, had freed the sword.
Meanwhile, Sir Felipe was in a great fury because he feared Sir Greg would be crowned instead of him. Then, of course, there were the noblemen who wanted to know why the tournament had been held up. So the whole place was in a great chaos, so catastrophic in fact that I feared the attendees’ safety.
But everyone was fine, and I was able to see justice prevail.
Sir Ector had astutely questioned his son’s boast, “Didn’t you just get zapped with that sword last week? And why is Bill holding it? He should be crying out with pain just about now.”
“Well, father, … I can explain. You see, I…I…you’re right. Bill was the one who took the sword. But since Bill isn’t nobility, don’t you think I should be crowned instead?”
“No!” Sir Ector interjected resolutely. Then he told the intriguing story of how Bill was the king’s closest relative, but his true identity had been hidden.
Finally, all was right, and Bill, now known as King Arthur, came to wear the crown. Everyone was glad – and still is – about Arthur being crowned, except Sir Felipe and Sir Greg, of course. Afterward we had a big celebration because you can’t crown a new, beloved monarch without a party! And that is the story of how Arthur became king.
Josie H., 10, Arizona
