@Linnea G.-

I LOVE the book Because of Mr. Terupt! I can see how they are similar. Oops.

The frosty gale wailed and howled, but Kyno and his companions continued on their quest. Their mission was simple; get back the stolen kits. 

"We're here." whispered Aarnik. They had reached their destination--their enemy's camp. Kyno tensed. Now was the time to pull off the heist. He slid into the bramble bushes that surrounded the camp. The muffled snoring of cats filled Kyno's ears, but he paid no heed. He opened his jaws slightly, trying to pinpoint the scent of kits. Rustle, rustle. The brambles shivered as Linari emerged. "Have you found them?" she murmured, voice tight with fear. Kyno shook his head.

Suddenly, a fresh wave of kit stench hit Kyno's nostrils. Faint mewling drifted out from a rocky overhanging. "There." Kyno hissed, flicking his tail tip towards the cave. Linari nodded in understanding. She and Kyno slunk over to the rock formation. Kyno crept in first. He grabbed a tiny body by the scruff, careful no to wake the kit. Linari thrust her head into the cave, then yanked it out with a tortoiseshell kit in her jaws. Happiness bubbled up inside of Kyno. "We did it!" he mumbled over his mouthful.

"Not so fast," sneered a voice behind them. It was Thorn, leader of the cats who stole the kits. His muscles rippled in the beams of moonlight that peeked through the heavy cloud cover. Behind him was an army of snarling, spitting cats. "Run!" Linari screeched. Kyno scrabbled through the brambles, not caring when his fur got snagged on the thorns. He burst out of the camp, Linari hot on his tail. Aarnik sensed the distress and started to run. Paws sliding on the wet leaves, Kyno ran as fast as his legs could carry him.

Kyno ran and ran until the grass ended and a stone river appeared before him. A car zoomed past, it's bright eyes cutting through the darkness. Linari and Aarnik skidded to a halt beside him. Glancing behind him, Kyno saw that the Thorn's cats were advancing. 

Whipping his head from side to side, Kyno saw that no more cars were coming. He and his friends raced across the road, but then two glowing lights appeared over the horizon. "Faster!" Aarnik panted urgently. Kyno quickened his stride, making it across just in time. He checked to see if Linari and Aarnik made it across safely, then looked behind him. On the other side of the road, Thorn and his minions were throwing insults and shrieking in anger. They knew better than to try and cross the road. Kyno smirked and headed back to his home, his conpanions following.

Back at camp, the heroes were greeted with meows of congratulations. Kyno brought the tiny kit back to Seqar, their mother. "Oh, thank you Kyno! You too, Linari. You saved my precious kits!" she mewed gratefully. Kyno threw a gleeful glance towards Linari. She smiled back. We made it. Kyno thought. The kits are safe and so are we.

Oh wow, BumbleBuddy! That is really good!!!

"Come with me..." murmured a voice into Yilgom's ear. "And together we shall rule the world..." Yilgom tried to fight the darkness that enveloped him, but soon he gave in to the comforting voice. No. he told himself. Fight the evil...

Yilgom flung his head up, waking up. He hit his head on the ceiling, yelling, "Ouch!" Why do I have to sleep on the top bunk? he wondered, rubbing his head with a paw. Yilgom heard his roommate, Ena, grumbling as he woke up.

to be continued... 

these are all amazing!!! 

My Tree

~~~~~~ 

Emilia stood, looking sadly at her tree. Why did it have to come down? Couldn't it stay? She remembered planting it with her grandfather many years ago. She was only two, but her grandfather had said it would grow as tall as the sky. And it had. She had climbed it countless times, played games, read stories, and swung on her swing. She had carved her name into the tree, and marked her height each and every year. If grandfather were here, he could help her save the tree. But, they were destroying the forest to make a state park, now. The tree was 'government property' now, they said. But it wasn't. It couldn't be. This was her tree, it always would be. Emilia hugged the old oak. It was one of the only things that reminded her of her grandfather. He had died of cancer a year ago. And now, this tree, her happiness, her playmate, her hope, her secret place, was being torn down. Just to make a park! She punched the ground, then Emilia let it all out. All of her sadness from over the years, all her fear, all her shame. She sobbed, clinging to the old tree. It was the only thing she had left. A big truck pulled into the clearing. Emilia sobbed harder. A man got out of the truck. Emilia clung harder to the oak. The man pulled out a chain saw. Emilia looked at him with pleading eyes. "Sorry, sweetie. Shes gotta come down. Get out of the way." Emilia ran. She didn't look behind her. She didn't stop to dry her eyes. She ran. And sobbed. Then she stopped. Her legs ached. Her eyes burned. She walked slowly back to her tree. She finally found the clearing. The truck was gone. The man with the chain saw had left. Emilia saw her tree, small, and then big, big and blooming, then green with lush leaves, the red, orange, and yellow, the colors of Autumn, then bare and white in the falling snow, she stopped the daydream and looked at her tree now. It was only a stump. She ran up to it, and crumpled to the ground. Sobbing, she put her face in her hands. She cried all that day, and all that night, she never left her tree. She stayed. And eventually, she stopped. The peace of time got to her, and she went on with her life, forgetting about the tree.

~~~~~~~~

It had been two decades since the huge oak was cut down. Emilia was now a fine young woman of twenty. She was a blooming author and had to come up with a new story for a children's magazine. ( ;-) ) She thought taking a walk in the old forests of her childhood fancies would be good to stir up ideas. Of course, the forest was a park now, but she remembered it as a forest. But halfway through the park, there was a clearing. And in the clearing, there were two things. A stump, and an oak sapling. And she remembered. That day her grandfather had planted a tree with her. And she kept it alive even after he was gone. And then the government had cut it down to make this very park. Every stage of her tree flashed through her mind. Emilia picked up the sapling, still just a sprout, and walked over to the stump. "Hello, old friend." She said, affection and a tone of sadness in her voice. She set the sapling in a crack of the stump. It would grow fine here. She sat on the stump, writing away, for a long time. All  day and all night. She left in the morning. She would have liked to stay longer, but there was something, almost sacred, about that tree, and she felt that she should leave it alone. Emilia vowed never to come again until the day she died.

~~~~~~~~~~~

It was autumn, Emilia's favorite time of year. She lay in bed, thinking. She was ninety-three, and had lived a good life. She was in a nursing home, now, and had trouble remembering things. But she had always remembered one thing, and she remembered it now, too. Her tree. She asked someone who worked at the nursing home to take her to the park. The pushed her there in the wheel chair until they came to that one clearing that Emilia remembered so vividly. She asked them to leave her, and they did. She climbed out of the wheelchair, she could walk, although it was an effort. She went up to the stump. Her tree. The sapling she had planted years ago was very big, growing out of the old stump itself. In a way, the old oak was still alive. She touched one yellow leaf, and it fell, and was caught up in the breeze, and blown away. All the seasons of her life and the tree's life flashed before Emilia's eyes. She then sat down by the tree, and putting her wrinkled arms around it as she had when she was a girl, said,"Farewell, old friend" affection and a tone of sadness in her voice. And she died there with her tree. She was found the next morning, her arms around the stump of the great old oak, and a smile on her face. She was buried under the tree, just what she would have wanted. She was with her tree. My Tree.  

~~~~~~~~~ 

tell me if you like it! 

@Leeli-

Okay. I'm crying right now. Thanks for making me get emotional. *sob!*

You are a fantastic writer! I wish I could write like that. Oh my gosh, that was just really deep. You need to enter that in a contest or something. When you grow up and become a famous writer, I can say that I knew you before you were famous. Oh my gosh... I am just... wow...

@ Bluebird

your Mrs Murphy story was really good too! I really liked it! Very touching.

@ Owlgirl

I loved your story! It was amazing!