Monday, November 19, 2012

We need your vote to choose our "Feature of the Month"

Imagination  Creativity  Inspiration


Neptune Public Library is proud to present 3 works  from Children's Writing Club. We would like to hear what you think and help us choose our "Feature of the Month"


Please vote using the poll on the right.
Thank you for your support!



Poll counted on January 2, 13 
Moe Moe the Cat: 4 (12%)
Soda Can Story: 4 (12%
LEAKYCON:   23 (74%)


Moe Moe the Cat 
A short story by Ronnie Cornett

  
     Hi! My name is Moe Moe (my owner named me after the monkey from the animated series; Avatar; The Last Air Bender)
and I'm a cat.  I was born on an army base, where I lived until I was adopted by Mateo and his family. 

     Mateo wouldn't let me leave his room when I was little, I had no idea why!   I wanted to escape and explore.

     When I was close to a year old, I was allowed out.  That's when I met Chip, a 13 year old cat owned by the family.   He was the mirror image of me (white with gray and black spots) only alot larger!

     Chip was closest to Mateo's Madre.  If I tried to go near her, he'd hiss and growl his ownership.  He sat on her lap a lot and purred.

     I wanted to play with Chip so I tried to jump on the kitchen table where Chip sat.  WHAP! He smacked me down to the floor with his huge paw which was his way of saying "Beat it kid!".  So  I shook my head and went back for more!  WHAM!  He smacked me again.  This went on about 5 more times till I got sick of going back for more.

     When we got to know each other better, he trusted me a little more, I would lick Chips face then bite it.  He would hiss, strike out at me then walk away.

     When we were outside, we were buddies!  Double teaming dogs, keeping strange cats away, and catching bugs to play with. 
Outside, we were a brotherhood!
   
     But inside, I just couldn't resist trying to ride Chip like a horsie.  That didn't go over well, guess he didn't like my games.

     As Chip and I grew older, Chip couldn't do all he used to, but I still wanted to play. So Madre would yell at me to leave chip alone...sometimes I'd listen, sometimes I couldn't help myself!

     One day when I was 5 and Chip was 18, Madre took Chip to the vet.  He was having trouble walking and she was worried.  The vet must have told her there wasn't anything he could do.  I followed them into Madre's room and sat quietly on the rocking chair to watch.

     Madre held Chip gently on the bed and sang, "I love you, my Chippy, you're my pretty kitty and I will love you forever..."  He gave off a strange Meow.  Madre was crying.  I knew my old friends' life was slipping away. I leaped on the bed to say my good-bye, which was a lick on the face, then I nudged him so he would know I was there.

     I then went back to the rocker, then sat, watched, and waited. Later, when I knew my old friend was gone, I promised him I would take care of Madre and her family.

     Since then, Mateo has moved out to someplace he couldn't take me.  But I've formed a special bond with Mateo's brother, Meep....and till this day I am taking care of Madre and her family, as I promised Chip I would do.  

A Soda Can Story
A Picture book By Wildflower

                                                                                                          
I ‘m a soda can who was drained to the last drop.  Then crunched, and kicked around along the streets of New York City….and ended up in a murky, dirty puddle. Soon people start noticing me. A professor snorts “SOS environment!”; a housewife frowns: “Someone could trip and break a leg!”; a babysitter raises her eyebrows: “Yuck!”; a taxi diver sighs  “ That dirty pothole could eat up my taxi!”  an Indian delivery boy excitedly  kicks dirty water over me “ Look! I’m walking on top of the Empire State Building!”

Now you have the entire picture of a small, empty, crunched soda can lying in a murky puddle which holds the reflection of the famous Empire State Building in it.
But I’m miserable, embarrassed, and helpless.  I wish I had a voice to cry out loud:  Enough people! You think I walk here all by myself?

Then a group of art student arrives on the scene. They make a big fuss over me and the puddle. They take photos. They claim they may just have discovered a symbol of the Big Apple.  I don't understand art but it sounds important and I like it.  I ‘m not just a soda can, I’m a part of this famous city’s symbol.  Who knows? I might end up at the MOMA.  I can’t help letting my daydream fly.
Until …

…a dog and a little girl in a red dress stop next to me.  The dog goes right in and sniffs me.  Stop it Marlon! Leave that poor can alone!”   The little girl commands her dog then she bends to pick me up.  She looks around,  walks over to a recycling trash can and simply drops me into it.

I'm home at last!


  LEAKYCON
An Essay By Nicole Dykeman
           

                                                                                                         

           On August 8, I boarded a plane to Chicago with two of my best friends. We had the experience of a lifetime – and we never even left the hotel. That was one of the many joys of LeakyCon.
            LeakyCon is a Harry Potter convention. Everything and anything magical can be found there…especially the fans. There were over four thousand of us, most staying within the hotel. A lot of these people may have seemed intimidating at first, but from the minute we first got into the elevator with our fellow Harry Potter fans, we just knew it was going to be the best four days of our summers, if not our lives. Every single person we met was so nice to us. We finally met living, breathing proof that there are people that exist that are just as obsessed with Harry Potter as we are. People walked around in full out costumes every single day, and it was just plain awesome. We could make a nerdy joke, and they would understand. It didn’t even have to be related to Harry Potter – Doctor Who, the Hunger Games, almost every fandom you can imagine – there were fans there. It was like finally existing with my own species.
            Not only were the other fans nice to us…so were the stars. We met people from the YouTube famous Starkid group, the masters behind the Potter Puppet Pals, and several people who are in Harry Potter tribute bands. It was pretty insane to see someone just walking around the lobby. We look up to a lot of these people, and to meet them was one of the most brilliant experiences I could have asked for. It was actually hard to wrap my head around the fact that we were staying within the same hotel as all these people. We also got pictures and autographs with quite a few of them…including four actors from the Harry Potter movies!
            A lot of the time, we didn’t even have time to eat lunch or dinner. We stuffed something in our mouths and drank a lot of coffee from the Starbucks in the lobby. The majority of the time we were pretty much running on adrenaline. I regret nothing. Every waking minute was filled with pure awesomeness. We were staying up until one in the morning at concerts, at which we got amazing front row seats I might add. We got in line an hour and a half before they even started because all of the lines were so long they wrapped around the building at least three times, and I’m not exaggerating. However, no one really minded much because we all just mingled. Once, we even ended up playing a game of Apples to Apples with the girls in front of us. Then the next day, we’d be getting up at seven and off to whatever else we had planned because there was just so much to do.
            Next year LeakyCon is in Portland, Oregon (and I’m left here to ask “WHY CAN’T IT BE HERE IN JERSEY? OR EVEN NEW YORK OR PENNSYLVANIA?). It was a stretch to get to Chicago this year, so I doubt I’m going to be attending. But mark my words: my LeakyCon experience is not over!



Children's Writing Club meeting


Thursday, November 29
@ 6-7:45 pm
Children's Writing Club meeting!
Open to all adults and youth who are writing stories for children!


Imagination  Creativity  Inspiration