A Weird Book I Wrote in 6th Grade

Chapter 1 - Judy Hates School, Apparently

All the houses on Sweet Maple Street were the same. They were white or light gray, had a perfect green lawn, a bright red door, and had palm trees and other tropical plants growing in their yards. All except one. Number 223. Though the citizens of the old Sweet Maple Street all called it the Quaker house.

The Quaker house was old. The other neighborhood that had been there before Sweet Maple had been torn down. Or, at least what was left of it. New houses had been put up. But the Quaker house stayed like it was. No one wanted to get rid of it. It had been the only one to survive the Great Fire.

The Quaker house was painted a dark brown. The creaky front porch still had a rocking chair on it, even though no one lived there anymore. It was nestled in the corner of the street, the trees in the front yard covering it like it was a secret. Maybe it was.

***

"Bow Wow, I can't believe it's the last day of summer vacation," Judy complained. The cat just licked her paws without looking up. Judy kept stroking his fur.

Judy looked at her room. In the corner was the dreaded pile of school supplies. Her plain white notebook. Her teal backpack. Her black binder. Her yellow skirt and pink shirt for the first day of school. Her green pencil pouch. Her plastic cockroach. Her-

Judy suddenly looked up. Plastic cockroach? She could only think of one person in her family who would bear such an item. And it sure wasn't her.

"ALASKA!" Judy cried. She heard giggling from inside her closet.

"Not funny, Alaska!" Judy growled as she stomped over to the closet and flung open the door. She saw a flash of pink as her little sister darted out of the room. Alaska grabbed Bow Wow on the way.

"HEY! BOW WOW IS MINE!" Judy cried as she raced down the hall. When she got to Alaska's door (shut and locked) she banged on it.

"Alaska, Bow Wow is my pet. Mom and Dad got me him for my birthday."

"I want a pet, too!" Came a muffled cry from the room.

"You have one! Mom and Dad got you that sweet, loving, delightful hamster!" Judy thought no such thing. Skippy was as jerky as hamsters get. He wouldn't let you pet him. If you had food, he'd nearly bite your fingers off. He spent most of his time hiding in his sleeping hut, and he was so fat he could barely run on his hamster wheel.

There was a pause as Alaska considered this. She slowly creaked the door open and peered out of the crack...

Right as Judy slammed into her. There was a loud crash, a yowl, and a blur as the girls fell to a heap on the floor and Bow Wow ran into Judy's room and under the bed. Judy saw her chance and took it, pinning Alaska's arms to the ground.

"You tricked me!" Alaska squealed as she squirmed around on the floor.

"Ew! Alaska! You have ketchup all over your shirt! And now it's getting on me!"

Alaska glanced down at the red stain on her sleeve and giggled. She then pursued to purposely rub it on Judy.

"Girls! Dinner!" Judy glanced down the stairs and into the kitchen. There was her mom, standing in front of a burning casserole. Judy grimaced and Alaska made a gagging sound. They put on straight faces, though, and lined up in front of the bathroom sink to wash their hands.

"Yum! This is delicious!" Dad exclaimed at the table. "Are these mushrooms? They are scrumptious!" Alaska and Judy rolled their eyes. They knew that Dad didn't appreciate Mom's cooking any more than they did. After dinner, he would just lock himself in the garage and eat a PB&J and some brownies.