A Collection of Short Stories

The Penguin

Last week something really weird happened to me. I know this story is pretty unbelievable, but believe me, it's true. And I don't mind if you don't believe me. I just want to write my story down.
My name is Fred, but everyone calls me Freddie. I live with my parents in a place called... well, I don't think I should tell you, because of stranger danger and all that stuff. Let's just say I live in X-Land. I'm pretty good in school, I'm never late and I always have my homework. That's what makes this story so much more interesting.
It was about 7:30 in the morning. I was on my way to school. It was winter, but X-Land is hot enough so that there aren't any really seasons. It can get to be 110 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer and sometimes even hotter. That was why I was very surprised when I suddenly saw a penguin running towards me. I thought fast. You know, the way you're always supposed to when someone throws a ball at you. This penguin had probably escaped from the zoo, which meant I had to catch it. I went to the side of the sidewalk so that it would think it could get away, and at the last second I jumped in front of it. But what I didn't expect was the penguin jumping to the side, too. It had been trying to run me over! The penguin didn't seem to mind that it hadn't succeeded. It quickly ran behind me and, before I could stop it, grabbed my backpack. I ran towards it, but it had already opened the backpack and was looking through it. Then, it grabbed my homework, left the backpack on the ground and ran way! What kind of penguin steals homework? I quickly picked up my backpack and ran after it, but had already jumped in a taxi and driven away. So I jumped in the taxi behind it and told the driver to follow that car. The drive took us to the airport. What did the penguin want there? I quickly got out, threw the driver a twenty dollar bill and followed the penguin. It wnt to security and showed the lady behind the desk a plane ticket. It probably thought it had lost me. Well, it thought wrong! Last year the plane had been one seat overbooked, so I got off in exchange for a free plane ticket to wherever I wanted. I quickly crammed it out of my backpack and kept following the penguin. Why hadn't the penguin stolen the ticket instead? It would have made so much more sense. The penguin ran through security, and I followed it until finally I stopped at a gate. I went to the guy behind the desk and asked if I could go on the plane, too. The guy said they were already completely overbooked but I could take the next flight to Columbia in three hours. I agreed, because I knew I couldn't get my homework back here. I had to wait for the right time and place. So I watched the penguin board the plane and waited three hours. While I waited, I got a call from home. Mom was mad because I was skipping school. I tried to explain about the penguin, but she wouldn't listen, so in the end I just hung up. I was probably going to be grounded for a month for that, but at the moment, I didn't really care. Finally it was time for me to board the plane. During the flight, I thought about what the penguin would possibly want in Columbia. A lot of explanations came to mind, but not one seemed likely. At last the plane landed and I got off. From there, I asked one of the airport policemen if he had seen the penguin. He told me the penguin was a robber and was in jail. I asked if they had recovered my homework, but he said they had burned all of the Penguins belongings. But he gave me a signed piece of paper I could show my parents and teacher so I wouldn't get in trouble and sent me on the next plane back home. Andy you know what happened? I lost the piece of paper.