stories

Friday, November 6, 2026

The Amusement Park

Today I went to Six Flags Magic Mountain with Mar Vista Summer Day Camp. I had been looking forward to this trip all week! (We always go on our field trips on Fridays.) In the morning, I couldn’t wait for the bus to come to pick us up. I hoped there wouldn’t be much traffic getting up there.

When we got inside the gates, we were supposed by how few people were there that day. We had expected the park to be crammed with families and kids from other summer camps.

I got assigned to be with two counselors, Victor and Andrea. Boy, was I glad, because they were the counselors who said they would be going on all the fastest rides!

The first ride we went on was Batman. I liked that ride because the roller coaster track is above the riders and your legs swing all over the place. It’s really smooth, too, even when you turn upside down.

This was the first time I was able to go on the big rides, because the last time I came I was only six, and I was still going on lots of the little kid rides at Bugs Bunny World. It was still kind of cool to see those small rides as we passed by them on the way to the big ones.

The next ride we went on was Superman. I didn’t like that one much because all you do is go up once, and back down backwards, really fast. It’s kind of scary too, because you can’t see where you’re going on the way back down, and you don’t know if the ride is going to stop!

After Superman, we went on a really old ride called Spin Out. My dad had told me that it was one of his favorites from the old days. I thought it would be slow and boring, but it turned out to be cool.

In this ride, a group of about twenty people walk into a round room and stand against the curved black rubber wall. Then the room begins to spin around, slowly at first, then faster and faster.

A few seconds after the ride began, the room spun faster. I felt my body getting sucked up against the wall. The floor began to drop away. Everybody started screaming, but we didn’t fall. I couldn’t see my feet because my head was pinned against the wall. Since I couldn’t tell by looking at my own feet how far down the floor had moved, I looked across at the people on the other side. We were about four feet up from the floor! After about a minute of spinning, the floor started coming back up, and the spinning slowed down. Finally, our bodies started sliding slowly back down the wall toward the rising floor. Everyone laughed when it was over. I sure am glad we went on that ride before lunch, and not after!

www.henryanker.com

Earthquakes

There are many kinds of natural disasters that happen on Earth. There haven been forest fires, floods, hurricanes, tornados, and severe droughts. Earthquakes are another kind of disaster that make the ground, and everything we built on it, shake. The shaking can sometimes go on for more than a minute. Most earthquakes are small and hardly noticeable, but others can be catastrophic and deadly for thousands of people. Earthquakes in the United States are most likely to occur in western states, especially California. Depending on where we live, we need to be prepared for what disasters are more likely to happen in the future.

A big earthquake can make bridges and highways crumble. This means tons of concrete crashing to the ground. Parts of buildings, or entire buildings can fall. People can be hurt or killed by heavy things that fall away from high places. This is why students in school practice sheltering under tables during earthquake drills. Once the shaking is over, students and adults need to evacuate the buildings and go outside where it is safer.

At home, we need to know where to go if an earthquake happens. We need to know how to find our way around our home if the earthquake happens at night. We may need to navigate stairs. People should have a flashlight or cell phone with a light close to their bed. This way, people can be ready for an emergency, even in the dark. If a quake happens while we are in our house or apartment, it is a good idea to stand in a doorway during the shaking where there are stronger wooden beams above our heads and holding onto the door frame.

We should also have extra food and water at home in case we can’t get out of the house or access help for many days. Hospitals and stores may be damaged and stay closed after a quake, inaccessible to the public. Police and firefighters, the people we often call ‘first responders’ will only be able to help the most severely injured. Everyone else will be on their own. In the cafeteria, schools keep several days worth of food and water needed for the large number of people there as a precaution. Students and adults who take medication daily should have an extra day’s supply on hand. Earthquakes are part of life in California, but we can do our best to be prepared for them.

The New Computer

Jessica’s family bought a new computer. The family had been saving money for it for over six months. Everyone in the family was excited about it, and everyone would use it. Jessica’s parents had asked Jessica and her brother, Kyle, to research different models and features available. They did this by using computers at the library to read technology reviews online, and also research deals with their Smartphones.

They all agreed that they wanted the computer to have a 24” or larger monitor, have a hard drive with at least 1 TeraByte (TB) of storage, at least 8 GigaBytes (GB) of RAM, and come with a 3-year warranty, which would cover any problems that might occur. They ordered the computer online, and was delivered in just 3 days. Everyone had an intended use for it.

Jessica’s dad would use it to make sure they had the right amount of money in the family bank account. If the amount was wrong, he would know about it right away. He could have checks deposited automatically, monitor their credit report, and file their tax returns over the Internet.

Her mom would use the computer in her police work to track down at-large bank robbers and other criminals. She would be able to check criminal records and fingerprints in databases right from home. Jessica’s mom could also review crime statistics of burglaries and car theft in and around their neighborhood. There would also be the opportunity to monitor the whereabouts of convicted and released felons via the publicly available State of California Megan’s Law database.

Jessica’s brother, Kyle, would use the computer for his college studies. He could use the Internet to research biology concepts like photosynthesis and genetic mutations. Kyle attended college hear their home and commented daily to campus. He needed access to a computer at home to study for his major in Microbiology at UCLA.

Jessica herself would send e-mails and homework assignments to her high school teachers. She would compose and submit her papers in MLA Format using Google Docs. She could research words, concepts, and issues right within the application. She especially liked having her work saved automatically to the cloud, and be able to access her work back at school without having to carry a USB flash drive. Having a new, well-equipped computer would be great for everyone in the family.

Thursday, October 1, 2026

Family Traditions

A family is a group of people that are related by birth, by marriage, or another reason, like foster care or adoption. There are other ways people can be included in a family. A person may be included if he or she is a lifelong friend to a member of the family. A person could be considered ‘family’ if he or she served together in the military with someone in the family. Families have mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, sons, daughters, aunts, uncles, cousins, and more.

Families often have traditions that help members of the family feel a stronger connection to the past, and to each other. Traditions include events, activities, a love of music, dancing, participating in sports and games, preparing meals or cultural foods, or celebrations in a religion that people in a family do together.

Traditions can be things like eating a Thanksgiving dinner, opening presents on Christmas morning, or fifteen year-old girls wearing white dresses for their Quinceñeras. A family tradition can be snuggling up in lawn chairs watching fireworks on a Fourth of July evening, grinning children gathered around a picnic table singing, “Happy Birthday”, or grandchildren helping their abuelita make tamales. Other special occasions families might consider traditions are traveling to their home country during school holidays, young and old family members playing soccer or softball at the park, or eating pozole and buñuelos at an aunt and uncle’s house.

Traditions can be wonderful when families participate in them, but they can be sad when members of a family can’t be there because they are not able to attend, are sick, or have passed away.

Traditions like taking a family photo, or walking on the beach holding hands at sunset, are times we cherish and remember, and look forward to doing again and again. Honoring traditions, by keeping them going, is the responsibility of the older members of the family. Having fun, singing, dancing, playing, joking around, shaking hands, and giving kisses and hugs are everyone’s job.

No More Mowing

For Uncle Harry, the grass outside his home was becoming too much trouble to take care of. He lived in the desert of Las Vegas, Nevada. It was hot most of the year, and his water bill was becoming very expensive. In the summer, to keep it green, he had to water his lawn twice a day! In the winter, the grass would turn brown when the temperature got too cold. On top of all that, he thought, at seventy-five, he was getting too old to mow it himself. He decided to have his lawn dug out and removed, and put pampas grasses, cacti, and cool looking rocks and smooth stones in his yard instead.

First, he hired some men who were looking for work, waiting outside the local home improvement store. Together, they dug out all the grass below the roots. Next, they removed all the sprinkler heads and capped them off, as the plants Harry would be putting in wouldn’t need much more than the occassional rainstorm to stay alive. The next step was to smooth out the dirt using rakes and make it flat. After that, they rolled out some thick plastic over the dirt to keep wild grasses and weeds from growing through. Finally, the men opened the bags of different colored smooth stones Harry had bought and spread them out by hand until the dirt was covered. They left open circles where the grasses and cacti would be planted next week.

Harry was happy with his work and the work of the men he had hired. He gave them all an extra twenty dollars each over the one hundred dollars each he had promised to pay them for the day. In the next few weeks, after Harry had planted the grasses and cacti, neighbors were stopping by daily complimenting Harry on how nice his yard looked. Some people even asked him which landscape architecture company he had used, and ‘could they get the phone number?’

Few people believed Harry and a few men looking for work on a Saturday could have done such a ‘professional job’. That gave Harry great satisfaction, along with the relief that he didn't have to mow anymore, and that his water bill would be cut in half.

Making Popcorn

Fran asked her father to help her make popcorn. “There are some microwave pouches in the cabinet over the refrigerator,” her father said.

“Dad,” Fran moaned softly. “I want to make real popcorn, with real kernels and oil in a pan. I’ll even get out all the things we need, and clean up after,” she said. The ‘clean up after’ part was the clincher. Her father agreed.

Fran found a large pan with a cover, some vegetable oil, and the popping corn. First, her father turned on the burner and adjusted the flame. Then he poured oil in the pan. When the oil was hot enough, Fran poured some corn into the pan and carefully placed the cover on top. After a minute, the corn began to pop inside the pan. Then Fran said to her father, “Listen to all the noise! Now I know why it’s called popcorn. It smells fantastic!”

Fran's father poured the popcorn into a bowl. He melted some butter and poured it on top. “See, this is the real stuff. Butter! Not like the fake stuff that they use in most movie theaters.” Fran rolled her eyes a bit, then smiled, and then added some salt.

Fran and her father took the popcorn to the sofa and put the large bowl between them to share. Fran walked over to the shelf of DVDs and picked out her favorite movie, Matilda. Her dad smiled. He knew Fran had seen the movie about a hundred times, and he had watched it several times with her, too. Fran’s dad said, “You know, even though I’ve seen this movie a bunch of times, it’s still fun to watch, because every time I watch it, I notice things I didn’t before.”

Fran smiled again. These were special times with her dad.

The Velveteen Rabbit Or How Toys Become Real by Margery Williams

The Velveteen Rabbit

Or How Toys Become Real

by Margery Williams

THERE was once a velveteen rabbit, and in the beginning he was really splendid. He was fat and bunchy, as a rabbit should be; his coat was spotted brown and white, he had real thread whiskers, and his ears were lined with pink sateen. On Christmas morning, when he sat wedged in the top of the Boy's stocking, with a sprig of holly between his paws, the effect was charming.

There were other things in the stocking, nuts and oranges and a toy engine, and chocolate almonds and a clockwork mouse, but the Rabbit was quite the best of all. For at least two hours the Boy loved him, and then Aunts and Uncles came to dinner, and there was a great rustling of tissue paper and unwrapping of parcels, and in the excitement of looking at all the new presents the Velveteen Rabbit was forgotten.

Christmas Morning

For a long time he lived in the toy cupboard or on the nursery floor, and no one thought very much about him. He was naturally shy, and being only made of velveteen, some of the more expensive toys quite snubbed him. The mechanical toys were very superior, and looked down upon every one else; they were full of modern ideas, and pretended they were real. The model boat, who had lived through two seasons and lost most of his paint, caught the tone from them and never missed an opportunity of referring to his rigging in technical terms. The Rabbit could not claim to be a model of anything, for he didn't know that real rabbits existed; he thought they were all stuffed with sawdust like himself, and he understood that sawdust was quite out-of-date and should never be mentioned in modern circles. Even Timothy, the jointed wooden lion, who was made by the disabled soldiers, and should have had broader views, put on airs and pretended he was connected with Government. Between them all the poor little Rabbit was made to feel himself very insignificant and commonplace, and the only person who was kind to him at all was the Skin Horse.

The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed the seams underneath, and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces. He was wise, for he had seen a long succession of mechanical toys arrive to boast and swagger, and by-and-by break their mainsprings and pass away, and he knew that they were only toys, and would never turn into anything else. For nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand all about it.

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?" "Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

"I suppose you are real?" said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse only smiled.

The Skin Horse Tells His Story

"The Boy's Uncle made me Real," he said. "That was a great many years ago; but once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."

The Rabbit sighed. He thought it would be a long time before this magic called Real happened to him. He longed to become Real, to know what it felt like; and yet the idea of growing shabby and losing his eyes and whiskers was rather sad. He wished that he could become it without these uncomfortable things happening to him.