The following story was received as part of Writing's Take Five Contest. Although it did not win, we enjoyed it very much and wanted to share it with you. Check back throughout the rest of April and May to read more excellent poems and stories from Take Five.

Bicycle Boy
- Short story by Adela Wu, Grade 9

It was utterly dismal, not attractive at all, but then again, it was his home. The rows of rectangular boxes for apartments sickened the mind; each looked exactly like those on either side. Occasionally, the old women below them would even enter the wrong building. (Tony had a few laughs at their expense.) And the dust. It coated the streets, leeched onto the walls, hovered in every inch of the summer air. 

What a coincidence that it was down in the filthy streets that Tony found his treasure.

The pile of rusted metal and twisted scrap lay next to an overflowing dumpster. However, Tony recognized the slim form of handlebars, pedals and the worn but unmistakable outline of two bicycle wheels.

“I’m going to fix a bike,” he announced proudly to his mother that night. The tired woman briefly looked up from the warm chicken noodle soup simmering on the stove.

“Tony, how many times have I told you not to go wandering around the streets?” she sighed exasperatedly. “It’s dangerous—”

“Stop treating me like a baby!” Tony shouted against his better judgment for he fully knew about his mother’s raging temper. To his astonishment she put down her soup ladle and sat next to him.

“All right, you win,” She grinned, opening the sewing basket. Quickly, her voice turned serious as she efficiently bit the string and grabbed Tony’s red jacket, “But with growing up, you’re going to get more responsibilities.” She waved a silver key before his eyes. “This is our house-key.” Tony blinked. “People without a home are lost people…if this key is gone, our home is gone. Then we are lost!” His mother rambled on as the sharp needle punctured the jacket and her dexterous fingers expertly folded the lining to create a pocket. She wound thread around the key and administered a final stern warning, “If you lose this key, you might as well throw our family and home away. Be careful, Tony…I trust you.” Tony smiled into his mother’s eyes as she embraced him.

The following is a piece of my catalog of travels from the great state of Virginia to the great state of California, up the coast to Washington (also great), and then back east, back home. Nothing in this account has been embellished and/or fabricated. It all really and truly happened. For real. Seriously. I would not lie to you.

Begin
I'm already behind. The problem is that there were six whole states I had to go through just to get to D.C. But that was accomplished by train yesterday. That doesn’t really count as part of the road trip. So I suppose I can forgive myself and move on.

We're definitely on the road now though. We totally blew off D.C. We awoke this morning after a rip-roaring good night. Weekly Reader won a bunch of awards at The Association Of Educational Publishers Award Ceremony. That made us happy.  :)

But that was then, this is, um, now.

The reason (well, one of them anyway) that we didn't see the D.C. sights is because I saw them last year. And Dan's seen them before, too. Dan is my road trip buddy. He's in the Air Force and I've known him all my life. He keeps us safe. He's good people. I think he's sick of me already, though. Ha! Not really. Maybe.

Led Zeppelin is blasting. The windows are rolled down. And we're in Virginia. Yayyy Virginia! I hear Route 66 is the most famous road in America. We're on it now. I'll tell you something about Route 66. So far ... I'm not very impressed. Show me something, 66! Bring it!

Something's Fishy
Apparently, Virginia is "Kilgore Country". We just passed a barn that announced that fact on a very large banner. I wonder if they mean Kilgore Trout, Kurt Vonnegut's famous character/alter-ego. Probably not. It's probably the local High School's basketball team. Go Kilgore!

"Where should we go?"

"Oh, I dunno. Go to the hoop. Get in the paint!!"

"How about you just drive across the country?"

"That works, too."

Hey, Where'd Bry Go?
There are caverns all over Virginia. We keep passing signs for Shenandoah Caverns and Luray Caverns and even something called "Endless Caverns". Every time we see a sign for a cavern we discuss the possibility of going. By the time we decide that yes, we should go and see the caverns, it's too late and they're gone. It's just as well. I'm sure I would have got lost in the Endless Caverns, fallen down some awful pit and have to live with Gollum and the Ghoulies. Yeah. Keep driving.

Today is all about driving. We have to put many miles behind us now so we have more time to hang out in national parks and Badlands, more time to explore the California coast and mountain ranges. To wit, we must hurry. We're on limited time here.

Verona, Virginia
I just saw two households. They both seemed alike in dignity.

Next stop... West Virginia.

Dear Faithful Blog Readers and Writers,

"I've been everywhere, man. I've been everywhere. I breathe the mountain air, man. I've been everywhere." - Johnny Cash

I have just returned from a cross country road trip. Well, "just", meaning that I took two weeks off and returned very late in the evening last Thursday. The purpose of the trip was to have fun, enjoy a vacation, and not to blog. Of course, I can't seem to do anything these days without thinking of how I can relate it to the blog. So I brought my laptop along for the ride and wrote about every state that we drove through. At times, I was eager to write. At other times, I wasn't.

For whatever it's worth, I'm going to be relating my journey through this great land of ours to you over the next couple of weeks. As always, feel free to join in and comment on anything, whether you agree or disagree. Whether you've been to these not-so-distant states or whether you've always wanted to go. Maybe you live very near to a place where I've been. Heck, maybe you saw me driving through your town! That'd be weird. At any rate, I'll start posting about my travels tonight. My hope is that, at the times where I am less inclined to discuss literary topics, others will jump in. It's a pretty big country, to say the least. What will follow here is merely my speedy ramble through it.

- Bry

The American Library Association (or ALA) is holding their annual convention this week. And what better place to have it than good ol' New Orleans?

With the 1 year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's massive destruction rapidly approaching, New Orleans is ready to prove that they have bounced back quick and are ready to host grand scale conventions again.

Well over 14,000 ALA members are expected to pour into New Orleans this week. Librarians and educators alike are eager to help spread the word that the "Big Easy" is back, baby! Yah! And you know how those librarians love to party! Look out!

Read the New York Times article here.