 Friday, September 18, 2009
In Issue 1, we asked you to send us your Arabian Nights Stories. Congratulations to Samantha Heppermann! Here is yours!
The Immortal Camel
By Samantha Heppermann
"My dear Scheherazade," said the king Schahriar, "will you please tell me the story of the prince you were talking about last night. It sounded interesting, and you promised me that you would tell another one of your enchanting stories. If you refuse I might have to kill you, and that would be a great shame.
"I guess I shall tell you the story. Now listen closely," said Scheherazade, "this is the story of a camel and a greedy prince.
"There was once a very wise and kind king. He was over a hundred years old and greatly loved by the people of his kingdom. Even though the king was at an advanced age, he was still the healthiest person in the kingdom. He had ruled the kingdom for half his life, and still had a strong heart and participated in the army with a fierce fist.
"The king had a very successful life, and had the perfect family, or so he thought. His wife was the loveliest woman in the kingdom, and she loved him very faithfully. They had a boy who had the face of an angel, and was most generous. He seemed to deeply care about the kingdom and the king was at peace knowing that his son would succeed him. No one knew though, that the prince had a great amount of bitterness in him. He hated the way his father ruled, and thought the kingdom should be more of a dictatorship. He would also be very cruel to those who were not beautiful as he was; the prince believed that his angel-like face gave him authority over all the ugly. The prince should have been throw out of the kingdom, but only his personal guards knew of his bitterness.
"One night the prince arranged a secret meeting. He and a few guards in the kingdom's army were there. He was trying to devise a plan to kill his father, but none of the guards would do it, so the prince thought of a plan himself.
"The next night the prince was going to sneak into his father's room, capture him, and send him to a far away country.
"I will be king soon!" thought the prince.
"As he was walking to his father's room, a genie jumped out at him."
"BOO! Leave you naughty prince!" screamed the genie.
"The prince was greatly startled by this. He forgot all about his plan and ran all the way back to his quarters.
"Back in his room the prince was enraged."
"That stupid genie. Now my plan is ruined. I will summon my own genie and demand him to punish the genie that scared me. Rise genie!" said the prince.
"What is it your highness?" said the genie.
"I demand you to punish the genie that ruined my plan," said the prince.
"Oh, I am afraid that I cannot do that my highness. A genie cannot harm one of its own kind. It just cannot be done. But, before you get too angry, I can grant you something else. I can grant you a camel. This is not an ordinary camel though. When this camel dies, you will be able to follow through with your plan to get rid of the king," said the genie. The prince thought about this for a while then finally decided that this was a good idea. "I must warn you though, this camel is ..." said the genie.
"I do not need your warnings," said the prince, "now be gone." Then the genie left and the prince was left alone with the camel. "That silly genie. This will be easy. I shall simply have the camel executed in the morning and then I will be king," said the prince and then he went to sleep. What he prince did not know though, was that the camel was an immortal camel, and if he ever tried to kill it, an extra 100 years would be added on to the happy king's life.
"So, for 100 days and 100 nights the prince tried to have the camel killed. The prince never succeeded, and the camel and the king still live on today, happily ruling their kingdom. The prince left the kingdom and determined to have a kingdom of his own but that is the beginning of another tale."
"Oh Scheherazade what a lovely story, will you please tell me another one, about the prince," asked Schahriar.
"Another time Schahriar, another time." 
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Tuesday, September 15, 2009
In the first issue of READ, we asked students to write a new beginning to an ending. This was the ending we provided: Alexa paused at the crest of the hill to look at the valley below her tired and blistered feet. She looked at the burned craters in the ground between the splintered and toppled trees. The wind stirred and brought back faint echoes of smoke. Dried leaves circled her feet before clattering away on the parched ground. Alexa sighed deeply and thought, Could all this be worth it?
Thanks to Jack Gagan who sent us the following story.Great job!
"Alexa! Breakfast!" Mom hollered.
"Be right there!" Alexa called back. Alexa enjoyed her breakfast of waffles while watching the morning news.
"Coming up, Meteor shower tonight, Jack Gagan out of jail again, nuclear war breaks out everywhere." Alexa turned off the television.
"That Jack Gagan is a real criminal, that boy. It seems like he's in and out of jail every day," Mom said.
"You're not even concerned about the war?" Alexa asked, in shock. Her mom was usually so concerned about wars.
"Nah, this thing is just a stunt the news pulls off to get viewers. Although, I do want to see the meteor shower," Mom replied.
***That night***
"Wow! This meteor shower is magnificent!" Alexa correctly stated. "Are meteors usually that big?"
"No, not usually. These are really big meteors. I hope that they don't do very much damage or we could be in big trouble," said Dad "It looks like they are around the communications center."
Each meteor hit the communications center. This particular center helped all the nations communicate with each other clearly. If someone said something in English to a Russian man, he would hear it in Russian and vice versa. This was important because all the world leaders were going to speak with each other the next day about how to end the nuclear war.
***The next day***
"The nuclear war has begun!" the news caster announced, horrified. "The meteor shower last night destroyed the communications center and everyone in it. The war is going to continue if no one fixes it." Alexa turned off the television.
"I am going to fix the communications center," Alexa stated, bravely.
"No you're not. There is no way you can do it. How are you going to get there? I'm certainly not going to take you," said Mom.
"I'll walk." So she did.
Alexa got to the top of the hill and looked down at the splintered trees, the many craters, and the dead leaves that rustled around her blistered feet. Alexa wondered Is this really worth it?
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Monday, September 14, 2009
We got sooo many of these that it was very hard to pick our favorites. Thanks to everyone who submitted! Great job, READers!
Anxiously, William swung the door open and looked to see if the door he had opened contained a beautiful woman or a ravenous tiger. William had slightly expected the woman to be behind the door. He thought that he had gained the Princess’s trust and love. But William was over-confident, and William was wrong. This was no beautiful lady, it was the most hideous looking monster he had ever laid his eyes on. The beast sprang at him as soon as he opened the door. The animal thrust its claws into William’s flesh and sank its teeth into him. The crowd yelled and the King cheered. But the Princess would not look. She knew what was happening. She opened her eyes anyway just to see William one last time. He was halfway torn apart and pinned against the ground. But he glanced over to the princess and mouthed his last words, “Why?” With that, William was dead. The crowd erupted, and the king clapped with a look of satisfaction on his face.
“Good show, good show!” the King exclaimed. The Princess was in a state of shock. She couldn’t believe what had just happened. The Princess looked over to her conceited father.
“Why does our kingdom do this stupid process anyway,” she thought. When she decided to lead William to his murder, she never believed that it would make her feel this guilty. The Princess had simply thought that William’s death would bring rest to the kingdom.
“Poor William,” she whispered.
“Ah, but it was his fate,” replied the King, “he deserved it.”
“You horrible excuse for an honorable king,” replied the Princess. “This is a kingdom in which I do not belong. I cannot stay here any longer.” But then the Princess thought of what she had just done and she thought that she was no better than her semi-barbaric father.
“William hadn’t done anything to deserve this,” she thought, “I should’ve let him live.” And with that, she turned away from the arena and away from the kingdom. The Princess left the entire palace behind and hid away in a small village. The King sent many soldiers and guards to try to find her, but she was never heard from again.
— Ryan Walsh
The golden door knob was twisted; the door was seconds from being fully opened. As the door creaked open to its fullest extent, the entire arena gasped in unison. It was the tiger, yet the princess did not hear any screams of terror from William. So she opened her eyes, and saw that the tiger, as ferocious looking as he/she was, it was asleep. At this, the king was furious for not having William gruesomely mauled to death by the tiger. So, the king silenced the arena and said ÒDue to the tiger not being able to kill William, he will marry the beautiful lady.Ó The king did this, knowing that it was the only other option he had that would prevent the marriage of his daughter and William. Upon hearing that William would spend the rest of his life with another woman, the princess ran out of the arena weeping. Later that day, the king went looking for his daughter. He found her, but it was not as he had expected to find her; she had killed herself so she would not suffer the agony of William being with another woman. The king was so horrified by what his actions had caused, that he stopped the gruesome killings of men.
— David Neal
As soon as William started to turn the left door’s handle, the princess bit her lip. There was complete silence as if the world was empty. There was a shining light from the door, and gently walking out was a beautiful maiden, as if she was the fairest goddess of all. The princess smiled, knowing that nobody got hurt, only marriage. She was glad, because putting him to be killed would be even more awful for her to watch. William smiled at the princess, as if he was saying thank you. The semi-barbaric king found a small room for love in his heart and let his daughter visit William with his new wife three times a week. Soon, the princess and the gorgeous lady became best friends. People protested for the trials to stop, and the king got overruled and stopped. He was still king, but just no more trials. Then William hugged the princess and said “Thank you for helping me chose the door.” The princess was filled with happiness, for she has chose to do the right thing.
— Danielle Lockwood
A moment of silence overtook the crowd as they were waiting to see what came through the door. Gasps suddenly engulfed the entire arena. A lady emerged from the doorway, and the crowd began to cheer loudly. A wedding immediately commenced and the lady and William were married. The princess sadly watched from her seat, holding back tears.
The next few nights, she was unable to sleep. At first, she thought it was just the feeling of loss for her lover. Then she finally realized what it was: jealously. She had thought it was the right thing, letting her lover live. Now she knew that the mistake she made would just cause her grief and suffering. The princess soon became aware that she would not be able to tolerate this much longer. There was only one thing that could end this self-suffering. To finish the deed that she could not finish before; kill William.
One night, she escaped to carry out this evil deed. She laughed at the thought that she used to escape to see him, but now, she escaped to murder him. She went up to his window and called out his name, just as she used to. William soon came out, looking astounded.
"What are you doing here?" he questioned.
"I haven't seen you since you were in the arena. I have missed you so much," she said, embracing him. Before he had a chance to respond, she pulled out a dagger from her cloak and stabbed him through the heart. Watching him in his dying moments she said, "Since you have stabbed me through the heart, I now stab you through yours."
William stared up at the princess and replied, "Though I may have blindly stabbed at your heart, there was nothing there to pierce." He slowly fell to the ground and died.
The next day, rumors started swirling around the kingdom. There was news of William's death and presumptions of his killer. To her surprise, the king called her before him. He looked at her and said, "Why did you kill that man, my daughter?"
"I didn't kill any man, father," the princess replied, trying to make her words sound truthful.
"There were witnesses to this incident, my dear. I am ashamed that you have lied to me. Though it pains me deeply to say this, we shall have your trial in the arena."
On the day of the trial, the princess was about to leave her room when the king entered. He said in a hushed tone, "I should not be telling you this, but you are my beloved daughter. I shall tell you which the correct door is."
Soon after, the princess was standing in the middle of the arena. Her father's words were echoing in her head. She cleared her mind and thought to herself, "I must make the right decision." She reached out her hand and opened the left door. A bloodthirsty tiger leaped out.
— Author unknown ... who wrote this? Did you?
Email us at word at weeklyreader dot com to get full credit for your story!
She heard a million gasps. Tears rolled down her rosey cheeks as she finally opened her eyes. There, in the left doorway, stood the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. She was dressed in delecate, pink lace and silk. Milk-white gloves stretched up her arms and down to her dainty fingers. Rings with large diamonds dotted each finger flawlessly. Her dress stretched down to the ground, ending in small, gold beads that glimmered briliantly in the hot sun. Her face was round and perfect, with large blue eyes that batted in William's direction. Her lips formed slyly into a warming smile. William fell to the ground in disbelief, was this really what the princess wanted? He turned around and looked up at the princess, she looked away as she got up and ran out of the arena, tears streaming down her face. The maiden helped him up as a breeze blew in and made her long, blond hair wave and shimmer instantly through the rays of sun that beat down and around her, giving her an angelic appearence.
It was then that William realized what the princess intended. She loved him, that was for sure, but she wanted him to be happy, even if it wasn't with her. She knew that a love shared between herself and the plain William was impossible and forbidden with her stern father breathing down her neck. She knew that a bloody death from an oversized tiger wouldn't surely be his fate if she could help it. And so that is how it happened, the lady, or the tiger. In William's case it was the lady, just not the one his heart truley longed for.
—Brandi Deacon
The crowd started to throw their shoes at me, so I went back to the middle of the gigantic mob and continued my version of the story.
"He started to open the door. Then he heard a noise. It came from behind the left door. It was the tiger. The tiger had gotten so impatient that it roared at William to make his decision. He chose the door on the right and behind it was the beautiful lady.
"The new couple got married and went on a honeymoon to St. Petersburg, Russia. They were enjoying the sites of Russia but unfortunately for the couple, they got so cold that they had to fly to a warmer place. They decided to go to San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico. Once there, they had a nice week of relaxing, enjoying the scenery, taking hikes, and swimming with dolphins. They came home and invited the princess over for a backyard barbeque, along with all their other friends, to celebrate. The invitation said:
Who: William and Cathy
What: the wedding reception of William and Cathy
When: September 11
Where: William and Cathy's house
P.S. Come through the back gate of the house because that is where everyone will be located. There will be many different games , contests, and food for everyone to enjoy.
"When the princess arrived, she walked through the gate. To her surprise, the was no one there. All that was there was a video camera pointed at her and a hungry, man-eating lion. The gate suddenly closed and the lion pounced on her in a flash. Blood flew all over the backyard. It ruined the camera, so William could not enjoy his revenge.
"The king soon found out and was very depressed. So he jumped off a cliff. The royal family had funerals and buried the king next to their mansion. The kings wife became the new ruler. She was a lot less cruel, and destroyed the horrible stadium.
"Even with the horrible events that took place with the king and princess, the citizens of the kingdom were so excited because the queen destroyed the stadium. They all decided to pitch in and have a statue built for the queen. Then they all lived happily ever after." When I finished, the crowd cheered, even the storyteller.
"I told stories there everyday and got paid. I told my version of the stories and the storyteller told his. The crowd loved us and came to listened when they got the chance.
— Andy Fritz
As William slowly turned the oversized golden knob. A thought came dashing through his mind. Will the princess lead him to an awful death, or will she let him marry a gorgeous maiden and marry another? When he opened the door, it slammed open. It was dark inside, no tiger had vaulted at him, so that meant only one thing, the princess had chosen the maiden for him. It was so dark William had trouble walking. He heard sobbing from a corner of the room. He walked over and William could barely make out the shape of the creature. He steadily took her hand and carried her out. The arena went wild with excitement. The princess was so mad at herself; she could jump off the balcony. She was yet happy in some way, that her beloved William wasn’t tiger food. But still mad he was going to marry another.
The celebration of the marriage took place right there in the arena. Afterwards, William and his new wife went to their house. They were silent for quite awhile. It seemed like hours before one of them spoke up. " Why were you crying?" questioned William. "I was crying for you! I thought you would die in the grasp of the ferocious tiger." After that was said, no one spoke again.
Meanwhile, back at the palace the princess thought of an ingenious plan to get the man she loved back. She was so grateful her precious William didn’t get eaten, that tears of joy filled her baby blue eyes. Right about midnight, the princess had her plan all figured out. She swiftly climbed down from her room’s window, and jumped over the gigantic wall that surrounded the castle. She then smuggled her way into some bushes. So the guards that were passing by wouldn’t spot her, and take her back. Unfortunately, an ominous looking guard actually did spot her, so he carefully followed the princess.
It was pitch-black, but the princess got away just fine. She finally came upon William’s house. She entered quietly and walked straight to the maiden’s room. Outside the guard followed and stayed out of sight. There the maiden was sleeping peacefully besides William. Enviously, the princess took the small dagger with both hands and slit her throat. Blood gushed down, while the maiden’s last breath was taken.
Out of sight, the guard watched in awe, as the princess slit the poor maiden’s throat. The guard rushed out of the house and went to the palace. There he alarmed the other guards to come down to William’s house. The king was also alarmed, so they all then hurried down.
In between, the princess had waken William and told him what she had done. William was so surprised of what love had done, he just wouldn’t believe it. The guards barged in. The king wasn’t too pleased with his daughter being there. So, the king needed a little fun. He falsely accused William of murdering his new wife, and kidnapping the princess.
The next day there was another Arena Day, but this time the king had put two bloodthirsty tigers, instead of a tiger and a maiden. The king was so vexed, he desperately needed a lot of entertaining. Guess who was the accused man, William!
This time whatever door he chose would be a terrible end. William did not know this so he relied on his heart. He opened a door and his end was near.
— Isabel Fernandez
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Thursday, September 10, 2009
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