Author of the month
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Tahra A.
September’s Author of the Month is Tahra A.! Felicity’s advice to someone considering joining 826NYC: “My friend is actually considering joining 826, and I would say that it’s fun, the teachers and students are really nice and accommodating, and the classes are very helpful for writing and done in a new perspective.”
Read MoreFeatured Writing
Melon’s Story
A scaly snout peeked out from behind a tree. A red leaf twirled down, and the little dragonet reached out and picked it up. Melon looked at it. “Prospect Park is so beautiful,” she murmured to herself. Suddenly, she heard footsteps coming towards her. She dove into the nearest trash can, and used her fire to burn two little eye holes in it. The melted metal dripped down onto her talons, but she gritted her teeth and kept quiet. The footsteps came closer and . . . a familiar head with curly brown hair looked down into the trash can. “Melon, I know you’re there. It’s just me.” Melon flew out of the trash can into the girl’s arms. “Raven!” she squeaked. Raven laughed. “You’re so silly. I have our costumes!” She picked up a little witch hat and broom and held it out. The dragonet pressed her cold snout into Raven’s chest. “I’m still worried about it.” “I know you are, but everyone’s really nice, and I’ll be here to protect you if anything does happen. It’ll be fun, Melon! You can’t miss out on this. It’s my favorite holiday, and I want to spend it with you.” She shoved the pink and silver hat over the dragonet’s moss-green head, and handed her the broom. Then she put on her own midnight blue and gold hat. The scent of pumpkin pasties and lollipops wafted through the clear night air, and Melon started to grin. Raven picked up her broom and lifted it above her head. “Let’s go trick or treating!”
The Chameleon Coney Island
(Exaver was Frightened and scared but his tongue was holding him on. Gary and Tom and Buttercup were all having fun. Another detail was that Exaver wanted to go on the Ferris Wheel. So then they were holding on with their sticky grip.) EXAVER: WHEN DOES THIS STOP?? GARY: I don’t know!! BUTTERCUP: YEAH! When does this stop?! TOM: We’re already done… but… BUTTERCUP: Dad, this is so boring. TOM: I want to go on the bumper cars. EXAVER: Really? TOM: Yes, really. EXAVER: Okay. TOM: Exaver, this is so fun. EXAVER: Yeah. But there’s a lot of bumping. BUTTERCUP: That’s why they’re called bumper cars. TOM: It’s done. GARY: Can we go on the polar bear spinny thing? BUTTERCUP: Yeah! TOM: Can we go go-karting? EXAVER: Guys, stop! We cant do everything! TOM: Fine. I’m going by myself. BUTTERCUP: Me too! I’m going go-karting. GARY: Okay, I’m going too. TOM: I’m going too! ( They use their camouflaging powers and they go away, they went as far as could but got lost and started to miss each other. Until they smelt cheese pizza and they slowly walked to it. They found each other.) The End.
Bunny Hunting Bunny Saving
This is Emily! She is a normal girl. She goes to school. She comes back. Does her homework. At night, she stares at the wall and waits until midnight because she has a secret. She has a pet bunny and she sneaks out to play with him. But once she saw a car that she thought was familiar. The next day, she looked it up and they brand-test things on bunnies that were stolen. The next night, she was not in her pajamas, not in bed, and not outside. She was in front of the door in her black outfit. Rule 97: “Don’t leave the house with no permission,” she whispered. She is a rule follower, but she said to herself, “It’s for the good,” and walked outside of the door. She followed the car and saw the building . . .“Bunny hour.” “What did I do?” she said. She took a paperclip and picked a door. She kept on thinking, “What did I do? Why did I do this? Who did I turn into?” and POW, the lock opened! She saw all the bunnies. She took a nearby shopping cart and tried to pick its lock. She did not think about all the lives she was saving! When the lock opened, she put the bunnies in the shopping cart and took them home. Now she is a normal girl who has 100 bunnies! And a happy family.
A Hero’s Journey
There was a time in the ordinary world known as Earth where there was a boy named Andrew. He was a 14-year-old boy, soon to be 15 on June 30th. Unexpectedly, his little sister had a bike accident. He started running to her as fast as he could, but then something happened that no one expected: he started levitating! He got higher and higher and started flying. He and his sister were shocked. That’s when he finally discovered his new superpower. Andrew panicked and didn’t really know what to do. Should he tell his parents or not tell his parents? Andrew would love to save the world from evil, but he still wasn’t powerful enough to defeat a villain or stop accidents. He started to have second thoughts about whether he should tell his parents or just keep it a secret between him and his sister. Andrew decided to search for a mentor, someone to guide him through his superhero journey. His little sister volunteered to be his mentor and he accepted because he really had no one else. One afternoon, Andrew was walking back home with his little sister, who had just gotten out of school. Something strange happened. A portal appeared! Andrew was excited and spooked at the same time because that meant he was one step closer to becoming an honorable and great superhero. As they walked into the portal they saw chaos in this certain city called East City. It was nothing but chaos there. A villain was in control of the city, and Andrew knew he had to do something. The villain was named Electbolt, and he had electricity powers. As he and Andrew walked up to each other, face to face, this was the start of a battle. As Andrew was battling Electbolt, he ascended to a new level like a game, and it gave him an extra ability: super strength. He was now stronger than ever. Eventually, Andrew beat Electbolt down, and the sky started to lighten up after the villain was defeated. Everything was back to normal, but everything was destroyed, so Andrew decided to help build some buildings and parks. And as he finished fixing up a park, there was a crowd of people saying his name, “Andrew, Andrew, Andrew!” Andrew was proud of himself. Then the same portal appeared again, but it was the portal to go home. Andrew started saying goodbye to the people of East City. Him and his little sister headed home like nothing ever happened. In the end, Andrew became stronger and stronger, but the challenges became harder. But he managed to complete them. To this day, Andrew is out there somewhere saving the world.
The Puzzle
I am flexible I wonder who I am I hear other people describing who I am I see myself in the mirror I want to know who I truly am, am I as sweet as jam? Am I as stubborn as a bull? Am I as fragile as a glass? I am someone. I pretend to be confident, bold, and reliable I feel like a multicolor palette I touch others’ hearts unintentionally whenever they’re down I worry others see me as too flexible I cry for those who feel as confused as I do I am an unfinished puzzle. I understand almost everyone once I know them, A bittersweet curse of empathy I say words of reassurance to friends I dream for the day I am fully confident in who I am I try to put together pieces that don’t fit together I hope the puzzle will be finished someday I am Katelyn.
Everything Is A Sign
She was walking downstairs into the subway station that had a smell you couldn’t imagine. It was a mixture of trash mixed with every other terrible odor you could imagine, music blasting through her headphones. When out of nowhere someone came up behind her and scared her as she took her last step on the first pair of stairs. This station in particular had a lot of stairs, 91 steps to be exact. She always took this train everyday to and from school. It was him. He walked down behind her and apologized for scaring her. She was pretty sure he wanted to catch up to her since before she entered the station she looked back to look for him because a part inside of her wanted to see him, but he wasn’t when she looked and it was a long way from their school to the station. So in her mind she thought that he must have ran to get to her. “Hi,” he said with the biggest and most sweetest smile she has ever seen, and walked down the rest of the stairs into the station with her. They would sometimes see each other waiting for the train since they both had to take it everyday. This was the second day they were taking it together. Even though they saw each other from afar they were both too shy to speak to each other. Until she got the courage to message him on Instagram. He was tall, looked kind, caring, and not a single bad thought of him. He was the type of guy who would never judge you for doing something funny or getting a question wrong at school. They began to talk, but never at school. The only times they talked were on the train or online. So to her, being at the train station with him was special yet scary at the same time. She was actually too scared to say much since she already knew that she would turn very red, she would look down or away when he would speak to her. When they walked together into the station she went in first and he followed her until she got to the spot. That was the spot. That was the perfect spot. Next to a pole, perfect for when the train pulls into the station because the doors would open right in front of her. He stayed with her to wait for the train, they talked and laughed together about the most random things that would happen at school and share the funny things that someone in their class would do, until the train came. They both got on and sat in one of those seats where only two people can fit and away from the rest of the people. He had asked her what stop she was getting off at but because on that special train she only rode it for two stops she had to sacrifice her faster route to getting home to take the longer route so she told him a different stop since he sort of already knew her stop. When she told him her stop he looked up at the stops the train was taking and also decided to skip his stop and take the long way home too. Inside of her felt happy and special that he wanted to stay on the train with her but a part of her also felt confused because at school the only interaction they would have would be stares and awkward hi’s. When they would cross paths. It was like he was a totally different person outside of school. This scared her. Days passed and she began to realize that he wouldn’t wait for her or time his walk to the train as hers. The conversations began to be less and less. She had already known what was coming and the signs were all there so she tried to prepare for it but she didn’t think that any amount of preparation would have prepared her for how he began to act towards her. The halls at school began to feel terrifying since whenever he would see her he would turn his whole head away and walk in the weirdest way possible to walk past her just so that he wouldn’t look at her or take a whole different route if he saw her from afar. Yet the staring never stopped. Wherever she was, he was there looking right at her.
A Planet Called Exile
In a tavern surrounded by a dry, desert-like environment, everyone has anklets that itch terribly. Earth is something of legend, with only descendents of escapees knowing the tales of Earth. Our characters are on a planet called Exile, in a little town called Oasis. We are all in a tavern called Sheik Shakes. Adam (aka Iguana Man), the dragonborn, tries to melt his anklet using his dragon breath but ends up burping acid, spraying everyone. Mordai (the fabulous Tiefling) decides to hit Adam over the head with a barstool. Mordai takes The Worm (A.K.A. the nameless halfling), Popeye (Wish version of Bald Eagles), and Matron (the cyborg) outside to go check out some of the other facilities. They talk to Burgundy (the rat) and he informs them of the bounties of the day and colors them intrigued. The group, with the exception of Adam (still salty) is getting ready to go to sleep for the night. Popeye and Mordai share a nest for the night to preserve body heat. Morning comes, and along with it the heat returns. Mordai asks Popeye to give her an aerial view but they can’t see anything due to the sand. The group decides to leave the desert, but before that Mordai miraculously gets the vending machine working. Popeye and Mordai buy a credit card…and then Mordai gets a knife and a healthpack, and Adam gets a knife, bow and arrows, and a healthpack. Mordai gives the knife to The Worm. Popeye tries to return the credit card, but eventually realizes his attempts are futile (major L my dude). Everyone starts heading out towards the sun (east), while Adam heads northwest in search of a legendary manticore.
Cookouts in the Summer
Have you ever had a cookout? Do you like BBQs? Well, here in Brooklyn, New York you will find a lot of cookouts during the summer. It can be in the park or in your backyard. There are so many different foods that are cooked during a cookout, and there’s usually a lot of friends and family members there as well as loud music. I always look forward to a cookout with my family during the summer time at my aunt’s house. There is so much love in one place and I love seeing family that I haven’t seen in a long time. The smell of hot dogs, burgers and chicken being cooked on a grill is an amazing smell and sometimes it stays on your clothes. My favorite food to eat at a cookout is hotdogs with ketchup. My mom and aunt are the cooks of the family and they always make macaroni and cheese, jerk chicken and a lot of other delicious dishes. Having cookouts in the summer is important to our family because it brings out the love we have for one another and the culture of our beloved ones who used to have cookouts in the past. We do the same thing all the time when we have cookouts. Sometimes we have votes on what to play or sing and dance to old time rap/hip hop music and others. We do a lot of things every year and we have fun every year. What I see every time that we have cookouts is the huge lake and a lot of trees everywhere. There’s benches everywhere too. What me and my family do at cookouts is play musical chairs and steal the bacon and put the ring in the hoop and others. We eat a lot of food. My aunt gives us food every time and during parties and other things. Sometimes we add new things every summer and contests, and I won one time. We do a lot of things every year. My family does cookouts, but not always at the same place. We do it at other places like a park with big kid swings and little kids’ too. My cookouts are not only about having fun. We meet the people that we haven’t seen in years or who just got born, and we didn’t know and just met for the first time. But cookouts are all not the same without one person you love that created it. My grandma, or great great great grandma, and grandpa started our family’s first cookout. It grew on for many years since the 1900s. The purpose of having a cookout is to party or have entertainment featuring the cooking and eating of a meal outdoors. The first cookout location opened in Greensboro, North Carolina. In 1989, over 50 locations opened in North Carolina before expanding out of the state. As of November, 2022, there were 326 locations operating in ten states. The company opened its first out of state store in Spartanburg, South Carolina on July 30, 2010. There are some things that you can’t do at a black person’s cookout, like show up and not eat there thinking that you’re too good to not have their food. Don’t bring anything to the table because at cookouts they already have what you need so there’s no need to bring anything if you come to a cookout. Why I love cookouts is because it’s fun and your family comes together to celebrate. Cookouts can be used as a pass away party for someone really close to your\my family or a family member that passed away. Another thing that you can’t do at a cookout is that you don’t show up empty handed and don’t bring uninvited guests and don’t touch the food without washing your hands and don’t gossip about anyone. And the last thing is that you can bring a plate home with you because we don’t know what to do with all the food that our family makes, so to make it go down some of you have to bring some with you until there’s no food left. And so going to my aunt’s has become a tradition for my family. It is a place of love, laughter and fellowship.
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