My Favorite Place - Granny's Old House

Hi everyone!
It's been a long time since I've blogged here (and I'm 11 years old now!) but now I'm back and will try to do this more often.
Now that we're back in homeschool, I got an LA assignment telling me to write about my favorite place. So I chose Granny's old house in Balulang. The effect it had on me was amazing. The words started flowing, pouring out, and I wrote for half an hour... Finally, I finished, and here it is.

It's been a long time since I've seen that familiar old tree, 

standing tall and strong, growing lush green leaves.

It's been a long time since I ran down the earthy path that led to the houses,

running down the rich brown earth, kicking up dust.

I still remember the river, the quiet river, flowing easily, carrying the sound

of our laughter to lands unknown.

I remember, after a swim in it, how we would split up and run into

one of the three familiar houses.

One of them standing tall, rich and old, with stairs that creaked 

comfortably whenever we walked up.

I remember the shelves of trophies, the frames of 

butterflies, telling the stories of memories never to be forgotten.

The chickens, squacking as we chased them. The rusted

metal carts that we played magicians in, they used 

to hold food items to sell, but they became used to 

children popping in and out of their holes.

At night, torches glowed, hammocks went back and forth,

tents were put up for the kids to 'camp' in.

A little stone fireplace with stone seats running all around it was lit,

the marshmallows held over it burnt up, we were too mystified

by the stories of people we hardly knew, but felt so close to.

Memories passed over the campfire, told and retold until we knew

every word.

That was the place where everyone knew everyone else, it was a paradise,

closed and separated from the busy world outside, it is, or was my

favorite place.

It's gone now, but still, to me, it's the best place on the face of the Earth,

It's my paradise,

That's my writing.

If you are wondering why I said 'it's gone now', it's because one big flood washed it away, if you look there now, it's just mud, mud, and mud. Foot deep mud. Even the tree is gone. Our family living there was saved, but sadly, the people were the only ones saved. 

The trophies are gone, the frames are gone, they're all lost.

But the memories still thrive.

My Manuscript

Hi everyone,
I'm working on a new story called Dear Lizzy. It's about a girl who has moved into a new country with her family, everyone there speaks the same language as her but she finds it very hard to fit in. After awhile, she realizes that even though she has not been close to God those past few months she was there, He was still with her and gave her friends and things that she needed....

Here's a sneak-peek of the story,hope you like it!

----------- (unedited version)

Dear Lizzy

                        By Tricia

Chapter 1

                                            Strange Voices

Dear Lizzy,

I miss you so much!

When are you going to come back again?It  must be boring in rainy old London.Why don’t you ask you parents to come back?

My Mom keeps asking me to rewrite this in “neater” handwriting and I keep telling her that  I don’t want to!

I feel I’m the only on writing to you and sending e-mails and stuff,the others are too busy with their “new life”.

Please write back!

Love,

Elisa.

I read the letter one more time and thought,Elisa is right about 2 things:Nobody’s communicating with me at all and it’s seriously boring in London. 

Then Mom called me,”Lizzy!”

“Coming!”

I went out of my room and into the kitchen,the smell of pot roast was overwhelming! ”What is it?”

Mom kept washing the dishes,and so I just had to lean there to wait for her to finish.

I missed good old Seattle,the best place to be,then Mom and Dad were asked to go to London,England,to take care of a neighbor’s job “for a while”.

“Elisabeth Jennifer Alden!”

I jumped,startled. Mom was done with the dishes now and had noticed my moping around and,clearly,she was not glad to see me in her kitchen doing nothing.

Her face softened after a moment or two,she sat down on the best armchair in the house.”Sorry,dear..It’s just that..  with nobody answering for the Easter Hunt cards I sent out,well,I just get stressed out sometimes.”

“That’s okay,Mom,It’s just that I heard you call me and I-”

“I called you?!”

“Yeah..did you call me?”

“ Um,no..”

What!

“Maybe it was just the wind,Honey..Go out and play,Dear.” She rose from her chair,

“Sure.”

”I’ve got some work to do”

I went out of the house,still unsure,Yeah,I left my window open when I heard my name,but…..since when did the wind know my name?

And besides,the noise I heard was the loud VOICE kind not the whispery WIND kind!

So I decided to check it out.

First I checked the bushes that ran around the house and beneath my window,I saw a part that had been pushed apart just a few minutes ago,Aha!The thief...wait he-or she-didn’t steal anything...um,the PERSON must have hidden here!

Then,I saw,deep in the bushes a little sparkly thing,it twinkled,and twinkled so much...too much,it was like it was calling me.I immediately shook the thought out of my head,How silly of me,just think about it,that little thing saying, “Lizzy!Lizzy!Come to me!”.

I tried reaching for it,but it was too far from me,so I plunged in and came out all thorny and bushy that I would have been mistaken for a bush myself.

Well,at least I got that shiny thingy.I looked at the “thing”.....it was a part of a shoe...the heel of a shoe it was really...glimmery,so glimmery that it

looked like real silver and by the way I was standing there,holding it and staring at it,it looked like I had stolen it...And would be exactly what my sister would think,so I had to get away FAST!

“Lizzy!”
I turned around,uh-oh,too late.My sister Leon was there,actually,I’m the only one that calls her that,her real name is Leonanda Bouriana Alden,

I know,brain muddling right?

ANYWAY there she was,standing there and saying “Lizzy!”In that funny way of hers, “Oh,uh...Hi,um Leon..I was just,er-”At this I quickly stuffed the heel into my pocket. “-Ya know,sorta..ah..exploring every inch of our new house and ya know...that kind of thing.”

She eyed me warily.

“Ok,Liz,so can you do me a favor?”

Without thinking,I nodded.

“Good,the favor is answering this question...I know you said every inch of this house but...DOES THAT INCLUDE THE  BUSHES?!?!?!?!?!?!?”

While my brain was racking for an answer,I put my hand in my pocket and touched the silver-y heel as if for support...my mistake..Leon noticed right away,

“Hey!Watcha got over there,sis?”

My face went red,Ugh!Lousy me!

“Here?I-I-I don’t have anything here,ah...hey!Look it’s,um,HENRY!!!”

My sister craned her neck,looking for one of her new best friends.

And,taking my chance I RAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yup,I ran between bikes and cars and even dogs,dogs barking,dogs sleeping and all those verbs,Wonder why people in England like dogs so much...hmmm...maybe because they-  

PWANG!

I didn’t have time to finish that thought because right at that second a lampost decided it was the perfect time to get in my way…

When I woke up,the first thing I saw was a bright light that hurt my eyeballs.

When the pain subsided,I looked around,What is this place?

The next thing I saw was a bunch of funny shapes and blobs and blurry stuff that were mixed in all kinds of colours,Yeah,It’s pretty,but what are they?

I tried to observe them properly,Okay,that big um...blob has a brown top and further down...something...blueish green?And..the second one is red all over,but the top is...hazel.And the next one is...wait,those things are Dad.And Mom!And Leon!

When I got my sense back,Mom laughed and said,”If you’re gonna keep bumping your head on all the lamposts in this neighborhood every day your classmates will laugh at you.”

“CLASSMATES!?!?!?!?!”

“Yeah,you’re ‘goin to Rosewood,big ‘sis.”

I groaned and lay down ‘cauz suddenly,my head started hurting again…

                 Chapter 2

        One In A Million

As I entered Rosewood Grade School,I felt a gazillion eyes boring into my back,as for my eyes,they stared at a shiny floor,not one inch of filth.Boy,I’m gonna have a hard time fitting in.

I walked into my science class,and met Mrs.Lean,my science teacher,she was tall,thin,and had a grey bun on her hair.She stared at me over her glasses and said,“So this is Miss.Alden?Hmmm,a little thin,doesn’t wash behind her ears,other than that she looks normal..Hmm...You may go now.”

I quickly half ran to my desk.

I heard a mean comment behind me: “Ugh,I hate newcomers,always so unclean,this girl certainly does not belong in this school”

Tears jumped to my eyes,but I shoved them in and turned to see who said that,there,a girl with blond hair and icy blue eyes stared at me smiling evily...Somehow I finished that class and went to P.E..

In the locker room I was almost done pulling on my running shoes when a girl came over to me a said:”Hello!”

I looked up,surprised,”My name’s Vicki!What’s yours?”

“Um,Lizzy..”

“Is the ‘um’ spelled with one ‘m’ or two?”

We both laughed,for a second I got to look at the girl and really see her,she was a red-head,had green eyes and freckles,she wore worn-out jeans and a dusty red checkered shirt,all in all she was pretty.

We walked to the football field first,Mr.Gardon had challenged Miss.Elizabeth Touren,our gym teacher who preferred to be called Miss.Lizza,to a little ‘footy’ challenge.

As Miss.Lizza helped other kids get more organized,I made my way to Vicki,hoping to talk to her,when,the starting bell rang.

(to be continued)

What I Found Out But Isn't So True.

 The smallest toy shop in the world is the place to be!Here are some demonstrations of the things it sells:

The Guitar:
The smallest guitar in the world can fit in between your teeth!It is the best thing for you to get...if you can find it!
                  The very small print:To activate it you need a microscope,and,oh,it is about a million times smaller than you finger so,unless you can shrink,                      you cannot activate it.
Costs a snip at:10,000 of whatever money you use!(All goods cost the same price)

The Abacus:
An abacus for kids who are too lazy to do their math homework!It's the size of the 'ball' part of a  ballpoint pen so teacher's won't notice it at all!
                                            The small print:Let's hope the teacher doesn't notice the big electron microscope you use to see and activate it!



The-
"Hello?What!But..........Okay I know but can you call later I'm making an ad here and.................okay okay!Bye."

Sorry guys we have to close the shop down because they say we got to.Bye!

I'm Back!

Heeelllo,Everybody!!!!
I know I have not blogged in a long time.......And I'm REALLY sorry about that.
But let's let by-gone's be by-gone's, besides,just you wait 'till I tell you of all the fun facts I've read/heard about!

                           "Hey!I'm faster!"

 Every time you cut your nails you see that the nail in the middle has more 'nail' to cut.Why?Because it grows the fastest!(The thumb nail grows the slowest.)

        

                 The power of Jesus Christ

One day a man walks into a store and says to the cashier that he wants all the money that she has,or else.The woman grabs a stick and says,"In the name of the Lord God Jesus Christ,LEAVE!........and he left.When I heard of that all I could say was:"Wow"

Well,that's all for today!

See you tommrow!

My New Song

I know I've written poems before,but this is the first time I have written down a song and here it goes:

                                   I'm Not Alone

I was alone,not one place to call my home,inside a dark laaaand. I was alone people passing by,no one caring about me no one loving me at aallll. I was alone all by my self  no one with meee,But now my feelings rrise........because Christ is with meeee, Now I'm not alone 2x I'm not alone I have a home.I now have great friends, I'm gonna tell you why.......Christ is with meeeeeeeeeee .He has blessed me with his blessings from above.

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This song is not about me. I am not alone, but when I look at the streets of Thailand, I see people who think they are alone.But when they turn to Jesus they will  know they are not alone.

second day in Chiang Mai

                                                        go to hotel and rest from long ride.                                                               

As you can see,we rested  from the ride..........................................................................................................................................................................................................And it rained and POURED  all afternoon.So to pass time Lyle and I watched 'Ramona And Beezus' on the TV. Amma did computer on the dressing table,Appa was out renting a  motorbike,and the rain was pouring outside ,once the movie finished we were left with nothing to entertain us...............................The only thing we could do was wait.........wait.....................wait..........................wait.................................and wait.................................................................whenever we asked ''What to do?'' the answer was ''wait''..................we were very sad because we were supposed to go swimming and what did we do?Wait.

we were glad when the rain stopped BUT Appa was not there so what did we do?wait.    Do you mind if I flashforward?      ok.          So after we went swimming we went to the musuem,  had fun feeding the birds at the park then ate dinner. It was a fun day after all!

First Day In Chaing Mai

When I went to Chaing Mai,we did LOTS of things,but first we went to our hotel.There we were supposed to have one of the tiny English cottages scattered around the main hotel........................BUT they gave us a very special room.........................it was hidden in the BIG main hotel.When we came in...ta da!!!!!!!! It was wonderful!!!!The part where we entered was a living and cooking room!that went on for awhile then there came a bedroom with two beds!(we found out later there was two BIG sliding doors between those two rooms)there was a dressing room too.And of course a bathroom with a bathtub.................that was on the first day.....wonderful!!