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These are the columns I wrote for: The World Around Us. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Welcome to O U T E R S P A C E B O U N D  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Where anything is possible, If you close your eyes and dream . . . So jump into your sky wagon That little red one with the four rusty wheels, And take it up, up, up. For nothing limits you, but your imagination.  Let’s fly the stars Catch a comet’s tail, Breathe in the scent of alien worlds, Let’s find a dragon, Bring back a dinosaur, Turn a phoenix into our best friend. Welcome to the world  Of the Outer Space Bound I m a g i n a t i o n ! Since it’s October, many people think of Halloween. Some people dislike Halloween because its roots spring from the beliefs of people called Druids. They worshipped different gods and believed in sacrifice. The Romans (from Italy) added to some of Halloween’s traditions. About the same time, the concept of witches rose. Somehow they were all woven together. Some people are fearful of Halloween because it’s a day when ghosts supposedly rise up and haunt the night. I’ve never seen ghosts except for the ones that come to my door trick-or-treating, and they are more likely to be Spidermen and turtles nowadays. Those trick-or-treaters can be frightening because even the youngest of them make my kitty hide. She doesn’t like the parade of costumes, and she never eats Halloween candy.  Personally, I prefer Charlie Brown’s “Great Pumpkin Day.” It doesn’t have any dark side where fear or retaliation is a part of the day. (Remember “trick or treat” actually means: Give me a treat, or I will play a mean trick. What a horrid thing to say!) Thus, when I carve pumpkins, I give them happy faces in honor of Charlie Brown . My pumpkins always smile, glowing from ear to ear. I do think it’s fun to wear a silly costume and parade at school. We do that every year. Sometimes I’m a cowgirl with cowboy boots and hat. Other times, I wear alien antennas and paint my hair green . One year I was a robot inside an aluminum foil-covered box. But whatever my costume, I never spend much money on it, and it always comes from my imagination . Do you ever make your costume? I think it’s a lot more fun to be creative than to pick it our of a box. (Besides, no one ever wears the same costume as I do when I go to school!) I hope you have as much fun celebrating your day as I do -- whatever you call it. And I apologize to all those who are offended by talk of wizards, witches, or ghosts. For me, it’s all in fun , and I believe that those kinds if creatures only dwell in the land of Outer Space Bound. What do you think? How do you feel about Halloween? I’d love to hear. Please write me and give your opinion. Please don’t forget to tell me about your costume, too, if you dress up on that day… Write to: Shaara @ Outer Space Bound Venus 88 2651 HW Berkel en Rodenrijs The Netherlands (Yes, that really is the address! Bianca lives In the Netherlands. The rest of us live all over the world. I live in California. Isn't it cool, though that Outer Space Bound has headquarters on Venus? LOL) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For some reason I have lots of poems this month. I like poems. I hope you do. Many times poems tell a story. This one is perfect for Halloween because it has all kinds of people dressed up in costumes, at least I think they're people dressed up in costumes. What do you think?
I wonder what it would be like to attend a party with really scary creatures. Suppose, just suppose they really did exist. Could I walk up to a spider and ask him to dance? Which leg would fit over my shoulder? Would he dance on all eight, or use only four? These questions, make me pause and wonder. Suppose I wanted to ask a ghost to dance. Would it be fun if his "hands" were like ice? Would I twirl around and then journey right through him? Suppose I could dance with ghoul or two. Or a witch . . . oh, perish the thought. Would she dance with her broomstick? Would her cat ride her shoulder? Would she have spiderwebs in her hair? I think I'd rather dance with a dragon. At least he'd make great popcorn. But a unicorn might be difficult, if he kept bumping into me with his horn.  Now a Jack-o'-Lantern would be limited. His legs are usually nowhere to be found. His belly wouldn't allow much twisting. He might fall apart on the floor. And candle wax might drip on my feet or make an awful mess. I think best of all would be real kids in costumes, for they wouldn't be scary at all. They'd step on my toes and laugh at my moves, but at least they wouldn't dissolve at midnight.  Do you see that picture of a camel? It started me wondering. What would happen if you wanted to wear a costume and you didn’t have one? And if you were a camel . . . That's the idea that wrote this silly poem. Now your turn... The Halloween Camel The camel wept when he saw Trick-o-Treaters. For he wanted to don a costume that way. So he asked his mother who gave him eggbeaters. But still he wasn’t ready for Halloween day. He complained to his father and asked for some aid. His father stopped reading, frowned and then said, I know I’ve still got something from the masquerade, And he pulled at his hair, and to the garage off he sped. So the camel, named Fred, had a costume of two. He went out to Grandma’s who lived in the back. She brought out material, and gave him some glue. Then found old flippers and a package of rickrack. So Fred had his costume. He was pleased as punch. He tied on his cape and put the beaters on his head. And wearing his outfit, he sat down for lunch, Everyone oohed, and Fred, all content, wore it to bed. Now, I suppose you wondering why he didn’t go trick-or-treating in his costume. Well, first he’s off, he probably lives in the desert and the only doors he could knock on were tent doors. (Do they have doors?), and then he doesn’t eat candy. I supposed people could give him handfuls of hay. Do you suppose he eats carrots? But, the truth is that all he really wanted to do was wear a costume. He got to do that so he was happy. Smart camel. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Do you see this empty box? This is where a picture goes. Have you sent me one? How about the picture of this camel with his eggbeater antennaes, his cape on his back, his flippers on his feet, and his mask on his face... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As long as I’m in exotic places, this is the perfect time to explore the land of zebras. Don’t you think zebras are adorable? I’d love to have black and white stripes. I wouldn’t need a costume for the school Halloween parade then. I could just come as I was. “What are you?” they’d ask me, and I’d reply, “I’m a zebra.” Then I’d tell jokes. (Bet you’ve never heard these) What’s black and white and read all over? (Answer: a newspaper) What’s black and white and red all over? (Answer: a sunburned zebra.) What’s black and white and red? (Answer: a zebra holding a candy cane.) Now, it’s your turn. Ready???? No, riddles? Well, guess maybe you'd rather read something. Here’s a poem about zebras:
And another poem. This one was written for the same prompt:
And a story: Little Zebra Little Zebra stood under the sun, wagging his brushy tail. “Why is it so hot, Mommy,” he asked. His mother looked up from the gray-green grasslands and said, “It’s hot because it’s summertime.” Little Zebra sighed and went to stand under the shade of an old tree. Weeks passed and Little Zebra blinked up at the great ball of yellow in the sky. “It’s so very, very hot, Mommy. Why is still hot?” His mother looked up from the brown-green grasslands and said, “It’s hot because it’s still summertime.” Little Zebra sighed. His tail was flapping faster than birds’ wings. He was miserably hot, but he closed his eyes and slept. Weeks passed and the winds picked up and blew in the billowy clouds. The winds carried the cold. “Brrr,” said Little Zebra. “What happened to the hot, Mommy?” His mother smiled, chewed contentedly, and said, “Ah, now it’s almost the rainy season. Soon the grass will green.” “Yes, Mommy, but where did the heat go? Will it come back?” His mother laughed. “Ah, yes, “ she said. “Summer always comes back, just like the rain and the wind and your mother’s love.” Little Zebra lowered his head and nipped at the dusty, dry blades of the last pieces of summer grass. Then he looked up again. “But Mommy, summer can’t be like mother’s love because your love never goes away.” Mother Zebra smiled down at her son. “You are so right, Little Zebra. You are so right.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As long as we’re talking about zebras and camels, I just have to throw this one back into the kettle:
And now, ready for the realms of dragons and pure fantasy? Hop on board to Planet Fantasy:
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Halloween Catastrophe I never meant to cause any trouble. My mother didn’t approve of Halloween, but I’d always wanted to try it out. All the other kids donned costumes. It wasn’t fair that I couldn’t. I went upstairs to the attack and searched inside Grandmother’s old trunk. I decided that one of Grandmother’s old gowns would be just fine for Halloween. I put it on. The material and the style were just perfect. The dress made me look like I’d stepped back into the pages of my history book. Unfortunately, Grandma had been much taller than I was. The dress dragged on the floor. I sighed, took it off, got out a needle and thread and fixed it. I shortened it all around, and then slipped the elegant gown back on. That was better. The buttons in the back were tiny, but by shifting the gown about, I was able to fasten most of them. I tied the sash in the back as best I could. Then I twirled in front of the mirror. The material of the gown was a silvery satin with embroidered emblems all over the fabric. It looked cool. There was a hat that went with it. I tried that on. With its matching tie, it fit me just fine. I paraded about the attic, wondering how I was going to get downstairs without my mother seeing me. No worries. Mom called, “Have a good day, Theodora. I’m off to the “Dream.” Mom owned the corner used bookstore. She had a lovely sign out in front labeling it, “Book Dreams.” I loved spending time there, wandering through the aisles of books. The musty smell always reminded me of Grandma. But that morning when Mom set off, I sneaked downstairs in Grandma’s old gown, and I felt closer to her than I had since she’d died two years before. “I miss you, Grandma,” I said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Write me the story of what happened next: 1. Theodora remembered that Grandma didn’t approve of dishonesty. Theodora went upstairs took off her costume and . . . 2. Theodora went off to school in her grandmother’s long dress. Everybody . . . 3. Theodora was just about to go out the door when her mother called and asked if she’d bring . . . 4. Theodora spilled cocoa down the front of the dress, and the dress suddenly spoke... 5. Theodora began to feel strange. The symbols all over the material of the dress began to glow. The hat hummed, and suddenly Theodora was in another world, an alien world with a dark, orange sky and two hot, burning disks of suns. 6. Thedora… (your choice)  What do you think happens? Jot me a note. I’m always curious about your ideas and stories. Maybe we could publish your tale right here in The World Around Us, or maybe, if it’s just notes, it could be the start of a new story I’d write, and I’d put your name at the bottom to tell everyone you gave me the idea. (Don’t worry, Moms and Dads, we’d only use your child’s first name.)  Have a wonderful October. I can’t wait to visit with you in November. We’re going to have lots more science fiction stories then, and I have some wonderful tales about magic and fantasy, too. See you soon! Smiles, Shaara 
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