The World Around Us

June, 2004

Welcome to Outer Space Bound
Where imagination dances around
The goals of your heart,
And where goofiness and fun
Are allowed to boogie, too.

We start the glorious month of June with a bang, a magical bang with a leprechaun that has been turned into a genie. Sound interesting? Check your box of cereal. That’s where he came from. . .

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How about a goofy poem? Since this is going to be a goofy month, I figure I might as well continue it.

Can you imagine a shark swimming around in a rainbow? Could be he’s eating all the clouds or all the raindrops. Could be, but he’s not. He’s eating the rainbow colors! How can he be stopped? That’s the problem for the following poem:

The Rainbow Shark  (E) The shark came out of the red, and he chased the little fish all around. #813825 by Shaara

What imaginary animal do you think lives in the clouds and makes them thunder? What animal splashes the water out of them? Does he dance? Does he squeeze? Does he pierce them with his beak? Write a story or poem about it, PLEASE. Yours can’t be any sillier than mine! That’s for sure:

Just About As Goofy As One Can Get

Mrs. Chicken clucks and squawks
But never calmly walks and talks,
Until one day she flies up high
And sits upon a darn old fly,
Who takes her even higher
Where it’s far from drier,
And the silly, poor, old hen
Pokes her beak into her chin
And stabs the cloud with seven claws
Until it drops its load into the straw,
And then it rains and rains,
Crying out from all its pain . . .
Poor chicken, poor cloud.
Poor cow whose straw is wet.
I think they all should see a vet.

Now, I know you can do better than that! I wrote that poem just to show you how much fun I have writing silly, silly poems sometimes. (I just don't usually show you the goofiest ones! So, PLEASE, PLEASE send me your story or poem. Okay? I know yours will twice as goofy and/or twice as good!


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Here it comes, the next goofy fantasy piece. This one is called the Williwogga, and it’s about a creature who visits you in your dreams. Don’t get scared, though. This piece isn’t scary. The Williwogga chases away all your nightmares. He’s a good guy.

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I wonder what you teeth would say if your teeth could talk while you brushed? What do you think? What do you think they’d love to tell you? The next poem, in the spirit of goofiness, is one answer:

Toothy Shimmy  (E) This is a poem about what teeth must think when we brush them. #827884 by Shaara

Now, as long as we’re animating, (that means bringing THINGS to life), how about that towel you just wiped your face on? Are you ready to hear it talk? Oh, no, this one’s a NIGHTMARE!

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How about a spider who tells us about his feelings? This one has a problem. He doesn’t want to eat his bug friends. But that's exactly what spiders DO EAT. So what is he going to do? I hope you enjoy Alexis' poem:

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As long as we're discussing talking animals, boy, do I have a story for you! This one about an average day except . . .

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Do you have those kinds of days, too? I sure wish I did!


Here's another poem by my friend Alexis. This one's about an owl who has a problem. I’m not going to tell you what his problem is, but things sure don’t look good for him. Ha! Ha! (I just wrote a pun, but to understand my joke, you’ll have to read the poem.)

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Ready for a story about dragons? This one is about a boy who gets the opportunity to train for Magic School, and guess who the teachers are!

Dragon Days  (E) Dragon day is a village holiday, and everyone comes out to see who will be chosen. #828135 by Shaara

Nona, another friend of mine, wrote a poem about a bee. This bee, just like the spider and the owl, has feelings. Hope you enjoy this clever poem:

A Bee and ME  (E) A humble little bumble bee, who just wants to play #756654 by Nona

OK. We're ready to rev up that imagination and read a story about monsters. These monsters live in a small boy's bedroom. My good friend, W.D. Wilcox will lead you on a wild adventure. Enjoy!

Leoparigerions  (ASR) They look like leopards, tigers, and lions all mixed together into one ugly beast... #819212 by W.D.Wilcox

You know how I love to use my imagination, but what if that's all I have? No magic, no fantastic talking towels, no singing animals, or dancing teeth... Well, here it is, a story about magic, which is not really magic, but a joke.

Lemonade Magic  () This is a picture book about a group of animals and one boy who is not a magician. #824178 by Shaara

While we're in the realm of magic. I have a story for you by our own chief editor, Bianca. Welcome to a world without color. Do you like that idea? One wizard does. See what happens when he tries to make a whole kingdom colorless.

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Next is the second chapter of Toad Magic. Remember how I promised you I'd continue the story about the boy who turned people into green animals. Well, he's back, and things are still going wrong.

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Do you know what we're missing from this column? We haven't seen a single alien, yet. No flying saucers. No "Greetings from Outer Space." Ack, I can't take it! Time for a dose of science fiction!!!! Please!

Here's a light fluff of a piece that has more dose of humor than sci/fi, but it does have ALIENS!

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All right, teens, the following story has no aliens, but it does fall into science fiction because it's futuristic. Bienvenidos (Welcome) to a new kind of teaching machine, one that's super-charged!

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How would you like to have that experience? I'm ready to sign up. I just wish I knew the address . . .


For really young readers, this is an easy-to-read sci-fi story:

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Well, I see that science fiction was pretty lacking this month. Do you know what that means? It means that next month, I'm going to work hard to locate a whole nest of aliens and ask them to buzz on down. Why aren't you writing me some good alien stories? You've seen all my different frolics in the realms of outer space and visitations. I know you can write me some. Come on. Help me out!

Turn that toaster into a Martian. Discover a secret colony (down beneath the acid atmosphere) on Venus. Explore one of Jupiter's moons and find life beneath its volcanic caverns! Remember, your story can be as goofy as you wish. It can be pure fun, outrageous fantasy, interminglings of wishes and shy, little extraterrestials. Your story can be anything your imagination desires. Just put pencil to paper or fingers to keyboard and write, write, write.


See you next month for a real sci/fi happening.
Have a great June.


Bye Bye Earthlings,

Smiles,
Shaara