Colonel E Brooke Lee Middle School - Cougar Yearbook (Silver Spring, MD)

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SNOW AND FIRE by Elayne Kriss The skier gathered up speed, then soared through the air like a bird and landed with a whoosh again on the snow. Getting the feel of it, he glided and swept over the peaks easily and confidently until he stum- bled on something hard. As if flung from a catapult, he crashed down the slopes, followed by his poles. After stopping by bracing himself against the snow, he managed to crawl around on all fours, calling for help until other skiers came to his aid. Laughing heartily, they untangled him and led him to a clearing where they started a fire. The fire crackled merrily as the skiers fed it with paper and twigs. Greedily, the hungry fire consumed the fuel. Intensely-colored flames shot out of the fire as it danced and leapt. The gay flames, glowing like brightly-colored streamers, were a source of comfort and delight to the circle of skiers. Suddenly, an unex- pected gust of wind made the fire waver and sputter until all that was left of the cheery blaze was ashes. THE WOODPECKER by David Feldman The woodpecker chopped out a little round hole, Where he made him a house in a telephone pole. One day I saw him poke out his head, With a funny hood and a collar that's red. When the water from rain pours from the sky, And the flashes of lightning go flashing by. And the big roars of thunder roll, He can sleep in his telephone pole. Cat and Mouse The mouse creeped slowly as time etched by. He was fearful of the cat, but more fearful of death from hunger lingering before him. The grandfather clock suddenly struck 3:00 a.m., startling the poor mouse. He scurried across the floor into the living room. The soft couch lay invitingly before him. Unmindful of the cat for a moment, he sprung joyfully on the couch. After a quiet rest, he resumed his journey toward the kitchen. He ran on. Finally he reached the cold tile floor. He walked with fake patience to the kitchen and squeezed under the pantry door. Patience had failed. He set to work. When he has sufficiently stuffed himself, he left the pantry. Unable to run, he waddled toward his home. There was a small puddle of blood on the floor. The mouse lay next to it. The cat stood with a gleam in his eye. By Lois Yurow A Ditch in Time by Wendy Metzger Rick wuz the best durn ditch digger I ever seen. He wuz six foot tall with shoulders as broad as an ox's. He claimed he wuz the fastest ditch digger in the west. Folks from all around called him Quick Rick. Well, one spring day a fella named Pete got fed up with hearin' about Quick Rick. He got fightin' mad. Ain't nobody can dig a ditch faster in me. If Quick Rick ain't asceered 0' racin' against me let him prove it. Tomorrow at the streak 0' dawn we'll both set to diggin'. Which ever one o' us digs the biggest ditch by nightfall wins. Someone here kin tell him that! An' he stormed out oi the saloon. The next day at the streak o' dawn everyone wuz gathered near the ditch diggers' camp. Pete and Quick Rick were ready with their shovels. The startin' gun wuz fired off an' the two men began to dig. At first they wuz diggin' most even. They went on this way 'til shortly past noon. Then all o' the sudden Quick Rick had a spurt oi energy. He digged faster an' faster. By nightfall he wuz way ahead o' Pete. Now the folks waited an' waited for Quick Rick to climb out 0' that ditch, but he didn't get out until Christmas. Then everyone told him that it wuz the grandest ditch they ever did see an' to this day it's knowed near and far as the Grand Canyon. AN UNEXPECTED VISIT I by Shirley Win Sitting in the room, Kate read to her impatient listeners. The enthralled group was together listening with open ears to the gruesome tale. But, what was that? Was it a roar of a nearby storm or a plane flying by? Yet, that noise could not have been either of those two. Kate, taking the three children with her, went to investigate the incident. As Kate stepped out of the house, she saw beams of light. These strange beams gave them an eery feeling. Walking on, they noticed it had gotten very dark. Making their way to the lights, the group suddenly gasped in horror!! It looked like a spaceship, but of a shape unexplana- tory. All of the sudden, a door opened and a ramp slowly slid out, landing on the solid ground. Not waiting another moment, Kate and the children fled for their lives. Coming down the ramp two creatures appeared. Gee, said one of the creatures. I wonder why they ran? Such cowardly Earthlings, and I was only going to ask them where the nearest store was, so we could get a new stock of Tang.

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Soldier Boy by Brad Tepper Well, once upon a battle there wuz da Battle o' Gettysburg. Well, I tell ye that ole battle wuz the damndest ever, o' 'em all! To start me story da North wuz killing da South. As fa' as the eye could see, we wuz beating the damn rebels so bad, half of 'em had to unbutton their shirts to eat! We fought, too, ya see! Well, those were da good ol' times. Until one day, da South disappeared. 'l'hat's what I mean disap- peared, just vanished! So I tell ye, we wuz rejoicing from Gettysburg to Petersburg, one whole MAHL! One day, ten days later the South returned fightin' like da devil itself. Would yer believe it? We wuz falling like flies! No one could figure it out. Day, da Rebels, den rejoiced and rejoiced and . . . well, I wuz sent as a spy-type person. What did I see? A man with a dog's head, frog's body, and man's legs! Most of all he talked and walked Rebel! Dat bad! Next day da soldier-type varmint ate fifty men in a battle. We all ran from the slaughter house. On the next day, wez returned an' ambushed da soldier-type persons' army. I took me gun an' shooted da soldier-type varmint, day called Soldier Boy. Dat Soldier Boy spligered fsplitj into three parts. An' one went to da moon, da other went to da sun, and da last other one, jus' fell down, splat, and died! After dat da battle wuz over, we wuz bof Cbothj scared! Dat wuz de most famous battle of em all, Da Battle of Gettysburg ! Oh, by da way, ma name is General Sherman! 1 l The Great Run by Deidre Dixon 4 Once a long time ago, the old man began hib story, that there ot over there was full up of trees! There were perty green trees as far as the eye coulcl see. A man by the name of Carlo, don't rightfully know his last name, lived there. Well, anyway, he waslone of those Italy fellows, and he strutted around here like a stuffed turkey. All the women folk liked him. Person- ally I kinda thought he was strange. He kindaltook a fancy to ol Tank's girl, Melinda. Tank thati was a lumberjack, a good one at that. Tank tol' that ol' stuffed turkey that he better leave his gal alone. Dat Carlo fellow refused to do it. Well, 'bout that time Melinda came up. Tank had a notion to flatten him, but Melinda would not have it. She said whoever can clear that lot the fastest can have me. So they divided it in half, and Tank went to work choppin' lejft and right. Carlo lit a match an' stood back. Well he cleared his side and some of Tank's side. Of cburse, Tank felt cheated an' demanded another test. I-le was a good lumberjack, but he was a great runner. lLittle did he know that Carlo was, too. They were tlo run the next morning. Tank ran round the world twice, in the same time Carlo could only get around onde. So, to show his real strength, Tank ran around the lvorld again. Well, by then he had up so much speed lie just took off into orbit, and we haven't seen him since. My Identity by Jenny Boyd l I like to think about myself, Who I am and what I be, Am I thoughtful? Am I nice? What is my identity? ' I like to run, I like to skate, I like to climb an old, dead tree, I I like to swim the rolling tide f But that's not my identity. I like the seashore's cooling breeze, And camping with the family, I like the quiet woods at night l Is that my true identity? I like to watch a calling bird, j I like to smash an annoying flea, l I like to find a robin's nest, But that's not my identity. . I play an oboe in the band These things are all a part of me L These and other things I do I I l l All make my identity. l L 1 E

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James Creed by Lisa Pichney James Creed was a horse shoer. He could make any horse a shoe. He had one hundred an' eighty pounds of muscle backin' him up. James made the best darn shoe you could get. Ev'ry day folks would bring thar steed to him so's he could give them shoes. He'd make four shoes so perfect that you could put a balance on them. One day, 'bout 1872, a man came from those hills out yonder. To James' shop he went. He bet James that he could make better shoes than James. The people knew that ol, James would whip the new- comer. The contest was to take place Friday. Today was Tuesday. James was cleaning all his 'quipment so's he'd be ready on Friday. The other man, named Bart Stray, was getting ready also. The contest consisted of making four shoes for thar own horse. These shoes must be made the best and fastest. The winner would get one hundred an' fifty gold pieces. Today is Friday, the day of the shoein' contest. All the towns' folks came out to watch this contest. The judge said, Start So James an' Bart got started. After thirty minutes, James had made three shoes an' was half finished with the fourth. But Bart was just starting his third one. Five minutes later, James had finished all the shoes an' had put them on his horse. He won the hundred an' fifty gold pieces. Many others challenged him, but he always won. IS THIS LOVE . . . by John Sciabbarrasi Is this love, Could it be It can't be happening To me. I'm much too young, I haven't learned What I need And what I yearn. I'll let it pass, I'll let it stray, Tomorrow is Another day. I I The Mouse and the Giraffel' by Skip Abbott One day a little mouse, feeling quite inferior to everyone else in the forest, was walking along a small path wondering how he could do away with himself. With a chain around his neck and feet, he was about to say his last farewells to the world when a huge giraffe walked by him. At this time the giraffe was the king of the forest. The mouse thought it was really something for the giraffe to even talkI to him. The giraffe said What are you doing? The mouse answered, I am going to hurl myself into this lake where I will sink and die. The giraffe said, Why? I Because,,' replied the mouse, I am a wprthless, puny nothing. The giraffe became very angry with the mouse and said, The other day, I saw you making flutds out of wood for the sick animals of the animal hospital. Before the mouse could reply, the giraffe had taken off the chains and was saying, One good deed deserves another. I I I 'fThe Giraffe and the Donkey by Brian Orloff One day a donkey passed by a giraffe. The onkey started making fun of the giraffe's long ne Ik. The giraffe at first ignored the donkey and then said, All giraffes have long necks. The donkey kept making remarks about the giraf fe's long neck so that the giraffe began to ogy and then ran away. The next day the giraffe and the donkey met again. The donkey kept making insulting remarks about the giraffe's long neck when theigiraffe noticed something. The donkey didn't have'a tail. Now the giraffe began to rub it in, and the donkey learned a lesson. I MORAL: Never tease unless you can take it in return. I I I I I And There Slept The Boy by Laura Donoho I I And there slept the boy so soundlessly, for no one dare disturb i him. I Not even the birds that sang so I I bright. Not even the ducks that quacked I with delight. I Not even the butterfly, nor the rose. Not even time, that always goes. 3 I I I I