Writing contest: 11 to 13 category

"Clock"
Hear the tick, tick tock
Of the ever present
Clock
And the whir whir tone
Of a job well done
Oh the worry, worry, hurry
Of an almost passed day
That will never ever stay

The clock ticks on
'till the day is gone
Hear the tock tock tock
And the loud and threatening knock
Of a clock taking stock
Of the day going by

Hear the clock enunciate
You are late you are late
And you can't concentrate
See the date see the date
And the time will not rebate
Now to wait now to wait
And you can't resperate
No escape no escape

The clock ticks ton
'till the day is gone
Hear the tock tock
And the loud and threatening knock
Of a clock taking stock
Of the day going by

Hear the snick snick snock
That lying little clock
Tells you just what to do
Causing quite the coo
And the ding ding creak
Of a clock about to break
Then the boom boom boom
The clock foretells your doom

First place: "Clock" - Alexandra Domeshek

I hold the ancient scroll of truth,
And in my satchel lacquer, and silk,
Mirrors, and chrysanthemums,
Gunpowder which everyone desires,
Bamboo durable and strong.
Every object ready for trade,

Soon I will reach Chang'an for trade.
When I reach Chang'an I will know the truth,
My journey will make me strong,
And the jewel of my trip will be silk.
Where I am going I'll fulfill my desires.
When I arrive the grassy lands will be covered with chrysanthemums.

There is the acrid smell of chrysanthemums.
I long for the chance to trade,
And I am beginning to doubt the fulfilling of my desires.
Will I find the truth?
Will my path be smooth as silk?
If not I must be strong.

Tired as I am it's hard to feel strong.
I need the healing power of the chrysanthemums,
I dream the comfort of silk,
And the ease to come after the trade.
I grow old as I wait for the truth
Of the outcome; will it match my desires?

Finally I reach my destination. Your desires?
May I offer you mirrors, bamboo that is strong?
I can sell you truth,
Better than the medicine in the chrysanthemums.
What do you have to trade?
I must return with something more than silk.

I have traded most of my silk.
I may not yet have met most of my desires,
But it was good enough this trade.
This jade, this sword will keep me strong,
For tea I have kept aside chrysanthemums.
A small bit for the journey back in truth.

I kept a bit of truth and silk.
I pass the mountains filled with chrysanthemums, leaving behind some desires
I feel tired but strong, and this trade has been long.


Second place: "Silk Road" - Jordan Lee

"Porky Poem"
People say, "you are what you eat,"
Let me tell you a story about me and some meat.
It was late spring, practically summer,
When the tragedy happened, oh what a bummer!
I was hogging the bacon, all to myself,
When it suddenly squealed and leapt off the shelf.
We both screamed in unison, I lunged for my fork
And that's when I realized, it was me and the pork.
I tried to stop it, but it ran away fast,
Strip after strip, it stepped on the gas.
I looked at the bacon as it ran away
And my face let on a look of dismay.
My bacon had left, it was all gone,
And now it is time for me to move on.
To find a new food, crispy and sweet,
And so ends the tragedy of the meat.


Third place: "Porky Poem" - John Vernaglia


"The Book of Animal Transformations"

J.P. sat in the garden on a lawn chair, gazing at the sky. He was exploding with boredom, but his parents made him stay where they could see him, because he was an adventurous boy, likely to run off to find excitement. The only thing around here of interest was the jungle, but his parents had specifically banned him from going into it, because they thought he could hurt himself there. At that point, his parents came into the yard and came to talk with him. "J.P., we have been thinking of letting you go into the jungle today, because you have started to look bored lately..." began his mom, but before she could finish, J.P. ran off like a rocket, hardly believing what he had just heard. Little did he know that the jungle would have a lot more surprises for him than he realized...

As J.P. walked through the jungle, he jumped and ran around because he felt so happy. When he finally calmed down, he looked around and gasped. Under a bush, he saw something glowing. Realizing that whatever could have gotten under that bush might have been dangerous, J.P. picked it up. He could hardly believe his eyes. Incredibly, against all the odds, he only held a Book in his hands.

J.P. stared at the Book. Could his imagination have started to run wild, or could the Book be fairly emanating power? He held the Book up and opened it. Inside, J.P. found a startling array of pictures and words. He scanned the first paragraph. The paragraph read: "For those who do not know the art of transformation, this will be your guide to the dark corners of the world, where all animals lurk and hide." He read the first few pages. A single article caught his eye: "The iguana has been found to be by far the easiest transformation and the best for beginners." He sat down and started to read the spell on the page, leaving the small print unnoticed...

J.P. stood up. He planted his claws on the ground and thought that this would definitely be described as the weirdest Book he had ever seen. Wait...since when did he have claws?! The Book must have done it. J.P. dashed around for a while until he realized that his new lizard senses had just started to kick in. Now he knew how hyper lizards usually felt. J.P. felt like he could run forever! After a while, J.P. finally managed to calm down. Then he started to look for the Book. When he found it within two minutes, J.P. sighed in relief. Now he could turn back into a boy if he needed to. He put the Book in a safe place, then set out to explore. J.P. felt thrilled! He, J.P., would be known as the first human to discover the glories of transformation! Then, he wondered how his parents would react when their son came home as a little iguana. The other problem was that he didn't know how to get home. He had gotten himself lost, no two ways about it. I will enjoy this time anyway while the transformation lasts, J.P. thought, defying that tiny hint in his brain, and crawled away through the undergrowth. Things had just kept going perfectly, and he started noticing a lot of things he would not have as a boy. He found a tree that acted as a disco ball (it dappled the rays of the sun on the ground), and that he could get lots of extra heat from taking a sunbath! Suddenly, a snake loomed up in front of him. J.P. felt terrified. He tried to run, but he was rooted to the spot! The snake started to sway back and forth...back and forth...back and forth...

J.P. sat up, dazed. He looked around just in time to see a large owl making off with the snake. J.P. shuddered. That had gotten way too close for comfort. He had to turn back. J.P. recited the counterspell and waited. Nothing happened. He tried again. Nothing. He could not figure out what could have happened. He had to find the Book. He scrambled off his rock, and spurred onward by fear, made his way back to where he had put the Book. He lifted and pulled at the pages with all his might, turning them until he found the one about iguanas. Then, J.P. searched for some crazy reason that would explain why he happened to have gotten stuck as a lizard! That just happened to be when he saw the small print. J.P. screamed. The small print read:

"Those who do not turn back within an hour of their transformation will get stuck in their transformed state forever, unless they go into The Volcanic Maximus. Little is known about that place, except that it is on the edge of a river. Only the bravest would be advised to go there, because the volcano has been found to be exceedingly dangerous, and can do things that any normal volcano cannot. You would be well advised to not to go there, poor trapped soul, because you would most surely die..."

J.P. slammed the Book shut. He shuddered, finally seeing the truth. He had been transformed for about 5 hours already! He had no choice but to go to Volcanic Maximus. He would probably die. That did not matter, because it would be even worse to come home as a small reptile. Suddenly, a huge gust of wind blew him into a river that had been rolling peacefully a moment before. The current pulled him under. J.P. fought for breath, grappling furiously at the Book, because he needed something to keep him afloat. Finally he grabbed the Book, and panting, pulled himself on top of it. Then, utterly exhausted, he went to sleep, on top of Book in the now peaceful river.

A loud crash woke up J.P., and he looked to see what all the commotion could have come from. The Book had run into a rock, and now had started to slowly pull away. Up ahead, many more rocks loomed out of the water. J.P. cowered on the Book, awaiting the inevitable...CRASH! The Book struck the rocks and J.P. hurled into the river. He screamed, and his mouth filled with water. Slowly, he came up to the surface, gasping for air and bobbing at a much faster rate than before. The Book floated nearby, and J.P. grabbed on. Then he saw the reason for the faster current. A tremendous waterfall loomed ahead, and the water was cascading down into the unknown with a terrifying roar. J.P. and the Book got flung over the edge, and into the abyss. Wind whistled past his face, and then he struck the water with a crash and sank like a stone. He somehow managed to hold onto the Book, and he floated up to the surface with it. He gasped in relief, but in the next few seconds, he turned as white as a gosh, screamed, and held on for his life as he got thrown over the edge of another waterfall! As he bobbed to the surface again, he felt truly desperate. Up ahead, the river forked. One way led straight to land, which he could see in the distance. One way led to a place that he could not see at all. He wanted to get on nice dry land, where he would be safe. He paddled furiously in that direction, but the river would have none of it. The current threw him onto the other path. J.P. gave out a discontented sigh, knowing that he could do nothing about the current. Then his eyes lit up. Right ahead, there was land! As the Book drifted over, he pulled himself through the shallows and onto the sand, where he collapsed with a sigh of relief.

J.P. woke up at noon. The Book lay beside him, and for the moment he had no idea why he lay there. Suddenly his predicament all came back with a jolt. He had to find the volcano, and fast. Now that he had found land, all doubts about finding the volcano disappeared. How much longer would it be until he found it? The volcano could be anywhere in the world. He looked up at the sky to gaze at the clouds. The sight took his breath away, because when he looked up, he also took in the full glory of the biggest volcano he had ever seen. This had to be Volcanis Maximus. What else could this be? J.P. climbed for hours, sliding down sometimes, avoiding falling rocks, and generally making a dangerous climb. He lugged the Book alongside him, doggedly pursing victory. His claws ached, and he was at the end of his limits. A hot gust of wind rippled past J.P. He had finally reached the summit! As he opened the Book and read the counterspell in his head, a column of wind started in the distance. A tornado! The huge twister of wind hit the Book and sent them both hurtling into the depths of the volcano!!

A hot breeze ran past J.P. He opened his eyes, to see his iguana claws set deep into a rocky ledge below. He could not be happier that his claws were so sharp! The Book sat on a ledge nearby. He inched his way towards it, every move a risk. Finally he reached the ledge that the Book sat on. He read the counterspell one more time, to make sure he had it. As soon as he finished reading, however, another gust of hot air from the bubbling lava below swept the Book from him. The Book hurtled into the lava, disappearing with a hiss. Suddenly, a crack started splitting across J.P.'s rock. A startling thought occurred to him; if he turned back into a boy, his increased weight might send the entire ledge crashing down, with him on it. J.P. looked around desperately, trying to find something that might save him, and gasped. Right above him, J.P. could see a group of ledges forming a staircase leading up to the top! He gathered up all his courage and leaped from one ledge to another, with only one thought in his mind: keep moving!! Finally, J.P. jumped out of the volcano, and he collapsed on the ground, exhausted but alive. The volcano collapsed too, caving in so it looked like a burning heap. J.P. quickly said the counterspell before anything else happened. He stood up and laughed with glee. He was back! Then he wondered what his parents would think when he came home a day after he left. They would have been devastated. Just then, he noticed a yellowed scrap of paper sticking out of the smoldering heap. The scrap read: "To turn back time after you have finished with your transformation to avert suspicion, just tap a rock three times and say the name of the animal you transformed into. You will immediately return to where you started before you found this Book, although you will keep the memory of your adventure." J.P. whooped in delight. He threw the scrap away, not even bothering to find the rest of the Book. All of a sudden, the rest of the volcano erupted! Lava cascaded down the hill, and it would engulf J.P. any second! He dashed to the closest rock, hurriedly tapped it three times and said "Iguana." Suddenly, J.P. was back in his garden, with his parents walking towards him. This time, he would just stay seated.

EPILOGUE

Max walked through the ancient volcano site, looking at the volcanic rocks. He had come there on a vacation with his parents. Just then, he saw a discarded Book sticking out of the rubble. The velvet cover read: The Book of Animal Transformation.


Honorable Mention: "Book of Animal Transformations" - Jacob Abrams