Nicky Fifth For Hire Contest Winners

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Guest Young Author Contest Winners

1st Place – Zaneta Zachwieja, Age 10,
Christopher Columbus School #8, Garfield, New Jersey

The Brave Mermaid

Splash! Splash! Isabel was soaking wet and then swam off. She was a beautiful mermaid and when she came home, here friends were waiting for her.

“Why were you on the surface?” they asked. I was picking flowers and Ig the Monster followed me, so I swam away.

She went to the playground with her friends and then everyone went home, When Isabel was almost at her house, Ig ran after her. She swam and swam until she found a sunken ship and hid inside. Then she found a net and trapped Ig.

When she came home, she told her parents, but they couldn’t think of anything to do, so after school she visited the smartest wizard. The wizard said, “I’ll make a potion, but you’ll have to come back after school tomorrow.”

After school the next day, she went back to the wizard to get the potion and thanked him. The next day was the last day of school and Isabel packed her bags to make Ig good. She said goodbye to her family and began her journey. She had to travel 16 miles to get to Shark’s Cove where Ig lived alone. Soon, she came to a dark forest, but she had to be careful because there were thorns on the trees and it was very dark. Then, she came to a stop at the deep canyon, hoping there was an entrance to the other side. But she came back to the top because there was no entrance. It was a dead end. She called her turtle friends and held onto their backs as they gave the tired mermaid a ride. Finally, she reached Ig’s house, but had to rest.

The next day, Isabel woke up and found herself outside Ig’s house. Luckily he was gone, so she went inside and poured the secret potion on his breakfast.

Later, Ig came home and ate his breakfast, but nothing happened. Isabel thought the potion was a failure, but then his eyes turned from red to blue and his frown turned into a smile. Back in her town, the Governor congratulated her for her success. Isabel got medals and so did Ig! During her speech, she said, “You should give the wizard a medal, too.” So the Governor even gave a medal to the wizard. And, because he turned good, he no longer lived alone and went back to live with his family! Of course, he still remembered to visit Isabel’s family, too!

2nd Place – John Pascual, Age 11,
Darby Elementary School, US Navy Base, Sasebo, Japan

The Easter Bunny Who Went Christmas

One Easter, the Easter Bunny was planning a special gift for all of the kids. He was really excited because every year the kids had Easter clothes, hats, and other accessories. Easter was every kids’ favorite holiday. But when the Easter Bunny saw the kids this year, he was shocked.

He saw the kids with Christmas clothes, hats, and accessories! The Easter Bunny was incredibly sad. He went back to his house to think of a plan that would make him be noticed. Finally, he thought of something that would really work. He put all of his Easter clothes away, bought a Christmas costume, and changed his name to the Christmas Bunny.

Every Christmas, he would give eggs to the kids. If they were bad, they got coal in their eggs. If they were good, they would get a small toy in it…not what they wanted for Christmas. When the kids saw the Christmas Bunny, they complained to him.

“What happened to Easter? Why did you change your name to the Christmas Bunny?” asked the kids.

“Because I saw you kids wearing Christmas things and not Easter things,” said the Bunny in a sad voice.

“We’re sorry,” said the kids. “Are you going to change your name back and host Easter again?”

The Bunny thought about it, and then said, “Yes, I will.” The kids were all happy.

One year later, when it was Easter again, the kids ran up to the Easter Bunny’s door and screamed, “Happy Easter!”

“Thank you for this,” said the happy Bunny.

Then, from that day on, Easter was the way it should be and the Easter Bunny never changed his name again!

3rd Place – Sunnie Vitale, Age 10,
Dr. Joyanne D. Miller Elementary School, Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey

Bobby Christmas

Once there was a ten year old boy named Bobby Christmas. Bobby lived in a town called “Orange Blossom.” He went to school every morning, except weekends. His school was called The Best School Ever, but he didn’t think it was the best school ever because everyone made fun of his last name. One boy, Ray, used to be Bobby’s best friend until everyone made fun of him for hanging out with a kid named Christmas. So, Ray found some new friends and started making fun of Bobby, too, just to be cool. Now, Bobby despised him.

One Wednesday morning, Bobby met a ten year old boy named Jarred Salami. Everyone would make fun of him. But once he found Bobby Christmas, they started talking and soon became friends. They were friends for two whole months when kids started making fun of them for it. The next year, the kids met a girl named Carla Ham. She became the new, funnylast-name kid. She met the boys and they became friends, too.

Year after year, people would find new funny-last-name kids to tease and Bobby Christmas and his friends would always become friends with them. Now, Bobby is treated equally by the other students, or at least the ones with funny-last-names!