Level I Winners

Walking to the Park on a Sunny Day
by Isabella C., Wilmette, IL

One fine day when the birds were chirping and the flowers were blooming, I decided to go the park. I was walking and I was close to the playground when something stopped my eye. Then I saw a footprint, and another, and another. It had a big palm with eleven sharp claws. It glowed bright red like lava. It was very strange indeed. The footprints looked scary. I didn't touch it.

I walked on. Suddenly I saw a path. It was very dried up. It looked a little eerie. There was a sign blocking the path. It was gray with a big note saying, "Don't enter this path, please DON'T". So weird. It had a bid read "X" on it. But there was something that caught my eyes. It was a locket that dangled from the sign. It was gold with Roman numbers on it. It looked ancient. I wondered who it belonged to. It said "Watch out or else" on it. It was going "tick, tick, tick". I didn't go down the path. I felt that something bad was bound to happen if I went down the path.

I heard a noise. It was a noise that fit with a squirrel, a yell, and a bird all together. I went left. It grew fainter. I went right. It grew stronger. What could this be I asked myself. Then I remembered I was supposed to meet Ava at the park. I waited and waited and waited. Finally, Ava came. She was looking happy, grinning and her cheeks were bright pink. But I saw something on her neck. It was the same locket that was on the danger sign. I wanted to ask her where she got it, but the words wouldn't come out. This was so strange. I was usually a very talkative person. "Come on," she said and took my arm. "Let's play on the tire swing. You push first."

I didn't know what to do. Should I play with Ava or not? What would happen to me? Would I ever see anyone again…

I want to have fun, I just don't know what will happen to me, but Ava is my friend and I don't want to let her down. So I played with her. We went on the tire swing, I pushed Ava first and she pushed me next. We were having fun the whole time when suddenly I remembered about the locket. I asked where she got it from, she replied "My Mom and Dad bought it from the Antique store as my good luck charm". I was curious and wanted to look closer. I asked Ava if she can open it which she did. Suddenly a cold wind carried me to same eerie dried path I saw earlier. Ava was no where to be found, I'm beginning to get nervous. "Maybe if I'll follow the path, I might find her along the way. I have no choice" I told myself. As I was walking, I heard a faint noise which got louder and louder as I went forward, could this be the same noise I heard earlier or is it Ava? I called out loud, "are you there Ava?" I did not get any response.

Things became more eerie, winds started to blow colder. I kept on walking when I saw footprints. "It's strange? could these be the same footprints I saw earlier?. I must be imagining things I thought. I went farther down the path when way ahead; I saw a figure coming closer towards me. As it came nearer, I started to recognize. It was Ava, running, panting and catching her breath. "Ava", I cried. "What's wrong?" Ava shouted, "run!" long way behind Ava was a big, furry, brown animal. It was a big angry bear, growling and running after her. So, it was the bear's footprints that I saw. We run as fast as we could but the bear came closer and closer and caught up with us. As the bear started to grab us with his big paws, I suddenly heard a loud voice that said "time for breakfast". It was my mom's; I opened my eyes and realized it was only a dream, a bad dream that was. So, I jumped out of bed, went to the dining room and enjoyed my breakfast that day.