Water Bug Goes to France

This is a story that me and my mom and dad wrote with a game that I made up where you write down a couple of words at random, and then you have to use all the words in one part. And then you write down another set of words, and the next person would write a part using those words - until you finish the story.

Once upon a time there was a water bug who was wading in the water and trying to find something to eat. He was wearing glasses and played the guitar. His favorite food was carrots. At swimming class he practiced running on water. Where he took the swimming lessons there was a big pile of junk. He thought he might be able to find a carrot in there.

The water bug did not find a carrot in the junk pile. What the water bug did find was something more astounding, more remarkable, more incredible than anything the water bug could possibly have imagined. At first the water bug thought the thing it had found was only a lowly flower, a mundane, everyday sort of flower. And although it was in fact a flower, it was something entirely magical - a magical flower, a most incredibly magical flower.
“Hello!” said the flower to the water bug as it shone in the junk pile like the sun in the sky on a clear, cloudless day. The water bug jumped back. It didn’t know what to say. It found itself for the fist time in its life utterly tongue-tied. “What wish may I grant you?” asked the flower.
The water bug looked askance. “You’re not for real, are you?”
“What have you got to lose?” the flower responded.
And the water bug, having considered this, said, “Well, ok. I’ve always dreamed of going to France.”
“France?” asked the flower.
“Yes,” said the water bug. “I hear they have very nice cheese there.”
“Well,” said the flower. “If you go to France, you’ll need some way to get around.” “Yes,” said the water bug. “How about a golf cart.”
“Ok,” said the flower, “No problem. And you might need a guide since you probably don’t speak French, do you?” The water bug had to admit that he did not speak French. “No problem,” said the flower, rubbing his two leaves together in a can-do manner. “I will give you this salamander to accompany you.”

And with that the water bug found himself instantly transported to Paris in a golf cart. Seated next to him, wearing quite a becoming floral sundress and bright pink nail polish was a lady salamander. “How do you do?” she asked.
“Very well, thank you,” replied the water bug.
“How are you enjoying Paris?” asked the salamander.
“Well, I’ve only just arrived,” said the water bug.
“Then we must be off,” said the salamander, “For there is much to see.”
They toured the land of the kingdoms of old, snacking on ketchup and treating their noses to new aromas.
“My, but the cars are all so small here!” remarked the water bug.
“Yes, it’s not like in the United States,” agreed the salamander who had been translating all day and whose tongue was quite exhausted.

Soon they came to the Louvre where they went inside and saw lots of paintings. They went to the Asian part and saw a Buddha. The floor was marble. And then, once they were all museumed out they decided to go shopping for a little bit, buying some very Parisian things. The water bug bought a candlestick that had the Mona Lisa on it, and since he was quite thirsty, he bought a liquid that said it was flavored with strawberries. They went to their hotel and started to unpack. The water bug was a little bit displeased because there was no fireplace, and then he thought he could make a fire pit of course in the ground in the hotel, but he needed coal. So he asked the person who worked there for some coal. He said, “What do you want it for?” And he said, “For a fire.”

“You can’t make a fire with coal,” the man in the hotel lobby told the water bug. The water bug looked disappointed. “But I’m cold,” he said, and the salamander translated.
“D’accord,” the hotel man responded. “If you give me a moment,” he said in English, “I will look in my cave for something.”
“Cave?” the water bug asked.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” he said. “I mean basement.”
“Cave means basement in French,” the salamander explained to the water bug.
They went back to their room, and a little while later the doorbell rang. The hotel manager was there with a little heater just the right size for an insect. It used a battery for power and was quite cozy. The next day the duo headed south and drove all day in their golf cart. By the end of the day they had reached Provence, and they stopped on a hill covered with lavender and watched the sunset behind the Mediterranean. Just then the most unusual thing happened. A hippopotamus wandered by chewing on a leaf.

The salamander took out her camera and started taking pictures. But the hippopotamus stopped abruptly, turned to her, and said, in a rather haughty tone, “You haven’t just taken my photograph, have you?”
“Why, yes,” said the salamander. “You looked so lovely and refined with the sea at your back and the Victorian sun dial behind you.”
“Well,” said the hippo, blushing, “since you put it that way…” And she strolled on down the path still munching on the leaf.
“My dear friend salamander!” exclaimed the water bug, “You do have a gift for words.”
“Some day,” replied the salamander, “I hope to write a book.”
“I should very much like to read it,” said the water bug.
“In the meanwhile,” said the lady salamander, “We should be getting you back. Simply take hold of this magic pine cone, and you will find yourself once again in the pond where you live.”
After saying their good-byes, the water bug grasped the pine cone, and before he could say escargot he was back astride the surface of the pond, guitar on his back and a carrot in his hand.

The Dream 2

Once upon a time there were three ladybugs, and their names were Luna, Lentina, and Leequana. It was the night time, and the three ladybugs had just gone to sleep. And they all had the same dream. And this is their dream.
They dreamed that they went to the pool and they had lots of fun. Lentina brought her water wings because she didn't know how to swim on her own. She was the smallest one. Luna could jump into the pool and make a big splash, but Lentina didn't like to be splashed so she always went out of the pool when Luna jumped. Leequana couldn't jump, but she could swim backwards. Lentina could swim backwards a little bit. And Luna said it was too easy.
After they played for a little while in the pool they said that they were hungry so they took a little lunch break and ate aphids. After that they went back into the pool and splashed and played again. Then they woke up and it was another day.
The end

The Euro

Once upon a time there was a Euro. He just got made in a factory, and he was all bright and shiny. A person picked him up and brought him to La Banque de France. And he got put into a safe. And then a person came to the bank. And the owner of the bank took the Euro out and gave him to the person. The person put him into her wallet and then put her wallet into her bag. There was a bunch of other Euros there. And there were lots of cents. It was very hot in there, and he was sweating, and the other money was sweating too.

That afternoon the person went into a boulangerie and gave the Euro to the boulangère to buy two poppy seed rolls and a baguette. Then he got put into a cash register where it was very dark, and he couldn't see. He kept on bumping into other Euros. Sometimes he fell into a place where cents were supposed to be, and sometimes cents came into the Euro spot, but they always got back into their own spot. Then he heard the door of the boulangerie open. A woman walked in and said she wanted a baguette and a croissant. It cost two Euros, and the woman gave the boulangere three Euros. The boulangere opened the cash register, and now it seemed very very bright. But the Euro got used to it. The boulangere took out the Euro and gave him to the woman as change. And the woman put him in a wallet and walked away.

She went home, and she gave him to her daughter. Her daughter decided she wanted to buy something with him. So she went out on her way to the toy store. On the way she dropped him, not noticing she did. It was very boring on the ground, and he kept on moving over so nobody stepped on him. When there was nobody there he laid down flat so someone would find him and pick him up. The ground kind of hurt his back. Then a man came along and found him on the ground and picked him up.

The man brought him to the Metro and put him into a metro machine. In the metro machine it was almost like an enormous slide. He kept on sliding down through tunnels, and sometimes he got flipped over on his heads and sometimes on his tails. Then he ended up in a big space, and there was lots of other money in there. It was very crowded, and he kept on getting squished by the 2 Euros because he was a 1 Euro. After a long, long time the machine emptier-man came and emptied all the money but forgot him! So he had to wait until tomorrow for him to come back. He waited and waited and it kept on getting more crowded. Then he fell asleep. He woke up in the morning, but he still had to wait until the evening. So he waited and waited and waited. He was very very bored. Then finally it came to be evening, and the man didn't forget him. He got all the money and brought it to the bank.

He didn't like it in the bank. It was all boring in those tubes of money. He was glad when a peson came and took him. But what he wasn't glad about was that the same things happened all over again.
The end.

The Molecule Journey

Once upon a time there was a little molecule that was very lonely. He didn't know what kind of molecule he was, and he didn't know what the molecules that were around him were. But even though he didn't know those things he still had a fun time playing with the other molecules.

One day he got tired of being with the same molecules. He decided to go out and find other molecules to play with. He decided to go to the river. It was right next to where he lived. There he found lots and lots of water molecules. They were very nice. And he also found fishes with lots of little fish molecules in them. They were all very nice and were glad to meet him. They played for a while, and then he decided to find other molecules to play with. But first a water molecule that he liked best gave him a present. It was a little picture of her on a string for a necklace. Then he said thank you and he went off.

The next place he visited was a seagull. He hopped onto it, and there were the seagull's molecules in its feet and its beak. Those were the first places where he visited the molecules on the seagull. When he went on the beak the molecules were too loud there. So he went to the feet. When he got to the feet the feet molecules were too sharp, and he didn't like getting scratched with them. So he decided to go on the feathers. The feather molecules were very nice and soft, and they let him lie down on them. He got very relaxed and fell asleep. Then before he knew it the seagull had dropped him! But luckily he landed on a duck.

The feather molecules on the duck were very nice and soft too. So he had a nice, soft landing. Then the duck took him back to where he lived, and since he could see it very big, he noticed that he was a tree molecule. He had lived on a tree!

The end.

Josefina and the Heart Person

Once upon a time there was a person that was named Josefina. Three doors down lived a heart person. One day Josefina went to the playground, and she saw the heart person, and they played together. Before they went home they planned a play date. The next day the heart person went to Josefina's house, and they played again. Before the heart person went home they planned another play date. The next day Josefina went to the heart person's house, and they became best friends. Every Tuesday they had a play date, alternating houses each week. One Tuesday Josefina decided to live with the heart person, and they became pretend sisters.
the end.

John Superhero and Simon Clayfeet on the Mountain

Once upon a bad time John Superhero heard someone yelling. "Help! Help! Help!" He flew around trying to find where the call for help was coming from. Finally he found the place, and he saw who was calling for help. It was his friend Simon Clayfeet. He was lost on a BIIIIIIG HIIIIIGH mountain. John Superhero saw that there was water on one side of the mountain, and there was forest on the other. If Simon Clayfeet went down the side where there was water he would drown because he can't swim. And if he went down to the forest he would get stuck in the trees.

Simon Clayfeet didn't dare go down either side. He knew that there was forest on one side and water on the other. And there were giant sea monsters in the water! And there were forest-proof scorpions in the forest. (They're called 'forest-proof' because they're not supposed to live in the forest, but these can.)

John Superhero flew down and landed on the mountain. He asked Simon Clayfeet where he was trying to go. Simon Clayfeet said he was trying to go to the Natural History Museum. John Superhero knew where that was. He picked Simon Clayfeet up and held him while he flew, but then he realized that a piece of the clay on Simon Clayfeet's foot was stuck on the mountain, and they couldn't pull it off. It stretched out as they flew, and they couldn't fly much farther or it would break, and that would hurt Simon Clayfeet.

John Superhero said that Simon Clayfeet should stay on the mountain. He flew down to the forest. He sneaked without the scorpions noticing. He took one strong stick and flew back up to the mountain, and he scraped the clay off with that one stick. And then he picked Simon Clayfeet up, and he carried Simon Clayfeet as he flew to the Natural History Museum, and put him down there.

The End

The Dream

Once upon a time there was a mother ladybug. She just had some babies, and she named them. One she named Luna. One she named Lentina. And the last one she named Leequana. They were larvae. They crawled around on the leaf they were born on and ate aphids.

One day the mother ladybug's friend Buntina came along. She was a butterfly. Her wings were blue with purple spots on them. She brought a present for the mother ladybug. It was a baby present. They had a little chat. The mother ladybug chewed on aphids, and the butterfly sucked on nectar. They had a good time. After they were finished eating and drinking the mother ladybug opened her present. It was a picture of a mother ladybug and three children ladybugs. She said, "Thank you," and they hugged each other. And then the butterfly went away.

Then she tucked her babies in their beds, and they had their nap. When they woke up they found presents for each of them beside each of their beds. They opened up their presents. Luna's present was a stuffed animal ladybug. Lentina's present was a ladybug memory game. Leequana's present was a big globe of the insect land which was where they lived. They all loved their presents. They ate a little aphid for snack, and then they played with their presents and decided to all play the memory game together.

When they were done playing the ladybug memory game it was bedtime. They didn't want to go to bed, but it was time to go to sleep. So they went into their beds and went to sleep. They all had the same exact dream. And this is what their dream was.

In their dream, they went to the Insect Amusement Park, and they had a great time there. Luna went on a tremendous slide. It was the tallest slide in the whole amusement park. She was very brave. Lentina and Leequana didn't want to go on because it was too scary for them. They walked on, and they got to the bug carousel. Each of them went on. Luna rode on a grasshopper, Lentina rode on an ant, and Leequana rode on a ladybug. When it was time to get off they were a little dizzy, but not that much. Then they looked on their maps, and it said that there was a ladybug show. It was starting now! So they hurried to go and see it. The show was all about the ladybug life cycle. It was very fun. When it was over they went to see the storytelling. There was one story about a ladybug, another story about a grasshopper, and the third story was about an ant. The three larvae thought it was funny because those were the animals they'd ridden on the carousel. They were hungry so they went and had a little snack. They munched on aphids and then they woke up.

The end.

*ladybug photo from planetnatural.com