Footprints in the Snow

This "flash fiction" was written by 4th Grade me. Slight changes in wording and punctuation, as well as spelling fixes, from then to now. Preserved here for posterity.


Walking into the yard, a cluster of footprints catches my eye.

As I go up to them, I see that they are cat prints - round and bumpy.
I decide to follow them.

As I walk, tramping through the crisp snow, I think they are from our neighbor's cat. It likes to wander around our yard. The cat prints lead me beneath a picnic table and near an oak tree.

About halfway through my journey, the paw prints go in two directions. Left and right. I think about each way for some time. I go left, hoping for an exciting adventure.

Following the paw prints gets boring, and I'm glad when my friend asks me to come over. As I leave for my friend's house, I see the cat prints with my footprints and wonder where those cat prints would have lead to.

When I got home, I found the cat prints had vanished.

And to this day, I still wonder where they would have lead to.

Salty Seas

This poem was written by 10 year old, 4th grade me. Punctuation and formatting changes from then to now. Preserved here for posterity.

Waves

    lapping   gliding

over   sea stones

smooth   as silk

Seaweed   waving

gently   to and fro

Watching   the sky turn

    pink   purple

shades   of orange

Birds   announce

    day's end

All   is quiet

    on the   salty seas

The typewritten original

Hi! My Name is Kris - The End?

Wendy grabbed my arm but I wasn't scared anymore. The ghost was sitting on the window seat writing. She was wearing a long white dress and her brown hair was tied in a French braid.

When she saw us she smiled and disappeared.

She left her scrap of paper on the window seat. I went over and picked it up. It was the same letter as the one I found. It was signed by Daisy!

"That was Daisy." Wendy said excitedly, taking the letter from me.

"I know, maybe if we see her again she'll show us the money."

Wendy was heading down the ladder. I crouched to follow her and Wendy gasped. I looked over her shoulder; coming towards the ladder was a heavyset man, and in his hand was a gun!

Wendy scooted back up, slamming me on the floor. I ran for the desk and crouched under it, Wendy followed.

The man lifted the trapdoor. He came in and we could see his feet coming to the desk and he started rummaging through the papers in the desk.

xxx

...And I guess that's it. I've never been very good at finishing my stories. Who was that strange man? I assume he was after the money. Do Kris and Wendy get away? Does Daisy appear again? Did anyone ever find the painting or the money??? We may never know...

Hi! My Name is Kris - Part 4

When Wendy and I entered the Daisy House (Wendy said that was the name of the mansion) a cobweb's clammy touch stuck to my face and I just barely stifled a scream.

Wendy and I emerged in what looked like an ancient dining room. There was an inch of dust on the few furniture pieces and a beautiful chandelier hanging over the table. Upstairs was the same cobwebs and dust.

In one room I was looking through a desk full of yellowed papers and some feather ink pens, when I picked up a scrap of a letter with writing. "Wendy look what I found!" I exclaimed.

"What?" Wendy said. She came over and added "Read it."

It went like this:

Dear Cornelia,
This is it. My painting is not yet finished but my sickness is worse. The doctor said I will not live. My money goes to you. It is hidden in the (at that point water blurred the words) I am sitting at the window sill in my room while writing to you.
Your Loving Sister,
Daisy

"Cool!" Wendy said. "It's like a will. Maybe we can find the money, I bet it's here."

"Let's finish exploring first." I said thoughtfully.

We moved up another floor. In one room it was bare with a single stool in the center. In another room there was a glass cabinet filled with tiny pewter animal figures. A ladder leaned on the far wall.

I was holding a (tiny) china cat when Wendy called out "Look at this Kris. Come here."

I went over. Above the ladder was a trapdoor. Wendy and I climbed up the ladder. There was a bed inside and one small window. In the corner was an old fashioned desk.

While we were searching the room I heard a low moaning. I turned around and there stood a transparent figure. A GHOST!

xxx

Hi! My Name is Kris - Part 3

"What, whhaat was that?" I asked. I was really scared.

"Oh just the wind" Wendy said with doubt and nervousness.

And it was quite clear she didn't mean it, I mean there was no wind anywhere and even though it was only nine o'clock (according to my watch) it was as dry as a bone.

"Okay. Let me tell you the story of this house." Wendy finally got out. "Then we'll go to my house to get a flashlight, so we can explore."

"OK." I said trying to calm down.

And she began.

"Once long ago this old house was a mansion." Wendy started. "There was an old woman who really wasn't old who lived here. She was friends with an old witch. One day she was found dead, nothing was wrong with her the doctors said. She was buried and that was that, though some people say the witch took her soul." Wendy finished.

"Now let's go get the flashlight." Wendy said and before I could answer, she ran in the direction of her house, and I could only follow.

At Wendy's house Mrs. Hollows greeted us. "Oh you must be one of Wendy's friends." Mrs. Hollows said "What's your name dear?"

"Kris Stevans" I answered politely.

"Nice to meet you" Wendy's Mom said, and started putting cookies in the oven.

In Wendy's room it was trashed. It was so messy this book would be filled with how it was messed up if I wrote about it.

Wendy weaved her way to her drawer, opened it, took out a sweatshirt, dropped it on the floor and pulled out her flashlight. She dropped the flashlight on her bed and opened the closet. And I swear I thought there would be an avalanche.

She pulled out a hard hat with a flashlight on it, like a miner's. "Which one" Wendy asked and held out both items.

Before I could answer a radio blasted out music. I jumped.

Wendy smiled "Just my 16 year old sister Jana, I'm used to it" Wendy explained.

I chose the flashlight and we left.


Outside Wendy and I started to talk. "So how come you moved here?" Wendy asked.

Oh no I thought, I was hoping she wouldn't ask that. "Well, my parents just got divorced and they both agreed to move. Dad lives in California. And Mom, Rob my brother, and I live here."

Wendy was quiet. We walked in silence. I watched two adults buy ice cream from the ice cream truck and I could feel tears well up in my eyes.

Wendy grabbed my hand and we ran all the way to that old house.

The door was still open when we got there. Wendy strapped on her hard hat and flicked on a switch, sending a beam barely seen on the sidewalk from her hat.

Once more she grabbed my hand and with that we entered the barely open door to the old house.

xxx

Hi! My Name is Kris - Part 2

The next morning I could smell bacon. I quickly pulled on shorts, a Tee-shirt, my running shoes, tied my long brown hair in a pony tail and ran down the stairs two at a time. Rob was already sitting at the kitchen table when I got down there stuffing his face with bacon and pancakes.

I opened the refrigerator and poured myself some orange juice and sipped it while Mom served my breakfast.

"So you guys" Mom started "I was thinking we could drive out to the beach tomorrow if the weather is nice, this is summer you know. Kris what are you planning to do today? Rob heard about the Paul Bunyan statue in Bangor on T.V. this morning so I'm going to take him to see it."

"Well" I said. "I thought I might take Chopsticks for a walk around the neighborhood." (Chopsticks is my little white dog with brown ears and a black patch around his left eye. My best friend from New Jersey gave him to me when she visited Japan.)

Mom nodded, looked at the newspaper and started reading it.

I finished my breakfast and I rinsed my dish, cup and fastened Chopsticks' leash to his collar.

When I got outside I walked two blocks then I came to a house that was huge and looked very old. The paint was peeling and the whole thing was falling apart. It gave me the creeps.

"Scary, Huh?" a voice said.

I whirled around and there stood a girl with bug bites on her legs, tons of freckles and short (I mean short) red hair.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, my name is Wendy Hollows. What's yours?" The girl said with interest.

"Kris, Kris Stevans" I stammered.

"Nice dog, what's his name?" Wendy said.

"Thanks, it's Chopsticks" I returned.

And then while we were talking the door to that huge old house, which had been tightly shut, creaked open a few inches then stopped.

xxx

Hi! My Name is Kris

I've been sifting through old school papers and writing. It's hard for us pack rats to decide to throw anything away. Typing my forgotten stories and setting them adrift on the Internet is an interesting way to revisit the past - and perhaps downsize the collection of papers while preserving the words.

I think I wrote the following story outside of school, for fun. I'm not sure how old I was, but the perforated holes on both sides of the computer paper that I used offer a clue. The only things I changed from the original, handwritten version is fixing any incorrect spelling and adding paragraph breaks.

xxx

"Would you kids stop complaining, we're almost there."

Hi! My name is Kris (short for Kristana). The person who was speaking was my Mom. She was talking to me and my younger brother Rob.

We were moving from our nice cozy house in New Jersey to Maine. We were moving because my Mom and Dad just got divorced, and they both agreed they would move out of our house. So here we were almost in Westbrook, Maine and my brother complaining every two seconds and me not feeling too happy about this at all.

Finally Mom carefully pulled up to a gray house with white shutters, and the tang of salty air hit us as we jumped out.

"Kris come help me unload this junk."

"Aw Mom..." I put in, I just wanted to get away.

"Kristana Stevans" my Mom said warningly, "Do you want me to get in the car and drive all the way back to New Jersey right now with you and your brother?"

(Mom thought I was thrilled about moving.) That would be great I thought. "Sure." I mumbled through gritted teeth.

"What was that young lady?" Mom said.

"Nothing" I said and started lugging a suitcase up the porch steps.

After we had unpacked (the movers got to our new house before us, and Mom had told them before where everything was to go) Mom showed Rob and I our rooms.

My room was big and airy. It was wallpapered with blue wallpaper that had tiny white flowers scattered over it. There was a nice window with curtains that matched the wallpaper and when you looked out you could see the ocean blue and greenish not far away.

After supper I climbed up the stairs and into my familiar bed. I began to think that since tomorrow was Saturday I could explore the neighborhood and maybe find a girl my age and before long I fell asleep.

xxx