Poems

Poems

by

Sena Carlson

(age 12)

A Picture

A picture may be a thousand words

But I think there's something more important

I will choose for myself a different sword

One that I know will never be bent

A picture could be edited, be fake

And I will not take the chance

Especially for someone else's sake

I will do what God says

God says that actions speak louder than things you say

Actions speak louder than words on a page, too, I think

You may say what you may,

But I'd rather believe what someone does than a bunch of ink.

Belongs To

It used to belong to just me

It technically came from my mother

But I would often wish for it to be

Belonging to another

First, when I was young, I thought it was real

Then I thought it was nothing but lies

And of course there were times when I didn't know what to feel

But, slowly, I started to realize

My heart is important,

Not meant to be tossed

Yet I was still a little reluctant

To show people who was boss

But now I know it

My love is powerful

I am important

I have my own will

So now I give my heart to Someone Else

Someone who loves me a lot

Who takes away what I once felt

Yes, I know my heart belongs to God.

(original and self-edited)

If you are between the ages of 4-12,

(or know someone who likes to write stories)

I would like to post your story here.

Send me an email. I'd love to read your story!

Signed,

Wiggles the Polliwog

Gabby Douglas

Gabby Douglas 

by 

Sena Carlson

(age 12)

     

      Gabrielle Christina Victoria Douglas was born December 31st, 1995. Her mother had horrible pains through Gabby's birth. The fact that she had had major crisis births with Gabby's two older siblings, John and Joyelle, didn't help either. Around the time Gabrielle was born, her parents were going through a huge financial crisis. One day, when the Douglas family was at their poorest, her parents made the hard decision to get a divorce. The children went with Natalie to live in Virginia, and their father later joined them. Both parents wanted to work it out, though, so the three younger kids (John, Joyelle, and Gabby), went to live with their father and his parents' house in Chesapeake. Things didn't work out, though, and Natalie and her husband went through with the divorce. It hit the remaining members of the Douglas family hard, not having a father to support them.

     But finally, Gabby's mother had enough money to buy a three-room town house- she had gotten back on her feet again. Then, Arielle, Gabby's older sister, suggested that Gabby take a gymnastics class. Natalie thought it was absurd. She had always loved having Arielle be the gymnast of the family, but Arielle wouldn't give up pleading for her sister's gymnastics lessons. Gabby's mother finally figured, she was good... Suddenly, Natalie had made a decision. She decided to let six-year-old Gabby go to Gymstrada, a gym that offered gymnastics classes near their house. The coach there recognized the six-year-old's raw talent immediately and put her in TOPS. TOP's initials stood for "Talent Opportunity Program".  TOPS was associated with USA Gymnastics, or, "USAG". This organization was very helpful to Gabby, because it would give her assistance to maybe, eventually, get into the Olympics one day. Gabby loved training at the gym, and rarely missed a day. When she was six, she was scheduled to train Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, totaling to six hours a week (This was when she had been moved up from normal classes).

   By 2003,  Gabby's training hours had doubled from six hours to twelve. She had to train super hard to win a TOPS gymnastics meet that would qualify her to go to Houston, Texas. There, she would be permitted to train with Marta Karolyi, a legend in gymnastics history. After a little gymnastics setback at one of her TOPS meetings, Gabby got the feeling that she needed better coaching. The next year, 2004, Gabrielle became even more impatient and frustrated with her coach. He wouldn't let her do the things she knew she was able to do. Finally, Natalie went to her coach and told her what was happening. Gabby's coach said that he didn't want to give her too much all at once. Gabby would often see the higher-level girls doing much harder skills that Gabby longed to perform. And then, every time Gabby won a meet, she would hear people say, "She's the next Dominique Dawes." Gabrielle did not know who Dominique was, so one night, she googled it. She was amazed with what she saw- Dominique Dawes was the first African-American to win a gold medal in women's artistic gymnastics! When she saw all the videos of Dominique performing her amazing feats, Gabby knew that she needed to get a better coach. She begged her mother so much, she finally gave in. She made arrangements for Gabby to go to a different gym called the Excalibur. Excalibur was much bigger than Gymstrada and it had more gymnasts. 

      Gabby got better at Excalibur, and got onto the TOPS A team. That meant she would have to go to train with girls who had been training in level seven and eight for weeks. In December, Gabby finally got to go to the Karolyi ranch and meet Marta Karolyi. In between 2004- 2005, Gabby made a huge leap- from level four to level seven. Her difficulty level became extreme. She even got on the TOPS A national  team.

       One day, when Gabrielle was fourteen years old, she found out that the coach she had admired forever, Liang Chow, was coming to her gym to have a training session with the gymnasts there! Gabby jumped at this chance. And then, when her mother had to take Chow to the airport, Gabby was sure that she would be able to go to Des Moines, Iowa! Going there to train with Liang was a dream she had been voicing to her mother ever since she heard he was coming to her area.

   Gabby was finally allowed to go to Des Moines- just not the way she had expected. A family who lived there volunteered to take her into their home while she trained at Chow's gym. Gabrielle was ecstatic! As soon as she arrived to Iowa, she and her new coach set their sights on one goal- the 2012 Olympics. Gabby trained harder than ever, until a sprained hamstring sent her high dreams crashing down around her. She wasn't allowed to train for weeks, and missed a huge meet. She fell into a pit of despair, and realized how homesick she was too. The homesickness ate away at her, and she couldn't focus on anything else. After thinking, she decided to quit her gymnastics career- seven months before the Olympics! Everyone in her family were sad and  disappointed in her- especially her mother. Gabby's faithful brother, John, was the one who finally persuaded her to get back into gymnastics. As soon as her doctor said it was OK, Gabby went back to the gym- and trained harder than ever.

   And at the 2012 Olympics, her many accomplishments included:

1. Being an Olympic all-around gold medalist

2. Being an Olympic team gold medalist

3.Being an Olympic trials all-around trials champion

4.Being an U.S. Olympic trials uneven bars gold medalist (tie)

5.Being a Pacific Rim uneven bars gold medalist

6. Being a Secret U.S. Classics uneven bars gold medalist

7. Being an U.S. national champion all-around silver medalist

8. Being an U.S. national champion uneven bars gold medalist

9. Being an U.S. national champion floor event bronze medalist

The shy baby who'd lived in a van for the first five years of her childhood was no more. In her place was a champion.

Bibliography - Grace, Gold, and Glory: My Leap of Faith (autobiography of Gabby Douglas)
(Assignment for Lesson 19 - Biography)


If you are between the ages of 4-12,

(or know someone who likes to write stories)

I would like to post your story here.

Send me an email. I'd love to read your story!

Signed,

Wiggles the Polliwog

News in the Bayside West Neigborhood

News in the Bayside West Neighborhood

by

Sena Carlson

(age 11)

Bayside West is an exciting and interesting place! The small neighborhood in Owls Head, Maine, has raccoons, foxes, mountain lions, turkeys, and other similar animals.

One day, about ten years ago, Nichole Harvey, one of the neighborhood's residents, was walking with her sister on Bayside West Street and saw something that looked very much like a cougar at her neighbor, Jimmy Haul's, house. Nichole immediately grabbed her sister, Heather, who was very small at that time, and walked as fast as she could, cutting through another neighbor's yard and running home the rest of the way to tell her mother. This is only one of the strange, rare sightings of mountain lions or cougars. Owls Head also has turkeys. These animals are very common and love to go on the resident's lawns. There will probably be many more rare sightings and discoveries in this small neighborhood.

Years ago, one of the residents in the Bayside West neighborhood would secretly put a plastic Easter egg filled with big jelly beans on each neighbor's lawns every Easter morning. Then the lady moved away. Oddly, though, the jelly beans kept on coming! The residents of that neighborhood to this day do not know who puts those mysterious jelly beans on their lawns every Easter morning.

(Assignment for Lesson 18 - News Reporting) 

If you are between the ages of 4-12,

(or know someone who likes to write stories)

I would like to post your story here.

Send me an email. I'd love to read your story!

Signed,

Wiggles the Polliwog

Max

MAX

by

Sena Carlson
(age 10)

 Max was mostly a good boy, especially for a nine-year-old. He never talked back to his mother or father, never threw fits, and never bothered his two annoying sisters: Anita, age twelve, and Mary, who was only six months old. This could get pretty hard at times, especially when it came to Anita. Anita wanted everything to go her own way, and wouldn't speak if it didn't. She was constantly bossing Max around, and even though Max got so mad at her that he wanted to hit her, he never did.

     Even when his dog, Ruby, chewed up his brand-new book, Earagon by his favorite author , Christopher Taolini  all he did was make an apology to his grandmother, who had bought it for him, and go on with his life. Eventually, a couple of years later, he got the same exact book, but it was not brand-new; it was bought from a house from an ad in the newspaper. (This was because there were no more copies of that exact book in stores.)

     One night, when Max was eleven years old, he had a seizure. He'd had them before when he was two or three, but everybody thought that was over now. This was serious. He happened to be finishing his book, Earagon. He had such a bad seizure that his whole body stiffened up. He was holding the book so hard, that, somehow, just somehow, a sliver of his body slipped into the edge of the book's hard cover.

     Suddenly, he was swimming in... green slime? "Yuck!" he thought. He seemed to be in a new world, an absolutely amazing world. Suddenly, he dropped onto something very hard. He focused on adjusting his eyes in the thick fog. Suddenly, he saw an eerie shadow- of what? A dinosaur? As it came closer, it became clear. It was a dragon! Max's feet couldn't move as he watched the dragon coming closer. It was nine feet tall with fiery red nostrils and teeth. Oh, such horrible teeth! Just like in the story... 

(to be continued)

(Assignment for Lesson #12 - Climax) 

If you are between the ages of 4-12,

(or know someone who likes to write stories)

I would like to post your story here.

Send me an email. I'd love to read your story!

Signed,

Wiggles the Polliwog

My 10th Birthday

My 10th Birthday

by

Sena Carlson

(age 11)

I remember my 10th birthday. It was probably one of my favorite ones. The day started with breakfast out with Dad. On special occasions, he'll take me out on a "Daddy-date" to my favorite place, the Owls Head General Store. Dad always gets eggs and bacon with hash browns, and I always get a warm blueberry muffin with butter. (and sometimes two eggs with it. Mmm! It is delicious! On that special day, Dad got me a steaming hot chocolate.

      When we arrived home, I got ready to go out with my sister-in-law, Darcie, and her daughter, Shiina. We went to Darcie's friend's house who was an experienced stylist. She dyed Shiina's hair a radiant blue, and straightened mine so that it was soft and wavy. The whole tiring process took about two hours. After that, we went to KFC, and Shiina and I ordered the same thing- except Shiina didn't have applesauce and I didn't have gravy. When we arrived home again, Shiina stayed at my house and played with me until supper time. Just before supper, though, my dad took us to Lowe's. When we got home, we had fish. (Ugh, not my favorite!) Then we watched, the "Twilight Zone". 

At six o'clock, the guests started arriving. (It was just family.) My presents were LOTS and LOTS and LOTS doll clothes, nail polish, a new brush for my straightened hair, chap stick, and probably one of the greatest presents of all, Darcie's beautiful fake white Christmas tree! (My birthday is in November, so Christmas was coming up.) After presents we had my favorite cake of all, Boston Crème Pie cake! All in all, it was an awesome birthday- but the best was yet to come. 

The next Saturday, Emma and Shiina, my two best friends, went to the MRC to go ice skating with me. After we had skated for about three hours, we went to Hannaford to pick up my mini Frozen cake. (At the time I had loved the movie Frozen.) At home, we played with my American girl dolls and the new clothes I had got for them. Then, we dressed up (I was Queen Pa Deme from Star Wars) and had a tea party. Shiina scooped the cold, yummy mint chocolate chip ice cream, Emma served the steaming tea, and I cut the beautiful cake. After, we played some more and cleaned up my room. Then, we had my favorite meal, hot, steaming, spaghetti- with garlic bread!

        After that, we bundled up and went to the Festival of Lights. The parade was so colorful! It was right next to Planet Toys Store, so we went in and looked around. Shiina even bought glow sticks for us to use that night! After we got home, we played outside with my brother and his best friend, Joel. (Joel was spending the night, too.) Finally, we went inside because Emma got snow down her back. Then, we took our showers and snuggled into our sleeping bags on the living room floor. Then, we watched the new movie, "Cinderella", while finishing up our ice cream. All in all, it was an AWESOME birthday!

(Assignment for Lesson # 14 - Memories)

If you are between the ages of 4-12,

(or know someone who likes to write stories)

I would like to post your story here.

Send me an email. I'd love to read your story!

Signed,

Wiggles the Polliwog

Robot Family

Robot Family

by 

Sena Carlson

(age 10)

I have a robot family. First there's my mom, Awa; then there's my dad, Woo; my sister, Hohot; and finally, the baby, Yoliana. My name is Abcdef. My parents named me that because they love the alphabet.

Everybody in my family is weird. Awa likes to make rock-hard fruitcakes to throw at our neighbors. (Because they're mean.) Woo loves to ride around on his little pink moped. Hohot has a crazy obsession with pepper spray, and loves to spray anything she sees with it. Yoliona is the only one of us that can fly. Her favorite thing to do is glue peas onto the ceiling.  

You might be wondering about me and about all the crazy things I do. But really, I'm just an ordinary robot kid. All in all, my family is a weird one, that's because they're my robot family. (And I love them, too!)

(Assignment for Lesson #13 - Imagination)



If you are between the ages of 4-12,

(or know someone who likes to write stories)

I would like to post your story here.

Send me an email. I'd love to read your story!

Signed,

Wiggles the Polliwog

Sena's Tongue Twisters

TONGUE TWISTERS

by

Sena Carlson

(age 10)

The Lemon

 I love the luscious-looking lemon lily lying by the leaves!

  Randy the Rat

 Randy the ragged rat ran rapidly towards the rocking rabbit.

   Silly Senator Sena

 Silly senator Sena sings silly songs and speeches!

(Assignment for Lesson 11- Alliteration)

If you are between the ages of 4-12,

(or know someone who likes to write stories)

I would like to post your story here.

Send me an email. I'd love to read your story!

Signed,

Wiggles the Polliwog

Olivia Grace

 Olivia Grace

by 

Sena Carlson

(age  10) 

Olivia Grace stood in front of her mirror, holding different out-fits up. "How do I look in this?" She asked the mirror.

"No, no, dear, that looks hideous!" it answered back. Finally Olivia found one that the mirror approved of.

She quickly got into a man-made machine made just for her. "Good morning, Olivia! A voice cackled. Olivia Grace was a short but skinny and fit 16-year old girl, and right now she was getting ready for a party. When she got out, she had on a pretty lime-and pink dress, with a ribbon in her hair to match.

She immediately went to another machine built for nail and manicures. Then, she put her hands in a slot and a little fly-swatter-thingy came out and scanned her retina. Immediately, a robotic voice said, "Good morning, Olivia! Nails or hand massage?"

"Both" She replied. Then, a bowl sprang out like a cash register's shelf back in the old days. In the middle of it stood a little stand with two big bristles on it. when she put her hands on it, it started whirling. Oh, that felt good! She spoke into the speaker again and said, "lower the mani-stool, please." As the stool lowered, her hands felt better because now the bristles were manicuring her hands in warm water, too.

"Olivia! Don't be late! We leave in 10 minutes!" Her mother called down.

Reluctantly, Olivia took her hands out of the bowl  and spoke into the speaker saying, "Now nails." The bowl and bristles disappeared, and a new shelf replace it. This time, there were 10, round slots and she put her fingers into them.

Immediately, they closed in around her fingers, and the machine asked, "Nail polish, fake nails, or 8-d?" (8-d was a special nail polish that changed colors when lightly pressed on)

"Nail polish." She answered back.

"What color?"

"Red." Then, inside the machine, a red coating of nail polish dumped onto her fingers. The nail slots loosened, and she took her hands out.

Next, she put her hands in the last shelf in the machine and said to it, "Speed." The machine then made a count-down from 5, and when Olivia took her hands out, they were completely dry, and they had a more brighter, jell-like appearance.

"Olivia, 5 more minutes!" Her mother called from downstairs.

Olivia finally hurried into a little closed-in area like a tent in the circus back in the old days. Then, she pushed the code of perfume she wanted-8-4-0- purple strawberry. Suddenly, little sprayers from everywhere sprayed on the mysterious "purple strawberry." It was only found in the northern part of Africa. It gave off an unusually smoky-strawberry type of smell, but Olivia liked it.

"Time to go!" Her mother called.  She quickly grabbed her purse and ran downstairs. Well, not exactly. You couldn't even call them stairs. They did not indent like normal stairs do- they went straight, but were tilted like a ramp. She put on special boots that could only go up and down the stairs, but not anywhere else. 

She jumped into the car and her mom took off. They did not need seat belts like in the old days; a supernatural forced them back into their seats when the car started. On the way, Olivia got ready. She opened her purse and light shone from it in case it was nighttime. The purse was a robot! It jumped up out of her hands and immediately started putting lipstick, eye shadow, and blush on her. 

"There's the house, up ahead!" She cried.

(Assignment for Lesson #5 - Setting  )


If you are between the ages of 4-12,

(or know someone who likes to write stories)

I would like to post your story here.

Send me an email. I'd love to read your story!

Signed,

Wiggles the Polliwog

The Dog Secret

The Dog Secret
by

Sena Carlson

(age 10)

      Sam, the mad dog, sulked in a corner. He had just been punished for back-talking his mother. Now as he watched his brothers and sisters play, he wished he had never been born. Sam wasn't a normal dog. Sam was a mad dog. Nobody liked a mad dog, and Sam didn't know how to control his anger.

     One day, a knock came at the door. Rusty, one of Sam's brothers, rushed to fetch it. There stood a tall, brown dog - just like Sam, but he was different. He had on a long, white coat and rectangular glasses that were perched on the tip of his nose. He said nothing but motioned outside.

      Outside, Sam learned that the dog was a special anger doctor. Sam couldn't believe his ears. The special doctor was proposing to help him keep his anger in control - all expenses paid! The doctor worked with him the next few days with a great amount of patience. the doctor would give treats to Sam, then take them away. Sam would throw a fit. He would win a game, and Sam would throw a ft. He would pick one of Sam's brothers instead of him for a game of ball, and Sam would throw a fit. It was always the same. Sam didn't know how to be nice.

        Finally, about a month later, Sam proved success. When the doctor took the treats away from him, won a game, or left Sam out, Sam did not throw a fit or sulk. As the doctor went out of the door for the last time, he turned to Sam and winked. Sam was startled at first- but then he knew it was a secret - a dog's secret.     

        

     

(Assignment for Polliwog Pages Writing Lessons)

If you are between the ages of 4-12,

(or know someone who likes to write stories)

I would like to post your story here.

Send me an email. I'd love to read your story!

Signed,

Wiggles the Polliwog

Spirit

Spirit

by

Sena Carson

(age 9)

Spirit, a wild mustang, galloped through the woods. Suddenly, a tiny field mouse scurried out in front of him, spooking the large horse. He would have ran smack into a tree had not his had stopped him. "Spirit!' She said in a loud voice. "Spirit." This time her voice was softer.

       When Spirit finally calmed down, his mother took him to a canopied spot in the forest. Here he laid down with her as she broke an apple of one of the trees and gave it to him. As they munched, Spirit worried. Everyday his mother was getting more and more frail. Pain showed in her face when she did easy movements that a mare her age could easily do in seconds. Spirit often worried about his mother. About the day she would die- oh, he never said it aloud, but all the same, it was there. An intense worry for the horse lying beside him. "What would I ever do without you?" He inwardly mourned.

      Soon after, he drifted off to sleep. The next thing he knew, his mother was nuzzling him and saying, "Spirit. Wake up. It's time to get back to camp. The other horses will worry about us.

       That night, after a supper of fish caught from the young foals, Spirit laid down once again with his mother. This time a peace filled his being and he smiled to himself. He was a truly lucky foal.  

(assignment for Polliwog Pages writing lessons)    

If you are between the ages of 4-12,

(or know someone who likes to write stories)

I would like to post your story here.

Send me an email. I'd love to read your story!

Signed,

Wiggles the Polliwog