Benjamin Hack

**The Strange Vacation**
My family was having a horrible week, everything we did turned into a disaster. As we walked home from a carnival a strange figure gave us plane tickets to Denmark. At the time we had felt like our luck was changing and we were lucky like a leprechaun. The plane tickets said that our flight was at 3:00 am. When we landed in Denmark we got our things and took a tour around the capital. We then walked over to our hotel. My mom checked us into a hotel me and my brother "enjoyed" some cartoons in Danish. When we got to our floor we tried to find our room 345, but it wasn't there it went from 344 to 346! We went down to the front desk and told them about our room. A man that I felt like I had seen before went up to our room to take a look. Thirty minuets passed and he still hadn't come down. We went upstairs to go see what was taking him so long. When we got to our floor we walked to room 345 and it was there again! We opened up the door but there was nothing there just an empty black void!
"Where the heck did our room go?" I asked
"I don't know it's gone." my brother said

Suddenly a strong gust of wind blew me and my family into the black void. As I entered into the black void the walls seemed swallowed me whole. I didn't see the rest of my family in the room. I called and called but didn't get a reply. I looked around to see if I could find anything. But all I saw was black, black, and more black, except for the same strange figure light dimly by a small lantern. As the man got closer I could see that he was wearing an FBI uniform.

"Hello my name is agent Steve and I work for the FBI" he said to me.
"What's going on?" I replied with concern
"Someone is trying to hunt you and your family down." the agent replied
"Why are they trying to find us?" I wondered a loud
"The gang is jealous of your fame and wealth because your dad got the record contract and their leader didn't" Steve said.
"Where did the rest of my family go" I said to him
"We took them to the base that were walking to" he replied.

As we approached a small door Steve pulled a key out about the size of shotgun capsule. When we got to the door he opened it with the key. When I walked through the door I saw the rest of my family.
"Are you guys ok?" I asked them
"Yes were fine a FBI agent found us and took us here and explained everything." my mom replied
"So what are we going to do next?" I said
"We are trying to find their gang but we haven't found anything." he replied
"They are harder to find than a needle in a hay barn" he told me.
"Meanwhile until we find them you will have to stay here" he said.
"Any questions" he asked
"Yeah how did you do that whole room disappearing thing?" I replied
"We have discovered many strange things in this world including magic wands." he told us

*2nd Marking Period*
"So we have to stay in this bunker until you guys find this gang." my brother said
"Pretty much."he responded
"And you just expect to spend the rest of time here until you find this gang?" my dad asked
"Yes I do." he said
"But we can't just live here till we wait for you to find some random gang that may not even exist." my mom said

The New Year

This was going to be the year, the one where all my bad luck wears off. See all the previous years I always had bad luck because of the stupid new year rituals. I would mess them up every year like some kind of clown, never quite getting them right. These mess ups would leave me with bad luck all year. Last year was horrible, I broke my arm three times and was attacked by a wild flock of geese. Like what are the chances of being attacked by a wild flock of geese? So this year I am making sure that I get it right. I have been practicing since the beginning of December! And now it's only 20 minutes till midnight. I have everything ready the champagne, the countdown, the hats, and the confetti I will be ready like a boy scout for this new year. This time I am ready for you new year! Here it comes 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...0. Hurrah the new year is here! I will finally have a good year. One year later.... You know when I told you that I will have a great year. Well I was wrong this year was the worst I was in the zoo when a tiger got loose and of all the people in there I was the only one to get mauled by it. Then after I recovered a raccoon attacked me and nobody came to help. I swear my life jinxed you hear me jinxed. Next year I think I will be as lucky as a leprechaun.

The last day

Today was the day, the day were the sun collapsed under its own weight and explode. There were so may things I had wanted to do in my lifetime, but since the world will explode these dreams are crushed like a ant. I mean I am only 12 and i'm going to die. Like whats up with that universe I haven't even done anything important in my life and now i'm going to die. Well I might as make make the most of the day. I went down stairs and got myself a bowl of cereal. For some reason we had school today. I mean like why, it's going to be the last day of our existence and were spending it learning. They can do this on any other day but not today. I am not going to school on the last day of earth what is the point of learning if we are not going to apply it? So all the nerds are going but not me no way, no how. I got changed and took my bike to my friends house. Me and him went way back all the way to kindergarten and if this was my last day I wanted to spend it with him. When I got to his house he welcomed with a big great frown. But after some pep talk and good glass of lemonade his frown turned into a grin. We walked outside into the sun and took it all in. If there was a day I wanted to go out it would be today. The sun was shinning like a star, a big fiery soon to be exploding star. Me and him spent the whole day together playing video games, watching movies, and just hanging out. When the world came down to its last few minuets my family came over and we had a party. We watched the clock 10...9....8....7....6....5....4....3....2....1 and then nothing happened we thought something went wrong with our countdown but no it was 12:00 they must have....**BAM!!!!**

Space

I had been training for this my entire life. The moment when I was chosen I felt like a man who just won the highest award in the world. I leaped for joy as My name was called.I was so happy. When I told my family I did it. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. I had finally done it...I was going to Mars. It took months of training to prepare us for what we were about to do. I wish my grandfather were to see it he would have been so proud. I finally filled his shoes. He was the first man on the moon I would be the first man on Mars. When it came time I was so nervous it felt like I had butterflies in my stomach. 10...9...8...7...6...5...4..3...2...1 ...ignition. As my crew rocketed through the air my life flashed through my eyes. Me looking up to my grandfather, learning about the journey and now I had made him proud.
*3rd Marking Period*
Then all of a sudden the emergency alarm goes off!
*4th Marking period*
The shuttle's fuel leaked and it exploded. And everyone died in the spaceship. Such a sad story well

The End

**Jimmy's day**

This a story about a boy named Jimmy. Jimmy was as happy as a poor man on black friday. But then the world exploded and killed everyone
The End

**Josh the orange**

Josh the orange was growing on the plumpest orange bush in the patch. His friend Luke the banana lived on the other side of the patch on a banana tree. Josh was wondering if luke wanted to play. As if luke had read his mind, Luke called Josh and said
"Dude do you want to come to the banana tree and play soccer."
"Yea I will be right there." Josh said
Transporting from fruit plant to fruit plant is quite an interesting process. You take the leaves of your plant and stretch them and launch yourself like a circus freak, and land at your destination. When Josh arrived at the banana tree Luke greeted him and told him to play goalie. Josh didn't fuss and walked over to the goal. The game had just started and the banoranges (Josh's Team) were winning 1-0! But then it happened a thud hit the tree, at first no one paid any attention to the sound but then a hand reached over and stole the defending team's goalie. Then the whole tree was thrown into chaos. Bananas were being taken left and right! Then it all stopped, but when Josh looked up all the bananas were gone including Luke. Josh flew back to his tree and there were no oranges. Josh knew what he had to do. He had to get everyone back no matter the challenges. So Josh packed up his things and set out on his journey. He threw a rope down to the bottom of his tree and slid down it.

Eugene **Fitzgerald and the bully**

After reading this story go to Lucas Shriver's page to see the bully point of view

Hi my name is Eugene and I am what is known as a nerd. But I seem to be the nerd that is picked on the most. Today started out like any other, I was walking to the bathroom to do the usual, wash the dirt off my pants. I was walking through the parking lot on my way over to school when some kid shoved me in the dirt. As I opened the door I saw Thomas, the bully. He turned around and saw me.
"What do you want?" he said
"Um...nothing." I said
He stuck his big strong hands into my face. I could tell that he wanted my lunch money. So I stuck my money, that I earned, by spending two days fixing up a tractor, into his trunk like hands. Then I walked out without saying another word.
Sometimes when I am alone (which is often) I think
"what is going on in the kid's life, that would make him do this?"
As I was walking to my 1st period class I ran into a group of kids. They were all standing around something, but I couldn't get a good view on it. Then the teacher walked in and told us to take our seats. When everyone was walking back to their seats I saw it there was a ring of some sort lying on the ground. It must have been dropped the day before. It probably has no importance. As our teacher drowned on and on about some paper due on thursday, my mind started to drift. I started to think about what Thomas was doing.
"Probably skipping classes." I thought
Just as I started to enter the world again the period bell went off. I gathered my books and headed off to second period. I walked in and sat down as soon as the bell went off. I sat and listened to what she had to say and drifted off again. When the period ended I walked over to my 3rd period class. 3rd period the worst of the day. I have to spend a full 42 minutes with that monster Thomas. I walk in and sit down this is the one class I have to sit next to that monster. I see him walk in 10 minutes late. But Mr.Roberts pays no attention and just keeps reading the textbook. He puts down his stuff and sits next to me.Mr. Roberts finished the paragraph and asks for homework. I just remembered that I didn't do Thomas's homework he looks over to me and says
"You are going to get it at recess today."
I get up and move to the other side before he can do anything else.

Lunch

I can't keep my mind off what is coming at me in 10 minutes. I search the cafeteria for Thomas so I can plan how to get out but I don't see him anywhere.
"He probably is hiding somewhere" I thought
Then the bell goes off when I walk outside I don't see him I spend the whole recess hiding in the corner of the school but I never see him. Recess is over and he never layed a finger on me. I was really confused could he just be bluffing or is he actually human.

The apocalypse

Their day started out like any other. Josh, Ben, and Luke were slaving away in the kitchen doing their three page essay for english. Luke's mom comes in and asks if they want anything
"No" they all answer simultaneously
It was around 5:00 when they finally finished the paper Josh and Ben were still there until 7:00 so they decided to do something. Luke suggested that they go outside. Seeing that it was still light out they agreed. As they were walking along the lawn, it happened. The missile hit not two far from them. A giant radioactive blast went off as they rushed to the shade of the trees. They ran as fast as their legs could carry them under trees over logs. They finally stopped for a rest. When they were ready they all moved on. After sometime they found their way out of the forest. Luke and Ben climbed the hill while Josh looked for any signs of life in the forest. When luke and Ben reached the top all they saw was rubble and destruction.When Josh found them they took him up the hill. He took one look and didn't need to see any more. After a long time of surveying they decided to take a look in town. When they got down there they only found bodies and bodies strewed across the ground like seeds in a field. Luke went to go look for food, Ben tried to find weapons and josh went to look for survivors. Luke found the supermarket in no time at considering that it was one of the only buildings still standing. He found a cart and loaded it up with food and water. Ben found an ammunitions shop that wasn't destroyed. All he could find was a box of ammo and a few weapons. Josh couldn't find anyone but then he came across a store. He walked in wondering what was in there. He found a tent and a few sleeping bags. He took them and called Luke and Ben. It was remarkable that they still had service. They agreed to meet at the town hall. When they all met up they discussed what had just happened. After many long hours they decided to get some sleep. Josh and Ben set up the tent while Luke checked their food. Ben set up a station to charge everything they had. They decided to go to sleep.

The Next Morning

"Let's move on this place won't be much use any longer." said Ben
So they packed up everything loaded it into 3 shopping carts and headed off to the next town. As they were walking to the next town they found an abandoned neighborhood.
"It looks deserted." said Josh
"Yeah maybe you're right." said Ben
"Let's move on." said Luke
"No way I want to check this place out." said Josh
'Ok, but we shouldn't stay long" said Luke
As the boys were walking thru the town they met the first human since the accident. His name was Brandon. They met him while they were checking out one of the house and deciding whether they should stay there or not. He was hiding in one of the houses when he saw Ben. Brandon walked out and greeted Ben. Ben had his doubts at first but then he got to know him. Ben took him to the others and they decided to let him travel with them. Ben searched a house that had a big enough car for all of them and found the keys.
"Do you know how to drive this thing." asked Luke
"Of course I do, it can't much any harder than a go cart." said Ben

I am from

I am from the quiet neighborhood

where everyone knows each other

and small parties happen

but big memories are made

I am from the playground

where the swings creek

and the slide as slippery as a snake sits

where the little child goes back and forth

I am from the "squeeze please"

where my parents changed ranch into squeeze

just to make me say the word please

even though I wouldn't say it anywhere else

I am from the leaves

where you would hear screams of joy and laughter

as the leaves flew over yonder

and the pretty colors swirling you with art