6. The Top Bunk

He and his brother slept in a bunk bed. He had the bottom bunk. His brother had the top bunk. The top bunk had a guard rail. The rail kept the sleeper safe. His brother didn’t like the rail. He always left it down. One time his brother fell out of the top bunk. He hit the carpet and woke up. He said, “Ouch!” Then he climbed back into the top bunk. When he woke up the next day, his back was sore. Mom took him to see the doctor. The doctor examined him. The doctor said he was okay. He said to keep the guard rail up. His brother said he would do that. That night his brother climbed into the top bunk again. He left the guard rail down. He said the guard rail was like jail. He didn’t want to feel like he was in jail. He fell asleep. Then he fell out of the top bunk again.

7. Ask Santa

It is December. That means it is Christmas time. Christmas time means Santa Claus is coming. Sara and Billy love Christmas. They love Santa Claus. They love the gifts from Santa. Last year they got nice gifts. Sara got a teddy bear and a rubber duck. Billy got a green boat and a rubber duck. The rubber ducks float. When Sara takes a bath, her pink duck floats in the water. When Billy takes a bath, his blue duck floats in the water. One time Billy put a goldfish into the tub. It swam for a while. Then it died. He buried it in the back yard. He was sad. This year Sara and Billy want bicycles. Sara wants a red bike. Billy wants a blue bike. Mama said she would talk to daddy. Sara asked mama, “Why don’t you talk to Santa?” Mama said, “That’s a good idea. When daddy comes home, he and I will talk to Santa.”

8. A Birthday Bike

January 7 is Benny’s birthday. He will be eight years old. He is in the third grade. He goes to Park Elementary School. An elementary school is for kids. It is only one mile away. He walks to school. It only takes 20 minutes. When it rains, he wears a raincoat. He used to take an umbrella. But he lost the umbrella. His mother gave him another umbrella. He broke that one. His mom said, “You and umbrellas don’t get along.” For his eighth birthday, Benny wants a bicycle. He can ride the bike to school. After school he can ride with his friends. He can ride the bike to the swimming pool. He can ride the bike to the library. His mom and dad took him to the bike store. They asked him to look at the bikes. He looked at all the bikes. He chose a red bike. He showed his parents. Dad said it cost too much. He told Benny to choose another bike. Benny chose a blue bike. Dad said the blue bike was the right price.

9. In the Garden

Mama was in the garden. “What are you doing?” Johnny asked. She said she was planting roses. Roses are flowers. They are very pretty. They are usually red. Roses have thorns. His mama said, “Thorns will stick you. Be careful around thorns.” Johnny went to the front yard. His dog Rex was waiting for him. Johnny picked up a stick and threw it. Rex chased the stick. He brought the stick back. Johnny ran around the house. Rex chased him. Johnny ran through the garden. Rex ran through the garden. Mom yelled at Johnny and Rex. She told them to play somewhere else. She told them to stay out of the garden. Johnny apologized to his mom. He went to the garage and got his bike. He went for a bike ride. Rex ran next to the bike.

10. Today’s Mail

The mailman put the mail in the mailbox. Dad went outside. He said hello to the mailman. The mailman said hello. Dad opened the mailbox and took out a magazine and two letters. One letter was from his sister. The other letter was from his brother. The magazine was for his wife. It was a garden magazine. His wife liked to work in the garden. She grew flowers and vegetables in the garden. Dad went back into the house. He opened both letters. His sister invited him to a birthday party. His brother invited him to a wedding. Dad enjoyed reading the letters. He enjoyed getting the invitations. He picked up the phone. He left a message for his sister. He would come to the birthday party. He also called his brother. He said he would come to the wedding.

11. Boys Will Be Boys

The two brothers loved each other. But sometimes they argued with each other. Sometimes they yelled at each other. Sometimes they pushed each other. Sometimes they hit each other. Sometimes they got into a fight with each other. Bobby was the older brother. Billy was the younger brother. Bobby was older than Billy. Billy was younger than Bobby. Bobby climbed into a tree. His kite was in the tree. He could not reach his kite. He fell out of the tree. Billy laughed. He laughed when he saw Bobby fall to the ground. Bobby was not hurt. But he was angry. “Why are you laughing?” he asked Billy. “That was funny!” Billy said. Bobby said it wasn’t funny. Billy said it was funny. Bobby pushed Billy. Billy pushed Bobby. Bobby punched Billy in the stomach. Billy punched Bobby in the stomach. They put their arms around each other. They wrestled on the ground. They rolled around and around. Their mom came outside. “What are you two doing?” she asked. She separated them. She said, “You shouldn’t hit each other. That’s not nice. Wait till your father gets home.” She sent them to their rooms.

12. A Good Meal

The children were hungry. They looked out the window. Where was their mother? She walked into the house. The children ran over to her. “Mama, we’re so hungry,” they both said. She said lunch was coming. She walked into the kitchen. She opened a can of chicken soup. She poured the soup into a pot. She added water. She put the pot on the stove. She made two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. She sliced an apple. The soup was hot. She poured it into two bowls. She put the sandwiches on two plates. She put apple slices on each plate. She put the bowls and plates on the table. The children ran to the table. “Thank you, mommy!” they said. Then they started eating. The cat and the dog watched them eat.

13. No Food, No Job

I am an adult. I’m not a kid. I’m a grown-up. I need some money. I have no food. I am hungry. I am not thirsty, because water is everywhere. But water has no taste. I want to drink a soda. I want to drink milk. I want to drink coffee. I want to work. Nobody will hire me. Nobody is hiring anybody. Companies are firing people. Companies are laying off people. Everyone is looking for a job. I cannot pay my rent. I will have to live in my car. I don’t want to live in my car. My car has no bed. Everyone should live in a house or an apartment. Many people don’t have a car. They live on the street. A street has no bed. Nobody should live on the street. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know where to go. Maybe I will go to church. Maybe I will find help there.

14. New Shoes

She is young. Her shoes are old. She wears them to work. She goes to work five days a week. She loves her work. She is a waitress. She works at a restaurant. The restaurant is near her home. She walks to the restaurant. She stands up all day long. She is young and strong. But her shoes are not. They are old. She saw an ad in the paper. All shoes were on sale at the shoe store. She walked into the store. She looked around. She saw some black shoes. They looked good. She tried them on. They were very comfortable. They felt good. They were only $25. She paid cash. She wore them home. She felt good. She was ready for work the next day.

15. No Friends for Me

I am lonely. I am always by myself. I meet people every day. I smile at them. I say hello. I am nice to them. I want to have a friend. But I have no friends. What is wrong with me? I am polite. I am friendly. I am nice. I am kind. Why don’t people like me? All I want is one friend. Everyone has one friend. I always see people with their friends. They laugh with each other. They have fun with each other. They do things with each other. What about me? I am by myself. I watch TV by myself. I go to movies by myself. I go to restaurants by myself. I go to the park by myself. I told my mother that I am lonely. She said it is my fault. “Why?” I asked. She said, “Because you never ask anyone to be with you.” My mom is right. I never ask people to be with me. I am afraid they will say no.

16. Life Is Good

I am happy. I have many friends. I have a large family. I have four brothers and four sisters. I am in the middle. Four brothers are older than me. Four sisters are younger than me. I go to school. I am in the sixth grade. I like my teachers. My teachers like me. I have friends in every class. My favorite class is history. I like to read about history. History is a story about our past. Soon we will all be history. Then kids in school will read about us. I hope they like our stories. My best friend is Bobby. Bobby and I do many things together. We swim together. We play basketball together. We ride our bikes together. I have many other friends. We all go to the mall on weekends. We go to movies. We go to restaurants. We tell jokes. We laugh. We have fun. Life is great.

17. Tell the Truth

She was angry. She was angry at her husband. He lied to her. He lied many times. She was tired of his lies. She said enough was enough. She took off her ring. She dropped it into the toilet. She flushed the toilet. She got into her car. She got on the freeway. She drove the car fast. She was crying. She was very sad. She drove the car faster. She passed many cars. The speed limit was 60 mph. She was going 80 mph. A cop saw her. The cop chased her. The cop turned on his red light. He turned on his siren. She heard the cop car. She saw the flashing light. She drove faster. Now she was going 90 mph. The cop drove faster. It started to rain. She didn’t slow down. She lost control. The car rolled over. It rolled over and over. She died before it came to a stop.

18. Corn for People and Animals

The farmer drives a tractor. The tractor digs up the ground. He plants yellow corn in the ground. He plants the yellow corn in the spring. The corn grows in the summer. The rain helps the corn grow. If there is no rain, the corn dies. If there is a lot of rain, there is a lot of corn. He harvests the yellow corn in late summer. He sells the corn at his vegetable stand. He sells one ear for 25 cents. He sells four ears for $1. He sells all his corn in just one month. The neighbors love his corn. The corn is fresh. It is bright yellow. It is tasty. It is delicious. The birds love his corn, too. They don’t pay for it. They eat it while it is in the field. They don’t cook it. They eat it raw. The farmer doesn’t get angry. Birds have to eat, too. So do cows. The farmer has one cow. He gives his cow fresh corn every summer. The cow loves the corn. It eats a lot of yellow corn in the summer. Sometimes it makes yellow milk.

19. God Loves Babies

The husband and wife wanted to have a baby. They prayed for a baby. God answered their prayers. The doctor said they were going to have a baby. The wife asked, “How many?” The doctor said he didn’t know yet. The husband and wife were very happy. Now they would have a baby. They both wanted to have a baby. They visited the doctor a month later. He examined the wife. He used a special machine. He saw the baby. He saw more than one baby. He saw two babies. He saw more than two babies. He counted the babies. He told the wife, “You will have more than one baby. You will have eight babies.” The wife couldn’t believe it. Her husband couldn’t believe it. Eight babies! “We will have a big family,” said the husband. “We will have a very big family,” said the wife. “But how can we pay for all these babies?” asked the husband. “We can pay for one baby. But eight babies cost a lot of money. How can we pay for eight babies?” The wife said, “We will find a way. God will help us find a way.” They both smiled. They would have a big happy family.

20. Don’t Be Late

He was late. He was always late. Why did time always go so fast? Time always went too fast. He looked at his watch. He looked at the clock on the wall. They both said 6:10. He had to leave in 10 minutes. But first he had to shave. Then he had to brush his teeth. Then he had to get dressed. Shaving took time. Brushing his teeth took time. Getting dressed took time. But he had only 10 minutes. So he turned off the TV. He turned off the radio, too. He turned off the table lamp. He went into the bathroom. He shaved. He brushed his teeth. He went into his bedroom. He got dressed. He looked at his watch. He looked at the clock on the wall. They both said 6:25. He had to hurry. He went out to his car. He drove fast. He slowed down at a stop sign. A cop saw him. The cop wrote him a ticket. “Why didn’t you stop at the stop sign?” the cop asked. “But officer, I was in a hurry,” he said. The cop gave him the ticket. The cop said, “Leave home earlier next time.”