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At a crystal-clear lake with a soft sandy shore,
Ben thought to himself as he once did before,
At last, summer camp, and I'm out on my own.
My parents are gone. No more rules from the throne.
He slipped off his sandals and stepped toward the lake

When he heard a loud voice that could make the earth shake.
"Hey you," the voice shouted, "Come over to me."
Ben turned and he thought, Now who could that be?

He saw a small lifeguard with sunscreen on his nose,
A red cross on his shirt, and hair on his toes.
He wore a sun visor on top of his head.
"I'm Randy the lifeguard," the small lifeguard said.
"You must take a swim test," he said with a grin.
"A swim test to prove that you really can swim."...

 

The morning was still. A few hours away,

the cheering will echo for the big race today.

Ben lay awake in his bunk and he thought,

"I could be a hero, a champion, or not.”

"I must find a way to enter the race."

Ben slipped off his bunk, put his glasses in place.

Ben tried to be quiet as he walked toward the door

when Billy McKenzie started to snore.

Billy the Bully rang through his head,

If I wake him up, I'm sure to be dead!

Ben tip-toed onward and reached for the door

when he felt a sharp push and fell to the floor.

"Get up you big baby! Get out of my way!"

Billy shouted at Ben and then slithered away.

Ben gulped, feeling dizzy, his stomach felt green,

he thought, Billy McKenzie is terribly mean.  

Ben made it to breakfast and sat in his place.

A lonely dark corner was his usual space.

Lifeguard Randy stood up and had something to say,

“Are you going to enter the canoe race today?”...

In a bright green field, beneath a brilliant blue sky there lived a small patch of sunflowers.

Their yellow petals and large wavy leaves danced and swayed in the gentle breeze as they stretched their green stalks towards the sun.

Each sunflower stood tall and proud, beaming their beauty while hosting a flurry of bees and butterflies searching for sweet things to eat.

As the sunflowers grew older, seeds began to form in the faces of each of these giant floras.

One blustery morning, three tiny seeds prepared to jump on the back of the wind and sail across the field to grow in patches of their own...

In the backyard under small green ferns, sheltered by an old wooden plant box, is my rollie pollie garden. My name is Emily and I love rollie pollies! I love the way they tickle my fingers when they walk across my hand, and the way they laugh with me as we play...

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