story part II

I don't know why it's double-spaced. I hope it's good. Need title ideas. ~Ruthie

“Bran! hi, Bran!”

Bran turned.

Rhys Andrasson ran up to him. “Are you entering the contest tomorrow?”

“What contest?”

“The falconing contest. The first falcon to get the lure and come back wins, and its master gets a gold coin! Are you entering?”

Bran turned red. He had no falcon. They were too poor to buy a bird, and he had no father to teach him how to train one.

“No,” he muttered. “I’ve got to go home.”

Rhys frowned. “tell you what,” he said “I’ll let you fly Kirsa, and if you’re better at it than I am you can fly him in the contest. We’ll split the coin. Good?”

“Yes!”

They walked to one of the many fields surrounding the village. Rhys ran into his house and gently brought out Kirsa. He held her on his fist and then raised it to the sky. With a surging of wings she was off, and the boys watched her gleeful circles.

“Okay,” said Rhys, “Now hold up the lure, and whistle.”

Bran whistled, and waited a moment, heart in his throat, watching the circling bird. He whistled again, and Kirsa plummeted from the heavens onto his fist. Rhys clapped.

“I’ve never gotten her to come that fast! Will you do it?”

“Of course! Besides, gold would be enough to feed us for a month! Let’s go again.”

They watched with pleasure as the falcon swooped and dived. Finally and with great reluctance, Bran returned home. He was happy, and a hole in his heart was filled at last.
Gwen was pleased that her son had a friend, and enjoyed asking him about his times with Rhys.

my new story for NaNoWriMo

Long, long ago, there was a war between two great men. Arthur and Mordred fought for ten years until both were killed in the last battle. Mordred was thrown into a traitor’s grave, while Arthur was buried in Avalon. The country erupted into civil war, every nobleman wanting more power.

Guinevere, the disgraced queen, had been sent out of the country. She went to a town by the sea, changing her name and settling into a peasant’s life, and no one was the wiser.

The poor of Britain said that Arthur had a son, who would bring back the peace of his father and stop their oppression. They waited and hoped while war raged around them, but when no warrior arrived they went back to work with heavy hearts.

NaNoWriMo

Enna Burning by Shannon Hale

Enna's brother, Leifer, has been burned to death by his own powers. She is horrified when she discovers that she has fire power too. But she cannot stop using it. They are at war, and the need to burn something is always pushing at her mind. Soon the fear of the fire-witch is in every Tiran camp. So they set a trap for her, and it worked. They put her on a drug that makes her unable to use her powers. The captain, Sileph, tricks her into thinking Bayern is wrong and Tira right. Soon she begins to burn for Tira. But seh figures it out and escapes. THe problem now is that the fire is eating her up from the inside. If they don't find a cure soon, she will die just like Leifer.

Good. It was an easy read. I wanted it to be longer, but really there was too much of Enna in the Tiran camp. I don't want to read 150 pages about believing Sileph. THey should have cut some of that out and turned it into battles or getting married to Finn.

We are reading Beowulf in Literature. It is good but sometimes confusing.

I started a book for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) It's a continuation of King Arthur.

bookses

Hope was Here by Joan Bauer
Hope and her aunt, Addie, are moving to Mulhoney, WIS, to work at a diner. Hope lives with Addie because her mother and father abandoned her. G.T., the owner, has leukemia, but he still begins to campaign for mayor against Eli Millstone. Addie is a cook and Hope a waitress at the Welcome Stairways. They are quickly accepted, and soon G.T. asks Addie out, and Braverman, the grill man, asks Hope out. G.T. is losing the campaign, and at the end he is behind 114 votes. They are crushed. The truth comes out though: 120 of Millstone's votes are fake. G.T. and Addie marry, and they adopt Hope. But only a year and a half after G.T. was elected,tradgedy strikes.

Good. It seems like too much, though. Why does G.T. have to die only a year and a half after they became a family?
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Voyages of Slaves by Brian Jaques
Adrift on the Mediterranean, Ben is captured by a pirate, Al Misurata, and Ned (a dog)thrown into the water. Ned is found by circus performers, the Rizzoli Troupe. They are soon reunited. Ben's master proposes to take the Troupe back to their homeland. He is under false pretenses, though. He plans to sell them into slavery. They set sail on the Sea Djinn, and soon Ben and Ned escape and find themselves aboard the White Ram. Al Misurata traps the Troupe. Ben and Ned then go aboard the Blue Turtle, who takes them to a town close to the Sea Djinn's destination. They then go to the convent and rescue the Rizzoli Troupe. The pirates come afterthem, and again it is a bittersweet ending.

Don't be thrown off by the title, it's actually pretty good. I liked Kostas, captain of the Blue Turtle. He was funny. There was too much messing around, boring stuff
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A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeline L'Engle
On Thanksgiving day, Mr. Murry recieves a phone call about a madman's threat of nuclear war. Charles Wallace knows a rune, and after saying it, a unicorn, named Gaudior, comes. They cross very different times to set things right. First there is a fight between brothers, Madoc and Gwydyr, men who came to the Americas long before Columbas. Then to Brandon Llawcawe and his sister, and Indian, named Zille. Zille has been accused of witchcraft, but she is innocent. After that they go to Beezie and Chuck, and here the enemy win. Chuck dies by his sepfather's hand. Then to cIvil War times, where Matthew and Bran fight against Gedder just like Madoc. And because of all this, Mad Dog never made his threat, and instead a peace-loving man ruled.

very good. I loved Gaudior, he was so majestic, but funny at the same time. The time traveling was hard to get used to at first, but after a few reads it was OK. Wouldn't it be cool if some of that stuff really happened?

happenings

My birthday party is today! It's a progressive dinner. Fun! fun! fun!

We're thinking about getting an RV! It's old, but really cool. Dad almost couldn't fit on the bed!

James Taylor is growing on me. Listening to him right now.

I started a new story! I think it's going to be pretty cool.

East by Edith Pattou

East: Rose's family is poor, and the farm is doing badly. Then winter comes, and Sara falls dangerously ill. A white bear comes to the door, and asks for Rose in exchange for family wealth and health. SHe agrees, and they journey to the far north. Ater some time in the bear's castle, Rose begins to think he is enchanted. She begins to try to solve the mystery, but unfortunate events get in the way.

Okay. It was confusing, at first, that the chapters were named after characters, and that the chapter was told from sthe character's point of view. Some of the people weren't even in the story until much later.

strike!!

Todd! I AM NOT WORKING FOR YOU! Because you are annoying me so much, I'm not even going to make you cookies. SO STOP!

the latest resolution

I have just decided that when I'm older I'm going to get a big, black, fluffy Newfoundland and name him Fortinbras.
~Ruth, now 12

Bread and Roses, too by

Rosa is afraid for her family. Her mother and sister have joined the strike! She does not want them to die in the street, shot or trampled by the angry crowd. But they will not listen. Jake Beale is a boy of the street, reduced to stealing and lying by his drunkard father. He has had help from Rosa several times from Rosa already, and when he hears she will be sent to New York City, he is eager for the possibility. But after they are both on the train, he discovers they are not going to New York, but Vermont! Yet veront may not be so bad after all....

Good! The story was pretty vague about the place and time, but I'm pretty sure it was in Massachusets during the Industrial Revolution. It was a little hard to follow at first, from the jacket it was about a girl, but the first chapter or so was about Jake. But I'm glad I kept at it.

The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom

The Hiding Place: Corrie ten Boom is in her fifties when the Nazis attack Holand, and she and her family are soon part of the underground. They build a secret hiding place in Corrie's room for the six Jews that live with them to hide during raids. Yet they were betrayed, and the ten Boom family went to a concentration camp. This is the story of a family, who, through extreme pain and sorrow, came from it with a great faith in Christ and many other virtues that have influenced thousands others through her books, speeches, and homes for Holocaust victims.

How can anyone get through this without changing? How I wish I could be more like Betsie, and through Betsie, Corrie! This story is meant to be sad, but it's like the sadness of a Christian funeral. There is mourning, but they have gone somewhere better, heaven. Rejoice!