Before Christmas

Paper texture

they all got a pretty good ghost. It turns out that Fowler got Salah, Ralph got Ciaran, Salah got Ralph, and Ciaran got Fowler. All of them smiled at each other, careful not to give away too many hints of whom they got.&nbsp; “Great!” Salah exclaimed. “We should probably head out to get our presents!”&nbsp; The four of them nodded to each other and got their scarves. They all got out of the house and went their separate ways.&nbsp; First, Salah went to the main shopping center of the town. The town was a small community. Of course, there were germ-filled places such as public restrooms and alleyways, but the Folkville had many charms. Such as the park. The park was beautiful. It was the most gorgeous place in Folkville. It had a fountain with statues of many supernatural creatures and gold water coming out of it. The park was at the center of the town and attracted many tourists. You can see (or read) why. Almost everywhere you go in Folkville, you would at least spare the park a glance.&nbsp; That was what Salah did, however, she didn’t just glance. She started at the fountain and the rose bushes around it. She stared at it longingly. How could you not? It was amazing. She pulled away her gaze as she realized she was distracted. &nbsp;Salah quickly went to the stall with an orange canopy.&nbsp; “Hey Salah!” The shopkeeper greeted her. “What would you like?”&nbsp; “Hello! I wouldn’t like much because,” She paused for dramatic effect. “My roommates and I are going to have a Secret Sandy!”&nbsp; The shopkeeper smiled fondly. “Well you’ve come to the right place! What do you have in mind?”&nbsp;

She started thinking about all of her friends and what their friendship is like. She thought about the funny moments that they had together. Her mind couldn’t help thinking about the conversation she had with Fowler earlier.&nbsp; What if he thought she was really annoying? Maybe he thought about how high-pitched and over-excited she was? Did he notice her stutter? Many thoughts were wrapped around her head.&nbsp; “Oh goodness,” she muttered to herself. “Why can’t I think about anything? Maybe I need to pay more attention to Ralph?” &nbsp; Suddenly, she remembers the first time she met Ralph. It was when they were heading back from school and her shoelace untied, and they crashed into each other. It was like a movie scene.&nbsp; She got something that reminded her of when they first met and wrapped it into a box. Salah was extremely excited.&nbsp; About a week later it was Christmas, decorations were hung up. A tree with cobwebs, plastic spiders, and a ghost figurine on it was in the middle of the living room. They all started the morning normally until 10:00 A.M. That was when they would exchange gifts.&nbsp; All the ghosts sat in a circle, presents in hand. Ralph got Ciaran a pack of candy canes, Ciaran got Fowler a book about plants, and Fowler got Salah a pink Christmas hat.&nbsp; Nervously, Salah gave Ralph the red box. He opened it with a wide smile on his face. Salah was practically biting her nails if it was even possible, Ralph’s smile got wider. It was a brown teddy bear with a white ribbon around the neck.&nbsp;

hair. Usually, she is seen in a clown outfit with very exaggerated makeup. Currently, she had pink pajamas with cotton candy prints on them.&nbsp; “Hey, Salah! Hey, Happy!” Claudia exclaimed. Salah and Vampire Happyface waved.&nbsp; Salah’s face lit up when she remembered something. “Oh yeah! The ghosts and I are having a Secret Sandy and I got Ralph! Problem is, I have no idea what to give him!” &nbsp; They thought for a moment. “Hey! I have an idea! What if you give him something that means something to him?” Claudia declared.&nbsp; Salah looked a bit lost. “What Claudia means is, you should give him something that you’ve learned from your friendship with him.” Vampire Happyface exclaimed. “Yeah!” Claudia yelled. “What she said!”&nbsp; Salah giggled at her goofiness. “Thanks so much for helping me! I’m gonna go now! Bye!” She said, waving at them and going outside the door.&nbsp; She faintly heard a “Good Luck,” and a “Bye-bye!” in the distance. Salah was kinda confident about how she was going to get a gift.&nbsp; Salah quickly went back to her house and went to her desk, jotting down an idea on a piece of paper about what she might get for Ralph. The idea was to give him a card. She thought about how it was probably a bad idea since the other ghosts would probably give her something good. So, why couldn’t she get something good for them!&nbsp;

The ribbon was the same one that was in Salah’s hair and the teddy bear was in her backpack when they first met. It felt nostalgic to him. It was great. All the ghosts went in a group hug, thankful for what they got. It was amazing. Later that day, the ghosts threw a party at their house and invited Vampire Happyface and Claudia the Clown. Everyone, there was wearing their Christmas outfits. Even though it was a cold winter, it was truly a warm and vibrant experience.

Salah thought for a moment. She wasn’t as close to Ralph as she thought. “Oh goodness! I am not too sure! Is it okay if I come back another time once I’ve thought about it?” She asked.&nbsp; The shopkeeper nodded. “Of course! Good luck!”&nbsp; Salah nodded her head as a thank-you. She decided to ask her friends, Vampire Happyface and Claudia the Clown. They lived together and were good friends with all of her roommates, including herself. Quickly, Salah ran (or rather, floated) to their house. As she stood in front of the birch house with light brown wood, she kept wondering about what she might give Ralph.&nbsp; She knocked on the door in a rhythmic pattern. Because of Claudia’s fear of strangers, all of her friends had a secret knocking pattern to tell her who it is.&nbsp; “Coming!” Shouted a familiar vampire. Salah smiled as she heard footsteps coming closer. “Hey, Salah! How are you?” Vampire Happyface said.&nbsp; “I’m great! How are you?” She replied politely.&nbsp;&nbsp; They both came inside the house and sat at the dining table. For the next 20 minutes, she started talking with Vampire Happyface about what’s happening recently and cracked up some jokes. Vampire Happyface was a very nice vampire. Happyface had a dark skin tone and curly dark hair. She was unlike the other vampires. It was kinda cliché. She is usually seen in an orange sundress. Currently, she had orange pajamas with black bat prints on them.&nbsp;&nbsp; When they were almost done, Claudia came from her room while rubbing her eyes. She was not that similar to Happyface. She had porcelain skin and long black

By: Isha Navarro 6th Grade collaborative project with Ms. Blue and Mrs. Dahl Patrick Henry Math, Science, Technology Magnet 2020

In a brick house with dark chocolate roofs, there were four ghosts hanging out in a living room. The living room was quite a funny place to be in as they are ghosts and it is a “living room.” It was next to the kitchen and the stairs.&nbsp; One slightly smaller ghost and a big ghost were on one couch. You may recognize these characters as Ciaran and Ralph. On two separate couches, sat a minuscule ghost and a slightly bigger ghost. These characters can be known as Salah and Fowler.&nbsp; They were all preoccupied with their hobbies (as they had no jobs and had nothing better to do) when Salah realized something. “Holy Smokes! It’s almost Christmas!” She happily cried.&nbsp; Fowler gasped. “You’re right! Though, it is only in ten days.” Fowler said.&nbsp; Ciaran basically had stars in her eyes. “Do ya think Sandy will give us any presents?” Ciaran asked. &nbsp; Fowler snickered. “Sandy does not exist Cia!”&nbsp; She felt offended. “Does too! How do you know if you’ve never seen her?” Fowler puffed as Salah giggled at their childish antics. “Fine,” he replied.&nbsp; Ralph then looked around the living room. “Hey,” He said, “what if we did Secret Sandy and have a party?” &nbsp; Salah squealed. “Woah! That sounds like an amazing idea!” She exclaimed in delight.&nbsp; “How do we play Secret Sandy?” Fowler asked. He had never played Secret Santa, or “Secret Sandy,” as they called it.

“Don’t you know?! All you have to do is put our names on separate pieces of paper, then pick a random name. The name you get is the person you have to give a gift to!” Ciaran responded. Fowler was a little confused, but he got it.&nbsp; As if it was a secret language, Ciaran and Salah looked at each other and nodded. They’ve been best friends for life (and, technically, death)! Salah quickly went upstairs and went into her room. Out of nowhere, a pen and strips of paper appeared in Ciaran’s hand. It was like magic! She quickly used the blue fountain pen to jot down all the names of the ghosts.&nbsp;When she was done, Salah went back downstairs with a hat in hand. Ralph blinked in confusion.&nbsp; “Huh!? What was all that about?!” Fowler shouted.&nbsp; Salah simply shrugged. “I don't know.”&nbsp; Ciaran replied, “I guess it’s our way of communicating!”&nbsp; Moving on, Ciaran put all the strips in the hat. Salah, as quickly as she could, shuffled the papers. She stretched out her hand with the hat. Ralph quickly caught on and picked a paper. Not knowing what to do, Fowler followed in Ralph’s footsteps.&nbsp; When he picked up the strip, he gasped. “I GOT RALPH!”&nbsp; Salah facepalmed. “Darn! Now we gotta start over!” Salah sighed. &nbsp;Fowler instantly started apologizing. “Oh goodness! So sorry!” She waved her hands.&nbsp; “Eh? No! It was your first time! Don’t apologize!”&nbsp;&nbsp; Fowler nodded as he and Ralph put their papers back. She retreated the hat and shuffled the strips. As the rest of the ghosts got the papers, she sighed, knowing that she might regret that delay. From the looks of their faces, Ralph noticed that

Name

Safari may block some audio or video from playing automatically and ‘read to me’ will skip these. You can configure this in Safari’s preferences.