Books for Girls - 4 Great Stories for 8 - 12 Year Olds

by Katrina Kahler, B Campbell, & K Campbell

Diary of

  Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome

  MY LIFE HAS CHANGED

  Book 1

  Kaz Campbell

  Copyright © KC Global Enterprises

  Sunday

  Hey diary…wow this feels really weird. It’s kind of like I’m talking to myself. But I really need someone to talk to, so here we go.

  The worse thing ever happened last week.

  Can’t do this.

  Wednesday

  Let’s try again. Last week my Mom died. She gave me one of her big kisses, combed my hair and said, “Have a great day, love you.” Then she got into her car and drove off.

  That was the last time I ever saw her. It’s NOT FAIR!!!!!!!!!!!! Why did she have to go? I WANT her BACK! I NEED her BACK NOW!

  I feel really sad.

  Friday

  Everything is dull. I miss her smile. She was the funniest person ever. She could make anyone laugh. Dad is really sad too. He pretends he is okay, but I hear him crying at night. The days dissolve into each other. I feel so alone. Sometimes my heart actually hurts and my throat feels sore and closes over. It’s kind of like I’m in a horror movie and all the humans have turned to ants, so busy running around, making noises, going through the motions of life.

  It has been two weeks now.

  Monday

  I wasn’t looking forward to school today.

  You see, I’m not that special. Actually I am pretty average. I’m not a jock, in fact I don’t really like football at all. Football is really big at my school. The boys on the footy team are like heroes and don’t they know it.

  I only have a couple of really close friends at school, James and Jeremy. We hang out at lunchtime and talk about movies and the latest games. We all play on Xbox Live and our favorite game is Halo.

  Mom was really proud of me. She told me that I’m smart and kind. Dad is really into sport - footy, basketball and baseball are his passions. I don’t really relate all that well to Dad. We have different interests and sometimes I think he is disappointed to have me as his son.

  I also like computer graphics. Last year I got an A!!!! Mom was so proud; she made me a computer shaped cake to celebrate.

  Oh, something funny happened today. We got a new girl in our class. Her name is Madonna and she seems really nice. You should have seen her entry into the classroom. It was classic!

  Our teacher kept going on and on about how much fun our classroom is and then she sat her next to Burt. Now I don’t want to sound mean, but Burt is a little different. Last year he tried to set a record for the biggest number of boogers he could stick onto the bottom of his desk. And his breath always smells of tuna. Gross!!!!

  This poor new girl sat down next to Burt and slumped her shoulders. Then she peeked around the room and that was when our eyes met. I smiled. And she smiled back.

  Tuesday

  Swimming Day. Oh joy! Remember how I told you I wasn’t that good at sports, well that includes swimming. I’m in the average group; yes we try to swim up and down, up and down, while our swim coach flirts with the lifeguard. All the girls think he is handsome, he’s tall, blonde, tanned and it is obvious he works out at the gym…a lot!

  Once I asked my swim coach how I could improve my stroke and she told me not to worry about it because, “You’ll never be any good anyway.” So I just put my head down and do my best. Up, down, up, down….

  Even though I am quite tall, I haven’t gone through puberty yet. Yep, you know what that means - no hair. There is a really mean boy in our class called Damian and he is really hairy!!!! He even has some growing on his chin. The worst part about the whole swimming thing is the change room. I don’t like stripping off in front of other people, so I always try to sneak into the toilet to change. We aren’t allowed to do that. The teachers reckon that we are hogging the toilets and someone might actually need to go. There are only two cubicles and today they were both taken. So I stripped off as quickly as I could and kept the towel around my waist.

  Damian grabbed my towel and horsewhipped my butt with it. He yelled, “Well check out our little boy, when are you going to grow some hair and be a man like me!”

  I cracked. I pushed him and he fell back, just as Mr Albert walked into the change rooms. So now I have to do a detention with him tomorrow after school. Great!

  One of the girls dropped their undies on the way into the pool. They had Dora the Explorer on them. Of course NOBODY owned up. When are teachers going to learn that holding up a pair of undies and asking who owns them NEVER works!!!!

  A few moments later, the loud speaker blasted across the pool area that Madonna’s undies were at the canteen. That poor girl! All the cool girls laughed, they can be so mean and cruel. Then the jocks joined in, they can be so dumb and horrible. A few of the nerdy kids were wondering what all the fuss was about and the rest of us just felt sorry for her.

  Wednesday

  Some days are worse than others. Today was a really bad day. I feel sad. I miss my Mom.

  This morning I decided to clean the house. Seriously, I think we need to buy a whole heap of plastic plates, cups and cutlery. Then we can eat and throw away the mess.

  I went into Mom’s room to dust. I can still smell her. Dad hasn’t put away her clothes and belongings yet. Everything is still laid out on her dressing table. Today I looked through her drawer. She had kept everything I have ever made for her. You know all those drawings and cards for Mothers’ Day, Christmas and her birthdays. She even has a little case with all my baby teeth and a pasta bracelet I made for her at Kindy.

  I also found a silk purse with a message on it. It said, ‘For Richard’. My heart pounded as I carefully opened the purse. Inside was a beautiful and very old fob watch and a note.

  I read the note:

  My Dearest Richard

  If you are reading this note, then I have passed on. Don’t be sad my beautiful boy. I will always be with you in your heart. You are special in so many ways, be strong and enjoy your life.

  This watch was given to me by my mother. It has been handed down through the generations and is over 100 years old. Please take care of it. It is very special and my Mom told me it has special powers. I haven’t worked out what those powers are yet and it may just be a myth. Your Dad didn’t want me investigating it, he said it was all a bunch of baloney, but I’m not so sure.

  Do you remember Grandma Mary? When I was young, she would sit around the fire with me and tell the most amazing stories. My favorite was a story about her visiting ancient Egypt and working in the Pharaoh’s harem. She served the Queen and saved her life when the Romans invaded the palace. She really was an amazing woman and an incredible storyteller.

  Just before she died, she told me that one day I would be in charge of the family heirloom, a fob watch that I could use to travel the world and find my own stories.

  My plan is to do this when you finish school. But if something should happen to me, then this precious watch will become yours.

  Please don’t ignore it like I have so far. Explore it. It may all be a story…but we won’t know until one of us tries it.

  Grandma Mary told me to rub it with my fingers, while closing my eyes and focusing on where and when I want to go. She told me not to be scared.

  I love you Richard.

  Mom xx

  I read the note four times. It didn’t really make sense…what did the watch do? But just knowing it was part of my Mom and her wacky family made it the most valuable possession I have ever laid my eyes on.

  I took it into my room and put it under my pillow.

  Wednesday

  Last night was one long dream. My Mom and Grandma Mary visited me. They told me that I was the chosen one. In my dream I had the fob watch around my neck. It was warm to touch and sparkling.

  I travelled to Ancient Egypt in the blink of an eye, with Grandma Mary and she introduced me to the Queen of Egypt. I worked as a guard for the Queen and her two children. We travelled in a cam
el caravan to inspect her husband’s latest pyramid. I rode beside her on a chariot with a spear in my hand. When we got there, the guards lifted her onto a litter and carried her to inspect the workers.

  I actually thought she was pretty lazy! This is a picture I drew that shows the Queen being carried.

  There were hundreds of workers, carving rocks and boulders into bricks and loading them onto carts to transport to the pyramid. It was boiling hot, the sun beat down on me and sweat ran down my back. I felt really sorry for the workers; they were dressed in rags and had no protection from the glaring sun.

  Then a horn sounded. Everyone stopped and pointed to the horizon. There was a low brown cloud. But it wasn’t a rain cloud, it was dust and it kept rising higher and higher. The workers started to run away and the Queen and her children were quickly put onto horses so they could be rushed to safety. The guards and some of the workers formed a line and waited. I had no idea what was happening.

  Then I started to hear a thud-thud noise. Out of the dust came hundreds of men on horses and chariots racing towards us. The men had round shields, long sharp sticks and armor on their bodies. They were screaming words that I could not understand.

  My mouth went dry, my heart pounded in my chest and my mind almost went blank. Grandma Mary grabbed my arm and told me to wake; this was not my fight or story. “Wake-up Richard!”

  I opened my eyes and I was in my bedroom safe and sound, with the fob watch around my neck. Strangely it was warm and seemed to be very bright.

  What a dream! Talk about an over-active imagination! But it had seemed so real, like I was really there. I rolled over, said goodnight to Mom and went to sleep.

  School was okay today. Jeremy’s cousin, Gretel is in our class. She seems like a really nice girl; pretty quiet, but kind and thoughtful. Her family sent Dad and I a sympathy card. Today I talked to her for the first time and thanked her. She was so funny, her face went really red and she stammered that she was really sorry for my loss. I think I’d like to be her friend. She is the only girl in the class who is making an effort to make the new girl, Madonna, feel welcome.

  Seriously, some of the kids in our class are so mean. I’m not sure if they are even aware…but they really know how to put people down. They act really tough, like they don’t care. I think that secretly they just want to fit in and maybe they are scared to stand up to the tough kids. What is that saying? If you can’t beat them…join them. If you have to be mean spirited and nasty to get attention, then it isn’t worth it. Funny thing is, when you get them by themselves, most of them are quite nice. Peer pressure, man does it cause problems! And if I have to act like the footy jocks to be in the cool group, they can have it.

  Thursday

  Good night diary. Nothing to report today. Oh, except that Madonna smiled at me. Sweet dreams!

  Oh, and tonight I’m putting the fob watch in my drawer, just in case I dream again.

  Night Mom, I love you.

  Friday

  Our first cooking session with Miss Moffat. I am in a group with Gretel and Madonna (the new girl). Gretel is pretty confident and seems to know what she is doing. Just as we have finished cutting up the vegetables and chicken, a phone call comes through, asking for Gretel to go to the office so she can go home.

  Panic started to overtake me. But then Madonna stepped up. She seemed so confident. We were the first to finish and our dish looked delicious. That was until Miss Moffat tasted it. The chicken was raw! It wasn’t cooked through.

  Miss Moffat’s face turned white, then green. She burped and then projectile vomited. It landed on my shirt. It was like being in a horror movie. When I realized what was happening, I jumped back, but it was too late. I was covered in vomit.

  I didn’t know what to say, so I just walked out of the classroom and went to the toilets. The smell attacked my nostrils and when I took off my shirt I found a hunk of raw chicken. I felt hot and clammy and then I started to throw up as well. At least my vomit went into the toilet!

  Sunday

  Lately my head has been really itchy. Dad told me that sometimes stress and nerves can make your scalp itchy. So naturally I believed him and didn’t give it a second thought. I went to the hairdressers today. How embarrassing! I’ve got head lice! The hairdresser, who is really young and pretty, started to comb my hair and then she stopped. She called over an older lady and they both started looking closely at my scalp. The older lady announced in a loud voice, “You’ve got lice! We can’t cut your hair; you’ll have to treat your head lice first.”

  The young hairdresser looked at me, smiled and shrugged her shoulders, as the older one kept going on about different treatments I could buy from the chemist. Everyone in the salon looked at me, like I was a leper. I could feel my face catching on fire. I looked in the mirror and my face had gone a tomato shade of red. I left as quickly as I could.

  Then I had to go to the chemist and buy some treatment. I chose one and tried to hide it as I went to the counter. A few people were being served, so I waited until they had left and quickly gave it to the girl at the checkout. She tried to scan it and it didn’t register, so she pulled over a microphone and asked for a price check on the Nitfree Head lice Treatment. I felt like melting into the cracks between the tiles. Then she asked if I wanted a bag. Hello, of course I wanted a bag!

  I had to do it myself when I got home. Mom used to do so much for me, she was so loving. I combed the lotion through my hair. With the number of lice I found, I could have started up my own lice circus. Imagine that, The Amazing Nit Show brought to you by Richard Jones!

  Now where did I pick them up from? Maybe Burt, he is always scratching. I make a mental note, never sit close to him or let him use my hat, EVER!!!!

  Monday

  The funniest thing happened at school today. Well it was funny and really embarrassing. In English my teacher collected our homework on the Merchant of Venice. I really don’t like reading old stories. He started reading the new girl’s reflections. It said something like this:

  The quality of mercy is not strained, but falls like the gentle rain. I wish Mr. Albert would give me some mercy and seat me next to hunky Richard Jones.

  I felt my face blush. I’m sure I looked like Elmo! Everyone started laughing and cheering. I felt like I was on fire. My hands broke into an instant sweat. I looked at Madonna and her face was also bright red. She looked in shock!

  Our teacher asked who is Mr. Albert. Madonna just stumbled over that question, saying it was just her imagination. Thank goodness the bell went and we could both escape outside. I didn’t see her during the lunch break, she disappeared very quickly.

  Of course everyone was talking about it during lunch. I was constantly teased about being hunky. We guessed that she called our teacher Mr. Albert because he has frizzy hair like Albert Einstein. She really does have a great sense of humor. Just thinking about her brings a smile to my face.

  This is all kind of weird for me. No girl has ever shown me the least bit of interest. I’m not cool and I’m certainly not hunky. But knowing that she might think that, does make me feel pretty special.

  After lunch we went to our art class. Madonna sat on the opposite side of the room to me and kept her head down. I wanted to talk to her and tell her that everything was okay, but she wouldn’t make eye contact. I feel so sorry for her.

  Nathan came over to me and slapped me on the back saying, “Hey hunky, how’s it going?” I just ignored him, he isn’t very nice. Little did I know that he was actually playing a trick on me. He had put a sign on my back and it said:

  Madonna Loves Richard the Hunk!

  Unfortunately my friends walked out before me and didn’t see it. I walked all the way down the hall and to the bus stop before I realized that something was wrong. It was the constant sniggering and wolf whistling which followed me that told me something was wrong. Why do kids have to be so cruel? Luckily Madonna didn’t see it, she was one of the first to leave the classroom. She took
off like a rocket!

  I don’t like being teased, but I have to admit, I’m kind of thrilled that she might like me.

  Saturday

  Dad sat in front of the TV all day…watching sport. I spent most of the day in my room, going through old photo albums. My Mom was such a beautiful woman. She had the best smile!

  I’m really good on the computer and I love to make graphics. So today I scanned pictures of my Mom and made a video collage, it looks awesome. My favorite one is when she first held me in hospital. She looked so young and soft. Her eyes were so beautiful, full of love. I also found some funny ones. Mom was such a clown…always pulling faces and photo bombing. I showed it to Dad, but he started to tear up and walked away.

  Then I went for a bike ride.

  Sunday

  When I woke up this morning, Dad had already gone. He left a note saying that he had work to finish at his office and would be home for lunch.

  Hmmmm…….

  What to do?

  I decided to go for a bike ride. I love going down this really big hill near my school. The wind flies through my hair and I go really fast. I just have to watch out for cars backing out of their driveways.

  At the bottom of the hill I skidded to a stop, got off my bike and took my drink out of my backpack.

  “What are you up to?” said a familiar voice from behind. It was Ted Martin, a family friend who is in my class. Now I wouldn’t call Ted a close friend, but we have a mutual respect thing going. You see Ted lost his Mom when he was really young. He can barely remember her. My Mom used to bake for their family every weekend and she always invited Ted to my birthday parties and for plays after school. After Mom passed (I find it really hard to use the word died) he would come round after school and just sit with me, watching TV. We didn’t talk about it, but one day he looked at me and said, “I know.” Those two words said it all.

  The other kids at school don’t really like Ted. He can be really mean, but I think it is because he is looking for attention. His Dad works really long hours at the local brick works and he isn’t very loving or kind. Mom used to say that Ted was trying to make himself feel better by putting others down. She tried to talk to him about it, but I don’t think he understood.

  He does stupid things like pouring glue into tidy boxes, sticking gum under other people’s desks, throwing rubbers during class and breaking other kids’ rulers. Lately he has started taking food from some of the kids. He is almost becoming a “stand over man”. The worst thing is that he does it so meanly and only takes the good stuff, like cakes and biscuits. Last Friday when he went off looking for robbery victims during lunch time, I casually strolled over and looked in his lunch box. There was nothing in there. Maybe he is stealing because he is hungry. I feel really sorry for him.

  Ted and I went for a walk in the bush near a creek at the bottom of the school. We were looking for little fish in the creek when we saw movement in the bush. We bobbed down and watched carefully. You wouldn’t believe who it was, our Deputy Principal and her husband. She was going off at him because he had forgotten the bait for their fishing expedition. He kept saying, “Yes dear” – “No dear” – “I know dear.” It was so funny! Ted and I looked at each other and our bodies started to shake from trying to stop the laughter escaping from our mouths. Anyway they kept on walking along the path. Funny how some people are like that, bossy at work and bossy on the weekends! That poor man! If I was him I would wear ear plugs.

  We played around for a bit longer, seeing who could skip the flat rocks as we tossed them across the water. My best rock skipped 6 times, pretty impressive! I had to leave because Dad would be home soon, but Ted was going to hang around for a bit longer, his Dad was playing golf with his friends (he does that every Sunday).

  Monday

  Guess what, there is a school competition and you can win passes to Water World Park. I really want to win! It would be so much fun. I love waterslides!!!!

  Tuesday

  I entered the waterslide competition today. I’m in a group with Gretel and Madonna (she told me to call her Maddi for short). The girls are really keen to win too. I hope I don’t let them down. They asked me to take care of the graphics. I’m kind of excited about this because I’m pretty good at designing on the computer. I also like painting and drawing pictures, so that will definitely help as well.

  I really like Maddi. She is really pretty, she has great hair and really beautiful eyes; when she smiles her face lights up. And she gives off a really positive vibe. When I am near her I feel funny inside, a little nervous and a little excited. I can’t wait to go to school tomorrow and tell her about my ideas for our project.

  Wednesday

  Maddi and Gretel really like my ideas! Maddi told me that I am very creative and smart. This is SO COOL! That is what my Mom used to say to me. I know that Mom would really like Maddi.

  During lunch time I was about to walk around the corner when I heard my name. So I stopped and listened. It was Maddi talking to Gretel. They were saying how happy they are that I’m in their group for the competition. Then I heard Gretel say, “And he’s such a nice boy.” Awww that’s so nice. But then I heard something that almost made me fall over. Maddi told Gretel that she likes to make up names for people and my secret name is Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome. I didn’t know what to do. I know I blushed to the deepest shade of purple possible. Then I held my breath and slowly took a few steps backwards, spun around and quickly walked away.

  Surely she is joking. Me…tall, dark and handsome, it has to be a joke! Secretly, I hope it isn’t. Maddi makes me feel good. She makes me feel happy. I think I like her a lot.

  Thursday

  Today was try-out day for school sport. There was a choice of basketball (great for all the giants), football (the jocks have that one stitched up) and soccer. So I decided to try out for soccer, it isn’t as rough and I thought I’d have a chance.

  I have a tendency to daydream. I glanced over at the girls’ groups and saw Maddi holding a soccer ball. I was imagining myself being a school soccer star thinking how Maddi would be so impressed and wasn’t really listening to the teacher giving directions. So off I walked with a group of boys. We were divided into two teams and walked out onto the field. That was when I noticed some of the boys around me. Why were the jocks trying out for soccer? Where were the soccer nets? Why wasn’t the ball round?

  Then the ball came flying into my hands. Oh no! It’s a football! That is when Dan (they call him Dan the man) came bearing down on me. He hit me like a ten-ton truck. The ball flew out of my hands and I was flat on my back. I heard the whistle blow and saw faces looking down on me. They picked me up and carried me off the field. Dazed but still alive (only just) I walked to the benches and thought about my mistake. In future, I’m going to listen!

  The really bad thing is that by the time I recovered and went over to the soccer try-outs, the teams were filled. So that means I have to do alternate sport. All the kids call it reject sport. There are five choices for reject sport: yoga, gym, ball skills, history club, math games and computer graphics. We had to put a number next to each activity from 1 to 6. I put one next to computer graphics and 6 next to all the other choices. Then I drew a smiley face next to my top choice. I hope the teachers understand that I REALLY want to do computer graphics.

  Friday

  Oh NO! I can’t believe it…they put me in the history club group. My friends are in ball skills and computer graphics. How can they justify having stupid things like history club in reject sport? I told Dad, but he just grunted. I’m really NOT looking forward to next Thursday! Seriously!!!!!

  Saturday

  Today I worked on our project for the Water World Competition. The pictures look great! The girls are going to love them. When I grow up I think I’d like to have my own business. I could design logos, banners and pictures for websites. That would be so much fun.

  When I was little I wanted to be a rubbish collection man. Every time t
he rubbish truck came past I’d run to the front yard and watch. Then one day, Mom took me out to meet him. He let me smell inside the truck. Boy did it stink! He told me to choose another job or have that smell in my nose for the rest of my life. At the time, I thought he was a bit mean to destroy my dream of becoming a rubbish man. But over the years, every time Mom and I saw a rubbish truck we would look at each other and laugh.

  Who knows…I might end up being the next Steve Jobs. Imagine inventing a new type of computer system! How exciting would that be! Or designing a new game or making animations for a film. See, I told you I am a dreamer. 

  Sunday

  Today I asked Dad about the fob watch. He had a really black look on his face. “Richard, your Mom came from a crazy family. They had lots of weird ideas and used to make up stupid stories. It is just a watch. It has no special powers.”

  This was what I expected him to say. What do I do now? Should I just put it away and forget about it? I struggled with this thought all day long. Grandma Mary was a bit weird…but Mom wasn’t. And in her letter she said that she wanted me to explore it. Dad probably said the same thing to her. So I grabbed the watch and put it in my pocket, climbed an oak tree in the backyard and asked Mom what to do. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for an answer, but nothing came.

  I held the watch in my hand and gently rubbed it. I thought about Richard the Lion Heart during his crusade to win back the holy land. The year was 1191. My history teacher had told us gruesome stories about both sides. I was thinking about the Christians marching to Jerusalem and then...

  My vision blurred and I felt like I was falling through a tunnel of darkness. All around me were a mish-mash of sounds, some voices talking in languages I didn't understand, animal noises and a variety of banging, crashing and creaking sounds.

  Next thing I knew I had hit the ground with a thump and I laid there stunned. I must've fallen out of the tree. As I lay on the ground in front of my eyes there wasn't the soft green grass of my backyard… but a dry dusty mixture of gravel, sand and larger rocks.

  What was going on, where was I? "Move boy!" growled a rough, loud voice. I looked up to see a medieval knight mounted on a huge horse almost walking on top of me. I rolled to the side, out of his way and came to a halt against the block wall. As I scrambled to my feet, I looked up at the wall. It was huge and stretched up above me. It wasn't just a wall, it was the inside wall of an olden day castle. Above me I could see soldiers in chain mail walking along the top and above them on two poles were large flags that flapped in the breeze. One of the flags was red with three yellow lions on it. The other flag was blue with a white cross.

  "Which way to the palace?" I just stared dumbly at him, stunned by what was going on. "What's wrong boy, have the Saracens cut out your tongue?” asked the gruff old knight. His fellow knight nudged his horse closer and eyed me up and down. "Those are strange clothes you have on boy, where'd you come from?" he asked. "I'm from Harper Valley sir,” I replied. The sir just popped out, but it did seem appropriate when talking to a large man in armor with a sword towering over me on a huge horse.

  "Sir Edward," said the second knight, "there is something strange about this fellow, he could be a spy for the Saracens, we should take him with us to the palace." "Walter get a rope on him and bring him with us." Suddenly I noticed a third man dressed in long robes as he came riding towards us on a small horse. He looked younger than the other two. He pulled the rope from his saddle swinging a loop of it in the air and launched it at me. The loop landed around my neck and the men watched as Walter pulled it tight. I reached up to try and pull it off when all three started to ride off. I was pulled in a stumbling run behind them. I forgot about pulling the rope from my neck and just concentrated on staying on my feet, petrified I would be dragged behind the horse if I fell.

  For about 10 minutes I stumbled along behind Walter and his horse. To make it even worse at one point the horse decided to go to the toilet. Despite my best dodging efforts I ended up with bits of horse manure in my hair and on my face and down my shirt front and on my shoes. As I was led through the narrow dusty streets I gazed around in wonder. There were ramshackle markets, people in unusual clothing and dead animals hanging up and being sold. It was like being in a scene from a movie.

  It must be Grandma Mary’s fob watch. Somehow I had traveled back in time. This must be what mom was trying to tell me about. Maybe all those stories that my grandmother used to tell were her actual adventures.

  Finally the men stopped in front of a large imposing building which must be the palace. Guards with large spears stood on either side of an entranceway. The three men dismounted and the two knights handed the reins of the horses to Walter. They instructed Walter to stay there with the horses and the prisoner. Prisoner…they meant me!