Willakaville

by Mathew Heinecke

  Over the next few weeks, Kyle got used to the way of life and the villagers. At the same time, the villagers got used to him. This provided him with more freedom from being watched. Until one day, he was able to sneak a little closer to the forest where he again saw the Native American boy. The boy waved his hand for Kyle to come join him.

  Kyle looked around, nobody was watching him. Now was his chance to escape. He made a run for it…

  “Halt!” shouted one of the soldiers on top of the hill. Kyle followed the boy into the woods, running as fast as he could. The brush and limbs scraped his skin and he burned with pain from the scratches. It did not stop him though. He was determined to make it out of that crazy village. He looked back one more time to see a group of soldiers struggling to keep up. Lucky for Kyle, it was too late, there was no way they could get to him now.

  After what seemed like an hour, they arrived at the Native American boy’s village. Kyle was impressed by the simple homes they built out of mud and sticks. There was a large fire burning in the middle of the village where all the villagers gathered around. The native boy brought Kyle there.

  A large man dressed in a simple deerskin breech cloth stood up. His head was shaved except for a small patch on the back of his head which was braided with feathers, shells and colorful strips of leather. Kyle figured that he must be the chief. He looked at the native boy and spoke, “Kathana akthamin kraw rikin rakaneri nethandoa!”

  The boy spoke back, “Rachatakaw kranatha powa kri natrathanana.”

  The chief clapped his hand twice and made a circle with his left hand. Immediately, the two older natives at his side came over to Kyle and each grabbed an arm. Kyle began to think that maybe he should have stayed where he was. He struggled to get away until a third native put a leather pouch over his head.

  Kyle was placed in a deep pit and had no idea what was about to happen next. He could not understand their language and had no way to communicate with them.

  Eventually, he was lifted out of the pit and the bag was removed. When he looked around, it appeared that everyone was wearing some strange kind of yellow costume. They all had spears in their hands and were chanting over and over, “Krakata! Makute! Naratanana!”

  Then one of them came and stood in front of Kyle. Kyle could not believe his eyes. They were not wearing yellow costumes. They somehow turned into human sized bananas! But bananas with arms and legs and angry faces. Bananas with red and black war paint and leather clothes.

  The banana warrior in front of him motioned to Kyle with his hand toward the forest. Kyle decided he better get away from these crazy angry banana people. He took off like a rabbit, running like a locomotive. He was too afraid to look back and had no idea where he was going. At one point he decided to rest, when he looked back he could see the angry mob of bananas still coming.

  He quickly got up and kept running. As he went deeper into the forest, the trees started changing. Instead of pine trees, there were giant stalks of asparagus. Oak trees became huge beanstalks with beans as large as cars. He weaved his way past enormous cucumber vines and dodged ten foot tall tomatoes.

  Then, Kyle found himself trapped. He was on the edge of a high cliff and the bananas were closing in on him. He stepped a little closer to the edge to get a better view of what was below. A piece of ground gave way and Kyle fell. As he was falling, he could see the bananas looking over the edge of the cliff at him. He thought it was sad and funny that his last view would be of bananas.

  He braced himself for impact with the ground and closed his eyes. When he finally hit, he was surprised that it did not hurt. In fact, he felt something squishy and then he felt himself flying upwards. He opened his eyes and found himself falling again. Below him were brightly colored surfaces. He saw yellow, green, red, blue, and purple smooth, bubble like patches. As he landed a second time, he recognized what it was. The ground was entirely covered with bouncy pads. It was as if the whole world was made out of a bouncy house.

  He kept bouncing and bouncing, rolling down the hills of bouncy land. He eventually rolled into a depression in the bouncy pads. He laid there laughing from the happiness that he was still alive. A tiny squeaking noise began to surround him. He heard a thousand tiny squeaks getting closer and closer.

  As the squeaks got louder, hundreds of colorful balls came bouncing and rolling toward him. They made the sound of thunder as they approached. Kyle had nowhere to go. Within seconds, he was covered entirely in soft and squishy balls. They vibrated and giggled all over his body. This tickled Kyle so much that he laughed the hardest he ever did in his entire life.

  Kyle was happy to laugh and feel safe for once. But now his sides were starting to hurt and he did not want to be tickled anymore. He got up and started jogging, but the balls kept bouncing and tickling him wherever he went. Now he was angry and started swatting the balls as he ran.

  Then a good idea sprouted in his head. He thought, “Why don’t I try bouncing away from them.” He took a few hops and started bouncing higher and farther with each one. He felt like the astronauts on the moon, bounding from one bouncy mound to the next. Soon he had out run the balls and made it to where they could not be seen anymore.

  A little further and he made it to a large canyon with giant brownish red sandstone on each side. There were no trees, water or plants. It was like the coyote and road runner cartoons. It was starting to get hot and Kyle’s mouth was as dry as the dessert he was now in.

  Luckily, as he turned the corner there was a small river of water crossing the path. Unluckily, there was a pack of wild coyotes drinking from it. Kyle froze, hoping they would not see him and attack. Hope was not enough, unfortunately and one of the coyotes looked up at him. He barked and started running toward Kyle.

  The other coyotes followed and Kyle ran. He ran for his life, but it was not enough. The coyotes soon overtook him. Kyle stopped curled up into a ball as the coyotes surrounded him. He cried being afraid of the pain that would come from the bites of the coyotes. A couple of coyotes came closer and sniffed Kyle as he shivered in fear. Then one of them licked his face.

  Kyle opened his eyes and to his amazement, the coyotes were very friendly. All they wanted to do was to play. Kyle gave each of them several pets on the head as the panted and rubbed their bodies against his. They accompanied him over to the river where they all drank together.

  He followed the coyotes further down the canyon. Kyle felt safe with them and believed they would guide him back home somehow. His safe feeling did not last long though. From behind an outcropping of large rocks several large squirrels scampered out. The squirrels were as tall as Kyle and had bright orange eyes with snarling sharp teeth.

  The coyotes growled in vain as the squirrels kept approaching. One of thy coyotes nudged Kyle in the other direction. As he followed the coyote, the others tried holding off the squirrels in order to give them a chance to escape. Kyle looked back one last time as they rounded the corner and saw several of the coyotes climbing on the squirrels’ backs and biting.

  The coyotes with Kyle took him down a side path and into a small cave. They watched as the other coyotes were chased toward the cave. The squirrels were right behind them. The lead squirrel swiped his claws just as the last coyote narrowly escaped into the cave. The squirrels tired to bite and reach into the cave, but it was too small for their big heads and paws.

  Soon, the squirrels gave up and decided to look for food elsewhere. The sun had set and brilliant reds, yellows, oranges and purples filled the skies. Kyle and the coyotes were exhausted and quickly fell asleep.

  When Kyle woke up, he was surprised to feel that he was sleeping on something soft. Not the hard dirt floor with the coyotes. He opened his eyes. He was back in his own bedroom. Instead of coyotes, his dog Rufus was by his side.

  Kyle was so happy that he hugged Rufus, then he hugged his bed. He told Rufus, “It was all a dream! I am so happy to see you Rufus.” Then he gave Rufus another hug. “Let’s go get breakfast.”


  As Kyle entered the kitchen his mother greeted him, “Good morning Kyle. Would you like some bananas and milk for breakfast?”

  Kyle thought, “What a coincidence.” Then he told his mother, “No thank you. Just some cereal today please.” He did not want to see another banana for a very long time.

  His mother gave him the cereal and said, “Kyle. I have a surprise for you today. We are going to the bouncy park after school with your friend Timmy. His mother had some extra tickets.”

  Another strange coincidence. Kyle was starting to feel a little weird, but he did like the bouncy park and wanted to see Timmy. So he answered, “Ok mom. Thanks. That is great. I like Timmy.”

  As they left the driveway for school, Kyle could see Rufus chasing a bunch of squirrels out of their front yard. Kyle was reminded of the giant squirrels in his dream. He was glad to see them being chased for once.

  Kyle’s first class was History with Mr. Craggleknot. Mr. Craggleknot announced at the beginning of class, “Today we will be learning about the first Colony, Jamestown.” Now Kyle was getting freaked out. Everything in his dream had something to do with everything that happened around him this morning. Kyle did not know what to think of it, but he hoped that was the last of his crazy dreams.

  A Cat Is…

  A cat is soft. A cat is sweet.

  A cat is nice sitting at your feet.

  A cat will sleep. Cat will hide.

  A cat will not eat an eggs that’s fried.

  A cat can scratch. A cat can hiss.

  A cat is a lovely thing to kiss.

  Some cats will chase. Some cats will purr.

  Some cats obsessively lick their fur.

  This cat is black. That cat is white.

  Another cat loves to go out at night.

  Cats can be silly. Cats can be cute.

  Cats look funny dressed in a suit.

  A cat drinks milk. A cat eats tuna.

  There are even some cats named Luna.

  Cats may be pretty. Cats may be lazy.

  I think all cats a certainly crazy.

  Cats bring happy. Cats bring love.

  Cats fit your hand like a warm winter glove.

  Magic Pencil

  Jelly Jenkins is the only girl under twenty years old in Willakaville that had red hair. She was tall for a twelve year old, very thin and her smile was as wide as the Grand Canyon. She constantly looked for an easy way out of doing any work. She had a long list of outrageous excuses ready to use at a moment’s notice. “My grandmother lost her dentures and I had to mash her food for her. I was so tired from mashing that I fell asleep before I could finish” was one. “I was staying at my uncle’s house last night and he does not have electricity, so it was too dark to finish my project.” was another. Of course, she always had her favorite, “I think I am coming down with Malaria. My cousin brought back some mosquitos from the Amazon jungle and one of them bit me.”

  She did have a good heart though. One day, while walking to the store to get some milk (which she was already planning on an excuse for not getting), she saw an older woman having trouble to carry her bags of groceries. Jelly could feel the pain in the woman’s joints as she watched her shuffle down the sidewalk. Every step looked as if she was getting a tetanus shot.

  Jelly decided to help her. As she walked up the older woman she said, “Hello, may I help you carry those?”

  The woman slowly turned her head and gave a big smile. Then she replied, “Oh, bless your heart young dear. My aching knees, back and shoulders would kindly thank you if you did.” She set the bags down as quickly as someone her age could.

  Jelly picked them right up and smiled back at the older woman. “Boy, these sure are heavy. Don’t you have anyone to help you?” she asked.

  “No, my dear.” The woman answered, still with a smile. “My husband passed away several years ago and all my children have moved away. It’s just me and old Furball now.” She waved her hands in a circle indicating that Furball might be a bit overweight.

  A few minutes later, they were at the woman’s door. Jelly patiently waited while the woman fumbled around in her purse for her keys. After a long while, she finally managed to find her keys. Then she slowly unlocked and opened the door.

  As they entered the house, Jelly was amazed at what was inside. The house looked over one hundred years old. The furniture looked like it came from an old cowboy movie. As she snooped around, she saw all kinds of bookshelves full of knickknacks. There were tiny mouse figurines, old rusty horseshoes, decorated eggs, dried butterflies, fancy hats, bowls of brightly colored buttons, and even a big swordfish on the wall. All the photographs were black and white. Not one of them was in color.

  Jelly followed the woman into her kitchen and placed the grocery bags on the countertop. The older woman wandered over to a large wooden desk with hundreds of detailed roses carved into it. She opened the top drawer and pulled out a pencil. Then she sat down at the kitchen table and let out a sigh of relief as if she had just finished a marathon. “Here you go! No good deed goes unrewarded.” She said as she placed the pencil in front of her.

  Jelly stared at the strange wooden pencil on the table. The pencil was very crooked and had no eraser. It looked as if it was made from a twisted tree branch. The older woman must have noticed the confused look on Jelly’s face. She spoke, “This is not an ordinary pencil my dear. This is a magic pencil. It will write whatever you tell it to.”

  Jelly tried not to laugh, but could not help it and let out a muffled snort. She did not want to offend the woman and kindly replied, “Thank you very much. This will help me to finish my homework faster.” Then she picked the pencil up delicately as if it were an ancient artifact.

  The older woman spoke again, this time more seriously, “You need to be careful though. This pencil can have a mind of its own. You will need to proof read everything it writes before you let anyone else read it.”

  Jelly figured the woman must be crazy. After all, who could blame her, being alone all these years. Still the same, the woman was nice. Jelly thanked her again and the woman thanked her back. They said their goodbyes and Jelly was back on her way to get the milk. Bewildered by what had just happened, she forgot to make up an excuse and actually bought the milk and brought it right back home.

  Even though she thought the woman was loony, there was still part of her that wanted to believe the pencil was magic. She went to her room, sat at her little pink desk and placed a blank piece of paper in front of her. She looked at the pencil and said, “Ok Mr. Pencil. Write me a story about cats please.”

  As soon as she said please, the pencil jerked from her hand and started writing. Shocked, Jelly let out a small yell, “Ahhh!” The pencil wrote two sentences, very quickly, and then lay back down next to the paper. The hairs on Jelly’s arms stood straight up, felt butterflies tickling her stomach and started to shake uncontrollably with fear.

  After a couple minutes, her fear lessened and Jelly read the sentences, “There were some mean cats. They went to sleep.” All of it had the handwriting of a 4 year old.

  “What kind of story is that?” she said aloud with a frown. Her fear now turned into anger and disappointment. She was about to break the pencil in two when she had an idea. This time she would be more detailed and descriptive.

  She started, “Write me a story about cats that chase mice and run away from dogs. Make the story ten pages long. Make sure the story with lots of funny things happening. Make the cats have superpowers and different personalities. Oh, and make it all with my handwriting.”

  The pencil lifted up again and began writing furiously. Jelly quickly grabbed some more pieces of paper before it ran out of room. The pencil wrote page after page. Mysteriously, it never became dull. Within a matter of a few minutes, it completed the full ten pages.

  Jelly began to read the story. It began, “Two very lovely cats rolled and chased each other on the cool and dimly sunlit grass behind the cozy little cottage.” Jelly read word after wor
d. She could not put the story down. It was so great. She laughed aloud at least seven times. When she was done, she lay down on her bed, clutching the pages as if they were her favorite Teddywinkle bear. Her whole body filled with happiness.

  She thought to herself, “No more writing long answers to dumb questions about geography! Math problems… done! That 5 page book report… piece of cake!”

  That night, she did not mind cleaning up the dishes after dinner or putting her clothes away. Life was going to be easy, peasy, lemon squeezy from now on. She carefully put the pencil in her pencil pouch for school wanting to be extra sure she had it for school tomorrow.

  The next day in class, her teacher Mrs. Squarenot, handed out a pop quiz. All the kids groaned. Jelly did not. She had her secret weapon. She carefully pulled out her magic pencil. When she did, Tommy Craggin pointed and laughed. Taunting her he said, “Look at Jelly’s crazy pencil.” All the kids turned their heads and looked. They started making comments: “What is that?”… “Weird!”… “Umm, ok, whatever.”

  Mrs. Squarenot interrupted, “You have 9 minutes left to complete the quiz. I suggest you begin now.” Everyone quickly turned back to their papers and began working. Jelly quietly held the pencil close to her mouth and whispered, “Answer each question on this quiz correctly.”

  The pencil jerked from her hand. She quickly grabbed onto it tightly as it pulled her arm and hand back and forth across the page. In two minutes, she was done. She read some of the questions and answers and they seemed to be correct. Then she put the pencil down and make a bit of a noise for emphasis. Tommy looked over with a look of disbelief on his face. That look quickly turned into a frown of frustration when he realized that he did not know all the answers.