Children's Stories by UICRC Student Authors

Brothers vs. Birthdays

By: Dana

           “I’m not going!” shrieked Isabel, as she stormed out of the room.  “You can’t make me go!”  Isabel’s mom could hear her stomping all the way upstairs.  A moment later, she heard a door slam.  Isabel’s mom slumped down on the couch. 

“What should we do?” she asked Isabel’s dad.  “It’s not our fault that Sam’s soccer championship game is on the same day as her friend’s birthday party.”

           Upstairs, Isabel was pacing around her room.  Her best friend in the whole world, Jacqueline, was having a birthday party next Saturday and the whole class was invited and she couldn’t go!  And she didn’t even have a good reason.  Her younger brother, Sam, was playing in a soccer game.  That’s it.  Nothing serious.  Just a soccer game.  But for some reason her parents were making her go watch him play.  Isabel was dreading what was going to happen at school tomorrow when she had to tell Jacqueline that she couldn’t go to her birthday party.  Will she still even want to be my friend? wondered Isabel.  Probably not.

           The next day when Isabel was on her way school, she was extremely nervous.  She hoped Jacqueline would be absent, or at least come in after the bell rang so there wouldn’t be time to talk before class.  No such luck.  When Isabel got out of her mom’s car at school, Jacqueline was waiting by the door, waving frantically.

           “Hi Isabel!” she said excitedly.

           “Hi,” Isabel said gloomily. 

           “Why do you look so sad?” asked Jacqueline.

Isabel thought about making up a story to tell Jacqueline, but she finally decided that it was best to tell the truth. 

           “I just found out that I can’t go to your birthday party on Saturday.  My brother is playing in a soccer game at the same time and my parents are making me go,” said Isabel.

Jacqueline stared at her for what felt like a lifetime, before saying, “Are you sure you have to go for the whole time?  I was really looking forward to bowling with you at my birthday party.”  This made Isabel feel even worse.  Of course she would rather be bowling with Jacqueline and all of their classmates instead of watching her brother play in a silly soccer game.

When Isabel got home from school that afternoon she decided to try one more time to convince her parents to let her go to the birthday party.  She decided to wait until dinnertime, when both of her parents would be home.

“This pasta is delicious!” she said, maybe a bit too enthusiastically.  Her parents exchanged strange looks.  “I just love pasta.  What did you do to make it taste so good?”

“Is there something that you would like to tell us?” asked her mother.  Isabel paused and thought very carefully about what she was going to say next.

“Why yes, there is,” she said sweetly. “This salad is the best I have ever eaten.  What’s in it?”

By this point her parents were extremely suspicious.  “Is this about the soccer game?” her father asked.

Without thinking, Isabel blurted out, “It’snotfairthatIhavetogotothegameIjustwanttogotomyfriend’sbirthdayparty!”

“Woah! Slow down,” said her mother.  “Let’s talk about this.  What did you just say? “

Isabel caught her breath.  “I said, it’s not fair that I have to go to the game.  I just want to go to my friend’s birthday party.”

    By this point, Isabel was close to tears.  This was not how she had intended on approaching the subject.  Too late now.  She took a deep breath and waited for her mother’s response.  When her mother finally spoke, Isabel was busy preparing herself for yet another explanation about why she had to go watch Sam play soccer instead of going to Jacqueline’s awesome bowling birthday party.  

    “What if you came to the first half of Sam’s game and then one of us drives you to the birthday party during halftime?  Can you show up late to the birthday party a little late?”

    Isabel just stared at her mother in disbelief.  When she was finally able to speak again, she blurted out, “YES!” a bit louder than she meant to.  Isabel ran to go call Jacqueline and tell her the great news.  

    On Saturday, Isabel watched her brother score what ended up being the winning goal before heading to the bowling alley for Jacqueline’s birthday party.   She arrived just in time to roll a strike and eat a giant slice of cake.  As she was leaving the birthday party she turned to her mom and said, “Thanks for letting me come to the party.  I had a great time.  I’m also happy for Sam that his team won.”  Isabel’s mom smiled and patted her on the back as they walked to the car.  It had been quite a day.

Bad Cat

by: Vera

“Mowgli!” Jill screamed from inside her bedroom.  “You dirty rotten little…stinker!” she added.  As she emerged from the room with what used to be her favorite pair of slippers, Mowgli jetted under the sofa couch like greased lightning.  This wasn’t the first time he ate something he wasn’t supposed to, and it wouldn’t be his last.

He was the cutest kitten in the litter.  His wide jade green eyes, black and grey stripes like a tiger were irresistible to Moira.  He looked right into her eyes and she knew she wouldn’t leave the shelter without him.  Even Jill was happy to meet their new roommate at first but his cuteness would rub off with every bite.

One night the girls were having a birthday party for Jill and all of their friends came over to celebrate.  Moira and Jill spent hours preparing food for their guests.  They made all of Jill’s favorite foods; a three layer chocolate Oreo cookie cake, pigs in a blanket, chicken wings, quesadillas and chicken parmesan.  It was going to be a feast.

         Mowgli watched from his favorite spot in the kitchen window surveying the dishes they prepared.  He and Jill had similar taste in food.  All of a sudden everyone was gone and he was alone in a room full of treats.  He licked his chops, looking around the room for the girls.  Where had they gone?  He licked his chops for a second time and his stomach took over.  Before he knew it he was under the couch again with a stomachache.

When the girls came out from their rooms dressed for the party they found that the kitchen looked very different from the one they had left.  Bits and pieces of each dish were sprinkled with crumbs.  Everything they cooked for the feast was gone.  The only remains were the wax candles from the birthday cake.

“MOWGLI!” Moira screamed at the top of her lungs as she moved right for his spot under the couch.  She stretched her arm as far as it could reach into the darkness under the couch until she felt his fuzz.

All of a sudden, Mowgli was getting pulled out by his left paw.  Normally Mowgli would have fought back but the rumbling pain in his stomach was crippling his ability to move.  He was ripped from his hiding spot and thrown in the hall closet.

Mowgli knew he shouldn’t have eaten the dinner but his stomach had taken over his ability to think clearly.  He could hear the girls arguing and trying to come up with a plan for the party since they had no food for their guests.  After a while he could hear the sound of visitors.  He longed to join the celebration but knew that he wasn’t going to be welcome.  He waited in the closet until the next morning.

He emerged from the closet hungry again. This time he found himself standing beside Jill as she scanned the refrigerator for breakfast items.  On the bottom shelf sat one of his favorites...leftovers.  He leaned into the door to get a closer look and….SLAM.  

Darkness.  He looked around and could barely see the plate he had his nose on seconds earlier.  Mowgli sniffed around for the leftover macaroni and cheese casserole and began feasting.  Not quite satisfied, he hopped over to the condiments on the shelf above.  It wasn’t long till he had eaten everything of value within his reach.  His eyes began to droop as the fullness in his belly and the damp cold of the refrigerator forced him into a deep sleep.

“Mowgli?  Mowgli?” Moira called.  “Where are you little guy?”  Checking under the bed, on top of the cabinets, under the couch.  He was nowhere to be found.  Jill got home and a search party commenced.  All of their friends from the birthday party were making flyers, calling neighbors, contacting veterinary clinics, and walking the streets with flashlights calling his name.  An entire day had passed since Jill had seen him that morning before breakfast.  Where could he be?

Finally, when all of their friends had left exhausted and hopeless the girls plopped on the couch with a sigh.  Moira turned to Jill and said, “I know I was mad when he ruined the party but I would give him all the food in the world if he would just come home.”  Tears of guilt welled up in her eyes.  Yesterday she had yelled at him and thrown him in a closet. “I miss the little stinker.”  “Me too,” Jill replied.  She sulked over to the refrigerator to get a glass of milk. As she opened the door she squealed as Mowgli calmly walked out of the refrigerator and rubbed his nose on her legs.  Jill looked over from the couch, “That little stinker!”