2. The house was old. The paint was peeling and some of the boards on the porch were missing. The lawn was completely overgrown and full of weeds. Some of the windows were broken too. I wondered how long the house had been vacant as I carefully climbed the front steps and made my way to the door.

3. Jesse watched the strange alien creatures from his hiding place behind the old log. They were all crowding around the lopsided space craft, which was obviously broken. "They must have crashed here and now they can't leave," Jesse thought. They didn't look dangerous. Maybe he should try to help them.

4. Brandon cruised through the test. Math had always come easy to him. Kyle struggled with each question. He knew he would never finish on time. Krystal looked nervously at the clock for the tenth time. "Just four more questions to go," she thought. Mrs. Olson watched her students and wondered if she had given them enough practice time before the test.

5. "Have you seen my blue shirt?" I shouted down the stairs. "I think it's in the laundry," Dad shouted back. Disappointed, I dug through my drawer looking for something else to wear instead. It was the first day at a new school and I wanted to look cool, but my pathetic wardrobe was not helping.

6. Rascal could not believe his good luck. Jason was actually taking the leash off the hook! They were going for a walk! Oh joy! Oh happy day! A walk! Jason could feel the warmth of the sun on his face as he and Rascal headed out the door. He had a lot of homework to do, but a walk to the park would be a welcome break.

7. "It's not fair! How come I have to mow the lawn and all Arnie has to do is pull a few weeds?" "No one said life was going to be fair," Dad replied. "You're older. Mowing the lawn is your job now. When Arnie is old enough it will be his." "It's still not fair," I grumbled as I pulled the mower out of the shed.

8. Myron hated being a knight. All that dragon slaying and questing took up so much time. Time he could be using to paint murals. And now they expected him to compete in some stupid contest to win the hand of the princess. Princess Krista watched the knights preparing to compete. She wished she could sneak away and work on her painting.

9. Lila could feel the breeze and hear her friends rustling all around her, or at least the ones that were still left. Many had already gone. She could see them on the ground below in shades of yellow, orange, and red. "The life of a leaf is short," she thought, and as she left, the wind grew stronger.

10. It happened so fast! It didn't feel like I was shrinking, more like everything around me was getting bigger. Suddenly, I was smaller than the chair, then smaller than my little sister's doll. I think it has stopped now and I am about the size of an egg. Morlinda said it would wear off in a few hours, so I better get to work!