Okay, girlies . . . here we go. I'm going to start a story here. Just one or two paragraphs at a time. And someone else needs to write the next few paragraphs, and so on, until our lovely story has been drawn out long enough to make everyone groan. Deal?!? Feel free to go out of turn and take a second or third turn, if you feel so inclined. First come, first served! (And silliness is highly appreciated.)(Jennifer)
Once upon a time, there was a lovely young girl who dreamed of lovely things. But she was very poor and lovely things were confined soley to her wisftful imaginings. She was happy, nonetheless, and believed wholly that goodness made the earth a heavenly place. And so she tried desperately hard to be good.
One day, as she carried a basket of eggs to the village market, she heard a strange noise in the woods. She stopped, startled for a moment, and listened carefully. The noise was not a frightful one, but rather an interestingly sweet one. She took a step nearer the trees and paused, taking in the pleasant sound. So intrigued was she, that fear completely lost itself in the dusty road beneath her feet and she stepped into the darkness of the trees. A soft glow illuminated the small clearing ahead. She felt suddenly warm as she drew nearer, slowly tiptoeing in the crackly leaves.
(Katie)
The sound suddenly stopped, as if it had heard the leaves crackling under her feet. She stopped, and held completely still, she didn't even breath, for fear that the it would hear her, and she would never discover the source of the noise, and the soft glow. Finally the noise continued, and she slowly began to creap forward. Finally she reached the clearing. The basket of eggs dropped to the forest floor as she stood there with her mouth wide open. The source of the noise turned and looked her, she couldn't move, she just stood there with her mouth opened, frozen as if in a trance.
(Merilee)
What she saw was a small, potato-shaped child. She stared, still wondering where the noise and glow were coming from. Then, with a start, she realized that the noise was coming from the potato-shaped child, only, not from its mouth. It seemed to be emanating directly from its bumpy, strange skin. The glow was coming from the child as well, though she could not tell from where it was originating.
Upon further scrutiny, she saw by the expression on the potato-child’s face that it had been crying. Now, being a believer in goodness, she was concerned and wondered if maybe the child had been calling for help. She reached out her hand to it. It jumped high into the air and turned its back. Then, the noise became louder and harsher. She became frightened, but didn’t leave.
She shouted, trying to yell over the noise. She screamed, “My name is Lyla. What’s your name? What’s the matter with you?”
The potato-child turned. The noise stopped and it said, “You’ll never believe what happened to me.”
(Jennifer)
Suddenly, a large young man crashed through the bushes behind them, wearing nothing but spandex bicycle shorts. "Aha!" he cried, pointing to the small child. He flexed his muscles with a large grunt and cracked his knuckles as the potato child erupted into the screaming noise again. Lyla felt suddenly brave . . . a feeling she had never before encountered. She faced the burly man, who had noticed her and stopped short in his crusade. "Uh, hi," he said, suddenly sheepish. The screaming stopped. And Lyla whirled around to see the potato-child disappearing into the woods. With a start, Lyla realized she was alone with Spandex Man and her courage suddenly fled. She felt a tap on her shoulder . . .
(Katie)
"Do you have any bubble gum?" The spandex man asked. His voice was very high pitched and sounded like nails on a chalk board. His teeth were pink and looked like they were made of Bubble gum. He stood a good five feet taller than Lyla, and his arms were three times thicker than her waist.
"um, I'm sorry, I don't have any bubble gum." The Spandex man started to growl. "But this is so good to chew!" She bent down and picked up the first thing her fingers touched. It was the tail of a snake that had been passing through the clearing. She pulled the tail of the snake up to her mouth, and pretended to be licking it.
Spandex man grabbed the snake from her and sat down in the spot that was once occupied by the potato child, and shoved the whole snake in his mouth and began to chew...
(Merilee)
Lyla took the opporunity to escape while Spandex man was occupied with the snake. She quickly walked into the woods, following the path of the potato child. She began to run when she heard the high-pitched voice scream from behind her.
"LIAR!!" - she heard Spandex man crashing through the woods behind her. She ducked behind a tree and waited for him to pass. She heard him come closer and closer. She saw him stop a few feet in front of her. She quietly tip-toed around to the other side of the tree, hoping he wouldn't see her. Spandex man looked around for a moment, then took off in the direction that he thought she had gone. Lyla was about to come out from behind her hiding tree when she heard Spandex man cry, "Ouch, darn tree!"
(Jennifer)
Lyla peeked to see Spandex Man tangled up. And tangled good! The branches of the tree curved down, enveloping him in a mass of limbs. The thorns of the branches held fast to his spandex and the great big tree up above him winked at Lyla, encouraging her. She smiled in relief and thanks and turned, running after the potato child.
It didn't take long to find the child, as it was not particularly fast . . . sort of rolling and running in slow-motion frustration. "It's me," she cried, when she was right behind it. The potato child stopped, breathless. "Are you alone?" it gasped. "Yes," answered Lyla, growing curiouser and curiouser. They stood silently for quite some time, listening for confirmation of their solitude. And then the potato child began to tell it's story . . .
(Merilee)
"It wasn't too long ago that it all began, but it seems like a lifetime and then some."
Lyla listened intently as the potato child's melodic voice drifted through the tall forest trees.
"I had decided to leave my home to find my own fortune. I've always wanted so much more than was presented to me and I though that I had the right to find it. I began my journey, not sure of where to go, but I knew that I needed to find 'her,' and the funny this is that I'm not even sure who 'she' is. It could be you for all I know."
"Me?" Lyla asked with both shock and curiosity dawning her eyes.
"Yes, you. You see, the person I am looking for will lead me to my destiny. The girl I am looking for will make my dreams possible. The girl I am looking for will be my mentor, my friend, my life and I will owe her nothing less than that." The potato child stopped and stared at Lyla.
Then, with a startled look on its face, the potato child jumped. The strange, floaty noise began again, only this time, the noise wasn't pleasant, and Lyla didn't feel very warm...
(Katie)
The potato child grabbed Lyla's ankle and started to bite.
"Ouch!! What are you doing?" Lyla cried as she shook her leg in the air trying to fling the strange potato child off of her. It didn't really hurt because the potato child had a mouth about the size of a nostril, and no teeth, it was the fact that she was being attacked by the little potato child.
Finally Lyla reached down and grabbed the potato child and pulled it off of her leg. She said "What are you biting me for?"
"Please don't put me on the ground," the potato child panted, "I wasn't trying to bite you, just please don't put me on the ground!" All of a sudden the noise started again. It scared Lyla so much that she dropped the potato child, and in a blink of an eye, the potato child was gone. In it's place was a rather large plant. The kind that grows from the top of Carrots. Lyla stood there and looked at this plant for a while. She noticed that it moved slightly. She reached down and pulled it up. Hanging from the plant was the biggest Carrot Lyla had ever seen. She couldn't believe it! She turned it around and there in the carrot was a face.
"Thanks for not leaving me in the ground" the carrot said. The voice sounded like that of the potato child. "It was horrible when I was a radish, Some rabbit tried to dig me up to eat me! Do you mind not pulling my hair? It kinda hurts!"
Lyla's eyes were huge and her mouth was wide open. She gently put the once potato child, now carrot child on the ground and slowly backed away.
"Wait, don't go," Said the carrot child. "My friends all call me Pea."
