Summer School Stories #2 Life In The South BY Justice     We worked day and night  pickin cotton,’’ said my grandmother. This is her story of life in the south.     My grandmother’s life in the south was hard. One day her mother sent my grandmother to the store for some bread. She was not allowed to use the front door because that door was for white people. She had to use the back door and had to wait hours for a loaf of bread.     One home she did not get time to play. There were too many things to do. She had to help her mother cook and when she was finished with the meals, the family went to bed so they were rested for the work in the morning.     My grandmother woke up at 6;00 am  to go pick cotton for the white men. She picked for only a couple of hours before she had to go to the white woman’s house to clean. My grandmother’s brother Roger would pick up my grandma Anna up from work and on that day the white man who owned the house hit Roger with his car. His leg was hurt and they had to drive many miles to the hospital  that would take black people. He died a couple of days later from gangrene that spread from his leg to his heart.     They had a funeral for my grandma’s brother and decided to flee the south. They ended up in Peoria, Illinois. My grandma still lives there today. A True Story by Ger     This is a true story. This happened to my brother-in-law’s father.     He went to his girlfriend’s house. They were talking and that is when he saw a women with long, messy hair. Her face looked rotten. The woman was wearing a white dress. The white dress looked bloody. Where she was walking there was not a path, and she walked fast.         He said “I’m going home.”     He ran all the way home that night. That was one of the nights he was really scared.     The next day he became really sick so they did soul calling. Then the next day he was a little better and he went to his girlfriend’s house. She was dead. Her eyes were white; her arms and legs were all twisted; and her mouth was wide open, her tongue was ripped out. They never heard of the ghost again. This is a true story. If you ever see a woman with long messy hair, be careful! DEATH BY BEING CURSED BY KA YING     A long time ago there was a boy named Kong Pheng. One night, he went to visit his girlfriend, who lived in another village. In between his village and his girlfriend’s village there was an old cemetery.     After visiting his girlfriend, Kong Pheng went back home. On his way home, he could feel that somebody was behind him but there was no one. When he got to the old cemetery, a ghost girl threw blood at him. He was soaked with blood and was very scared. He ran very fast to his house. As Kong Pheng slept that night, he dreamed that the ghost girl came. She said, “My home is all collapsed because you stepped on it. I am unhappy and I have to take you with me.”     After that, Kong Pheng was very sick and then he died.                  Green People By: Yer A long, long time ago in Thailand there was a man. He was walking and saw the most beautiful woman. Later they met each other and they decided to get married. They lived in Thailand and got children. They had  four kids. Their names were Lee, Tong, Pao and Xa. Lee and Xa were White Hmong and Tong and Pao were Green Hmong.     The father said “I’m going to work. ”When he came back, his wife was pregnant. The father was shocked. He went to go tell the children. The children were so excited, they fainted. Months later her baby was born but when the baby was born, the mother died. They all were sad and crying and they buried her.     When the dad went to work, Tong and Pao were boiling the pot with water. They were boiling the pot, because they were going to kill the baby. They had to kill the baby, because they had nothing to eat and they were hungry.     Lee and Xa went playing and when Pao came to call their names, they were supposed to go home and eat. Lee and Xa did not know what they were eating. When Xa was done eating, he was looking for the baby. The baby was gone.     Xa asked Lee “Have you seen the baby? I think they cooked him.”     “Do you think so?” said Lee. They both were scared, so they went to sit on top of the roof, so Tong and Pao cannot get them.     “Are you scared that they might get us?” said Lee.     “I am.” said Xa.     “Are you?”     “Yes I am.” “Let’s be quiet so they will not hear us. ”They stayed there until their father came home. They waited and waited and finally their dad came home. They jumped down and told their dad what happened. The dad was scared too but he went inside the house.     Tong and Pao were still hungry but they waited until it was dark. The dad slept inside and Lee and Pao slept on the roof. It was late and dark. Tong was boiling the pot of water and Pao was killing the dad with a knife. They cut the dad into pieces and boiled him.     In the morning the two other kids came down from the roof and went to look inside the house. Their father was gone. There was blood filling the floor and the bed. Lee and Xa tied them on a tree and then killed them when they were still sleeping. They dug up two holes and buried them. The only two children went to live with their grandma and grandpa. They both told the story from the beginning to the end. The Voice of the Other By Pheng     Five years ago, when we still lived in Laos, my auntie, my cousin, my little brother and I went to the farm.  When we got there, my auntie forgot something at home.     My auntie said, “You three go and wait for me in the farm house. I have to go back home to get something.”     We said, “Okay.”     Then, she went back home.  As we waited for her in the farm house, we heard a voice calling my cousin’s name.  The voice was similar to my auntie’s voice. We thought it was my cuntie’s voice so we answered back.     After that, we went outside the farm house to find her.  There was a barn near by and the voice was calling from the barn.       We went into the barn and there was no body there. We were scared.  We star ted to shake.  We went back to the farm house and waited there for my auntie. When my auntie came, we told her what we heard.     She said, “That was not my voice. It must be a the other’s voice.” Ghost Girl Friend by Kao     A long time  ago, there was a family living in the jungle. That family had four people.     One day a man who lived in the other village came to visit that family. He saw a girl that was so beautiful. He liked her, so he stayed with her for one week. Then he went back to the village by himself for about one month.     The girl got sick and she died. Her parents and brother moved to a different village. Her family left the dead girl in the jungle in a small house. Her boyfriend came to her house in the jungle, but he didn’ t know she was dead.     During the time that the girl was in the room, there was no light or fresh light, just darkness. The man stayed next to the door.     He called “Girlfriend open the door.”     The girl opened the door for him and he entered the house.     He asked the girlfriend, “Why so dark?”     “I can make a fire for you,” the girlfriend said.     After that they made fire and he saw the girlfriend’s face was very ugly. He became very afraid of her face. He thought maybe she had died. He lied to her and he said, “I want to go the bathroom.”     After that he rushed to the door and run away in the dark at night.     She waited and waited. “Why is he gone so long?”     She ran to the bathroom. There was nothing in the bathroom. She called and looked for him, but nothing, there was no answer. She called and ran to follow him to the village. His parents took the gun and shot her dead.      Keiko’s Ghost by Amanda     A few months ago my little stepsister Keiko,who is three years old, saw a ghost.She told me that she saw it.     I said, “There is no such thing as ghosts.”     Keiko said, “But I did really see it!”     I was in the living room doing my homework and she was in her room by herself.     She came and talked to me again.     She said, “Can you go check the room?”     I said, “O.k.”     She dragged me into the room and she pointed to the closet.     She said, “Right there.I saw the ghost right there.”     I said, “I don’t see anything.”     She said, “But  it was right there!”     I said, “Go talk to daddy.”     Keiko said, “O.k.”     Keiko went to talk to my dad and she said to my dad that I didn’t  believe her. My dad came and talked to me. He said that little kids who have not lost some of their teeth can see ghosts.     I said, “Okay. I’ll go tell her I’m sorry.”     I went into her room and she was crying on her bed.I said I  was sorry. She asked me if we could play together. We did and neither of us ever saw the ghost again Mai Yer and Tou BY: Ka Bao      In Thailand there was a girl named Mai Yer Yang and a boy named Tou Vang. They went to the same school. Mai Yer liked Tou and Tou liked Mai Yer. When a new girl named Mai Lee Lor came to the same school as Tou then Tou liked Mai Lee and Mai Lee liked Tou too. When Mai Yer saw Tou was dating a girl she became sad and cried.      A month later Mai Yer was sick and died. Tou and Mai Lee were married and had a baby. The baby was named Mai Yer. A year later the baby died because the old Mai Yer made the baby die. When Tou and Mai Lee were old, Mai Lee died. Mai Yer was a monster and changed into Mai Lee as a ghost and went to Tou’s room and said, “Tou can you go with me so we can live happily after.”      Then Tou said, “Yes I will go with you.”      Mai Lee changed into Mai Yer and took Tou with her. Nkauj Yaj and Tub by: Paaj Ntsaas     A long time ago a boy named Tub and his family were happy about how they lived. One day when he was still young , an evil man killed his mom and dad , but he did not kill because he wanted him to die, but because he wanted him to suffer.         Later on the evil man and his wife had a baby. The baby grew. He was 25 years old and his mom and dad died. Meanwhile, Tub was 28 years old. The evil baby’s name was Chang. He stole a lot of food from people and was an evil man just like his father. Tub was polite to people and did not steal anything. Chang stole every person’s animals that were killed in the woods and he would tell people that he shot them.     Tub had a great grandma who was about to be 101 years old. Sometimes she was a  beautiful little bird and sometimes a great grandma. She took care of Tub all the time but sometimes she went to her King and Queen’s place for help.     Tub needed help also, so he told his great grandma that he needed help. The great grandma went to her King and asked if one of his Seven Daughters would like to marry Tub. The king asked his seven daughters.     Nkauj Nou said, “No.”     Nkauj Lee said, “No.”     Nkauj Naou said, “No.”     Nkauj Pa, “No.”        Nkauj Na said, “No.”     Nkauj Pa Lee said, “No.”     Nkauj Yaj said,  “Yes, I will go and marry Tub as a wife.”     The great grandma took her to the village where  Tub  lived, Chang was drunk and talking to other pretty girls and he saw Nkauj Yaj and went for her.     He said, “I want to marry you.”     The great grandma  took her away  but Chang would not stop until he got her. Tub came and tried to keep them safe from Chang.  Chang ran away from Tub and went for someone else. Tub and Nkauj Yaj got married and were happy and had a baby girl name Nkauj. Chang was poor and had nobody to live with him, so he asked Tub if he could live with him, if he promised to be nice. Tub let Chang live with them. He took care of  the baby when they went to work, and was never mean again. No More Bloody Monster Stories By Makayla No more bloody monsters stories, scaring me at night. I don’t want to hear about monsters without sight. Right after I go to sleep they come and invade my dreams. No more `bloody monster stories scaring me at night! Pain and Misery By Makayla     Long ago in the mountains of Sweden there lived a girl named Catrin. She lived in a hut by a river.  Everyday she would go to the river and collect water for herself and her dog, Kiz.     One day Kiz ran to the river and swam away. Catrin was very sad. Catrin went looking for her dog up and down the river.     When she was looking she met a man named Justin. He was from America.     “Hello, I am Justin.”     “Hello, I am Catrin. Have you seen my dog? His name is Kiss- I mean Kiz.”     “I’ve seen a dog. I am not sure if it was Kiz or not, but I have him here.” Justin stepped aside. Kiz had a rope tied around his neck. Justin held the rope tight.     “Oh, thank you!” cried Catrin.     “You are the daughter of Sigvard, are you not?” asked Justin.     “Yes how do you know him?”     “I work with him.” said Justin.     “I didn’t know.” said Catrin.     “You are to marry Staffan. I should go.” said Justin.     “No! I mean… stay and have tea.” said Catrin.     “I must go!” Justin gave Catrin the leash that Kiz was on and walked away.     Catrin walked back to her hut and locked the door.     “Knock, Knock!”     Catrin opened the door. It was her father and Staffan.     “Hello daughter, we are here to talk about the wedding.” said Catrin’s dad.     “You know she is cleaning.” said Catrin’s dad.     “I would like a June wedding.” said Staffan.     “I would not like to marry you.” murmured Catrin.     “What?” asked Staffan.     “Nothing of importance to you.”     “Catrin, make some tea.” said her dad.     Catrin got up from her chair and turned on the stove. She put the water on the stove and sat back down.     “When the tea is done and when we are done drinking.” said Staffan.     They drank the tea and left as they had said they would.     When they left, Catrin went out to find Justin.     An hour later Catrin did not find him.     “Oh, Kiz I do not wish to marry Staffan. I like Justin.”     Kiz looked up at Catrin confused.     Days passed and everyday Staffan would come and talk about the wedding. He would leave after tea and then Catrin would go look for Justin.     Each day this happened Catrin like Staffan less and less.     “Catrin how have you been?” asked Justin when he saw her one day.     “I’ll be getting married tomorrow.” said Catrin.     “I’ll be going back to America on a ship.” said Justin.     “Oh, well then you have to come have tea.” said Catrin.     “Well I guess so.”     They walked back to Catrin’s hut and drank tea. They talked and laughed.     The next day Catrin was getting ready to be married. Meanwhile Justin was getting ready to leave.     “Honey, get ready to go down the aisle.” said Catrin’s mom.     Catrin walked down the aisle. Her stomach hurt. Her eyes were watery.     As she reached the front of the room she realized what she had to do. She had to follow her heart.     She ran to the dock where the ship had just left. Justin was looking back at Catrin.     “I love you!” said Justin as he waved to Catrin.     “I love you too!” yelled Catrin. Those were the last words Catrin ever said to Justin.     Catrin never got married. She was unhappy.     Justin never got married either. He was also unhappy.     Staffan however fell in love with a girl named Nea. They had two kids and were happy. How the Sun Put the Planets in Order By Makayla       Before any of us were born there were no planets, except one big one, bigger than the sun. The big planet always teased the Sun about how small the Sun was in comparison to him. The Sun became very, very tired of the big planet and his teasing, so he rammed the big planet with all his might. The big planet broke into a lot of little pieces. The Sun collected all the little pieces, and lined them up behind him.      When the Sun lined them up, he put them in order of how he liked their color.      But Jupiter complained: “Sun, why should Saturn and I be behind smaller planets? We are bigger!”      “Yes, I know but I like their blue and red pattern, in front of me instead of your yellow color which does not go with the blue and red theme. I just like theirs better than yours.” said the Sun.      After resting for a moment, the Sun noticed that something was not right. Jupiter and Saturn were closer than before. The sun looked behind them and noticed that all the other planets were still in order, but not Jupiter and Saturn.      “Get back in place!” boomed the Sun.      “Fine.” said Jupiter and Saturn in unison as they went back to their places.      Jupiter got very, very tired of the Sun bossing him around. So he rammed him with all his might and when he did this the outer layer on Jupiter broke and he looked as fiery as the sun.      So then the Sun decided to put them in a different order than by color. ÿ The sun put Mercury next to him because Mercury was the Sun’s best friend. ÿ Next was Venus because the Sun wanted to see all her great beauty. ÿ Earth is third so the Sun could see all his beauty rotate in a day. ÿ Mars is fourth, because it is most like Earth, so the Sun thought it would work better if they were together. ÿ Jupiter is fifth, because the biggest planet should be in the middle. ÿ Saturn is sixth because it has so many moons it is like a little solar system. She should have a lot of space. ÿ Uranus is seventh because it’s Saturn’s son. It has rings around it just like Saturn. ÿ Neptune is eighth because it is Uranus’s twin sister. But they are not identical. Neptune does not have any rings. ÿ Pluto is last because it is smallest.      And that’s why the planets are in their present order. Green People by: Sheng     Once there lived a Hmong Dawb man. His name was Xa. He married a Hmong Ntsuab woman. Her name was  Pa. They had five children. The three Hmong Ntsuab children were named Tou, Peng, and Mai See. The two Hmong Dawb children were named See and Tou Ger.            One stormy night, the roof was blown away and their mom went outside and tried to grab the roof. But  Pa’s bad luck made her trip over one log and another log hit her on her head.                                    One week passed. They had nothing to eat, so the three Hmong Ntsuab chidren were going to eat their dad, See, and Tou Ger.                                    While their dad was fixing the roof, the three Hmong Ntsuab children boiled water to get ready to cook their father, sister, and brother.                        The three Hmong Ntsuab children said to their dad,   “Dad, we cannot wait until you fix the roof. Come down now!”                                                    Dad answered crying, “Please, my children don’t eat me, PLEASE!                                                “Well, if you don’t want us to eat you, you have to come down,” said Peng.                                    Their dad came down. The three Hmong Ntsuab children hit their dad with a stick on his head. Then See and Tou Ger ran away to another village where only Hmong Dawb lives. The Three Little Pigs                                                             by Taylor    There were 3 little pigs. They left the house because they were getting too big. They were walking along and the first little fat pig saw a man and asked for some straw and the man said, “Yes you can have some.” The wolf came to blow his house down.     The wolf said, “Let me in or I’ll huff and puff and blow your house down.”     “Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin,”said the pig.     The wolf huffed and puffed and blew the house in.     After blowing the first pig’s house down, he went to the second pig’s house. The wolf went to the door and said   “Let me in or I will huff and puff and blow your house down.     Then he went to the 3rd pig’s house and said, “Let me in.”       The pig said, “Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin.” Then he huffed and puffed and then he died. The Boy and the Plis By Ntxhi Chiv     There was a boy call Ning. He was poor because his parents divorced, his mother got remarried, and his father died. So he lived with his uncle’s mean wife.     One day, his uncle’s wife told him to go to the garden to get some food, so he went. When he got there, there was a Plis that kept looking at him. He got scared a little, but he milked the cows and gave the Plis some. The Plis gave him some seeds and took him to a river. Then the Plis said to him, ”Everyday, you must come here with a big bucket and get some water and water your plants. I will see you here tomorrow.”     So Ning did as the Plis said. The next day, Ning was walking towards the river where the Plis was sitting, waiting for him.     “Ah, good morning Ning, fine day isn’t it?”     “Yes, it’s a beautiful day.”     “I see you have your bucket.”     “Oh, yes I was fetching some water for my garden.”     “Then what are you standing there for? Get some water.”     Ning smiled at the Plis, and she smiled back. Ning dipped his big pot into the refreshing water. Looking at the mark on his face from the reflection, Plis said, “What happend here?”     “Oh, I received it when I was only six years old from the fire. My dad risked his life to save me......but he died shortly after I got the mark.”     “Are you the only child?”     “No, I had an older sister, but my uncle’s wife sold her to some other family. I never saw her again. I should have gone with her.”     “Ning, don’t be so hard on yourself, it’s not your fault.”     “Does that mark hurt?”     “No, I know I look ugly, but I was young, I didn’t know much.”     Then with one lick from the Plis.....     “Look again, ”she said     “What, is there somthing on my face?”     “Just look Ning.”     Ning looked and gave out a large gasp...”It’s gone,” he said touching his empty cheek.     “How did you learn that?”     “Secret. Now go water your garden.” said Plis.     “Of course, I forgot!!” he said grabbing his pot full of water, running with happiness.     Right behind him, Plis walked shaking her head side to side.     A week went by. Ning’s garden grew bigger and bigger. His uncle’s wife had been hearing him talk to himself.     “What’s wrong with you?” asked his uncle’s wife.     “Nothing,” said Ning.     But the truth is, Plis had been staying with him in his bedroom. He treated her like a sister. Then one day, while Ning was getting some water from the well, his uncle’s wife sneaked into his room.     ”Oh, so that’s why you were acting so weird. I’ll teach you a lesson sneaking up on Plis.”     When Ning got back, his Plis was not talking or breathing. Then he realized that she was dead. He kicked and he yelled. He cried and he screamed, but he knew nothing could change it. He cried himself to sleep. Then the Plis came into his dream and said...”Ning, wake up!!! Your uncle’s wife buried me behind that big blue rock shaped like a monkey. Wake up! Wake up!”     Ning woke up really. ”Is it true?” So he got  up and started looking for the big blue rock shaped like a monkey. Ning looked for the rock all morning through the afternoon. ”I’m so tired. I’ll sleep on this rock.” he said     “You’ve found me,” said Plis     “What do you mean?” said Ning     “Wake up, stupid,” said Plis     So Ning did, and there it is, what he was leaning on.     “Go get me some water from the valley that I showed you,” said the Plis.     So he did. After that the Plis said, “Come back here tomorrow.”     The next day, Ning went to see the Plis. When he got there, there was a big tree right in front of him. “Cut down my tree and make a house.”     “But why?” said Ning     “You are moving out of your uncle’s house,” said Plis.     “But where shall I stay?”     “You are going to use my tree to make your own house.” said Plis     “Okay” said Ning     So Ning started working. Three months later, he finished his house. Then he got rich because he carved the branches into little dolls.  Then he sold them. Three years later, he had a family, a big house, a magical Plis, and a lot of friends. Shortly after that, his uncle’s wife died.  Then the Plis disapeared. Then one day, Ning’s son came home with a lot of fish. “How did you get so much fish son?”     “My Plis helped me, dad.”     Ning smiled, he was glad that his Plis still existed. Then they lived happily ever after.                       The Love Of Animals By Spencer     Two years ago I was at my cousin”s house in Missouri and they raise animals such as pigs, chickens, cows, and turkeys.     One day a pig was gone and a baby cow, so my cousin said, “It must be a wolf.”     I said ”If it was a wolf why can’t we see the blood?”     My auntie said. “It was not a wolf, because the baby cow and the pig are in the forest and the blood is gone.”     My dad was worried about the farm so he got the phaij saib hmoov (fortune telling) cards.     “It is bad.” My dad cried. but the next day my aunty was sick. My mom Ua Neeb to see what was wrong with my aunty. They said that  her spirit was taken with the pig and the baby cow because she loved them too much.                    The Unseen Captive by Tou     Many years ago, Bee, my dad, was still a kid. One day, my grandpa went to find food for his horses. He went to the forest. It was a while and my grandpa had not returned home.  My grandma was worried about it.     My grandma said, “Bee, you need  to go and tell your dad to come home because I am so worried about him.”     My dad said, “Okay, I ‘ll go.”     My dad went into the forest to find my grandpa. He found my grandpa and grandpa told him not to worry.     My grandpa said, “I am okay. Why don’t you go back home to tell your mom that?”     My dad said,”Okay.”     Then, my dad went back home. It was getting dark. On his way home, he saw two women dressed in white dresses. The two tried to capture my dad, but they could not capture him. My dad escaped and ran home.     Several days later, my dad was very sick. He then told my grandpa and grandma what had happened and what he saw.     My grandpa and grandma said, “Those two women must be ghosts and that my dad’s spirit must’ve been captured.”     Then my grandpa had to ua neeb to get my dad’s spirit back. Then, my dad felt better.  My grandparents and my dad moved to a new village, where the ghosts couldn’t find my dad.      Three little pigs By christian     Long ago, there were three little pigs. They  set off to see who could be most responsible. They went off to find material to build their own houses      The first little pig said that he would build his house out of straw and found some straw from the farmer that he talk to from when he past them on the way.     The second pig said that he want to build his house out of sticks so he picked up a whole lot of sticks and started to build his house of sticks.       The third little pig said, “I want to build my house out of bricks.” So he picked up some bricks and got to work building his house. But the little pig did they know that a wolf was in the forest and he was hungry for three little pigs.     He went to the first house and said,     “Little pig, little  pig let me in.”     “Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin.” said the pig.     “Let me in or I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down!!” said the wolf.     The wolf blew down the house of sticks and at teh first little pig.     The wolf went to the second house and said, “I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down.”     The pig said, “Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin.”     So the wolf blew down the house of straw and ate the second little pig.     The wolf went to the house of bricks and said, “Little pig, little pig, let me in.”     “Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin.”     “Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down.”     The wolf blewe and blew but the house would not go down.  The wolf continued blowing and blowing until he got tired and then the wolf found the brick chimney and he fell into it.  There was a kettle of boiling water that the pig put there.       So this ends the tale of the three little pigs and how the big bad wolf learned his lesson.  the lesson that he learned was “Don’t mess with the pigs!” Two Sisters By Bao     A long time ago there was a poor family, who lived in the village and had two daughters. The older daughter was named Mai Der and the younger daughter was named Yer. They had no sons.     They lived far away from their family. One day Mai Der and Yer’s parents told them to go and visit their grandmother and grandfather, because their grandparents were sick. Their parents were busy, so the parents could not go.     The two sisters started the long, long journey. They were half way and they had to sleep. It was almost dark so the older sister said, “Let’s sleep on the ground.”     The younger sister said, “We have to sleep up in the tree.”     They argued and argued and got mad at each other. Finally they said to each other, “What ever. We will just sleep.”     At midnight tigers came and the tigers ate Mai Der. Yer was asleep and didn’t see it. In the morning, when Yer woke up, she came down to the ground and she saw blood, pieces of clothes on the ground and she knew that the tigers had come and eaten her sister. She was scared and ran back to her parents. She told her parents that tigers ate her sister.     When Yer finished telling her parents and they were crying and said, “We only had two daughters and no sons and now we only have one daughter left.”     So Yer’s parents did not let her go visit her grandmother and grandfather anymore. They did not want Yer to be eaten like Mai Der.    Yer and the Tiger by Mai Yer     Long ago there was a family with two sons and one daughter.   Her name is Yer .   She was a happy person.   Yer went to a farm and saw a tiger.   She ran away from the tiger.   The tiger was running away too.   She was so scared that she fainted and the tiger carr ied her away.        Then Yer woke up.   Yer was so scared and she said “ Where am I ? ”   The tiger was hungry so he went to find a pig or something to eat and bring something for Yer to eat.   Yer’s family went to find Yer to bring brong her come back, but they couldn’t find her so they cried.   Yer boyfriend cried too.   Yer’s boyfriend went to try and find Yer to come back so he clinbed up the mountia.   He got a leaf to try to sing some music.   Then Yer sang back to him.   He looked down the mountian and he go down to find Yer. My Cousin’s House By Jerry     My uncle and I went to our cousin’s house to tell how our lives go. My cousin said that when he was 17 years old, his sister slept by the closet. She heard a little kid say, “a,b,c.”     Then her brother opened the closet. No one was there. He heard the boy out the window crying but it was a cat.      The Hen And The Chicks By Chue     When we were in Thailand my brother told me about the story of a hen and chicks. A long time ago there was a hen, chicks, Buddha and a man. One day there was a Buddha coming to the man’s house. The man said, ”Hi Buddha. Where are you going? I think you should stay here for a while and eat.”     The Buddha said, ”It is so nice to stay in your house and eat your food.”     That  day the man went to make chicken for lunch. The man said, ”I am going to kill the hen or the chicks.”     The man said to himself again, “I think I will go to kill the hen.”     He thought if he killed the hen then the chicks would have no mother. If he killed the chicks then the hen would have no chicks.          The hen told the chicks that if the man cooks the hen in the cooking bowl the chicks should jump into the fire.     When the man tried to cook the hen in the cooking bowl, the chicks jumped into the fire and the hen turned into the moon and the chicks turned into the stars. Tiger, Learn A Thing  By Shee     There is a family that lived on a farm. One day a tiger came to their horse stable and he heard the farmer’s wife say to the farmer to fix the horse’s stable, because it is xau nag. The tiger wanted to know what xau nag meant so he went to hide in the horse’s stable. Outside there were two men who came to catch the horse. The tiger thought that the two men were xau nag. Then one man said, “Let’s pick a big fat horse.”     Then the other men went to touch the horses, but he touched the Tiger and he said to the other man, “This one is big and fat.”     Then they both thought the Tiger was a horse. They rode the Tiger and the Tiger ran with one man on the Tiger’s back and the other man was tied a rope to his leg. When the Tiger ran, he pulled the one man on the ground. The man let the rope go and the other man kept riding the Tiger. When he saw the other men let go of the rope, he jumped off the tiger’s back. The Tiger kept running from the two men. The two men went back to their home. The Tiger was still running until he met the lion and then they talked a little bit.     “I went to the shed to see who the xau nag is, but he rode me all the way here,” said tiger hardly breathing.     “Can you take me to see the xau nag?” said the lion.     “Okay I will take you to see the xau nag.” said tiger.     Then they went to see the xau nag but they didn’t see anyone. They only saw the horse.     “Where is the xau nag?” said lion.     “I don’t know,” said tiger     “Then we just wait here,” said lion.     “Okay.” said tiger.     After a while a little bird came to say to the Tiger and Lion.     “What are you two doing here?” said bird.     “We came to see what a xau nag is,” said lion.     “I am a xau nag,” said bird.     “You are the xau nag,” said tiger.     “Yes I am the xau nag,” said bird     “Why did you ride me? You are so heavy,” said tiger.     “I rode you because I saw a monster coming,” said bird .     After a while the Tiger and the Lion went home.     “I will go look to see who the xau nag is,” said bird.     The bird looked and looked but he did not see anything except a circle. Then he thought and thought and started to think about the circle was a xau nag because he saw some water drops. Then he went to tell the Tiger and the Lion.     “I think a xau nag is a circle that they did not fix and the water is coming down,” said bird.     “Really,” said lion.     “But you said you were a xau nag,” said tiger.     “I was just lying to you two because I wanted to know what a xau nag is,” said bird.     “Can you take us to see what a xau nag is?” said lion.     “Okay,” said bird.     “Then let’s go,” said tiger.     When they got to the horse stable, the bird told them and pointed to a circle. Tiger and Lion looked up and said,     “That’s that the xau nag.”     “Now I know what a xau nag is,” said tiger.     “Me too,” said lion.     “Then let’s go home,” said tiger.     Then they all went home.              When I Was In Thailand by Ja Cheng     We lived in a group too close to the mountain. My grandpa sold candy on the road and my dad said, “Move closer to our house.” He moved close to our house.            We had a guinea pig and cat. A dog came and ate our guinea pig. We had birds too. We had to go to school to know Thai words. We had to walk to school and there were soldiers on the way.                     We also went to the farm and I went with my dad hunting in Thailand. We had some uncles that lived in group one. Hmong New Year is in group two and we had to walk to Hmong New Year.                                    Then we went to sign our names to go to America. I flew in an airplane to America with my dad and grandpa. When we got to America my grandpa started to have some sickness in his head and he died. David The Great By Wamisho     There once lived a wise sheep keeper and he was called David. He was very wise and took care of his sheep like his own sons. He lived on a farm in the time before Christ. He only stayed with his sheep.     The evil spirit was true in those times. But one of the spirits came to the innocent king and made him evil. He was left alone in his room.     One day a priest came. Solomon was a man who was praised by god. He was very popular. The king said, ”Help me, I need a banisher who can kill the spirit.” They needed a new banisher because they had were no more, they had  all died . They made David the king’s banisher. He put music to the devil’s ear, the spirit laughed and ran away.                     But Not Yet. How Hmong Can Eat All Animals By Blong          Many years ago there was a story about a God who had died. Every living thing on earth went to his funeral. They were all crying, because God had died. Now no one could stop the creatures that had fangs.     “They will eat all the small things on earth,” said the small animals.     All the animals that eat meat were happy.     Then suddenly God woke up in a suprise, “I was just kidding I will never pass way.”     Then the fangs creatures were mad after they had celebrated all day long.     “It’s going to be night time, if you small creatures don’t want to be eaten by any animals that have fangs then tomorrow who ever has hair in their nose can eat any animal that walks on four hands,” God said.     The next morning Hmong people were the ones that had hair in their noses. God was the one who decided to grow hair in Hmong people’s noses. That’s why Hmong can eat any animal on earth.                                          Talking in School by Sia     When I was 8 years old I went to school in Thailand. I like to talk in school. I have many friends to talk to. One morning I wanted to talk to my friend about soccer. I said, “Do you want to play soccer after school?”          My friend said, “Yes I do.”     The teacher saw us talking and asked us to come to the front of the room. The teacher said, “Were you talking?”          “We said, “Yes.”     He said, “Open your hands.”     We opened our hands. He took a ruler hit our hand three times. It hurt but I did not cry. There was a red mark on our hands. We went to sit down. Nobody laughed. Everyone was afraid.     We never talked in class again.