How the Chair Got it's Legs By Nick       One day in the old dusty fields out in the country laid a dusty house. In that house was a desk with beautiful shinny legs on it. Next to the desk  was an old chair  with no legs. The chair was very jealous of his shinny legs.      The chair told the desk that some day he was going to chop of his legs. The desk said “no you are not”. He said, “yes I am. The chair searched and searched for something to ride on. He found a rusty bike but it was broken. He looked and looked, the desk said, “what are you looking for?” The chair said, “nothing, I am just looking”  He found a bucket, a beach ball, and a football. He did not find any thing he could ride on. He went to the back yard and he found two pairs of old roller blades. The old roller blades look like a good way to get to town. He put them on. They rolled a little but they were good. So he went on his way into town. On his way into town he went by two old houses and one brown barn. He kept on going. When he got into town he looked for the hardware store. He found it; it was at the end of the street. When he got there he found a $100.00 bill on the ground. He went inside and bought a tree trimmer. Then he left and headed back. When he got back the desk asked why the chair had a tree trimmer. The chair headed straight for the desk and cut all four of his legs off. The desk said, "what are you doing". Then his legs grew back. He thought it was cool. The chair went and found some glue and glued the legs to him. They both got legs.                            That is how the chair got its legs

How the Cactus Came To Be   By Jennifer      One beautiful fine day, the Navajo Indians were out in the woods hunting. One of them said, “Look, look what I found!” Everybody rushed over. It appeared to be a seed. They went back to the reservation. They all decided to plant it in the ground. They all wanted to know what it would grow into.      That same night, they did a spiritual dance so it could rain. (They didn't get much rain since they lived in the dessert.) After that they all went to bed.      The next morning, they found out that it was starting to grow. They were all excited. One of them said, “Wow, I can't wait until it grows! But when it does, the Chief will have to name it, not us.” After a hard day's work, they all went back to their teepees.      When they woke up, they saw it was getting bigger and that it was growing flowers! But they also saw that it was getting really dry. Instead of waiting until the night to do a spiritual rain dance, they did it right away.      Some little kids were playing around the plant. One of the kids pushed the other kid into the plant, and the little kid was in pain. The plant was growing little spikes. The Indians were in awe. Later on they went to bed.      An Indian woke up really early and screamed in joy. Everybody rushed out of their teepees, and they saw a beautiful plant. The seed had grown.      The Indians went to the Chief. They wanted to know what to call it. Then the Chief said, “We shall call it cactus.”      Soon everybody was celebrating the growth of their beautiful cactus. People from all over came to see the cactus. The Indians sure cherished it.      But one day, people came down to their reservation with a chainsaw. The noise woke up the Indians. The people were about to cut down the cactus. One of the Indians said, “What do you think you're doing disturbing my people and my cactus?” One of the people, whose name is Paul, answered, “We're here to cut this cactus down. Once we bring it back downtown we'll get big bucks. These here are rare.” “We are not going to allow you to cut down OUR cactus,” said the Indian. “Whatever you say Indian. Since it's getting dark, my fellows and me are going to stay here until tomorrow. Then we'll cut down that cactus of yours,” said Paul.      That night the Indians had to think of a plan to save their beautiful cactus. Then one of them had a plan. The plan would be that they do a special dance for a dust storm to hit just the people. They did their dance and went to bed.      The next morning the Indians woke up to the sound of people screaming. They went out of their teepees to see Paul and his friends pack up and leave. The Indians were satisfied.                                           And that's how the cactus came to be

How Elephants got their trunks by Riley       One day Horse was walking through the woods. He stopped to take a nap. When he woke up he kept on walking. All of a sudden he walked right into a big hole. He tried and tried to get out but he couldn't. Then Horse started yelling, “help, help, help”. Then Horse fell back asleep because it took a lot of work trying to get out of the big hole. Horse was sleeping for hours and hours.   Off in the woods Elephant was eating when he heard Horse yelling so he started to stomp through the woods crushing everything in his path because Horse was one of Elephants best friends. When he saw horse he bent over and woke Horse up. Horse grabbed Elephants nose and Elephant pulled and pulled. Then Elephant's nose started to stretch and it got very long. Finally he pulled horse out. All of the animals came and they had a feast for Elephant because he had saved Horse's life. The feast lasted all day. When the feast was over all the animals snuck through the woods so Elephant couldn't see them. They had to get to Elephant's house so they could decorate it and hide and jump and say surprise. The only thing that was wrong is that Elephant's nose was hurting a lot. The next day Elephant went to see Dr. Ape. Dr. Ape said that Elephant's long nose would have to stay like that and all of his children and grandchildren would have long noses too. That's how elephants got long trunks

How the Hermit Crab Got Its Shell By Caitlyn  A long time ago deep in the ocean lived two hermit crabs named Hermi and Herman.One day Hermi decided to ask his best friend Herman if he wanted to go for a walk. So Hermi and Herman went on a walk. After a while Hermi said “boy am I ever getting tired”.Luckly there was a shell nearby so Hermi sat down.When he sat down he fell into the shell. Hermi tried and tried but he couldn't get out.  “I give up” said Hermi. Herman said “ maybe I can help” Herman tried and tried pulling him out but no matter how hard he pulled he couldn't get Hermi out so all Hermi could do is leave it on. Hermi cried and cried all the way home. Herman tried to cheer him up but it only made Hermi cry more. When he got home his parents asked Hermi why he had a shell on his back. Hermi told them how he had fallen into the shell and how Herman had tried to pull him out.  Hermi felt very sad and when other crabs looked at him he became even sadder. His parents and Herman realized how sad Hermi was so one night they decided to put shells on their backs so Hermi wouldn't feel so sad anymore. When some other crabs saw them wearing shells they just laughed. Hermi's parents told the other crabs why they were wearing the shells. After they heard why, they were sorry for what they did and to make up for what they did, the crabs wore shells on their backs. Pretty soon all the other crabs saw them wearing the shells and they  decided that they would wear shells too. When Hermi saw all the crabs wearing shells he didn't feel sad anymore. And from that day on all the hermit crabs in the world wear shells on their backs to remember Hermi the first hermit crab to wear a shell.

How the Rose got its Thorn, by Michael       A long time ago when plants could talk and when roses had no thorns, there was a rose patch in the middle of a farm where Rosy the rose lived.      “Please, please stop eating me! My buds aren't even blooming yet for another six weeks!” Rosena begged.      “You want me to stop, your too delicious to stop eating. You're just so juicy. So I guess not!” the hungry caterpillar named Catty yelled.      See roses may be able to talk but since they can't move, their only chance to save themselves is to sweet talk the things that are eating them to stop eating them, or say that they are poisonous. But caterpillars eat them daily, they learn that they are not poisonous and they never listen to roses because they are always trying to sweet talk them.      “Please stop eating me before I get Turtle. He'll eat you right up and all your friends too.” A rose yelled.      You might think that this isn't sweet talk but with roses when they are getting eaten that is as sweet as they get.       “Sure get Turtle I don't care! “Yelled Catty.      “Turtle, please come here and eat all this caterpillars!” yelled Rose      Right at that moment a giant, hungry turtle appeared (to humans it would be considered small but to caterpillars they are HUGE.      “We aren't scared of him!” Yelled all of the caterpillars at the same time.      So the turtle thought he was useless so he went away but all the thorns on his back jumped off and went on to the roses.      Each time the other animals tried to eat the roses they would get pricked and would lose interest in eating them.          And that is how the roses got their thorns.

HOW CAMELS GOT TWO HUMPS                      By Alison  One day on October 3, 2002, a man and a woman got married. They wanted to go on a very special honeymoon in the dessert, and ride camels, all day long.  The next morning they left for the dessert. They got there at 10:00 am. They were riding through a beautiful village and the wife said, “Honey it feels like I am shrinking”.        The husband said, “ it feels like I am too.” But then they ignored the feeling. They finally decided since they have been riding the whole day that they should go home. So they got off of the camels. The wife and the husband both looked at the camel and they noticed that the camels had two big humps in the back where they were sitting.      Since there were only two camels in the world at that time, they had babies and they came out just like the mother, so they had humps in their backs. Then, every camel that was born from that day on had humps on their backs.      That's how camels got their humps.

Why Frogs Turn Into Princes After Being Kissed By A Princess  By Ally Once upon a time there was a king and a princess and something happened bad…….  “Today is the day you are supposed to marry a prince” said king.  “But father I haven't made my choice, none of them fit me well” said princess.  “You have to make your choice today” said king.  “I'm going outside to get some berries” said princess.  “Be back soon” said king.   And the door slammed. As princess was upset when she was looking for berries, she found something unusual.  “Where is that beautiful music coming from” said princess.  “Excuse me Mr….” said princess.  “Mr. Mike” said frog.  “Mr. Mike, I love that beautiful music you are singing, are you a prince” said princess.  “Yes I am, I've actually been looking for a bride” said prince.  “I can be your bride, do you want to get married” said princess.  “Yes, how about tonight” said prince.  “Perfect!” said princess. “Father! Father! I'm getting married to a prince named Mike” said princess.  “Well splendid dear, well lets get started, everyone plan the wedding!” said king. “Well, tonight's your big night” said king.  “Yes, is everything ready" said princess.  "Yes my dear, I can't wait to see this prince Mike" said king.   So the wedding started and right when Prince Mike entered the room the king fainted but princess didn't notice. They got married and right after they did prince Mike magically turned into a human prince. They moved far away from their homes and were never seen again.   As for the king, well, lets just say he was never seen again either.  So that's why frogs turn into princes after being kissed by a princess, because they already were princes, but they lived happily ever after.

How Sharpie's Got Their Wrinkles By Ashley  Once upon a time  there were these two dogs that were cute, charming, everybody loved them, and lived happily ever after, NOT.      Actually the dogs were mean, rude, ugly, and everybody hated them. But unfortunately they ruled their country, they were like two tyrants. One dog was named Tess, she was bossy and had her nose in the air all the time, and the other dog was a Vincent. I have to admit Vincent is on the cuter side, but then again he is totally stubborn. Well, to tell the truth the dogs actually were really nice and caring inside but they just wanted to put on a tuff-dog image.            One day both of them were outside gazing in the sun light when they got a call from a friend who lived in China, and that friend wanted to know if the two would take a day off and come visit her, they agreed.      Now the pooches had first class seats in one of the most expensive airlines.  Actually, they were a little frustrated about  a former employee, Harold, who was goofing off and not pulling his end of the bargain. But then shortly the two got over it and got fairly hungry.  So they pressed the little    "Push here for service Button" and guess whom just happen to appear right next to Vincent's seat? (Tess got the window seat)           "Hello, my name is Harold, may I be of service to you today?" Well, (then Vincent started blurting what he wanted, but Tess interrupted him in the middle of his sentence.)  "Vin, do you know who that is?" asked Tess. "Who cares?" replied Vincent.        "That is Harold, the guy we fired for fooling off!" Said Tess. But neither Harold nor Vincent looked up because they were both too busy either writing down Vincent's order, or trying to say his order. So at the exact same time they both looked up and noticed each other!! Shocked of course Vincent hesitated while stuttering "I…I…I am actually not that hungry any more."      "And…uh… I think it is my break right now." Said Harold. Then Harold ran like the speed of light into the Employees only room.      Harold was all that Tess and Vincent could think about and the major problem was… It was an 8 hour plan ride…NON STOP!!!!!      Well two hours later guess who comes sneaking back.      "Hey guys, I know that you were a little freaked out about seeing me again, and I don't blame you I was too."      Then they all started talking and blah, blah, blah, blah, blaaaahhhh!!      Eventually the two hired back Harold and found out that he was just having a really bad week. So when everything was just starting to look up they got a little news…a little BAD news. The Pilot came on the intercom saying that the plane was about to crash into the ocean that he wanted everyone to get their life jackets on and try to get out of the plane FAST!!! So everyone was rushing around trying to get a life jacket on when they realized that they fortunately had a lot of extra life jackets. Everyone was fighting for the extras, and while the plane was going down at the speed of lighting the dogs had a little idea. So they made an announcement, "Ladies and gentlemen we have an idea that could save everybody's life easily but it might be a little dangerous…wait never mind you guys won't want to do it." But the in a huge shoot, everybody in the plane wanted to hear the plan and the truth was they only had about a minute to do it. So the two told the plan that they should all take their life jackets off and that they should all tie them up together and wrap them around the plane, so that when the plane hit the water it would float.      So they all agreed and with about thirty seconds left on the clock they did everything they needed to do…or so they thought. They found out that there was no possible way to get all of the life jackets around the plane without someone going out of the plane. So now with about twenty seconds on the clock, Vincent volunteered to go out there and wrap the jackets around the plane with Tess on the look out making sure that he was okay and that he didn't fall off.      Vincent was almost done when he slipped off the plane but was holding on for dear life with one life jacket string. But of coarse we all know that Tess was probably more scared for Vincent then he was, because then who would Tess leed their country with?      So Tess told Harold to hold on to the rope and make sure that Vincent and  herself didn't fall off the plane. So Tess went out there, and while she was pulling up the life jackets, she accidentally fell off the plane, and was holding onto the jackets string and was flying up there next to Vin, and they were about to hit water in ten seconds. Guess who just happened to come out of the plane and pull the dogs and the life jackets up on the plane and tied the last two strings together…Harold!      And now with about two seconds on the clock Harold pulled the two inside the plane and then the plane hit the water and surprisingly…they were still alive!!!! Their plane worked, and the dogs owe most of the credit to Harold, because their idea would have never worked without him. So now when everybody was floating along in the ocean and celebrating everyone noticed something different about the dogs, they were wrinkly!      When they got a mirror they were speechless, and they realized that when they were going 180 miles on a little life jacket string their skin or fur must have gotten stretched out, but hey, they liked their new look and now for real…they lived happily ever after!!

Why Caterpillars Have So Many Legs, By Aylee        Once there was a caterpillar. He lived with his friends the ladybugs and the ants, up in a big, large maple tree.  One day they all decided to go for a walk. Along the way they saw many other insects and many beautiful flowers.  As the caterpillar walked with his friends, his big body bumped into his friends and they all got very mad at him. He didn't even notice because of all the beautiful flowers around him. As they reached home, his friend told him what had happened. He told them he was very sorry. But as time went on, the ants and the ladybugs started to hate him because of his big body knocking them down.      One day the friends decided to go on a hike. As they went, the big caterpillar's body would hit the ants and the ladybugs again. The ants and the ladybugs got so, so mad they started to scream and yell at caterpillar all the way home.      When they got home all of the ants, all of the ladybugs and caterpillars started a big fight. The ants and the ladybugs started to pull caterpillar's big body. They pulled and pulled. After two hours the big caterpillar's big body grew some little legs.      The caterpillar was so happy that he had many tiny legs because he thought it was cool and he could walk faster. And that is why caterpillars have little tiny legs today.

Why Cats Have Long Tails and Dogs Have Long Tongues, By Kathleen  Once long ago cats had short stubby tails. They loved that their tails never got in the way. Back then cats and dogs liked each other; they did everything together. A cat named Fluff and a dog named Spot lived with a man named Bob.     One day Spot had some dog friends over at the house. Fluff did not like Spot's friends walking all over her bed. So Fluff decided to invite some of her friends over. One of Spot's friends didn't like one of Fluff's friends. The two of them began to fight.     Fluff didn't like the idea of her friend being beaten up by one of Spot's friends. So she decided to have her other friends help her beat up Spot's friends. Spot didn't like that idea, so his friends began to beat up all of Fluff's friends. Soon everyone was fighting; it was total chaos. Tails and tongues were being pulled and bit at. Just then Bob walked in the door and saw the fighting. He thought he was going nuts, seeing cats and dogs fighting. Then he saw the worst part. The cats' tails were stretched out, and the dogs' tongues were long and wet with drool. Bob threw the dogs out of the house and let the cats stay inside.      That is why cats have long tails and dogs have long wet tongues. That is also why cats and dogs don't get along.

Why People Don't Like Mice By: Whitney           Long ago in a place called Animal Kingdom there was a king named Sir Antler and everyone obeyed him or else. Sir Antler was not a good deer but there was one little mouse named Giggles who absolutely did not obey him.  It was around Halloween when Sir Antler decided to have a Halloween bash and that's when Giggles thought it would be a great time to fool and scare Sir Antler. “Hi Giggles”, said Momma fox. “Hello”, said Giggles, “What are you and baby fox deciding to be for the Halloween Bash?”, “I really don't know, what do you plan to be?”, “I plan to be my self, aren't I scary”, said Giggles with a funny looking face, “Oh dear” she said.     That evening Giggles went to the party and he had a good time then the clock struck 12:00 midnight. The king began to speak and then .. all of a sudden the king stopped talking? He started to dance and everyone began to giggle. Giggles was down the kings gown so the king said, “oh crymany that tickles.” Giggles hopped out of the king's gown, the king screamed with fright of seeing a mouse at his castle and then fainted. Giggles began to laugh, he laughed s o hard his stomach hurt. When the king woke up he had Giggles sent away, far away. The message to the story is that Giggles is seen once and awhile playing silly little tricks on people so WATCH OUT.  OH YEAH AND THIS IS WHY PEOPLE AND MICE DO NOT GET ALONG!!

How The Basketball Hoop Got It's Net, By Zach  Once there was a boy named Zach, Zach liked to play basketball. Each day after School Zach would go down to the gym. This was the year 1700 so all you really did was shoot a ball at a backboard. It was fun and all, but it just seemed like it needed something more. So like I usually do, I went down to the gym and shot some backboard. A couple days later was the dance so there were a lot of people putting decorations up for the dance.  I tried to avoid all of the ladders and stuff yet I just had a feeling something was going to happen. In this case, an accident would revolutionize the way we look at the backboard forever.   It was the day before the dance and almost all of the decorations were up. I stepped into the gym and right in front of my board was a huge ladder with a man on it putting up some net on the top of the wall. Well, you have to understand that there were no other boards, and me being a risky guy, I took my chances. I would soon find out I made the right choice. I accidentally hit the ladder and it was a very wobbly ladder. All of a sudden it started to shake, then it started to tip, then it did the unthinkable.     Now I realized that I was in some big trouble, but before I could think, I had a ladder crashing down towards me. You ask me, was I scared? No, I only had a huge ladder coming closer and closer and closer to me, no, I wasn't scared (sarcastic response.) Then suddenly a miracle happened. The ladder started tipping the other direction towards the backboard. As he hit the backboard, the trash can shaped netting that he was putting up, was immediately flung out of his hands hitting the backboard with an actual thump. Then came Bryan (who was on the ladder). With tape in hand, the tape hit the net, taping it to the backboard. Then all of the other people gazing towards the ceiling kept saying “it's a bird, it's a plane, it's a man! At this time I thought that I was in a Superman comic. Then Bryan came plopping down losing altitude and landed in the net and made a hole. At that moment the room became dark and there was a light on the board, I knew it was meant to be. Actually to tell you the truth we had a power outage and the light over the board was the emergency power, it never goes out. He tried to change the name from backboard to Zachboard but they said it should stay the same. So remember if anybody asks you how hoop was invented it wasn't that gym teacher it was that boy named Zach.