Landon Hall

The following fictional story was written by our budding novelist, Landon Hall (age 9), with the help of his dad. Enjoy!
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Nick Tooley Mouse and the Cyclone

Characters: Nick Tooley Mouse, Alyssa Dog, Donney the Clown Spider, Mr. Bear, The Fox, Marsey from Mars, and Dr. Weird.

Our story begins from the Fox’ s 2 News. Weatherman the Fox said, “There is going be a tornado in downtown St. Laughter.” Meanwhile, back on the ranch there was a party going on. It was Nick Tooley’s birthday. All the gang was there eating cake and ice cream. Included was Alyssa Dog, Donney the Clown, Mr. Bear, Marsey, and Dr. Weird. As they all had food in their mouth, The Fox made his most important announcement. All of a sudden it was like a cyclone hit the room.

They all said, “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” Then everyone asked at the same time, “WHAT DO WE DO?”

They swallowed their food and quit eating. Each one began to pace the room. Finally, someone had a suggestion. Dr. Weird said, “I am a not a real doctor. But I play one on TV. I suggest that we all take two aspirin and everyone call me in the morning.”

Marsy said, “Wait a minute. That won’t work. How can everyone call you in the morning when you are one of the everyone? Would you call yourself?”

“Uh, I didn’t think of that. Maybe your right, but it sure sounded good,” replied Dr. Weird. “Do you have a better idea?”

“I certainly do. My brilliant out-of-space idea is that we take Mars out of its orbit and crash it into Earth. Then a tornado couldn’t hit here, because there wouldn’t be any Earth. Oh, boy am I smart to come up with that one!”

“Wait a minute boy space-suit genius,” said Alyssa Dog. Which would be worse: to die in a tornado or to die in a collision with Mars? I’d rather die in a tornado. At least we have a chance to live.”

Marsy responded, “Holy asteroids, I think you have a point there. But do you have a better idea?”

“Of course I do,” said Alyssa Dog. “When I want to keep a bone safe, I dig a hole in the ground and bury it. What we ought to do is each one of us dig a hole in the ground and bury ourselves. After the tornado, then we can just dig ourselves out.”

“That settles it. It’s a great idea. Let’s get to work.”

“Not so fast,” said Nick Tooley. “Sometimes tornadoes drop whole buildings on the ground. One of those buildings might land on top of where we’re buried, and we wouldn’t be able to get out. In effect, we would be digging our own graves.”

“Wow,” said Alyssa Dog. “I didn’t think of that. But do you have a better idea?”

“As a matter of fact, I do. Let’s all go to the mall and buy clothes made out of rocks. We’ll come home, put them on, and then have one big group hug. We’ll be so heavy that the tornado won’t be able to lift us up. It’s my birthday, let’s go with my idea.” Then Nick Tooley mouse waited quietly for everyone to tell him that he was a brilliant mouse.

Donney laughed out loud. “Nick Tooley, everyone knows you just like to go shopping. Your idea won’t work because nobody likes to hug a spider—except for the parents of the spider. If you haven’t noticed lately, I’m a spider and not an octopus.”

“I’m sorry, Donney,” said Nick Tooley. “I always thought of you first as my friend and then second as a bug.”

“HEY, I’m not a bug, I’m a spider.”

“Oh, sorry again. Do you have a better idea, Donney, who is a spider not a bug?”

“Yes, I have a great idea. As you know, I am a clown and can walk on bouncy balls. Let’s all get some bouncy balls and jump on them real high, and when the tornado comes, we’ll jump over the top of it. That has to be the very best idea yet.”

Mr. Bear objected, “We’re not all clowns. That might work for you—although I doubt it, because you might just fall inside the tornado and die quicker. However, the rest of us don’t know how to jump on bouncy balls. What about us?”

“I see your point, Mr. Bear,” Donney sadly responded. “There are advantages of being a clown. But I couldn’t teach you all fast enough, because it takes years of training.”

“Mr. Bear, do you have a better idea?”

“I thought no one would ask me. My stupendous idea is that we all get in my camper-car and travel from St. Laughter to St. Louis. Besides that, when we get to St. Louis, we can go to Six Flags and ride Mr. Freeze.”

Nick Tooley asked, “I didn’t know fat people liked to go on roller coasters.”

Mr. Bear said, “I’m not a fat person; I’m a fat bear.”

They all agreed that this was the best plan, so they got their jackets and headed out the door. However, when they went outside, the sun was shining, and there was no sign of a storm. They saw Nick Tooley’s deaf neighbor watching TV through a window. They went over and looked in the window and saw the words scrolling across the bottom of the screen.

This is what they read from Fox’s 2 News: We’re sorry to have given you the wrong information, but there is a tornado in St. Louis and not in St. Laughter. A page was folded over and we read the wrong thing. St. Laughter is full of sunshine, because it’s the first day of summer.

The whole gang immediately threw off their jackets and began to sing: