There were 20 of them!

I looked and there was just one just one lonely one.
It was all alone nothing to keep it company or occupy any other attention
It just sat there staring at me even though it might have not had eyes.
It didn’t look lonely it looked good alone it added to the beauty of it, It looked like it was meant to be alone.
I looked away for one moment, then looked right back and there was no longer just one, there was twenty of them!

By Dylan Noel
Chelsea Public School, Grade 6

There were twenty of them. Aliens. They were attacking from everywhere. One was on my back, fervently trying to get through my armor so he could eat my soft flesh. There were more coming. A few came down in a space capsule in the Sea of Tranquility, not that far away. I ripped the alien off my back as I ran to my ship, but I knew my dash for safety was futile. When I had gotten off the ship I had accidentally locked the door and even if I could get in, there was no fuel in the tank and I had landed on the wrong side of the moon. On the other side, there was a space station, but because of a freak solar storm that pushed me off course, I ended up on the other side. When I got to the ship door, amazingly, it was unlocked. I didn't know how and I didn't care. All I wanted to do was get inside. And I was in. With aliens. Read more »

By Savannah Zigic
Renaissance School, Grade 4

It's a French tradition to put paper fish on people's backs on April Fools' Day. Well guess what? Someone found it funny to stick a bunch of paper fish on my back. I mean, there were 20 of them! All blue fish with green x's over their eyes. I tried taking them off, but people kept sticking them back on! It was so annoying!
When the teacher asked me to write a haiku poem on the board, everybody started giggling! It was humiliating, but then I had an idea . . . I took all the fish off my back, found the guy who stuck them there and said, "Hi David!" I patted him on the back 20 times . . . .

One sunny day,
I went out to play,
With a ball that was gray.
At a bay,
With lots of clay.
Suddenly,
They surrounded me,
There were twenty of them,
And I started to get phlegm,
"Oh no,
I hope one of them does not have a bow."
But then I realized that under their wigs,
They were pigs,
Which are my favorite animals,
So I think, therefore not cannibals.

20.
20 hats for 20 days in Florida.
20 days in Florida to see
My 20 cousins.
20 boxes of fish food for my
Cousins' 20 fish.
20 gallons of water used by the 20 fish
In 20 hours.
20 hours to drive back home.
20 weeks at home before 20 more
days in Florida.
20,000 miles on the car each time
we have 20 days in Florida.

By Matthew Andrew
Renaissance School, Grade 5

I thought about so many sensations
Counted them and my deliberation
Was that there were twenty of them --
Twenty happy things, twenty smiles:
:-) At last ... spring in Vermont!
:-) Skiing without shivering too much
:-) Boiling sap over a fire in the sugarhouse
:-) Brown grass turning green
:-) Planting kale
:-) Days getting longer
:-) Feeling drifting winds on my skin
:-) Imagining a rainbow
:-) Walking in the rain
:-) Jumping in puddles (without getting too muddy)
:-) Playing with worms
:-) Baby animals being born
:-) Birds singing their song
:-) Trees and flowers budding
:-) Breathing in fresh air
:-) Riding my bike at fast speeds
:-) Capturing the flag without getting tagged
:-) Catching spring fever
:-) Celebrating my birthday ...
:-) Eating cake with twenty kids in my class!<--break-->

By Arianna Sargent
Rutland High School, Grade 11

There were 20 of them
Running around
There were 20 of them
Making different sounds
There were 20 of them
Playing games
There were 20 of them
With no names
There were 20 of them
Nobody knows what they are
There were 20 of them
They came from afar
There were 20 of them
What do we do
There were 20 of them
And one of them could be you!!

By Margaret Emmons
Woodstock Union High School, Grade 10

The gray of the parking lot bakes in the sun, bleaching to an even paler gray. White lines crisscross the surface. Cars fit crookedly into the spaces and dot the bland gray with occasional bursts of color. Occasional pedestrians revisit their vehicles and drive away in clouds of exhaust. Fumes rise up, contrasting distinctly with the pure white clouds above. Cars drive in and out all day, never ceasing in their constant rush, destinations unknown.

Some shoppers forget their carts, which are promptly ushered into designated spots to be collected at the end of the day. There are 20 of them. Until their retrieval the sun, now dominating clear skies, beats mercilessly upon them, casting skeletons of shadows on the pavement; shadows that are constantly in motion until the sun leaves them in the dim, starlit continuation of the night. For now, they sit motionless, forgotten in the gray plain that surrounds them. Alone in the chaotic world, while the gray of the parking lot bakes in the sun…

By Autumn Brooks
Rivendell Academy, Grade 9

I’m standing at the edge of the forest.
Listening,
I can see,
See them all.
I swear,
There are at least 20 of them!
Power overcomes them.
Heads moving in small segments so fast,
Your human eyes can't notice.
Cool air escapes from their mouth,
Rolling off the tips of their icy tongues.
They can smell me.
One bloodsucker steps forward,
The leader,
With his black cloak of hair shining so magnificently.
He smiles towards the forest.
Towards me.
He listens to my blood, Read more »

By Kevin Van Allen
Albert D. Lawton Intermediate School, Grade 7

There were twenty of them
Rats!
Sleeping, peeping, creeping rats
I like rats.
There were twenty of them
Rats!
Walking, stalking, squawking rats
Rats are fine.
There were twenty of them
Rats!
Moving, grooving, disapproving rats
Rats are so-so.
There were twenty of them
Rats!
Bouncing, pouncing, trouncing rats
I’m scared of rats.
There are twenty of them
Rats!
Climbing, chiming, rhyming rats
ON Me!
I hate rats! Read more »

By Danielle Couture
Albert D. Lawton Middle School, Grade 7

My favorite animal is the dragon. I know that most people don’t think that they exist, but I have seen them with my own eyes.

It was when we were camping last summer. I was walking through the woods on one of the trails when I saw something shining through the trees on the other path. I quickly went back a few yards to where the paths split and went down the other side. Since this path was curvier, I had to walk for a while before I found what I had seen. There were little scales that looked like fish scales all over the ground, and they were small, round, colorful and shiny. I followed the trail of scales for a little while until I came to a strange group of creatures; there were twenty of them, and they were each about as big as a toaster. Read more »

gone with the wind

THERE WERE TWENTY OF THEM!
all along the ground
THE COLORS OF THE LEAVES SURROUNDED ME
the crisp autumn wind lifts them
UP IN THE AIR
cutting sharply across my view
CLEAR AND BRISK AS THE AUTUMN AIR
innocently gliding
IN THE AUTUMN WIND

THERE WERE TWENTY OF THEM!
all along the ground
THE WHITE OF THE SNOWFLAKES ENVELOPED ME
the sharp chilling wind blows them
SPIRALING INTO THE AIR
floating across my vision
A SOFT AND COMFORTING BLUR
innocently gliding
IN THE WINTRY GUST

THERE WERE TWENTY OF THEM!
all along the ground
THE SCENT OF THE FLOWERS ENCIRCLED ME
the fresh spring breeze spreads the aroma
UP IN THE AIR
wafting through my nostrils
AN UPLIFTING SHOWERING RIVER
innocently floating
IN THE SPRING BREEZE

THERE WAS ONE OF THEM
filling up the sky
THE HEAT OF THE SUN RADIATES AGAINST ME
suffocating humidity
SHIMMERING IN AIR
burning painfully against my skin
A SCAR FOR TOMORROW
guiltily floating
IN THE SUMMER HEAT Read more »

“There Were Twenty of Them”
-Zachery Horvath

There were twenty of them
All lined up in a row.

There were twenty of them
Fighting for independence.

There were twenty of them
But then it turned to hundreds.

There were hundreds of them
Marching for something they believed in.

There were hundreds of them
Black and white no discrimination.

There were hundreds of them
Led by one man and one dream.

The dream of civil rights
For all black people waiting 300 years for that dream

Then one day
Their dream came true and segregation was abolished.

The civil rights movement
Helped black people achieve that dream.

There were twenty of them.
Looking.
There eyes cutting through your soul.
Like a knife cutting through bread.

So easily.
Your eyes have burned away.
Your holes have things living in them.

And something has come to suffocate you and your life.
It’s You.

By Alice Cole
Manchester Elementary Middle School, Grade 7

It was a sunny Monday and the air smelled as if it was the first day of spring. I was walking home from school like I usually do because I only live a few blocks away. I walked passed Mr. Smith's freshly cut green grass and through Mrs. Curt's poolyard as a short cut to my house. I ran past the old Victorian house on Pine Street because . . . well, it kind of creeps me out -- what can I say? I slowly strolled by Stacy’s café and inhaled the smell of the cinnamon buns she was baking for the afternoon. I bet you can guess why I was late for school this morning. I went through someone else’s yard but truly I have no idea who lived there. Read more »

It started with 20 of them. 500 more joined.
Confidence building, getting stronger felt good.
The enemy was near, but we were ready.
Our heads held high with our weapons steady.
With a strategy set, we knew the plan
We’d pick them off, man by man.

There were 20 of them in the line.
500 more right behind
When the first gun fired, we were ready.
Explosion from both sides, they killed many.
My hopes were high, but we didn’t last long.
Running away fast, something felt wrong.

It started with 20 of them, it ended with disgrace.
Sometimes we feel like we must hide our face.
As disappointed as we were, hope was still in the air.
But reality was, no one really cared.
We fought our hardest, and now it was done.
The battle was lost, but the war had been won.

Today is the day my dad and my cousin Mike are going to race. It seems like there is so many cars, and so many laps that they have to do. I don't understand how the racers can go around that circle so many times and not get bored and or tired. I really think that they should switch it up and make the cars turn right instead of left all the time. I am trying to count the cars but they are going to fast for me to see, I get sick of trying and stop. Finally I ask my mom how many cars and laps there are in the race. My mom said that "there were 20 of them" but one car crashed so now there are only nineteen, and there are ten laps. The race seems like it is going on forever, and my little sister is getting fussy so I take her out to get a drink and something to eat, hoping it will make her happy. My sister tells me she wants a hotdog, (of course!) I shouldn't have had to asked her that question, because hotdogs are her favorite thing to eat and I know that. Read more »

By Cole Bankert
Shrewsbury Mountain School, Grade 6

All over the place
Splashing, zooming, flying fish
There are 20 of them!

All over the place
Hopping, flopping about, rabbits
There's 20 of them!

By Paige Pierson
Oxbow High School, Grade 12

As I walked into the room everyone was just staring. I realized that I was late but everyone looked scared and no one was even talking at all. I went and sat in my seat and just waited. It was so silent for what felt like forever. Finally I whispered to Ali next to me and asked what was going on. She turned and looked at me, almost shocked that I had the nerve to talk when everyone was silent. It took almost 25 minutes of us all sitting in there silent before a teacher came in. As she stood in front of the class she too looked sad and didn't really seem like she wanted to speak. She slowly lowered her slender body into our teacher's chair. "I can't take it anymore what is going on?" I asked with such urgency. I didn't understand. Usually my class is crazy and outgoing. Probably another five minutes later our principal came in and told the teacher to just go on with a regular class and that we would hold an assembly later on and tell all the kids at once. The day felt so long to me, I thought I would never find out what was going on. I felt like I was in a school of zombies then the call came over the intercom, "Everyone report to the auditorium at this time." I rushed in there hoping to get a good seat so I could figure out what was going on. The principal stood in front of our entire school and told us that our beloved teacher was in a fight with some people. There were 20 of them! And he died! That's all I needed to hear. I was gone, not wanting to know anything else.

Once there was a girl Jess who was about 17. She liked to drive around; kick back and relax. She was driving down the road minding her own business when somebody came around the corner on a dirt bike. She swerved to avoid hitting the person. She missed the person aright, but she got stuck in the ditch. The person stopped and apologized. When they looked at each other they laughed and Jess said, "Timmy?" He said, "Thats Right!" They had known each other forever, but hadn't seen each other for about four years. They used to be best of friends. The Timmy said, "A bunch of my friends are coming behind me we can send them for help." They started to visit and check upon old times when the others started coming around the corner. There were 20 of them. They were coming at high speed, the dirt was flying. They ran for cover and dove into Jess's truck. The others saw Timmy and stopped. They said, "What happened." Read more »

“There were 20 of them”
Zachary Smith
There were 20 of them, and they all thought of themselves as a big deal. My old school was full of wigger's and stoner's. There were those kids that pissed me off occasionally. The kids that were responsible for all the immature things thought they were above everyone else. I was not really enjoying my old school very much. I didn't like many kids, they all had those attitudes of attempting to be badass. There were those 20 kids that were raging faggots. I am enjoying my time at oxbow high school. You don't have those 20 kids ragging on you, or annoying the piss out of you. You have those 20 kids that are nice, and don't do dumb shit to have a good time. Read more »

By Zach Kelley
Oxbow High School, Grade 12

There were eleven of them, and they came swiftly
Bearing down on me as I caught the kickoff.
I took it off the bounce and looked up,
I felt like I was facing an army, like there were twenty of them.
I took off, letting my legs and instincts guide me through the maze of blockers and defenders,
I saw the blurs of maroon, white and purple as I ran
I felt their helpless arms slap against my legs and slide off.
I couldn't be stopped
I came to the kicker and cut left
I saw him fall out of the corner of my eye. Read more »

Mike Ciurleo
04/09/09 Read more »

I am inventing twenty magnetic pigs who fly. They'll fly around looking at windowsills to find delicious home made pies. These pigs can't do anything except for eating, sleeping, and mostly fattening themselves up. Uh-oh! The pigs are going crazy from this fresh maple syrup. Oh, now they're gaining weight! Maybe I'll just invent 20 maneating crates.

By Erica Ward
Chelsea Public School, Grade 12

Her alarm sounded. She peeled her greasy hair from her oily skin. She sat up and looked around, everything was a blur. She pulled her glasses over her eyes and hooked the straps behind her ears. She slicked her hair back and placed a pink bowtie ponytail around her thick blonde hair. As she made her way to the shower she twisted the red knob, but there was nothing but cold water once again. Alice had grown up in a small town, her family had no money and what they did have was spent on their alcohol. Although Alice didn’t have much of anything, throughout her fifteen years she learned to cope with the little she did have and find happiness in herself. Alice didn’t have friends in school; she kept to herself and focused on her school work excelling with straight A’s. Read more »

My Secret

By Katerine Botelho
Chelsea Public School, Grade 12

What are those? Birds? Cats? Something’s in that tree and I want to know what they are? Those were the thoughts going through my head as I approached the large oak in our backyard. Read more »

By Moriah Cushing
Vergennes Elementary School, Grade 4

There were twenty marbles in a jar. One was swirly. One was polka dotted. One was striped red and blue. One had zigzags, blue and black. One looked cloudy, too. One looked crimson, one looked blue, and one looked multicolored, too. One looked gold, and one looked silver. One looked bronze, and one looked like amethyst. One looked like quartz, and one looked like a diamond. One looked like peridot, and one was red, white, and blue, and dotted with 52 stars. One had numbers, and one had words. One had skulls, and one had goo. Those are my twenty marbles!

Once there were twenty animals, all different ones. One was remarkable. The animal was a panda. Its name was JingJing. The reason she was remarkable is because she was born in China. The other nineteen animals make a big deal about it because thier ruler lived in China, and the ruler was a panda. One day was a very special day for JingJing. JingJing has a special day because it was her and the ruler's birthday. The other nineteen animals dresed up as ppandas! They put on costumes. they made black and white costumes. But then, they realized that they were special, too. They made a day to celebrate all the animals, including JingJing. They all had so much fun.