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Student Story: The Foxes of Veece: "Chapter 3 - The Granite Stone"

By Audrey R.

Chapter 3: The Granite Stone

“Oh, yes!” Vidomak exclaimed. “Hey Geo! Wanna change the weather into good jumping weather? Well, here!” Vidomak shoved the granite necklace onto Geo’s neck. “Now concentrate on good jumping weather,” instructed Vidomak.

A couple minutes later, the rain stopped and the sun was as bright as ever.

“Let’s jump!” howled Vidomak. The three foxes and Geo jumped off the wall, but were quickly blown to the side. “You had to keep the wind! Don’t you know that wind isn’t good jumping weather?!”

“Sorry,” whispered Geo.The foxes were falling at a rapid speed.

“Kiovod, just use your stone already,” Vidomak instructed.

Kiovod quickly made a psychic pile of leaves. When the foxes landed on the leaves, they went sinking inside. The leaves quickly dissolved into mist. “Ow!” howled Geo.

“Hey!” exclaimed Vidomak.“It’s the wolf guardians! Geo use the granite stone to strike the wolves!”

Geo concentrated hard. Then, a storm started brewing. Rain poured down. Lightning struck the wolves and hail plummeted down. Kiovod created a psychic shield above them to block the hail and lightning. The wolves were not affected and didn’t even have the slightest burn on their cloaks. Their cloaks! “Their cloaks!” exclaimed Geo. “We need to get a closer look!” He darted out from under the shield and took off to the wolves. He saw a thin layer of something surrounding the wolves. An anti-weather stone enchantment! “They have an enchantment!” shouted Geo.

“It’s anti-weather stone!” The three foxes gasped.

“C’mon, let’s go.” Kiovod ordered. “Lunavod, we’ll need to use your amber stone to answer the stone wielder’s riddle to get inside the Dunes.

“Sand dunes!” Geo whispered. When they reached the castle entrance a stone wielder came over.

Student Story: The Foxes of Veece "Chapter 2: The Opal Stone"

By Audrey R.

Chapter 2: The Opal stone

The three foxes approached the den entrance.

“Hello,” rasped the first fox. “I am Kiovod, the leader of the Schooling Society. We’ve come to take Geo to give him special schooling. Bring him here!”

Geo sprang up and scurried over to the three foxes.

“Me?!” he squealed. “ME!”

“Yes,” said Kiovod, annoyed. “Come with us.”

“Okay!” exclaimed Geo enthusiastically.

“Told ya he was enthusiastic!” whispered Vidomak to Lunavod. Lunavod turned away from him and completely ignored him.

Geo’s mother was at the market, so he left her a note. It said:

Deer Muthr,

I m owt on a jernee with uther foxes. Tha r takeing me to scul. C U laetr. At scul I will lurn hou to spel.

Fwum,

Jeeo

Geo was most excited on learning how to spell words. Because, as you can see, he’s not a good speller.

Geo was a grey fox, but he also had some wolfish features, but did not notice.

The three foxes and Geo walked off towards a wall.

“How do we get to the other side?” Geo asked.

Now that was a genius question, stupendous even, unless you had the stones.

“We’ll get across with my opal stone,” said Kiovod simply. He unruffled his fur to reveal an anklet with an opal stone.

“A psychic stone!” gasped Geo.

“Yes,” Kiovod answered. “I shall-no, you shall wear the stone and concentrate hard enough to make a psychic ladder that we can climb. Here!” Kovod handed the stone over to Geo.

“Concentrate… Ladder… Concentrate…” Geo murmured. A few minutes later, a small blue ladder appeared. “You can take the stone back.”

“No!” shouted Kiovod, pushing the stone hard to keep it on Geo’s ankle. “If you remove the stone, the ladder will dissolve into thin air!”

Geo quickly adjusted the stone around his ankle and then started climbing the misty blue ladder. Surprisingly, it was solid. The three foxes climbed after Geo. When they reached the top of the wall, the ladder dissolved into mist.

“I thought only when you took the stone off the psychic object would disappear…”Geo whispered.

“It also dissolves when the psychic object is no use anymore,” explained Kiovod. Geo gave the stone back to Kiovod.

Then, the wind started blowing harshly. It started to rain.  The constant pit-pat of rain rung in Geo’s ears.

“Not good traveling weather, especially for jumping,” remarked Kiovod. “Hey, Vidomak, is that a granite stone you have?”

Student Story: The Foxes of Veece "Chapter 1 The Story"

By Audrey R.

Chapter 1 The Story

Geo woke with a start. It was time for a story!

His mother started: “Long ago, in a land far away from here, there were the Foxes of Veece.They had magical stones that gave them the ability to do magic. Each stone had it’s own power: opal could give you the power to perform psychic abilities. Amber gave you the power to look into anyones past. Obsidian was the power to confuse others.

“There were many other stones. But one day, the stones were destroyed!”

Geo listened carefully to what his mother had to say next. She continued, “It all started with a fox named Zane. His friend was very evil. But Zane didn’t know that. His friend had an obsidian stone, so he confused Zane. Now Zane thought he had to destroy all the stones.

“He had a granite stone that gave him the power to control the weather. Zane used lightning to destroy the stones. But when the lightning struck the stones and they exploded, they created a path called the Path of Thunder. The stones created it for only the truest of heroes who were seeking guidance.But only one hero can awaken its true power.”

Geo liked the story. He wanted to be the one to awaken the power of the Path of Thunder.

“Mama!” he said. “I’ll be the one to awaken the true power of the Path of Thunder!”

His mother laughed. “Now go explore! You have lots of energy!”

Geo ran out of his den. There were other foxes. Not pups like Geo, but grown ones trampling about in the small village of Tatjy. All of them were grey foxes. None had magical stones like the ones in the story. Now how would he be able to find the Path of Thunder?

The Bells! thought Geo. The bells were rung if you had an important message.

Geo scurried to some metal bells. A brass stick hung beside them. Geo grasped it in his teeth and banged it against the bells. RING!

Foxes stopped what they were doing and perked their ears.

“A pup!” one howled. “Let’s see what he has to say!”

Murmurs swept through the crowd like wind: fast and quiet.

Geo asked, “Can anyone help me find the Path of Thunder?”

The crowd froze and the whispers stopped.

“The Path of Thunder?” asked one quietly.

“Yes!” said Geo, his voice full of courage. The crowd froze once more. This must be a dangerous journey, he thought. They must think I’m so brave and courageous!

Everyone waited for what would happen next. The suspension was so thick, Geo thought he could swipe right through it.

Then, the whole crowd burst out in laughter. Geo whimpered.

“C’mon, let’s get back to work!” requested a fox.

“Good luck finding the Path of Thunder!” crowed another mockingly.

All of the foxes but three went back to work.

“This pup shall be good for training. He seems worthy,”said one of the three.

“He seems like a ... psychic,” said another.

“We shall collect him tomorrow,” said the first fox.

“Nope!” shouted a third. “Today!”

“Let’s go,” ordered the first fox.

So the three foxes went to the end of the village looking for Emberauge Avenue.The three foxes found it and turned into a narrow trail that led off of Emberauge Avenue and to one small den: the den of Geo and his mother.

“What shall his name be?” asked the second fox.

“It shall be…” the first paused in thought. “It shall be… Geogene.”

Student Story: Foxes of Veece "Prologue"

By Audrey R.
Prologue

It was night time. The stars looked like someone had spilled glitter all over the sky.

“We are falling to the wolves,” Kiovod said. “We need someone brave. Someone with heroic qualities. A new apprentice is what we need. Someone who can trust us. Any suggestions, Vidomak?”

“There’s a really enthusiastic pup in Tatjy! He’s eight months and seems strong! I don’t know how smart, but-” Vidomak was quickly interrupted by Lunavod.

“If he’s not smart, he’s worthless! I saw him once, and all he talked about was food! We need someone wise, with lots of knowledge!” Lunavod stood proudly.

“You’re just saying that ‘cause you’re smart! All you ever do is read ancient scrolls! You want to have an apprentice like you!” Vidomak yelled in fury.

A deep growl rose in his throat. Then he lunged at Lunavod. But she quickly pushed him off of her and aimed a blow at his face.

“Ow!” screamed Vidomak when Lunavod’s paw hit his face. Lunavod flicked her tail and turned away from Vidomak.

“Yes, wisdom is important. Enthusiasm is important too…” Kiovod paused. “We’ll see how he fits our needs.”

Vidomak smirked at Lunavod. “Told ya he’s good!”

“Oh, you dumbhead-” Lunavod growled angrily.

“Okay, stop arguing! We must leave now! It’s a long journey,” Kiovod told them. He was quite annoyed, for the two of them always argued.

“I am a year older, so it really makes sense I get to choose who we get next…” Vidomak drifted off. Then they started their journey to Tatjy.

Coloma 2016 Student Reflections

WHAT DID YOU LIKE MOST?

7 students: Time in cabin

4 students: The hike

3 students: Panning for gold

2 students: Making cornbread

2 students: Eating and meals

1 student each: Hoedown, getting ingredients, time with towns, friends, campfire, and making a tent

WHAT DID YOU LEARN?

James Marshall born in 1810 and died in 1875.

Women got paid more than men.

James Marshall is buried under his monument.

How to pan for gold.

John Sutter isn’t his actual name.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE?

Have fun even if it is raining or something.

Bring an umbrella.

Gold is not easy to find, but if you keep trying and trying you would succeed.

Bring good hiking shoes.

Make sure you are prepared for rainy weather.

Have fun and a good time and participate.

Bring warm jackets.

Don’t bring shower stuff.

Don’t listen to the adult’s jokes. They’re terrible.

Take the top bunk. It’s really comfy.

Stay focused and follow directions.

Bring extra clothing to change into when you get back to school if it rains.

Books and Authors

Students filled out a survey in the computer lab in which they rated the book City of Ember and wrote what they liked (or disliked) about it. They then also shared another book they've read this year that they enjoyed and what they would tell or ask the author if they could.

City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

“4. Good story.” - Brett

“4. It was pretty good. I could visualize things easily.” - Chase

“4. I like the plot and the characters.” - Megan

“4. It was cool that it was underground.” - Lauren

“3. The ending was terrible.” - Sean

“5. Because the characters are so smart.” - Lauryn

Other Books

Wonder by Raquel J. Palacio: “Different perspectives.” - Rebecca

Stuck by Oliver Jeffers: “I like how he keeps on throwing things up. Can you write more?” - Ayla

The Book of Shane by Nick Eliopulos: “It’s awesome. I’d ask why they made the bad guy (Shane) so awesome.” - Audrey