October's Ghostly Moon

Last month I told the children at the library a tale about how yard statues come to life on the night of the full moon (see previous post). Let me tell you, those children counted the days until the next full moon, which was last night. Today they were so full of energy recounting how the statues in their yards or their neighbors had moved during the night. I finally got them settled down so I could read them a story but I must say it gave me a warm feeling to see them so excited and happy.

Now, the interesting part of my day... When I got home, my mother was in the side yard just staring at the birdbath. I asked her if she was okay and she said yes - but she was perturbed. It seemed sometime during the night, the stone cat we had in the backyard was moved to the side yard. She asked me if I had done it and of course I hadn't. The thing weighs a ton and why would I move it? Maybe Dad did it, I mentioned. She told me she had checked with him and he just laughed and shook his head. Hmmm - it does make a person wonder.
Maybe there is something to this story:)

The Ghostly Statues

On Tuesday I told my first ghost story at the Public Library. Most of the children were from my storytelling class from last year but we did have two new ones, a boy and a girl.

As I described in the previous post, the story I told was about how the statues in people's yards come to life on the first night of the full moon. These seemingly sweet innocent stone figures morph into ghostly creatures and chase and eat any children they catch. Since Monday night was the first full moon, I asked them if they knew of any children who had disappeared. Their jaws dropped as they thought about their friends but they all shook their heads no.The kids loved the story, especially the boys. Since one of the younger girls seemed a bit frightened, I added a solution. I told them that if they were ever chased by one of the statues that all they had to do to escape was to freeze and stand like a statue themselves and the statue would ignore them.

We thought a bit of practice would be helpful, so the children danced around the room while I pretended to be a statue, chasing them. When I would tap one of the children on the shoulder, they would freeze in whatever position they happened to be in. They loved it!

I also told them that if they looked carefully the day before and after the full moon, they might actually see where the statue had changed locations or positions. They're counting the days until the next full moon which is October 11. Em

Storytelling at the Library

Tomorrow I tell my first story to the children at the public library. Last year I read stories to the children but this year the librarian is allowing me to create my own. Since Quinn's Cove is known for its beautiful yards and gardens, I thought I would start with a story about some of the yard art - in this case the statues.

So, the first ghostly story I will tell the children will be about how the statues of Quinn's Cove come to life on the first night of each full moon. And of course, if any child is found outside after dark during these times, they are in danger of being chased, caught and eaten! (I may have to substitute 'tickled' for eaten; it will depend on how young my audience is).

This girl may look angelic, but she is capable of tying up children with her beads.
These little cherubs are known for tackling children...
An innocent looking cat, but with claws that scratch and poke...
A cherub just looking for something to eat, perhaps bites out of little children...
And a stoic lion, who once each month prowls the yards looking for little children to pounce on.
Okay, as much as I would like to use these ideas, I pretty much know I'll have to tone it down a bit. I'll let you know what I do:) Em

Book Festival!

Mom, Dad and I made a quick trip to Atlanta for Labor Day weekend to visit my grandparents. There was lots to do but the best part was going to Decatur to attend the AJC Decatur Book Festival. We only got to go one day (Saturday) but it was great!

I was able to see and meet some of my favorite authors including Margaret Peterson Haddix, Avi, Tony DiTerlizzi and Gordon Korman. Mom bought a bunch of books for her classroom (she teaches kindergarten) and we had lunch at one of the local restaurants. It must have been nearly 100 degrees that day, but we didn't mind. It was all soooo cool!!! Em

First Week of School

This is our first week of school and I'm exhausted! There's so much to do and so many things to remember. It seems that all we do is change classes, go to our lockers to get our books, then put them back and get other books. And the homework! Of course you already know about that.

I really like my teachers. I have Miss Parker for homeroom and math, Mr. Schlecht for Science and Mrs. Worth for language arts. Unfortunately though I only have my friend Rupert in one class and Willa and I aren't in any classes together. We all have the same lunch period though which is good.

Well, I have to get going. Mom has dad and me batting down the hatches for Hurricane Irene. I don't think the storm's going to hit us directly but we should get a lot of wind and rain. When you live on the marsh you have to watch out for flooding. Thank goodness our house is high off the ground so even if the yard floods the water shouldn't affect us. I'm not too worried as the house is over 100 years old and it's withstood a bunch of storms. But to quote mom, "better to be safe than sorry." Em

Getting Ready!

School starts this week so Mom and I went to the mall over at Seagull Point for new clothes. Well, it's not really a mall, but more like a bunch of shops connected by brick sidewalks lined with benches, water fountains and live oak trees. My birthday was in July and I received a lot of clothes, mostly tops and shorts, so all I really needed were jeans, a new windbreaker and a couple pair of shoes. I'm not sure what kids will be wearing in middle school but I figure you can't go wrong with jeans and a nice shirt.

Speaking of birthdays, I also received a really cool digital camera. I've been taking pictures of just about everything around Quinn's Cove and my friends of course. Rupert won't be serious long enough for me to get a good picture, but it really doesn't matter since I promised mom I wouldn't post pictures of family or friends on the web. She's so paranoid!

I'm working on an outline for a story I'm going to tell the kids at the Library in a few weeks. I thought I'd start with something scary but not too scary if that's possible. I'll post my ideas along with some pictures in a few days.

Gotta go for now. Em

My First Post!

Hi! My name is Emily Hobbes and I live in Quinn's Cove. I will be in 6th grade this year and I'm excited to finally be in middle school. My two best friends, Rupert and Willa, are also starting school with me, although I don't think they are as happy about it as I am. Of course, Rupert spent most of his summer visiting relatives and he's glad he's back home to what he calls 'his normal life' whatever that means. Willa says she'll miss sleeping in but I know she's looking forward to trying out for some of the sports teams.

I've created this blog for several reasons. First, I want to tell the world about life in Quinn's Cove. I've lived here my entire life and there's so much to do and see that I wanted to share it with others. Second, I want to post some of my short stories, or at least my ideas. My favorite hobbies are reading, writing and storytelling. Last year, I worked at the public library after school and read stories to children (ages 4-7 I think). Anyway, this year, the librarian said I could tell my own stories and I can't wait. Do you think they'll like ghost stories? I know I do! I also like mysteries and adventures.

I've been wanting to start my own blog for some time, but my mom is a little nervous about me posting to the Internet. I really can't blame her, so in order to appease her, I agreed not to allow people to comment on my posts. So, I send you my apologies in advance that you can't respond, at least not yet - maybe in the future she'll change her mind:)

Thanks for visiting! Em