The Dancing Cupcake/The Portals (feat. Sara Bareilles and Mykal-Michelle Harris)

In part 2 of our season finale, the Story Pirates execute an elaborate heist to save their ship from Henrietta Hudson (Mykal-Michelle Harris), the biggest name in NYC tow trucks. Featuring two new stories: “The Dancing Cupcake,” a song about a cupcake who wants to dance in your house, sung by special guest Sara Bareilles and written by Violet, a 9-year-old from Pennsylvania, and “The Portals,” a story about the challenges of running a retail store that deals in time and space, written by a 6 year old from California named Lincoln.

Scroll down for the original stories behind the episode!

Illustration by Camila Franklin

Jump to: Original Stories from Episode | Original Stories from Roll Call

The Dancing Cupcake (feat. Sara Bareilles)

by Violet, age 9, Pennsylvania

Our adaptation of The Dancing Cupcake was written and produced by Ellen Winter

Sara Bareilles appears courtesy of Epic Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment

The Portals

by Lincoln, age 6, California

Once upon a time there was a Portal Chef. He liked to make portals. He grew his own Portal Forest, and lots of people came to buy them. He also liked keeping portals in his pockets.
Instead of cars, they would use portals to come to the store. Everybody really liked the portal store.
One day, the Portal Chef was out picking portals when he saw one that looked unfamiliar. While most portals are colorful, this portal was gray. Even though the portal looked unfamiliar, he didn’t think it could be too bad, so he just kept on picking portals. He finished up, and went back to the shop to sell them.
One of his customers asked “What is that portal?” The Portal Chef replied “Oh, that’s probably just some kind of cool portal.” The customer is like, “Huh. Can you try it out?” The Portal Chef said “Sure!”
The Portal Chef pullllled the portal out on both sides until it was big enough for him to fit into. He heard a sound that sounded like a “ROAARRRRR.” The customer said “That doesn’t sound like a good portal.” The Portal Chef replied “Nah, I just wanna try it out.”
Then, he smelled a smell so disgusting that even he was like, “EW!”
But he still stepped in anyway.
As soon as he stepped in, he DISAPPEARED, and so did the portal.
The customer said, “oh great. Now he’s trapped in a different universe.Guess I have to run the portal store!”
Meanwhile, the Portal Chef landed in a little grassy field. He started walking around, when he saw some interesting animals. Soon, he saw a couple of walls. The walls were kind of bricky and stuff. He started to walk closer, and closer. And then, it turned out to be a maze!
The Portal Chef said, “Hey, why don’t I enter?”
And then, he started walking for a little bit. And then, he saw a dog, but this was no normal dog. It had three heads! The dog was like “ROARRRRRR!” The Portal Chef said, “Why don’t we call this place the scary monsterverse!” And then, the Portal Chef ran and ran. He felt like he was running forever, but not getting anywhere! And then, he saw a bush. He was like, “YES! Why don’t I hide there?”
The three headed dog was like “Hmm? Where is he?” and he started grazing in the field.

The Portal Chef waited one hour. While he was waiting, he had an idea. “Why don’t I use a portal?” He just grabs a portal from his pocket, a brownish pink portal. When he tries to use it, it just EXPLODES and it gets sugar powder in his eyes. So he was like, “I guess we can try another one some other time.”
So he kept on walking. And walking. And then, he saw a double path.So he took the way forward, and then he ran across another double path. And then he took the way forward and he found another double path. This kept happening until finally he found a password wall. So, he was like, “Why don’t I think?” After a while he was like, “Whoa! I have an idea!” The wall was like “No. Not the right one.” Ummmm, “Scary?” “Correct, but beware of the knight,” said the wall.
The Portal Chef started walking. The walls started getting closer together until he couldn’t fit through them. So, he put some sunscreen on himself to make him a little slippy. And then, he started squeeeeeezing through. It got tighter and tighter until POP. So, he saw something glimmering in the night and then he saw it was THE KNIGHT...
He reached into his pocket and grabbed another portal. This one looked like a leaf, but he didn’t care. So, he punched the portal and then it opened up. He went in, but instead of going home, it went right over the knight! He fell onto the knight and the knight was like “OUCHIE!” Then the knight was knocked out.
The Portal Chef waited for two hours. Then he came out.
So, the knight was in the field where he saw the dog. So they started battling.
The Portal Chef started walking for a little bit, and then he saw another password wall.
Meanwhile, back at the shop. The guy was having so much trouble! There were so many customers, that he was like, “Here you go, here you go, here you go!” And then he said, “OK, I think we should close the portal shop for one day!” So he closed the portal shop. He started picking portals. So he found an unfamiliar portal and he was like “Gasp! We should put this portal in the bad portal drawer!” On the way there, he dropped it on the floor, and it opened up, but he was like “I don’t care. I’m just not going to step there.”
The next morning, customers started coming again. So he started working and just in the middle of it the Portal Chef POPPED out of the floor! He was sweaty and his clothes were so muddy from the dog that the customers thought that he was a mud tower! He started going to the lake. While he was going to the lake the customers thought he was a mud monster! As he was going to the lake he saw something that looked a little grayish, and a little portalyish. He picked it up, and he was like “Gasp! I should put this one back in!” But as he was doing that, he was juggling it. While he was juggling it, one time

Roll Call Stories

The Sandwich Family

by Alba, age 5, Missouri

“Hi sandwich”

“Hi water”

“Hi sandwich”

“Hi chip”

“Hi sandwich”

“Hi tomato”

“Hi sandwich”

“Hi spoon”

We party.

Dance dance dance. Dancey dance dance. Dance dance dance. All of them danced.

Then they slept, slept, slept. The water sleeped standing up. The sandwich sleeped upside down. Then they woke up in the morning.

They were a family.

“It’s snowing,” said the spoon. “I’m going outside, yay yay yay, I’m playing outside too.”

“I’m going outside too,” said the tomato.

The tomato sunk in the snow. The spoon said, “Oh no! I’ll get him.”

He scooped him out on the snow and took him back inside.

The tomato thought he was drowning. “Oh no! I’m drowning in snow.”

He was cold.

Then they went to bed.

Then a giant sneaked up to them and took a bite of the chip. The things on the plate said “Oh no! Chip is gone!”

They needed a new sister. Then they had many little sisters that were pieces of chip after the big one was eaten, they had tiny ones.

THE end

I Did

by Hugh, age 8, Canada

That One Sunny Halloween Night

by Alia, age 11, Wisconsin

“It was a dark and stor-“ Narrator #1 started, getting cut off mid-sentence by Narrator #2.

“No, no, no, no. That is not how this story begins.” The other narrator said. “This is how it really went: It was a sunny afternoon. Halloween was, in fact, today….”

*story begins*

“Mom, I’m going trick-or-treating!” Juniper calls, heading out the door without waiting for a response. Her friends are waiting for her just outside her house.

“Are you ready?” one of them says.

“Yeah! Let’s get going!” Juniper said.

The group of 5 friends, including Juniper, head down the driveway and make their way down the street.

“Trick or treat!” they all say excitedly, as they reach a house and knock. It looks like a normal house to everyone, but the door slowly creaks open to reveal… a giant slug with a party hat and Star Wars pajamas!

Everyone is in so much shock, that we just stand there, staring at the slug.

“Hey, you know staring’s rude, right?” The slug says.

Juniper nods. “Y-yeah.”

“Umm…” one of the friends say. “What happened to you?”

“I was put under the curse from a witch, and now I’m a slug wearing a party hat and Star Wars pajamas.”

“We can see that… can you change back?”

“Not unless you find the witch and steal one of her potions!” The slug says.

“We’ll find the potion.” Juniper promises, and her and her 4 friends head toward the very sunny forest.

They walk through the sunlit forest until they reach a small hut, and inside you could see a bunch of potions. The witch is inside, sorting through her potions and throwing a few out the window. And one that Juniper picks up happens to be a potion for turning slugs with a party hat and Star Wars P.J.s back into a human.

“Found it, now let’s get back to the slug.” Juniper says.

“I have a better idea, throw it.” One of the friends says, picking up the potion and throwing it.

“Thanks!” comes the distant yell of the slug/human.

*story ends*

“You see? That’s how the story really goes.” Says Narrator #2.

“Whatever,” Narrator #1 says. “It’s still The End.”

-+-

That was all for “That one Sunny Halloween Night”

-+-

The Monster Who Finds Monsters

by Noah, age 6, Texas

Old Man Homer/The Very Grown Up Place (featuring members of Mipso and Jess McKenna)

In part 1 of our thrilling season finale, the only thing that stands between the Story Pirates and a return home to their native NYC is the dastardly Silica Googenheim (Jess McKenna). Featuring two new stories: “Old Man Homer,” a song about time travel, photography and connecting with old relatives that features members of Mipso (Jacob Sharp, Joseph Terrell and Libby Rodenbough), by Lucy, a 7 year old from New Mexico, and “The Very Grown Up Place,” a song about what happens when ‘bring your child to work’ day gets turned on its head, written by Zoey, age 8, and Izzy, age 5, from Washington.

Scroll down for the original stories behind the episode!

Illustration by Camila Franklin

Jump to: Original Stories from Episode | Story Spark | Original Stories from Roll Call

Old Man Homer

by Lucy, age 7, New Mexico

One day, Lucy's dad built a time machine and special phone that could be used anywhere and anytime. Lucy got the phone and turned on the time machine. Lucy traveled back to the year 1900. Lucy found Old Man Tucker, this old guy who's photo is on the wall at her house. Lucy showed Old Man Tucker the special phone and how to use it to take pictures since back then it was a big deal to take a picture. "Old man Tucker, do you like the phone?" said Lucy. "Yes, I do!" said Old Man Tucker. Lucy traveled back home excited to see all the new photos in the family album that Old Man Tucker would take with his phone.

Our adaptation of Old Man Homer was composed by Jack Mitchell and produced by Brendan O’Grady and features members of Mipso - Jacob Sharp, Joseph Terrell and Libby Rodenbough

The Very Grown Up Place

by Zoey, age 8, and Izzy, age 5, Washington

What is there was a very grown-up place and it was called the very grown-up place it's a very grown up place there was very grown-up stuff like computers and other boring things. People who worked at a very grown-up place where as you probably expected grown-ups. They work to make the stuff with a very grown-up place. What day it was bring your kids to work day at the very grown-up at the very grown-up place so just as a holiday recommended the grown-ups brought the kids to go to the very grown-up place. The kids at the very grown-up place said this is a very grown-up place but what is the kids brought... A bouncy house! And another kid brought... A very kids stuff like.... Toys books games and lots more! And so from that day on the very grown-up place became a very kids place!

Our adaptation of The Very Grown Up Place was written and produced by Brendan O’Grady

Story Spark

Lucy, who wrote “Old Man Homer" is presenting this week's Story Spark!

Write us a story about going back in time to meet a really old relative of yours. Tell us what their life is like, and tell us about a piece of modern technology that you bring back in time with you. How does your relative respond to the technology? Do they like it?

Roll Call Stories

The Robot Without a Home

by Leon, age 6, Wisconsin
Once upon a time there was a robot that did not have a home. He looked at a house but the people there did not give him a home. So he went to a park but the owners of the amusement park did not let him stay. He was very sad. So he lived at a zoo but the animals there did not like him. He went on a boat but the people that owned the boat did not let him stay. So he lived outside for a while. But it made him dirty. So he went to an inventor's workshop and the inventor let him stay. The robots there liked him. The end.

The Shoe Who Could Talk

by Selah, age 5, California

“Oh what a nice day to play outside today. But first I have to put on my shoes.“

“Whaaaat?? My shoes can talk??? Ok ok my shooeees can talk can talk! Oh no! Someone is coming. It is my secret. Let’s hide.”

Harmy turned into a bat and went up into the air with her shoes. And then on her nose was frosting. And then she said “ok let’s go back home”

Then someone who can float said to them, “hey what are you doing up here in my home?? Do you want to know my home phone number?”

And then Harmy said “of course.”

“979795626262”

Then the shoe talked all day long. Then Harmy said “oh I think it’s time to go to bed right in a little while.”

She made herself turn into a raindrop and someone ate her. Then she said “oh man I’m in a voice box.”

The end

The Clay Monster

by Olive, age 9, Canada

Once upon a time there was a girl whose name was Olive. One day Olive went to her grandma's house for a clay party! When Olive’s sister Naya made a big blob of clay and threw it on the floor it started to grow “ahhh” we tried throwing balls of wet clay but that just made it bigger. “Then i got an idea.''We have to put him in the kiln {a kiln is an oven you use to harden and cook the clay} so we put the clay monster into the kiln and it disappeared. The end.

Portal Potty

by Melody, age 6, New Mexico

I went into a portal potty. It was a portal to another dimension. I found aliens, I was walking around hiding from the aliens. “Oh no they found me! They put me back in my portal potty!” Then I said “something feels weird.” And then I put my head up a little, and felt a little bit of water and then I moved my head all the way up and then I was like “I shoved my head in the toilet! Bleh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

!Beard Quest!/The New Class Pet (feat. Zoe Jarman)

The Story Pirates get a visit from their dentist (Zoe Jarman). Featuring two new stories: “!Beard Quest!”, an action-packed adventure about a beard desperate to return to the Greek god he belongs to, written by James, an 11 year old from the UK, and “The New Class Pet,” the chronicle of one class’ mission to name their new guinea pig, written by an 8 year old from Ohio named Noel.

Scroll down for the original stories behind the episode!

Illustration by Camila Franklin

Jump to: Original Stories from Episode | Story Spark | Original Stories from Roll Call

!Beard Quest!

by James, age 11, UK

Our story begins as a news reporter in a helicopter is flying towards a huge cloud of smoke caused by some 'Aliens' fighting around in the middle of Florida. Claw marks, titanic balls of fur, red-hot skyscraper rubble and bolts of lightning are visible. As the news reporter finishes the broadcast, a massive cat claw swipes it out of the sky and they switch to a commercial. The dust begins to clear, and we see a massive red cat roar at Zeus himself. The cat swipes at Zeus that his beard is shaved off. He yells, "You shall pay for that, mortal!" and continues biffing for a few dozen more seconds before hurling it into space. We zoom in towards the beard as it begins to open its eyes(?!) and sprouts small, puffy, grey legs and arms. It says: "I must find a piece of cheese to eat... err, I mean, I must find my way back to the Omega Optimus Temple and give Zeus back his beard before he is overthrown for not having a beard!" Dramatic music starts playing, and Beardo begins his quest, whilst chomping on a piece of cheese! "Yum! I like cheese." He walks along towards the train station, and is attacked by a wild dog! It growls at Beardo until he leaps onto the dog's back and rides it into the train station. After purchasing a first class ticket and leaving the dog as payment, he has a nice piece of cheese and looks out of the window. Eventually he sees a temple out of the window and jumps off of the train. He then notices a large river ahead. He cannot swim across, and starts getting soggy when he attempts to ride across on a large stick, so he summoned a tiny bolt of insanely hot lightning and evaporated the river so he could walk across. As he walked towards the temple, eating a small block of cheese, though, he was picked up by a hungry seagull who mistook him for a it of fish. He squirmed around until the seagull was hit in the head with the piece of cheese. "SQUARK! BLARK!" (In seagull, that is "Yeuch, I hate red leicester!") and dropped Beardo, flying off. Beardo rolled into the Omega Optimus Temple and climbed onto Zeus's chin. Zeus now had a beard, and the World was safe.
The Cheese... We mean End.

The New Class Pet

by Noel, age 8, Ohio

Ms. Laura: Quiet please everyone! We are voting for our new guinea pig’s name today. Here are the names you can choose from: 1) Gem by Mihira, 2) Fluffy by Santiago, 3) S’mores by Matthew, 4) Guinea by Noel, and 5) ummmm, Lewis White by Sage.

Different Classroom Kids:
Ready to vote!

Yaaaaaaayyyyyy!

Let’s do this!

S’mores for sure!

No way, Fluffy forever!

Lewis White??? Why not?!

Guinea seems a little obvious…

Gem doesn’t seem to describe a white and tan guinea pig that well...

But I like it!

What happened to Chocolate?

Marshmallow was a pretty good name, too…

Ummmm, but chocolate and marshmallows make S’mores. BAM! Best choice!

Oh yeah, he’s got a point…

Ms. Laura: (Rings a bell to quiet them down.) Alright, class! According to the votes, Gem and Guinea are out. They were good names, but they just didn’t get enough votes.

Noel: Awww, man!

Mihira: It’s okay, Noel. We still got three votes each! Good job!

Noel: Thanks, Mihira!

Ms. Laura: So that leaves S’mores, Fluffy, and Lewis White for another vote! Get ready to raise your hands!

Different Classroom Kids:

S'mores is totally going to win. No contest!!!

Let’s go, Lewis White!!!

Fluffy, fluffy, fluffy!!!

I don’t care who wins as long as the pet is happy!!!

I like to eat s’mores! I’m going to go with that!

Hey! Don’t eat the guinea pig!!!

Noel: Now that Guinea is out, I think I have to pick the weird one. Lewis White for the WIN!!!

Other Kid: Fair enough.

Ms. Laura: Hands up for S’mores? Okay. Hands up for Fluffy? Okay. Hands up for Lewis White? Okay. 7 votes for Fluffy! 10 votes for Lewis White! So the winner is S’mores! With 12 votes!!!

Classroom applause!

Guinea Pig: Hmmmmmmmm, S’mores?! Not my favorite, but whatever! My real name is… DRUMROLL PLEASE!!! (Drumroll…) FRANK BURRITO!!!

The End.

Noel’s comments to the Story Pirates: You are my VERY favorite Podcast! My family listens to your songs

Story Spark

Noel, who wrote “The New Class Pet" is presenting this week's Story Spark!

 Sometimes you can be a little bit crazy with your story. Even if they don’t make sense, they can still be really good stories. So, try writing the weirdest story possible. And don’t worry if it doesn’t make sense–that’s the point.

Roll Call Stories

Beat Box Baby

by Adi, age 7, Florida
Once upon a time, there new family and they had a new baby. The family received a gift from a friend. When they opened the gift, they found a pair of sunglasses. The friend told them they are special glasses for babies which made them talk.

When they put the special sunglasses on the baby, he/she instantly began to make sounds and beat box to a rhythm. Then the mom put on the sunglasses she could not beat box.

So back to the bay the new sunglasses went and the baby beat boxes happily ever after.

The Robot Nun

by Graham, age 4, Washington

Once upon a time, there was a really friendly nun and then the nun searched for a real-life nun because she lived in the jungle and had to find some peopwway as as they can.

This snake has feet., Because it’s a wild snake animal. It looks like a snake, it has a snake mouth and teeth and a snake body, but it has feet.

The nun hopped into a robot with an elevator and took it all the way to the top with the steering wheel in order to run away from the snake but the snake opened the door and go’d up the elevator and then Santiago come to the rescue and super graham come to the rescue.

Santiago is a kindergartner. And Graham is a kid. Both had no tornado shield powers because it’s dangerous. it might make you explode.

Santiago is a kindergartner. And Graham is a kid. Both had no tornado shield powers because it’s dangerous. it might make you explode.

Don’t Open the Fridge

by Zoe, age 9, Massachusetts

Mom: What a wonderful family dinner TV alert: Bleep! Bleep!

News reporter: Do. Not. Open. Your. Fridge. There have been multiple reports of tap-dancing spiders in people’s fridges. Be warned. No opening fridges until further notice by the government. Do not panic!! (News reporter obviously panicking)
TV turning off: Bleep.

Dad: Hey, why did you turn the TV off, Jake? (Jake is the kid btw)

Jake: Because, dad, it’s not like there are actually spiders in our fridge. (Jake walks to fridge and reaches for handle)

Dad: Jake! What are you doing!

Jake: Uh, opening the fridge. I forgot to grab some milk.

Dad: No, do— Door: c-r-e-a-k

Spider: Hi’a! Dad/Mom/Jake: Aaaaaah!

Jake: Dad, a spider just talked. Spider tap shoes: Tippety tap tap tap tip tap

Mom: STOP


Spider: OK

Jake: Wait, what!


Spider: The end.

Jake (sarcastically): Thanks a lot, mom

Mom: Sorry

Spider: I said, The. End.

The Vacation Cat

by Harper, age 7, Alabama

Why You Should Never Feed a Potato Chip to a Kangaroo/The Never Ending Story Story

Meghan creates a tech company for Nimene’s inventions. Featuring two new stories: “Why You Should Never Feed a Potato Chip to a Kangaroo,” a cautionary tale about kangaroos and their quest for world domination, written by Tyson, an 11 year old from Utah, and “The Never Ending Story Story,” a mind-blowing trip down the rabbit hole of storytelling itself, written by a 13 year old from Washington named Maggie.

Scroll down for the original stories behind the episode!

Illustration by Camila Franklin

Jump to: Original Stories from Episode | Story Spark | Original Stories from Roll Call

Why You Should Never Feed a Potato Chip to a Kangaroo

by Tyson, age 11, Utah

Tim lived in his house with a pet kangaroo. He was eating potato chips on his couch and then he dropped one on the ground. His kangaroo named Dunkaroo hopped over to it and ate it. Tim didn't mind because he was pretty sure that kangaroo's could eat potato chips. Then Dunkaroo hopped on his lap and started to eat all of the potato chips in the bag. "No! Dunkaroo, get down!" said Tim. Then Dunkaroo ate all of the chips. he went to the kitchen to get a different snack then went to sit back on the couch. When he got back to the couch, Dunkaroo was levitating right in front of his eyes. Then Tim's pet kangaroo shot lasers out of his eyes. He shot them right at Tim's feet. "OUCH!" Said Tim. Then Dunkaroo spoke "I order you to give me more flat salty tasty snacks. Right now." Tim ran to tell his parents what was going on. When he came back in the room with his parents, Dunkaroo was standing there like nothing happened. "I swear, mom, he was floating! And he shot lasers out of his eyes! He had super powers!" But his parents were not convinced. His mom and dad left then when Tim turned around Dunkaroo wasn't there. He went to his room to see if Dunkaroo was in there. When he looked out of the window and there were kangaroos everywhere. Tim ran outside and noticed that Dunkaroo was levitating again. Tim knew what he had to do. He ran inside and grabbed as much bags of potato chips as he could, then he ran back outside. "Here, Dunkaroo, here's your chips! And where did all these kangaroos come from?" Said Tim "They shall be my friends. I will share those tasty snacks so that everyone shall know the greatness of them. Now, hand them over, Tim." Tim gave him the bags of chips. "Finally, I shall be the ruler of snacks!" Then he threw all of the chip bags out except one, that he ate himself. Tim was thinking of ways that he could stop these kangaroos from possibly taking over the world. He remembered that kangaroos ate grass. "Wait! I know something that you would like better than those chips." Said Tim. Dunkaroo floated down to him. "Yes? What could possibly be better then these holy snacks?" Said Dunkaroo "This." said Tim as he pointed to the grass. "Try it." said Tim. All of the kangaroos bent over and took a bite of grass. "Hmm... This is... Wonderful!" Said Dunkaroo. All the kangaroos gave up the bags of chips and started munching on grass. A few seconds later Dunkaroo started to act more normal. Then eventually, all of the kangaroos started to leave. Tim's kangaroo hopped over to him, he wasn't talking. Dunkaroo was finally back to normal.

The Never Ending Story Story

by Maggie, age 13, Washington

I’ve got a story for you! Once upon a time, there was a girl named Natasha. Her biggest dream was to become the youngest author in the world, and she already had a rough draft. Natasha read it to her mom. This is what it said:

It all started with the library writing contest. Allison couldn’t wait to share her story. She sent it to the judges. This is what they read:

Mrs. Reed, the librarian at Riverside Middle School, had noticed that there was high demand for “origin stories" at the beginning of the school year. It was August 31st, and Mrs. Reed searched the shelves of the local book store in hopes of finding the perfect book. Here is one she found:

Stop! Just stop!
Whoa! Who are you, and how did you get here?
That is unimportant. Anyway, what’s all this mumbo-jumbo I hear?
Um, It’s just a story.
Just a story? Geez! What do you call it, The Neverending Story Story? Because that’s what it seems like to me. A story about a story about a story about a story. It’s the most confusing thing I’ve ever heard in my life!
Oh, for Heaven's sake, would you please knock it off? I have a story to tell here.
(sigh) Okay fine. But
I’ll be glad to see the day (or the century) where you’ll say “The end.”
Well, this story just ends when I’ve run out of ideas.
Like that’ll ever happen.
I’m sure it will. My brain can’t generate story ideas forever, you know.
Okay, okay, go on.
Wait. Where was I? Oh right. The story the librarian found read:

Before stories really existed, there was a boy who made them up in his head all the time. But he had always kept his stories to himself. However, he just couldn’t keep them secret for much longer. The first story he told to anyone was:

Once upon a time (actually in the future), there was a person who made stories for a living. He created many stories, and this is the one that was the most well-known:

“Mom, just one more story, please?" Mia begged for the millionth time. Her mom grabbed a book from the shelf and started reading:

It was a dark and stormy Halloween night, and a group of kids was trick-or-treating. They rang the doorbell of the house on 13th street, which just so happened to be the house owned by a dentist who disapproved of “candy consumption." She was also an excellent storyteller. When the woman answered the door, the kids still said "Trick-or-treat," even though they didn’t expect any candy.
“I might not have any sweets on me,” the dentist said. “But I do have something even better. How would you like to hear a story?”
“Yes!” the kids cried. So the woman started her story:

Once upon a time, there was a novelist who had been dealing with writer's block for a very long time. He was just about to give up when an idea came to him, and he set to work. This is what he wrote:

“The end at last," the author said, finally setting his pen down. Though he enjoyed writing stories, he was glad to be finished.

Few! I was wondering when that was going to end.
You’re welcome. Now that that’s settled, may I ask again, who are you?
Does this give you a clue: I want to be the youngest writer in the world.
Natasha?
Aha, that’s me.
Hey, Wait a sec. So if you're Natasha, then that means you technically wrote this story.
No, you did. No, wait, Allison did.
How confusing!
That’s how I intended it!

Story Spark

Tyson, who wrote “Why You Should Never Feed a Potato Chip to a Kangaroo" is presenting this week's Story Spark!

Write a story about a character from your imagination who gets sucked into a book. Tell us what book they get sucked into, what the world of the book is like, what they do inside of the book, and most of all: how do they get home?

Roll Call Stories

how to worm!!!

by Amos, age 11, Washington

One day a kid ate a candy worm and thought is there a dance for worms? He went home and he looked on YouTube how to worm. He watched the video and he said I should teach the whole world how to worm!!! He taught the world to worm!!! THE END!!!!!!!

The Farm Animals’ Very Own Slide

by Gwen, age 8, UK

Bob and John were cowboys. But not just any cowboys. They were pigs who were cowboys.

They ran a large ranch in Texas where they cared for a lot of different animals, including horses, chickens, donkeys, llamas, and gazelles.

One morning, as Bob and John were finishing setting out breakfast for everyone, they noticed Casey, one of their horses, was not in her stable. They began looking around for her. First, they searched near her barn. When they didn’t find her, they separated and searched all over the farm.

Finally, after a couple hours, Bob her a “neigh.” He turned around in the direction he thought it came from, but no one was there.

“That’s odd,” thought Bob.
And then he heard it again.
“Neigh!”
This time, he looked up. Sure enough, there was Casey, stuck up in a tree. Bob shook his head in disbelief.

“Casey, how did you get up there?”
“Neigh!” Casey said back.

It wasn’t a very tall tree, but Casey was a very large horse. So getting her down was going to take some doing. Bob called John on his walkie.

“John,” he said. “You’re never going to believe where I found Casey.” A few minutes later, John was standing next to Bob, looking up at Casey in the tree, trying to figure out what they should do. After a lot of brainstorming, they decided their best idea was to build a slide from some leftover materials, including an old chute, they had stored in the barn.

Once they retrieved all the parts, Bob and John started assembling the slide. Surprisingly, it didn’t take them long. Even more surprisingly, Casey seemed curious about what they’d built. Bob and John were worried about how they were going to get Casey down the slide, but she inched herself over to the slide without any coaxing.

Meanwhile, many of the other animals on the farm had gathered to watch what was going on. There was a lot of buzz as to whether this was a very good idea or a very bad idea.

As they were talking to themselves, and Bob and John were tightening the last bolts at the bottom of their slide, Casey peered down from the top. First, she reached out with her right hoof.

“Slippery,” she thought.
Then, without another thought, she hurled herself onto the slide.

Mind you, this was a horse who loved adventure. After all, she was stranded at the top of a tree. How many other horses do you know like that?

Bob and John and all the animals below watched Casey fly down the slide in awe.

She reached the bottom in the blink of an eye. Casey jumped up on all fours and let out an excited “neigh!” The other animals, sensing how much fun she just had, wanted to try the slide themselves. They quickly surrounded Bob and John and made all kinds of excited noises and motioned to the slide.

“I think they want to try it, too,” Bob said to John.
“I think you’re right,” John said. “And you know what? I want to try it, too!”

So they got to work building a ladder to the top of the slide. As soon as they were done, the animals lined up and, one by one, climbed to the top and flew down the slide. This went on for the rest of the day. Everyone had so much fun.

It didn’t take long for news of the slide to spread to the neighboring ranches. Within just a few days, there was a long line of animals waiting to use Bob and John’s slide, including sheep, goats, ducks, turtles, and even a few snakes and alligators.

Everyone was welcome. And everyone enjoyed playing together on the slide.

Silp, dip and trip

by Natalia, age 10, California

“Welcome to nobody's favorite game show! I’m nobody’s favorite host. The Weird Host!You know how this game show works: someone's bowling ball slips, one dips, and finally one trips and because orange juice is spilled on the floor and don’t ask why.

Here’s our first contestant, Jennifer Kairna.” said the Weird Host “hello it’s such an honor to be here. Can I tell you a joke?” asked Jennifer “ No you cannot” “ thank you, so one day a pile of-” “on to our next contestant.” interrupted the Weird Host” hey I wasn’t finished with the joke yet!”

“He came all the way from coolaforneea." “It’s California” said the next contestant “That’s what I said.Anyways welcome Antwanet Plela.” “It's Mia Antwanet and I’m a girl!” she said “say this with all my heart. NOT SORRY! And finally he walked 2 steps to get here, here he is mmmmeeee!" (Everyone gasped and everyone on stage, even the Host.He did it the loudest.)

“We’ll be right back!” Do do do da do “Dude, have you had orange juice spilled on your floor?Bruh if you said yes then come down to Marley’s Bagels it’ll be radical. You Know if you're wondering I’m definitely not related to a person named Marge anddude she doesn’t sell donuts. Hey dude can that part be cut off?” “no to tight of a budget” said Producer Guy “how many seconds do I have left?” he asked “80 maybe you can show an example” said Producer Guy. And after he did that he sounded sick. “Delicious.”

“We are back Jennifer is about to roll” (the sound of a bowling rolling on the floor) “wow it looks like she is going to win!Wait no, her bowling ball slipped on the orange juice.”

“Next up Antwanet Plela-” “IT’S MIA ANTWANET!” she yelled “ this kid am I right. Well it looks like she is about to roll. She is getting close to the pin! Oohhh her bowling ball went into the gutter or it dipped.” He said “NOOO!” exclaimed Mia

“Well my turn don’t mind me.” He pushes her out of the way.“He blinks twice and he rolls and it looks like mine somehow mine tripped into the gutter.I should have expected that it would trip jokes on me”

The Producer Guy asked “well- wait just a second where is the last whining-” “Mine slipped” said Jennifer. “ Mine Dipped” said Mia Antwanet. “ And mine tripped” said the Weird Host. “WE QUIT” they said. This was produced by Marley’s Bagels.” said Producer Guy “ Marley say something!” “what uh dudes don’t buy Marge’s donuts okay see ya. Bye!”

The End

Bad Brother

by Kimya, age 9, New York

My brother shrank me with a shrink-O-ray and a ant ate me.

BONUS: Fixed-Up Fairy Tales: The Live Stream

 In this brand new bonus series, ‘Fixed-Up Fairy Tales,’ kid authors take the most beloved fairy tales of all time and make them their own. Featuring a brand new story, “The Live Stream,” written by Jordynn, an 11 year old from Colorado.

Scroll down for the original story!

How to Listen:

Creator Club members can find today’s episode in their exclusive bonus feed! Not a member? Join today for Fixed-Up Fairy Tales plus our full catalog of bonus episodes including Imagication (silly and mindful creative visualizations with Peter), Acting with Meghan, Story Creation Zones (interactive creative activities with Siegfried, Baby With A Mustache, Nimene, and Peter), and more!

Illustration by Camila Franklin

Original Story

The Live Stream

by Jordynn, age 11

Were Live in 3...2...1” Fox says pointing to Wolf “ Hey guys” Wolf says winking to the camera “This live stream is doing good 1 person joined MomIsTheBomb456” Fox said excitedly “MomIsTheBomb456? Mhm just as I suspected! Hey mom thanks for kick starting me and Foxes live stream this is our most popular stream all because of you! Take it away Fox” Wolf says, taking the camera from him “Ok guys today we are going to show you how we hunt for food.” Fox says setting the camera down on a red wagon. Ring Ring Ring Wolf's phone rang “Hello?” he said “Wolf you didn’t even answer it” Fox said rolling his eyes “Oh…” he answers and says “Hello?” After a brief moment of silence someone responds “Hey honey I just wanted to make sure this live stream won’t interfere with your bedtime. You need your beauty sleep or you’ll be grumpy” Wolf's mom is very over protective “MoOoOm” Wolf groans before he hangs up. “Anyway no more calls will be taken at this time” Wolf says staring into the camera, “Let's move on from that how about we….” Before Fox could finish, Wolf says “Shhhhh do you see the girl, follow me.” They took their little red wagon and their one person live stream over to her “Hey!” Fox says to her “Ahhhh” the girl screeched “Oh golly sorry but you can’t sneak up on a little lad like me” She responded quickly after the scream “ Sorry, we just wanted to make a new friend we are live streaming this!” Wolf said enthusiastically “Oh my really how many people are watching” she responded “umm 1 but it’s my mom” Wolf told her Scratching his head “Cool, Oh um They Call me Little red riding hood, little red for short.”
“Where you headed, little red?” says Fox “My Grannies, I hear she’s quite ill.” Said little red sounding just a little sad “Well we will leave you to it” Fox says smirking “Thank you friends if you need me I’ll be at grannies by the starbucks” Little red skips away “We have found our prey.” Fox says “Who?” Wolf asks Fox sighs and says “The girl and her grannie now follow me.” they ran off taking a shortcut to little red’s granny's house. When they finally got there they knocked on the door and what they assumed to be grannies' voices responded. “Who’s there?” “It’s me granny,” Wolf said, doing his best to impersonate the little girl they met moments before. Well the old woman must have some bad hearing problems because she said with her soft old voice “There’s a key under the mat come in darling” They broke in well not really but still “There she is laying in her bed!” whispered Wolf “Lets get her!” Fox happily said They started eating “Little Reds Grannie tastes weird!” Said Wolf, Fox nodded and kept eating. On the flip side “Today is a good day… I’m gonna go home… my name is steve...and I’m singing this song” Steve Sang “wait are those animals GASP eating GRANNIE!” Steve said worried “Hey Steve” Little red said waving at Steve “LITTLE RED COME HERE RIGHT NOW” Steve half yelled at her “What's wrong!” she asked “is that your grannie” steve whispered “OHHHHHHH MYYYYYYYY GOLLYYYYYYYY GRANNIE!” She yelled in terror “Don’t worry I got a plan go ring the doorbell.” he said confidently “Are you out of you mind!” she responds “I got this sheet, they answer the door we throw it on them” he said reassuringly “ok but why do you have a sheet with you?” she asked “ Will you stop asking so many questions Red” he said annoyed “Don’t call me that” she told him “Just go” Steve pushed her to the door. She rings the doorbell and the wolf and fox answer “HAYAAAAAAAAAAH” Steve runs at them with the sheet and covers them “ I can’t see!!!” Fox responds, they tie them back to back “You’ve got some explaining to do” Little Red says. Just as she says that the front door opens “Grannie?” Little red said hugging her tight “I’m so confused” grannie. said 30 minutes later “Ohh yeah that's just my home security system they recorded my voice it’s pretty good” grannie said explaining “what about the person they ate?” Steve asked “Silly children, that's a mannequin so if someone looks in my bedroom window they will see the mannequin sleeping and will think it’s me and not disturb.” she answered “That's Smart grannie!” Little red said. “Police!!” said well the police “Let them in steve!” Little red erged “ok,ok!” Steve responded “What’s wrong!” they asked “ these rascals tried to eat Little red’s grannie and broke into her house and impersonated little red. They broke three laws!!” Steve told them. “You're going to jail fellas,” Police told Fox and Wolf. The police escorted them out of the house and into the cop car. “What a day” Steve said, taking a sip of his tea and biting a piece of grannie's homemade cookies. “Yeah, also grannie, these cookies and tea are delicious thank you!” Little Red said. Grannie smiled “thank you sweetheart”

The Hanukkah Ghost/The Dragon That Just Wanted Hair (feat. Seth Meyers)

Sports agent Chip McFoddlesworth (Seth Meyers) discovers Lee and Peter have an aptitude for the game of dirtball. Featuring two new stories: “The Hanukkah Ghost,” a song about a spooky holiday gathering, written by Raia, a 7 year old from Illinois, and “The Dragon That Just Wanted Hair,” a story about a follically challenged beast who yearns for luscious locks, written by a 9 year old from Pennsylvania named Avalon.

Scroll down for the original stories behind the episode!

Illustration by Camila Franklin

Jump to: Original Stories from Episode | Story Spark | Original Stories from Roll Call

The Hanukkah Ghost

by Raya, age 7, Illinois

It was a Hanukkah night and the family was getting ready to light the menorah. It was the brother’s first time lighting the menorah himself, because he was only 5. When he was one inch away from the menorah, the flame on the candle, and all of the lights went out. The baby cried, the parents hugged each other, and the boy ran to his room. He heard a oOoOoOoO noise and ran to his parents. He said, “I heard a noise! A scary noise!”. The mom said, “Ok, everyone calm down.” Then they all heard the oOoOoOoOo, and now they were really scared. Then scary music turned on and they were really frightened. They turned on the lights and saw nothing. The lights snapped off again. The ghost said, “I will haunt you!” and it was angry. The mom said, “What do you want from us???, and the ghost said, “You never come to my mansion, and I have great latkes! I send messages every Hanukkah about my party and you never respond!” The dad said, “Because we can’t see them! We are humans and you are a ghost!” The next Hanukkah, the family went to the ghost’s mansion and had a great time playing dreidel and eating latkes and gelt.

THE END

Story Pirates’ adaptation of “The Hanukkah Ghost” was composed by Melissa Gordon and produced by Brendan O’Grady with vocal arrangement and direction by Jack Mitchell

The Dragon That Just Wanted Hair

by Avalon, age 9, Pennsylvania

“Hi I am Ginger and I have a dream. I only tell my best friends what it is, but you seam nice so, more than anything I want hair.”
THE NEXT DAY
“I’m awake so that means its time to go on a journey to find hair!! First we have to go through the Tropical rainforest. Here we…”
“Wait wait wait Ginger its me your dragon neighbor I thought I heard you say you wanted hair because come in side and look at all my hairs on the wall I sell them but you can take on for free.”
“Oh my gosh there are so many I want thise blond braid have a nice day Dragon neighbor” !!THE END!!

Story Spark

Avalon, who wrote “The Dragon That Just Wanted Hair" is presenting this week's Story Spark!

Write us a story about a character who does or wears something unexpected, like a turkey wearing shoes! Remember to make it creative and original. AND HAVE FUN WRITING IT!

Roll Call Stories

The Day When the Bus Drivers Didn’t Pick Up the Kids

by Arthur, age 9, Connecticut

Eddie and Arthur were waiting one morning for the bus #10,000 to take them to Hopewell School. Mr. Bobby didn't see them. They ran to Arthur's place to watch the news on TV about bus drivers. All over, Connecticut, bus drivers did not pick up kids for school! They were grumpy! Eddie and Arthur yelled, "Stop! Stop!" But it didn't work. Arthur made cookies! He made a bow-and-cookie launcher. It worked! Mr. Bobby stopped and drove them to school. Yay! Yay!

Click to download story with illustration.

The Sloth, once upon a time!

by Gwen, age 8, UK

There was a sloth and he had a suspicos caritor. Won day he saw a wardrobe and he slowly climd in he sow 2 buttons and he pressed 1 and the wardrobe started to shake and then shake and then it stopped and sloth cimed out of it and hi apierd to be In a town cuald wakrima and it was bussy and he went in to a shop and asked the shop kipper for a ice cream and the shop kipper sede
Over ther on the left ,so sloth looked on the left and HI SAW HOTCOCLET
So he bort it and asked how much is it ,the shop kipper sed free so sloth worked out then the shop kipper sed WHER IS MY MONE oooooo sloth sed hirs som money waw this is confusing One apon a TIme.

The Flying Christmas Trees

by Rosie, age 5, Colorado

Once upon a time there were two sisters. One was seven and one was eight. They went to buy a Christmas tree for their mommy and daddy.
They took it home and decorated it. And when they were done decorating everything it was bedtime.
Both of the little girls but they didn’t know their Christmas tree was magical. As soon as everyone was asleep, the Christmas tree came alive.
It talked to find the right way into space. It asked questions of the other Christmas trees. It was hard. But at least there was one Christmas tree who knew how to get to space.
And when one Christmas tree went into space, the rest of them did too. This was at midnight so you’ll never see it. But if you did stay up until midnight it might happen. So you might want to try it.
They circled and swooped around planets. If you were a Christmas tree you will love doing it.
The planet they loved the most was Jupiter. The red dot and storms - they were cool. Well, it’s worth it. When you have a Christmas tree you might want to stay outside until midnight to see if it happens to you. And when your Christmas tree floats out the door, grab a space helmet and grab the tree.
The trees brought everything they could turn into ornaments back from space.
The end

The Tri Baby Tournament

by Patrick, age 8, and Nico, age 5, Massachusetts

Once upon a time, there were three baby kingdoms. The names of the kingdoms were:
Bubbinshire, Babyton, and Gagaland. King Jack and Queen Taylor ruled Bubbinshire. King
Max and Queen Alexis ruled Babyton. King Mango and Queen Dingding ruled Gagaland.
Once every year, a Tri Baby Tournament would be held amongst the baby lands and the
three kingdoms would compete in a magnificent tournament of abilities.

The Kings competed with the other Kings and the Queens competed with the other
Queens. The first way the Kings and Queens would compete was by seeing who could get
the highest in the air. The second way that they would compete is by seeing who was the
strongest. The third way they would compete was to see who was the fastest. And finally,
a tie breaker would be a battle with baby weapons. This is a story about the Tri Baby
tournament of 2022.

For the first competition of getting the highest in the air, the babies could use any of
their baby weapons. King Jack used his jackhammer as a pogo stick to launch himself into
the air. He flew 200 feet high with his pogo stick. King Max used his ax to bang himself
right off the ground. It didnt work very well. He only got 50 feet. King Mango used his
super sucking power to suck himself all the way to the moon. He clearly got the highest
because nothing is higher than the moon in babyland, so he won.

The Queens also put on a magnificent performance of jumping following the Kings. Queen
Alexis used her sticky X balls to get 200 feet high. She threw them into mid air where
they stuck to the sky and pulled her up to the clouds. Queen Dingding used her super
strong leg jumping power to jump 300 feet into the air. Queen Taylor used her super long
tail rope to lasso herself to the moon. And again, nothing is higher than the moon in baby
land, so she won.

The strength competition was perhaps the most pure show of abilities because the babies
couldn’t use any of their baby weapons, only their own strength. The queens always went

first in the strength competition. First up was Queen Alexis. Queen Alexis used her strong
arm muscles to lift up a whole school that weighed 18,000 pounds and threw it into the sky.
Next Queen Dingding used her super strong legs to kick a shed that weighed 1,000 pounds
all the way up a hill. Finally, Queen Taylor used her super strong elbows to body check a
2,000 pound cow and send it rolling down the road. Queen Alexis won.

Next was the battle of the Kings’ strengths. King Mango went first. King Mango wasn’t very
strong. He used his weak little arms to lift a 100 pound shed and barely threw it 20 feet.
King Max on the other hand had very powerful fists. He punched a 2,000 pound cow
halfway to the moon. King Jack was the strongest king of all though. His mighty arms
picked up a 100,000 pound skyscraper and threw it all the way to the moon! King Jack had
clearly won.

Lastly, was the speed round. It was another competition where none of the babies could
use baby weapons. All the kings and queens raced one at a time on the same quarter mile
track. King Max ran the track in 4 minutes, which wasn’t very fast for a baby. King Jack
went second and ran it in 2 ½ minutes. Impressive, but still not that fast. King Mango went
last and ran faster than both of them, clocking in at 1 minute flat! Next up the Queens
took their shot. Queen Taylor went first and ran the quarter mile as fast as King Max, 4
minutes. Queen Dingding went second and she tied with King Jack at 2 ½ minutes. Queen
Alexis ran last and won fastest of the queens, finishing her quarter mile at 1 ½ minutes.

All the babies had won one round each, so that meant there had to be a tie breaker to
determine the winner of the Tri Baby Tournament....the big Tri Baby Battle! This was the
most exciting battle of all because it had the most action. All the babies were allowed to
use their baby weapons in the Baby Battle making for an impressive and wild show. The
baby battle was held in the big gorge between all three baby kingdoms. Nearly 5,000 fans
came from all three kingdoms to watch the showdown. Most people were rooting for
Bubinshire because it was the biggest kingdom and King Jack was quite popular among the
people for his cute looks. The second favored kingdom was Babyton, mostly because a lot
of people thought that Queen Alexis had a really cool name. The least popular kingdom was
Gagaland because the names of the King and Queen were kind of silly and they weren’t
very good looking either.

The tournament began and the crowd went wild! Queen Alexis started off by throwing her
X balls but Queen Dingding used her shield to block them and the X balls shot right back

at Queen Alexis. Queen Alexis was out of the competition. King Jack sauntered in next and
challenged Queen Dingding with his jackhammer. Using the most powerful setting on his
jackhammer, he pointed it directly at Queen Dingding’s shield and knocked it right out of
her hands. She was out. King Max grabbed his mighty ax and came running at King Jack. He
swung his ax at King Jack but at the same time King Jack turned his jackhammer right at
King Max. King Jack’s jackhammer was too powerful for King Max’s ax and broke it right in
half. King Max ran off crying. Now he would have to make a new ax now! Queen Taylor and
King Mango now both entered the ring, and Jack stepped aside,. If Queen Taylor or King
Jack won, Bubinshire would win! The crowd was in full uproar! King Mango rapid fired
mangoes at Queen Taylor, but Queen Taylor dodged them. Using her tail ropes, she wound
up and whacked his mangos right out of the gorge. King Mango was out. BUBINSHIRE HAD
WON and the reward was an ancient butt cheek. Mr Diaper, the manager of the Tri Baby
Tournament presented the ancient butt cheek to Queen Taylor and King Jack. Bubinshire
became well known around the whole world as a kingdom with strong, fast, and high jumping
records.

The End.

The Story of King Pineapple/Stonecliffs! (feat. Abby Trott)

The Story Pirates meet an underground restaurateur (Abby Trott) who serves a rare delicacy. Featuring two new stories: “The Story of King Pineapple,” the story of a disposed royal who must reclaim their birthright from an evil farmer, written by Chloe and Iris, two sisters from California, and “Stonecliffs!”, a story about a kingdom with too much cake, written by two siblings from Singapore named Lyra and Ralph.

Scroll down for the original stories behind the episode!

Illustration by Camila Franklin

Jump to: Original Stories from Episode | Story Spark | Original Stories from Roll Call

The Story of King Pineapple

by Chloe and Iris, age 10, California

Once upon a time there was little pineapple who grew up on a tropical island. Every day on the island he loved to play with his BFF Hamilton the Pig. But one day the Evil Farmer harvested him and forced him to leave the island so he could marry the Queen Pineapple. After 50 years of being King, ruling a kingdom and starting a band called "The Pina Cooladas" he decided he would go on a great journey to find his home island.
So he grabbed his backpack and started this epic journey! First he flew across the desert in his diamond helicopter, then he sailed the Pacific Ocean in his ultimate deluxe luxury yacht, finally he drove in his purple and blue sports car through Mount Everest. Then he arrived at his home at last! There he found his friend Hamilton the Pig and they became Super Spies with nunchucks. They defeated the Evil Farmer together and told him to not act like he's the king when the real king was King Pineapple!

Stonecliffs!

by Lyra, age 12 and Ralph, age 9, Singapore

In a village not far from here, lived a king and his son. The king was tired and old so he decided that his son would be the new ruler of his empire.

“ Son, you are a great young man and I hope you grow up with a happy satisfying life. I now pronounce you the new king of Stonecliffs !” The king passed his crown to his son, Jack.

As the kingdom clapped, loudly, reporters ran right towards the new king and started asking him questions. “ Will there be a new rule put in place for this kingdom?”
“Yes! Yes there will be,” replied Jack. “ All of us, the subjects, royalty, EVERYONE has to eat cake ONLY”

The reporters stared at him. “ Only eat cake?!”
“ You heard me!”

And so like the new king wanted, everyone started eating cake for Breakfast, Lunch and dinner. By the second month everyone was sick of it. Well everyone but the king. Jack loved cake no matter how many times he’s eaten it.

“ IM SICK OF CAKE!” said Lizzie the baker. “ It’s all I bake and eat!” Lizzie’s been the Kingdoms baker for twelve years now.

“ Hey! Baker!” Whispered a man wearing a black cape who looked mysterious. “ Got any… fruits?”
Lizzie looked stunned. “ We can only eat cake, mouse brain!”

“ I know but I’m sick of it! Please I’m sure you have some!”the man held out ten dollars in his hands.
“ F-fine but this is just between you and me!” She snatched the money and gave his a red apple.

Ever since the mysterious man visited Lizzie with money, gold, once even a diamond for just one fruit. “ How do you have so much money?!” Asked Lizzie’s staring at the huge amount of money the man gave her. After a loud cough, the man replied with a long stare. And a cough again, almost falling over. “ carful!” said Lizzie. “ I-I’m fine,” the man said.

“ Hey, Backer! I’ll take a chocolate cake for lunch please!” a subject said. Lizzie turned around,” coming right up!” When she went to look back for the man she realised he was running off. “OUCH!” He yelled. Suddenly his cape fell of revealing the ex king. “ Your the- the-“ Lizzie exclaimed. “L-let’s take this inside,” said the ex king.

“ I’m tired of cake it’s gotten my sick literally!” Exclaimed the ex king, Jax. “ But why don’t you tell your son?” Asked Lizzie. “ It will break him! He loves this new rule!” Exclaimed the king, coughing. “ Well if you don’t do anything about it you’ll get more and more sick!” Lizzie said.
“ Oh but he would-“
“ please. For you and the kingdom!”
Jax nodded and ran off towards the castle.

“ Son this has to stop!” He barked running into the castle. “What?!” Asked Jack. “ Wait, son I’m catching my breath….”after a moment of silence,” You need to stop this cake rule! I’m getting sicker and sicker b- by the day because all I eat is c-cake!” Coughed Jax.
“ But!”
“NO BUTS, SON! Please have some sense for once! “
After some debate in Jack’s head he agreed.
“ Fine, I guess no more eating cake every day and every meal.”
Jax smiled and thanked his son.
“ But we shall still have cake on birthdays!” Exclaimed Jack. “ sure,” replied his great full father.


* Five years later*

“ What’s for lunch mummy?”
“ a salad, hun.”
“ Ew why can’t we just have cake?!”
“ I don’t think you’d want that now,Pearl.”
“ knock, knock~”

Some food might seem delicious at first but once you have it too much you’d get sick of it.

“ Oh dad! That knock, knock thing is so over!”
“ Jack! It’s never over!”
“Mummy, who are these people?”

“ Lizzie?! Your a mother?!”
“ that’s right, Jax!”
“Who’s the lucky guy~”

“ Oh your the king!”
“ This is my daughter, Pearl.”

That is what this kingdom learnt in less thank a year.

“ So, I brought cake! Who wants it?@
“Jack! No!”

The end

Story Spark

Lyra and Ralph, who wrote “Stonecliffs!" are presenting this week's Story Spark!

Write us a story about a town, city, or kingdom that gets a new rule. Tell us what the rule is, who made the rule, and why they made the rule? Most of all, do people follow the new rule? Why or why not?

Roll Call Stories

The Day When the Bus Drivers Didn’t Pick Up the Kids

by Arthur, age 9, Connecticut

Eddie and Arthur were waiting one morning for the bus #10,000 to take them to Hopewell School. Mr. Bobby didn't see them. They ran to Arthur's place to watch the news on TV about bus drivers. All over, Connecticut, bus drivers did not pick up kids for school! They were grumpy! Eddie and Arthur yelled, "Stop! Stop!" But it didn't work. Arthur made cookies! He made a bow-and-cookie launcher. It worked! Mr. Bobby stopped and drove them to school. Yay! Yay!

Click to download story with illustration.

The Sloth, once upon a time!

by Gwen, age 8, UK

There was a sloth and he had a suspicos caritor. Won day he saw a wardrobe and he slowly climd in he sow 2 buttons and he pressed 1 and the wardrobe started to shake and then shake and then it stopped and sloth cimed out of it and hi apierd to be In a town cuald wakrima and it was bussy and he went in to a shop and asked the shop kipper for a ice cream and the shop kipper sede
Over ther on the left ,so sloth looked on the left and HI SAW HOTCOCLET
So he bort it and asked how much is it ,the shop kipper sed free so sloth worked out then the shop kipper sed WHER IS MY MONE oooooo sloth sed hirs som money waw this is confusing One apon a TIme.

The Flying Christmas Trees

by Rosie, age 5, Colorado

Once upon a time there were two sisters. One was seven and one was eight. They went to buy a Christmas tree for their mommy and daddy.
They took it home and decorated it. And when they were done decorating everything it was bedtime.
Both of the little girls but they didn’t know their Christmas tree was magical. As soon as everyone was asleep, the Christmas tree came alive.
It talked to find the right way into space. It asked questions of the other Christmas trees. It was hard. But at least there was one Christmas tree who knew how to get to space.
And when one Christmas tree went into space, the rest of them did too. This was at midnight so you’ll never see it. But if you did stay up until midnight it might happen. So you might want to try it.
They circled and swooped around planets. If you were a Christmas tree you will love doing it.
The planet they loved the most was Jupiter. The red dot and storms - they were cool. Well, it’s worth it. When you have a Christmas tree you might want to stay outside until midnight to see if it happens to you. And when your Christmas tree floats out the door, grab a space helmet and grab the tree.
The trees brought everything they could turn into ornaments back from space.
The end

The Tri Baby Tournament

by Patrick, age 8, and Nico, age 5, Massachusetts

Once upon a time, there were three baby kingdoms. The names of the kingdoms were:
Bubbinshire, Babyton, and Gagaland. King Jack and Queen Taylor ruled Bubbinshire. King
Max and Queen Alexis ruled Babyton. King Mango and Queen Dingding ruled Gagaland.
Once every year, a Tri Baby Tournament would be held amongst the baby lands and the
three kingdoms would compete in a magnificent tournament of abilities.

The Kings competed with the other Kings and the Queens competed with the other
Queens. The first way the Kings and Queens would compete was by seeing who could get
the highest in the air. The second way that they would compete is by seeing who was the
strongest. The third way they would compete was to see who was the fastest. And finally,
a tie breaker would be a battle with baby weapons. This is a story about the Tri Baby
tournament of 2022.

For the first competition of getting the highest in the air, the babies could use any of
their baby weapons. King Jack used his jackhammer as a pogo stick to launch himself into
the air. He flew 200 feet high with his pogo stick. King Max used his ax to bang himself
right off the ground. It didnt work very well. He only got 50 feet. King Mango used his
super sucking power to suck himself all the way to the moon. He clearly got the highest
because nothing is higher than the moon in babyland, so he won.

The Queens also put on a magnificent performance of jumping following the Kings. Queen
Alexis used her sticky X balls to get 200 feet high. She threw them into mid air where
they stuck to the sky and pulled her up to the clouds. Queen Dingding used her super
strong leg jumping power to jump 300 feet into the air. Queen Taylor used her super long
tail rope to lasso herself to the moon. And again, nothing is higher than the moon in baby
land, so she won.

The strength competition was perhaps the most pure show of abilities because the babies
couldn’t use any of their baby weapons, only their own strength. The queens always went

first in the strength competition. First up was Queen Alexis. Queen Alexis used her strong
arm muscles to lift up a whole school that weighed 18,000 pounds and threw it into the sky.
Next Queen Dingding used her super strong legs to kick a shed that weighed 1,000 pounds
all the way up a hill. Finally, Queen Taylor used her super strong elbows to body check a
2,000 pound cow and send it rolling down the road. Queen Alexis won.

Next was the battle of the Kings’ strengths. King Mango went first. King Mango wasn’t very
strong. He used his weak little arms to lift a 100 pound shed and barely threw it 20 feet.
King Max on the other hand had very powerful fists. He punched a 2,000 pound cow
halfway to the moon. King Jack was the strongest king of all though. His mighty arms
picked up a 100,000 pound skyscraper and threw it all the way to the moon! King Jack had
clearly won.

Lastly, was the speed round. It was another competition where none of the babies could
use baby weapons. All the kings and queens raced one at a time on the same quarter mile
track. King Max ran the track in 4 minutes, which wasn’t very fast for a baby. King Jack
went second and ran it in 2 ½ minutes. Impressive, but still not that fast. King Mango went
last and ran faster than both of them, clocking in at 1 minute flat! Next up the Queens
took their shot. Queen Taylor went first and ran the quarter mile as fast as King Max, 4
minutes. Queen Dingding went second and she tied with King Jack at 2 ½ minutes. Queen
Alexis ran last and won fastest of the queens, finishing her quarter mile at 1 ½ minutes.

All the babies had won one round each, so that meant there had to be a tie breaker to
determine the winner of the Tri Baby Tournament....the big Tri Baby Battle! This was the
most exciting battle of all because it had the most action. All the babies were allowed to
use their baby weapons in the Baby Battle making for an impressive and wild show. The
baby battle was held in the big gorge between all three baby kingdoms. Nearly 5,000 fans
came from all three kingdoms to watch the showdown. Most people were rooting for
Bubinshire because it was the biggest kingdom and King Jack was quite popular among the
people for his cute looks. The second favored kingdom was Babyton, mostly because a lot
of people thought that Queen Alexis had a really cool name. The least popular kingdom was
Gagaland because the names of the King and Queen were kind of silly and they weren’t
very good looking either.

The tournament began and the crowd went wild! Queen Alexis started off by throwing her
X balls but Queen Dingding used her shield to block them and the X balls shot right back

at Queen Alexis. Queen Alexis was out of the competition. King Jack sauntered in next and
challenged Queen Dingding with his jackhammer. Using the most powerful setting on his
jackhammer, he pointed it directly at Queen Dingding’s shield and knocked it right out of
her hands. She was out. King Max grabbed his mighty ax and came running at King Jack. He
swung his ax at King Jack but at the same time King Jack turned his jackhammer right at
King Max. King Jack’s jackhammer was too powerful for King Max’s ax and broke it right in
half. King Max ran off crying. Now he would have to make a new ax now! Queen Taylor and
King Mango now both entered the ring, and Jack stepped aside,. If Queen Taylor or King
Jack won, Bubinshire would win! The crowd was in full uproar! King Mango rapid fired
mangoes at Queen Taylor, but Queen Taylor dodged them. Using her tail ropes, she wound
up and whacked his mangos right out of the gorge. King Mango was out. BUBINSHIRE HAD
WON and the reward was an ancient butt cheek. Mr Diaper, the manager of the Tri Baby
Tournament presented the ancient butt cheek to Queen Taylor and King Jack. Bubinshire
became well known around the whole world as a kingdom with strong, fast, and high jumping
records.

The End.

Zombie Pups/The Particular Pigeon (feat. Stephanie Park)

The Story Pirates have a spa day. Featuring two new stories: “Zombie Pups,” a thriller of a tune about a dog owner (Stephanie Park) who battles undead canines, written by Lily, an 8 year old from Illinois, and “The Particular Pigeon,” a story about a strange and rebellious pigeon who shows everyone how to be brave, written by a 7 year old from Hawaii named Gus.

Scroll down for the original stories behind the episode!

Illustration by Camila Franklin

Jump to: Original Stories from Episode | Story Spark | Original Stories from Roll Call

Zombie Puppies

by Lily, age 8, Illinois

Oh no they are chasing me Bbbzzzzz. Pardon the interruption, but we need to start from the beginning. Oh no they are trying to get in, I might have to jump out a window.

Oh no they are in, Zombie puppies with my dog Cosmo as the leader. I ran to the window and jumped out. I tried to listen to what Cosmo was telling them, but i couldn’t with all the barking going on. They ran out the front door to chase me. Cosmo’s favorite ball was in my pocket so I threw it. All the zombie puppies ran to get it.

I rant to the park where my friends Emily Ricky were playing. I told them we needed to run, because the x zombie puppies were chasing me. We went to their house to get some dog treats. We made a special formula made of peanut butter, pickle juice, strawberries and mashed up plant leaves.

We left them on the ground where Cosmo and the puppies ate them all. They turned into real Puppies again and we all were safe and happy again.

Our adaptation of Zombie Puppies was written by Eric Gersen

The Particular Pigeon

by Gus, age 7, Hawaii

Once upon a time there was a particular pigeon and this pigeon was a particular pigeon because this pigeon was not afraid of anything. He could do whatever he wants. He ate corn, played videogames (such as MarioKart, Roblox, Fortnite, and Minecraft). He went skiing- he didn't listen to his teacher, he just skiied. And the pigeon lived happily ever after. The End!

Story Spark

Lily, who wrote “Zombie Puppies" is presenting this week's Story Spark!

Write us an adventure story about a person who secretly has extraordinary super powers. Tell us what happens on their adventure, and tell us about the very evil villain that they meet along the way.

Roll Call Stories

The Booger Fairy

by Connor, age 7, Pennsylvania

She goes into your nose and takes out your boogers. Then she leaves you a tooth.

So many sodas so little time

by Theodore (Ted), age 9

Let's go get some soda
Don't shake it up!
It doesn't have to be mountain dew

So many sodas so little time
Soda! What a good old day!
We're at the vending machine, not a taco stand
I got ten cents in my pocket, oh no what will i choose?
So little time so little time so much soda
I got so much soda in my head and every time I look ahead it's soda here and soda there so much soda so little time so much soda so little time
I got Cherry berry
At least i ain't like Larry
He got the wrong one and now he's all hairy

I'm going to take a sip I gotta take a dip with my tongue and now
yeah oh no one covered in soda how the heck did all that happened
oh now I'm covered in shoulder how the heck did anything happen
hang on it's cos I should pick it up too much oh no look like I'm cherry Brown go go and fizzy water
needing a new one for my daughter
you got $100 million sold as just a stereotypical guy get some million sodas yeah that's normal like 10 pies yeah hang on now I got a million soda as what could possibly go wrong 5 minutes later them again because I didn't listen to my mind now
does that even happen is this how
I pay the price but I already paid it in the vending machine the world is hating on me with soda and machines oh no hang on $200 I got 500 million sodas there's no way I spilled them on myself 500 years later that happened how did it happen now I'm covered in soda again everybody is looking at me and I'll have to do it again tomorrow because do all of that again cos I'm gonna get a soda like tomorrow very next day and all the Soda no I'm covered in soda again at least this is the end of the day at least it is is midnight quiet how are people here it's midnight Happy Halloween but no thanks just get me to my house and I'll scream oh my gosh it's a werewolf it's it's it's a vampire no it's just a bit scary but with the Reaper mask oh no I'm at my house look at what I found..... A BUNCH OF SODA!!

The end

Training Wheels

by Margo, age 4, Vermont

Training wheels are actually just training to be big wheels on a grown-up bike. And did you know that I'm actually a teacher of training wheels? I teach them what is healthy to eat. I train them how to get big. And I also teach them how to spin. I teach them how to be brave because they're sometimes scared on a grown-up bike.

Once I had a bike with training wheels and when they grew up, they were on my mom's bike. At first they were kind of nervous. But then they got braver and braver and braver.

The End

I Had a Nightmare About a Talking Hamburger

by Josie, age 7, California

Once, a pawn was having lunch. He was having a waffleburger. It turned into a hamburger. When the pawn tried to eat it, it talked. The pawn screamed and yelled, "Mama, mama, mama!" The end.