It was a dark and stormy night and I told my mom that the British were coming. She was astounded! She locked the door and turned on the television to SpongeBob. The British love American shows, so my mom said, "OK!" My brother came downstairs screaming like a little schoolgirl. "What's wrong?" asked my mom. My mom said, "There is a dinosaur outside!" He answered, "I heard their teeth are the size of microwaves." "No, they're the size of bananas," I corrected. "Whatever," he said. "The point is we're going to get squished." And that's when I woke up.

--Myriam Arbid, fifth grade

Battlefield Elementary School,

Ms. Decatur's class

It was a dark and stormy night. It was so dark you couldn't see anything.

--Gabby W., first grade

Rocky Run Elementary School,

Ms. Mangano's class

It was a dark and stormy night and the lightning kept on striking. I was sick and feeling very ill. I couldn't do anything because my mom wasn't home. I was so scared I was under the couch. Mom finally came home and she told me to go to my room and I got under the bed. I said, "Go on, storm," and it went away. I then said, "Yeah." After that I wasn't feeling ill anymore.

--Teddy P., third grade

Mary Walter Elementary School,

Ms. Baker's class

It was a dark and stormy night. I saw Frankenstein. I was scared of Frankenstein. He was chasing me.

--Josh D., second grade

Robert E. Lee Elementary School,

Ms. Lee's class

It was a dark and stormy night. There were doors slamming and furniture shaking. I had a hamster. Its eyes were blue and they turned red!

--Malorie, second grade

Widewater Elementary School,

Ms. Steimer's class

It was a dark and stormy night. It was pouring down rain. The wind was strong. It was a scary storm.

--Cody, third grade

Widewater Elementary School,

Ms. Mason's class

It was a dark and stormy night and a turtle was crossing the road and there was a tornado that killed it but it came back alive.

--Sebastian R., first grade

Rocky Run Elementary School,

Ms. Mangano's class

It was a dark and stormy night. Lightning strikes my blue green car. The big rain clouds drop from the sky as the wet window breaks from the heavy rain. I was riding with my dad to the store as heavy rain bounced on our car to get a flashlight because the power went out. We got home. Then the power comes back on. I feel happy when I got home.

--Shyanne, fifth grade

Courtland Elementary School,

Ms. Portmess' class