One hot day Carrie decided she wanted to go some place special. It was her birthday and she said she wanted to go to the beach. She chose the beach because she didn’t get to go the last time it was her birthday. When she and her friends were driving there they saw seagulls outside the window. The sky was a beautiful blue with white puffy clouds. Also they saw farm animals in the fields enjoying the warm summer morning. In two hours Carrie would be at the beach. On the way there no one fell asleep because they were too busy talking and looking out of the windows.

They finally arrived at the beach and after putting down their beach towels on the warm sand went up to the water’s edge. They stepped into the shimmering, blue water. It was cold! Brrrrr! They all decided to step into the water at the same time holding onto each other’s hand. The water came up to their waists. The waves splashed over their heads and their hair got soaking wet. They laughed together when this happened.

After they were finshed swimming they played a game of beach volleyball. They were chasing after the ball when the ball rolled into the water. The girls ran after the ball to try and get it before it went into the ocean. After all that chasing they got very hot! When the game was finished the girls were really tired. They wanted something quiet to do for a while.

They walked down to the water’s edge once again stopping to pick up their favorite seashells and put them in a bucket. They sat their bucket down and walked further down the beach to look for some more unusual shells. When they came back the shells they had found and their bucket were gone.

"Did you take the shells?," asked Carrie.

Kimyada said, "They may have fallen into the sea because we all were gone to do something else and we left them there."

"Let’s look around to see if we can find them," suggested Tiffanie.

When they turned to look out over the ocean the bucket was bobbing on the waves. The bucket was out too far for the girls to reach by themselves. They didn’t worry about it because they had plenty of buckets at home and they knew that there were lots of shells left to be found. They walked back up to tell Carrie’s Mommy about the bucket. She walked out into the ocean and tried to get the bucket. She had her $19.99 bathing suit on and it was her favorite. She did not want to get it wet because she didn’t want to have to ride home with a wet suit on, however, she didn’t want Carrie to lose her favorite bucket. She was able to rescue the bucket and the girls found more shells to put in it.

The girls were hungry after collecting shells. They decided they would like to have some hot crabs. When Carrie and her mom went to get the crabs they were already steamed. She had to get help from her mother because the crabs were too hot for her to carry. The girls found a table and began to crack the claws and enjoy the meat inside. After they had finished eating their crabs the girls laid down on their towels. They stayed there for the rest of the afternoon. Long enough for mom’s bathing suit to dry before she had to drive the girls home. When Kimyada, Tiffanie, and Carrie got ready to leave they put all of their shells in the bucket. Carrie grabbed the towel and her Mom grabbed the kooler.

They left the beach laughing because a bird was eating another person’s chips out of a bag. All the way home they talked about their day together. Carrie could not have wished for a better birthday. That would be a day that the girls would never forget!

Let me tell you the story of what happened to me. My name is Timber and I am a Malamute. I wanted to be found by my master. My master wanted to find me, too. My master’s name is Brenna.

I ran away because of a chocolate lab, named Cookie, that lived in town.

Cookie called to me, "Come with me I know a fun place."

I followed her and then I got lost. I guess she either tricked me or she went too fast because I couldn’t keep up with her. I was scared and I wanted to go home but I didn’t know how. I was lost. I tried to go home but I couldn’t find my home. I was scared and hungry.

Brenna called all her friends but they couldn’t find me.

I walked through a garden and picked a carrot with my mouth.

I saw a rabbit and he said, "Are you hungry? I found a bone back there."

"Thank you I would very much like to have a bone to eat," I said. I ate my bone.

"Are you hungry, too? I found a carrot in the garden," said Timber.

The rabbit said, "Yes, I would like a carrot."

The rabbit was nice but I missed Brenna. I looked around through the woods. I found a dog name Spooky. He helped but soon he had to go to his house. I needed some more food so I found some food crumbs left over from a picnic. I heard a THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! It...was BRENNA? The sound came closer it was a fierce looking dog. Yipes, it was Bruiser!

Bruiser was a dog that did not like any other animals. He had bitten me on my leg when I was a puppy. I was so scared! I began to run away from him. I found a quiet place under a bush to rest.

When I had just about given up on ever seeing Brenna again I woke up and looked through the woods. I heard someone calling my name. "Timber, Timber, can you hear me?," said the voice. It was Brenna this time and I ran towards the voice. She was so happy to see me. She took me in her arms and walked home.

When we got home we could not see anyone around the yard. The door was open. We went inside. My family was inside and yelled, "SURPRISE!" My family was happy that I was home. They fed me and gave me a bath. When they put me in the yard I was thinking that I would never run off with another dog again.