Chapter 1: The Picnic (Berlin)
My family and I are at the park with our father. We all live in California. My name is Berlin and I am the oldest of seven children at 18 years old. I’m preparing hotdogs for a cook out. Father is helping me, even though I don’t want his help. I’m independent. Jane, who is the second oldest at 16, shouted, “When are the hotdogs going to be done? Cookies is eating my sock!” Cookies is our white labradoodle and loves to eat.
Hannah is on the computer writing a story. Hannah is the storyteller in the family. She is the middle child at 10. Sophie, who is the youngest at 5, ran over and accidentally touched the burner a few minutes ago so she is crying to death. She is very loud and I can’t concentrate.
Pearl, the third youngest at 8 who is a fashion model, has beautiful blonde hair. My hair is only black. Pearl also has the most pretty blue eyes. I’m jealous of her in some ways. I have black eyes.
Ann is the second youngest at 7. She’s into crafts so has just bought a new sewing kit and is testing every last ribbon and needle out. One time, I bought her a pack of ribbons for Christmas and she used them in one day! Chloe, the third oldest at 14, is always helpful. She’s helping Sophie get the band-aids out of our first kit inside of the car. Our father always keeps band-aids in the car.
Then father called, “Time to eat the hotdogs!” We all gathered at the table. Jane said, “I want the biggest one!” Then Sophie said, “No fair! I called biggest one hour ago in the car!”
Just letting you know, Hannah got the biggest. It was after we finished eating our delicious hot dogs, that I made of course, we decided to go home.
Chapter 2: Girl Scout Cookies (Jane)
Chloe promised me she would make her special cookies for my Girl Scout ceremony. If I handed out 20 cookies in a week, I would move from Brownie to Girl Scout! I am jealous because my best friend Sandy is already a Girl Scout.
Suddenly, Hannah ran down the stairs carrying a package in her hands. The package had “Ann” written on it... Ann’s birthday was coming up but I haven’t found her a present yet. I guess Hannah had!
Chloe was at the stove and Hannah bumped into her when she ran down. That caused the cookie dough to splatter on the floor. Berlin, who was quietly reading a book on the couch, was not surprised that she had made a mess with her cookies. She had seen Chloe make so many messes in the kitchen.
I heard a knock on the door. Sophie rode down the stairs on her brand new scooter. Ann ran behind her trying to stop her because she thought she would get hurt! Berlin was not surprised to see Ann was holding a ribbon spindle. It rolled and rolled down the stairs and made a giant mess. Daddy heard the knock on the door so he also came downstairs to answer. He saw the giant mess downstairs. He saw ribbons, dough, and a little girl crying on the floor.
“Sophie...”, he said. He finally answered the door after spending a few minutes cleaning up the mess.
Surprisingly, it was Alexa. Daddy had been dating her. He was thinking about marrying her, because we don’t have a mom, but we don’t like her of course. She was on our bad side. Last time she was over our house on a date with our father, well, we actually planned to wreck it!
Pearl said, “What’s all the noise?” from upstairs. “Do you like my new dress?” asked Pearl. Berlin said, “Isn’t that my sash for prom?” Pearl said, “Yes! I am just borrowing it. I made it over!” Berlin was very mad. She was going to prom in a few days and had her outfit picked out and everything. It was perfect and neat, just like all her outfits. Now the sash had been ruined! Pearl took it, added a few other ribbons she found in Ann’s room, and put it together to make a dress! Berlin was so mad she almost fainted! She didn’t have enough time to buy a new sash.
Alexa walked in the house and said, “We’re going to go upstairs and have a little talk.” Then, she and dad walked upstairs. Chloe said, “Finished the cookies!” I took them, put them in a basket and put on my Girl Scout uniform to go out and sell cookies. I ran out the door. While I was selling cookies, I sold 23! That was just enough.
I ran upstairs to share the good news with dad but I overheard something. They were talking about getting married! I told my sisters about what I overheard.
“Oh, no!” said Sophie. “I don’t want a new mother!”
“I know, we need to stop them,” I said.
“I’ve got it!” said Ann. Then she whispered to me and my sisters, “We will grab my old confetti popper and slide it under the door where father can’t see. The weird thing is, they don’t know the confetti has ribbons in it with spoiled milk on it and it will get all over them!”
“Let’s not get so violent,” said Berlin. “Maybe we should aim for Alexa only?”
Chapter 3: The Big Fail (Ann)
I had the whole thing ready for the confetti launcher. My sisters and I creeped over to the bedroom door. We grabbed the confetti launcher and slid it through a hole in the door that our dog, Cookies, had made. Cookies is always hungry. I pulled back the lever and shot it. It was supposed to land on Alexa’s head and she was supposed to say, “You’re a yucky brute that you did this to me!” and was supposed to run far away. But instead it landed on Daddy’s head!
Daddy said, “Who did this to me? You, Alexa?” We all ran right away into our bedroom. We all share a bedroom and it’s very squished in there.
Sophie said, “I hope dad doesn’t find out what we did!”
“He won’t,” said Jane.
“I’m going to go check and see what he did to Alexa!” said Chloe and creeped out of the bedroom.
I got really worried about her. I didn’t know if she was going to get in trouble. Chloe peeked through the little hole. She could see father kneeling down and, even worse, giving her a ring! That’s what she told us when she returned. We just didn’t believe her! We all crept over so Chloe could prove it to us. There we saw it. She was wearing a ring and they were dancing. We ran away, thinking this was a bad plan and had made it even worse for them.
Then I had it! A new plan! Chloe had a really cool ring. We believed it was a hypnotizing ring. We would hypnotize Alexa for the rest of her life and would never be seen again. I told my sisters my idea and they started to giggle about it.
We heard a knock at the door. I opened it up and we saw someone who was supposed to be the mail-man, but he looked younger. “I’m the mail-man’s son,” he said. Only Berlin knew him because that was her prom date. “I got you something.” He heard about the accident with the sash. He gave her a package and she opened it up. There she saw the most beautiful sash ever that would match her dress perfectly! She exhaled with relief and joy! She ran to the door to tell him thank you, but he was already gone. She thought, “I must go to his house to tell him thank you for giving me this! But it’s getting late and it’s too dark. I’ll have to go tomorrow.”
Chapter 4: The Big Fight
(Hannah)
Alexa left the house. It was bedtime.
In the morning, Berlin got up and headed out the door. “Jane, you’re in charge!” she said, and she left to find Luke (the mail-man’s son)
Father said he would take Ann and Sophie to the mall. They were going shopping for Ann. Sophie wanted to come. He said, “Jane, where is your sister?” He was talking about Berlin.
“She left,” said Jane. “She wanted to go talk to somebody.”
“I need her here! I will not leave the house unless she is here.” (He wanted her to be in charge because she was older.)
I am on the computer upstairs emailing my pen-pal. Her name is Layla and she lives in Texas. I’m waiting to get a note back to see if she’s seen a rattlesnake before. I have my own computer. Berlin has her own, too. None of my other sisters have one. I use my computer for only telling stories and sending emails.
My pen-pal is my best friend. I knew her before she moved to Texas. She lived in Nevada. My father and I have been everywhere around the world. He loves to bring me where he goes. I met my pen-pal in a restaurant when we traveled to Nevada! Then, we became pen-pals.
I heard father stomp upstairs. “Where’s Chloe?” She was finished with her baking and was upstairs, demonstrating to Pearl how to play dominos in the playroom.
Chloe said, “What, Father?”
“I need you to go get Berlin.”
“I don’t know where she went!”
“Well, find out,” said Father. “I need her at the house to watch you while I take the little ones to the mall.”
“I’ll go see if Jane knows where she went.” Chloe went downstairs.
Chloe asked Jane, “Where is Berlin?” Jane said, “I don’t know... I think she went to the mail-boy’s house. He was strange.”
“I’ll go,” said Chloe. She shut the door and left the room. I saw Chloe walk down the street and run into her friend Linda. Then, I looked one more time out the window and she disappeared into the mist. It was very smoky today because our neighbor put their house on fire on accident.
Part 2:
Chapter 4 (Pearl)
I’m sad Chloe had to leave. We were in the middle of our Dominoes game! Then, Hannah walked in holding her computer. It was folded up and she had finished writing a letter to her pen-pal, Layla. I said, “Hannah. Isn’t that my jacket?” Hannah said, “Yes, it was very cold and I borrowed it.”
“You have to ask before borrowing things,” I said in a sassy way.
Then Hannah said, “Well, you borrowed Berlin’s sash without asking, huh?”
“It was a fashion emergency!” I exclaimed.
“Being cold is an emergency, too...” said Hannah.
“Well, not as big of an emergency as myemergency...” I said.
Chloe opened the door and came in with Berlin behind her. Then Father said, “Come on, little munchkins,” to Ann and Sophie. They skipped out the door.
I said to Hannah, “You might as well go on your computer again like you always do. That jacket is mine!”
“I’m just borrowing it!” said Hannah.
Berlin was wearing a brand new dress in a yard sale that she found on her way home.
“What’s the noise about?” said Berlin.
“Well,” I said, “She grabbed my jacket without asking!”
“I was just borrowing it!” said Hannah.
“I think you guys should stay apart for a little bit because I don’t want any noise. Jane is in the middle of her homework. She’s studying for her test tomorrow, on Monday!” said Berlin.
Chloe said, “Pearl, are you ready to finish the game of Dominoes?” She was holding the box. “Sure!” I said.
Hannah took her computer to her room and opened it to see if her pen-pal messaged back. Her pen-pal was also always on her computer.
Chapter 5: The Cookie Almost-Fail (Chloe)
The game was over. I won, like always. I’m the best at Dominoes. It’s my favorite board game. It was Pearl’s first time playing and she did ok.
I realized that since Ann was gone, I would work on the cookies for Ann’s birthday! I went into the cabinets and found sugar, powder, milk, and vanilla extract and set it on the counter. Then I grabbed pink food coloring and all the ingredients for frosting. Then I grabbed my rainbow pack of jimmies.
First, I mixed the batter together and put it on the tray individually. Then I put the cookies in the oven. While they were in the oven, I made the frosting. It turned out ok, but not great. It’s ok – Ann didn’t mind what things tasted like. But other people might, I thought. So, I grabbed more sugar than I was supposed to and put it inside the frosting. Then I added the food coloring and made it pink. I looked at my hands – they had turned pink! I had been mixing them inside the frosting to try and get the sugar mixed in because Father said not to dirty another spoon! I dirtied eight spoons in a week, only for cooking. We didn’t have any left!
Then, Berlin walked downstairs holding her favorite book. Hannah had written it! It was about a character named Olivia and she was on a journey across the Savannah in Africa.
“How is the story going?” I said. “Did you ask Hannah to make me a copy, too?”
“I told her! She’s doing it right now on the computer.”
Berlin sat on the couch and began to read. She said, “I feel like I’m in the Savannah!”
I took out the cookies and put on the frosting. Then I thought, “I’ll just use a plastic spoon to spread it on! Father won’t mind that!” So I used a plastic spoon to spread on the frosting. “I better measure my jimmies,” I said. So I got a cup and measured about a jar full on each cookie! “They are finished!” I said, and I hid them under the stove so Ann wouldn’t find them.
The door opened and it was Ann. “I found new clothes!” she said. She had a new jacket, a new dress and a new pair of jeans. Sophie said, “I got new light-up shoes!”
Ann was so excited because her birthday was tomorrow. I felt humiliated. I made cookies for the party, but I didn’t get Ann’s gift yet. I was thinking of getting her new ribbons, but Father was too busy with his new job to take me. He was writing children’s books. A few weeks ago, he had no job, but then he got the idea from Hannah to be a story teller! He writes stories on the family computer that we all use.
Hannah walked downstairs. She was holding a new beautiful skateboard. What was really cool about it was she decorated it with letters to make it look like a keyboard!
“Isn’t this cool?” she said. “I went to Pearl’s room and she taught me how to decorate this!”
“I see you guys are getting along,” said Berlin.
Then Jane said, “I finished studying for my math test!”
Chapter 6: Sophie’s Imagination Runs Wild (Sophie)
Daddy told me that it was time for my nap. I take 2 naps a day! I don’t sleep so well at night and always have bad dreams. So, I went upstairs with my favorite blankie, that I call “Mr. Henderson” because our last name is Henderson. I put on my most favorite jammies I call “Berlin’s jammies”. They were Berlin’s when she was five. The top is purple with flowers all over it, and the pants are pink with unicorns!
Daddy came up to kiss me goodnight. I got under my covers and fell asleep. I had a very strange dream! My dream was about me in space! My sisters were with me, too! And Daddy was there, too! But the weird thing was, Hannah’s space suit was pink. She hates pink! Mine was black. I hate black! But Hannah liked black and I liked pink, so it didn’t make sense to me!
Then I woke up from my dream. I went over to tell Daddy about it, but he was asleep, too. Then I went downstairs to tell Berlin about it. Berlin was not there. Where had she gone? None of my other sisters were there! Maybe I’m still dreaming, I thought? Turns out, I was. That was weird. I woke up from my dream, in my dream!
Daddy was on the edge of the bed curled up like a puppy. Cookies was next to him. Cookies woke up and licked my face! I snuggled up like a puppy with Cookies and Daddy.
Ann came in. “Where is Cookies? Pearl and I want to try a tutu on her.”
“He’s here, but I want Cookies!” I said.
“It’s my turn with Cookies! You had a whole nap with her!” said Ann.
“Daddy is sleeping with Cookies! It’s Daddy’s turn!”
Ann couldn’t resist that because if Daddy woke up and Cookies wasn’t there, he could get mad at her so she left Cookies with me.
Then I heard a knock at the door. I grabbed Mr. Henderson, my blankie, and walked to the door. I opened the door and standing there was my friend Audrey! Audrey is a red-haired girl, just like Ann.
Audrey asked, “Do you want to play with me and Mena outside?”
“Sure!” I said. I was supposed to be still taking my nap, but after that crazy dream I couldn’t go back! So I told Daddy where I was going and left the house.
I called Mena “Merny” for short because it just seemed like it suited her! But sometimes Daddy tries to call her “Merlee” because, well, it’s a regular name. She prefers to be called Mena, her given name, but she’s ok with whatever we call her. She calls me “Princess of the Unicorns” sometimes because I have so many unicorn things! I call Audrey “Princess of the Ponies.” She even has her own pony. She knows how to ride horses. She’s also five. I’m not expected to learn that young!
I went outside and we played on the playground in the backyard. Our backyard is fenced in. It has a beautiful playground and a pool. But Audrey’s swimsuit wasn’t clean, so we couldn’t play in the pool.
Audrey’s brother has a basketball court in their backyard and they also have a playground. Audrey also has a sister, who is Jane’s age, and her brother is Hannah’s age.
I started to get tired again. I told my friends I was going back to my nap. Audrey’s mom called out that it was time for Audrey’s nap! Audrey doesn’t have a daddy, only a mommy. My father was also dating Audrey’s mom but not anymore. Now he dates Alexa only.
Chapter 7: The Girl Scout Ceremony (Daddy)
I was excited for Jane. It was her Girl Scout ceremony! Berlin tried to get out of going, so she signed up for a camp instead so she didn’t have to go. It was a lot of sitting. Sophie wanted to bring her unicorn that she named Mrs. Goldie, but I said she might lose her in the movie theater. After the ceremony, we are picking up Berlin, then dropping off Sophie and Ann at their friend’s house because we are going to watch Jurassic Park. I let Pearl watch all the scary movies that we watch, but Sophie and Ann are too young to watch. Hannah was so excited for the movie. It was hers and Pearl’s first time watching Jurassic Park. The other girls have watched it already. After the movie was Ann’s birthday party! It was going to be a busy day.
I’m driving Jane, Chloe, Ann and Sophie to the ceremony. For a special occasion, I let Jane sit in the passenger seat. Usually I’m very safe and let Jane sit in the back, but since Berlin is not here, it’s Jane’s seat. Sometimes when all of us are going together, Berlin has to drive her car, too. But Berlin isn’t coming so I asked my girlfriend, Alexa, to drive Hannah and Pearl. Berlin is at a dinosaur camp! You might not expect that. I didn’t either when she was born. But right when she was born, she said “Dinosaur!” So I call her my little dinosaur buddy, because I like dinosaurs a lot, too.
We arrived at the ceremony. Sandy was parked next to us. Sandy is Jane’s best friend and she took Girl Scouts, too. Then Rainy arrived. Rainy was only a Brownie, like Jane was. Rainy was short for Rylie, but we call her Rainy because it suited her. She already had an umbrella and a rain jacket. It was winter! “I’m too excited for spring! I just had to wear my brand new raincoat, that has the logo of the Girl Scouts on it!” she said. She was a little bit trying to brag sometimes. She wasn’t as good a friend as Sandy was to Jane.
Jane walked in with her friend Sandy. I walked behind her, making sure that the road was clear before Sophie and Ann crossed. Sophie and Ann still needed help looking back and forth first. I am a very “safety-first” man. Then, Alexa arrived! Out walked Pearl and Ann. “We just want to get out of that car...” they mumbled to themselves. One bad thing about Alexa was her car smelled like a dump because she always left her garbage in there.
Alexa walked in and said, “I’m so excited for Jane’s big day!” and grabbed her finger and pinched it on Jane’s cheek! Jane was embarrassed, especially with her best friend being there. I said to Alexa, “How sweet of you! You really love my children! I’m excited to marry you tomorrow morning.” The girls said, “Marry??” I said, “Yes! We are getting married!” I thought ‘I should have told them sooner. So I said, “I should have told you sooner. We will have a wedding tomorrow morning!” I heard Sophie mumble, “Oh man... I wish you would marry Audrey’s mom because I want Audrey to be my sister! I have nobody around here my age. Ann isn’t into dolls and things I liked.” Then she mumbled “I should’ve brought Mrs. Goldie.”
“What do you think of this?” I asked. They all replied, “Oh, it’s pretty great!” But I didn’t believe them. Sophie spoke up. “I don’t like her, she’s terrible! We’re the ones who put the confetti popper in the room!” Alexa gasped, “Arrest them!” I couldn’t believe my ears. “You’re not the girl I thought you were. You don’t love my children!” I said to her. Then I said, “I want a mother for my girls who will be nice to my children.” I sent her right away.
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