South Toe Elementary 

Yancey County North Carolina

I spent a week at South Toe having fun with the 2nd, 3rd and 5th grade students and teachers. Using Bogeyman 101 as my guide, I introduced story structure and the steps to story writing. The kids were quick learners and so enthusiastic! I will miss them!

Please enjoy their stories below.

Once upon a time there lived a girl named Jennifer and her big sister Olive. Olive was 14 years old and very tricky. One day Jennifer decided to go out in the thunder and make mud pies.

            That evening, Olive told Jennifer a story.

            “Once upon a time Mom went out into the words. I was your age then.” Olive continued. “Mom was going to the mango orchard to pick mangoes. About thirty minutes later Mom came back with one mango. Mom never told me what happened.” Olive stopped.

            Jane smiled.

            Olive could tell what Jennifer was thinking.

            Soon Jennifer leapt out the door.

            Olive could hear Jennifer calling, “Mom!”

            Olive peeked through the window. The clouds came together and suddenly it began to rain.

            Meanwhile, Jennifer was running through the forest. Deep down in the forest was the old and forgotten mango orchard. Jennifer heard the rain coming.

            She found the orchard! She stepped one step closer to the orchard. A rock beside her started shaking. Rain poured and lightning flashed. The lightning flashed and out of the mist was a bony horse. As it galloped closer Jennifer could see it was just the bones of a horse.

            Soon Jennifer was about ten feet away from the horse.

            Jennifer thought she heard something say, “Go away! This land is mine, so let me play. This may be the day I rest.”

            The bones of the horse got up on its hind legs and neighed.

            With another flash of lightning, it was gone.

            Jennifer yelled to the woods that she would leave the horse alone so it could rest.

            Finally, she knew the rest of the puzzle, why the horse was there. When her mom had been in the orchard, she had awakened the horse.

            Jennifer left. Now the horse could rest in peace.

Once upon a time there was this girl and boy. Their names were Noah and Kiyee. Noah was nine-years-old and Kiyee was fifteen year-olds. The brother and sister lived with beautiful animals. A few animals were magic.

            The peacock said, “You may go to the waterfall anytime you want.” The peacock also said, “ You’d better be careful because you might get hurt.”

            Kiyee and Noah agreed and promised.

            The peacock hadn’t finished talking. The peacock said to them, “Come home at three o’clock.” But they had already left and didn’t hear him.

            Soon Kiyee and Noah were galloping in the forests and tall grasses of Ambanasa. They thought that something was following them. They turned around together. All that was behind them was bunny rabbit. They got into the water and watched the fish. When they were about to leave, Kiyee saw something and yelled for Noah to run. After they started to run, the Dare Devil Fall Bogeyman caught Kiyee. It scratched her, and almost ate her.

            Noah pulled Kiyee out of the Dang Devil Fall’s paws and they ran as fast s they could. The bogeyman gave up. The peacock ran to them and gave them a hug with her wings.

            So Kiyee and Noah learned their lesson. They had learned that they shouldn’t leave before someone has finished talking. Then they told the animals what the Dang Devil Falls bogeyman looked like.

            Once upon a time Kelly and Callie were having a sleepover. They were writing a list of things to do.

            Kelly said, “ Let’s go down to the ocean and go swimming late at night.”

            Soon it as 9:30 PM and Kelly said it was time to go to the ocean.

            Callie pulled Kelly out the door. When the two girls were down by the ocean, Callie saw a fin. Kelly saw webbed feet come up to the shore.

            Callie was so scared she got some sand to throw at the monster. When the last grain hit the monster’s eyes, Callie and Kelly ran for their lives. When they got home they told their parents.

            “It was very colorful,” said Kelly.

            “It had two mouths and four red eyes,” said Callie.

            Then they both went to sleep.

       

Once upon a time there were two girls named Amy and Sheila.

            Their mother said, “Never go outside in a storm, because if you do, the storm monster will get you.”

            One night Sheila woke up at midnight. She decided not to wake Amy because Amy might wake up their mom. Sheila went outside into the forest. Even though it was starry that night, Sheila wanted to see the storm monster.

            She went outside and went on a walk. Suddenly she saw a red monster with purple spots. It was coming for her. Luckily the storm blew over a small tree, which Sheila picked up and threw it at the storm monster. She escaped the storm monster and learned her lesson.

One cloudy day a boy named Gil was in the rain.

            People said, “Never go out in the rain.”

            Gill went out anyway. (Gil is tough).

            Then Flash a Foot came down in a flash and Gil disappeared. Gil beat the monster. But Gil never went out in the rain again.

The Cave Man

Once upon a time there were two girls named Scarlett and Dakota. Their mom said not to go up in the mountain in the cave. But they loved to go into cave so they still did. So then their mom said there was a caveman in the cave.  But they did not obey. That very day they went to the cave. They saw the caveman! He was tall and had all kinds of color on him and was full of shapes. The worst part of it was that they woke the caveman up. It chased them. Scarlett thought that it had the hands it needed to dig through the cave so it could come after them. . When they got home they looked it up on the internet and the caveman did have hands. The next day they cut off the caveman's arms and built a block of rock and blocked the cave. They never saw the caveman again.

Every day in Florida two girls went to a water slide. The girls were named Ellie and Naomi. Their parents told them never to pass while they were on the water slide. The girls didn’t listen.

            One day, when they had passed people on the slide, a kid named the bogeyman showed up. The bogeyman had blue and red hair and wore very colorful clothes. They ran up the slide and Naomi slipped.

            One parent grabbed the bogyman’s leg and slung it to the other slide.

When it touched the water, it vanished. 

The Deathly Burner

            Once upon a time, in an old desert, there lived two kids named Stella and Lily. Their mom had once told them not to go near the hot water lakes at night. After midnight, the lakes turned into liquid fire. A bogeyman lived in the lakes at night, when the water was liquid fire. He floated there so he could have a home. His name was the Deathly Burner.

            Stella did not believe the Deathly Burner was real. Lily knew about the hot water lakes and believed in the Deathly Burner. She wished she had not told Stella where the hot water lakes were.

            That night, Stella woke up Lily. She wanted to prove that the Deathly Burner was a made up creature. She went straight to a hot water lake. She stood on the dock. The water turned red and got hotter and hotter.

            Lily pulled Stella back. “It’s time to go now.”

            “I will fry you with my eyes and throw you through space,” said a voice.

            “It’s the Deadly Burner! Run for it!” yelled Stella and Lily.

            “Someone has come to be fried,” said the voice again.

            A white-gowned monster with red hands climbed on the dock. It had a hood and inside, it was completely dark. All you see were the two red glowing eyes.

            As soon as the Deathly Burner got close enough to grab them. Lily saw an old stool lying in a corner of the deathly pants that grew there. The bogeyman was trapped. It threw away its white clothes and was never seen again.

Once upon a time there was a bogeyman in the woods, right where people camped.

            A girl named Ely lived nearby, in a place where there was sunshine and a pool. She decided to go into the woods.

            Her sister said, “Don’t go into the woods because the bogeyman will come out. He is a mean bogeyman.”

            Luckily, Ely had a black stick that was shiny. It scared away the bogeyman.

 Once upon a time there was a Halloween town. Two kids, Zac and Haven, and their cat Tom lived there.

Their dad told them not to go out at night, or the Nightmare would get them and their cat. He said they could outsmart him if they ran into a church, because the bogeyman would shrivel up if he got close to a church.

            They went outside to see if it was true, and it was! He sneaked up on Tom the cat and ran after the kids. The kids tricked the bogeyman to follow them into the church. The bogeyman shriveled up.

Once upon a time there was a village in the desert. Two people lived there. Their names were Zack and Lynlee. Their kids’ names were Chace, Christian and Graham. Their parents told them to never go outside the village at night. In the day, they could only go 25 feet outside the village.

            “Only go more than 25 feet outside the village! Don’t go outside the village during the night.”

            The boys did not listen. They went more than 25 feet away.

            The parents forgot to tell them about the bogeyman. The bogeyman had white skin and black clothes.

            When the boys were walking, they heard a shaking in the bushes. Before they had time to run away, the bogeyman grabbed their legs and carried them back to the village.

            Zack sneaked up and hit the bogeyman with a wooden club. The bogeyman did not die. He ran out the door. The boys told Zack and Lynlee they would never disobey again.

The Living Knightmare

            Once upon a time there were two kids who lived in New York and were named Dillen and Allen. They loved going to the park. One day their father told them not to go to the park by themselves. Well, they did not listen. Their father forgot to tell them about the Living Knightmare that could shift into any nightmare. The kids started playing and the Living Knightmare showed up. He grabbed Allen. Two workers were carrying a mirror and put it in front of Living Knightmare’s hood. That made the Living Knightmare’s own nightmare come alive. He ran away.

The Shark Bogeyman

            Once upon a time there was a little kid who got into trouble a lot. He had an older sister. Their names were John and Grace. Their Mom’s name was Christy. One day Christie booked a cruise. When they got into the car Grace did not know that John had a water gun in his sweatshirt. When they got out of the car, John threw a water balloon. Grace got super wet.

            When they got on the ship he wanted to run around, so he went on the ship’s track. When he got back to the room, John was practicing the boomerang. John wanted to go swimming, so Grace had to go with him. (People said that Grace had a lot of talent with the boomerang, so she took it with her.)

            Christy said, “No diving!” She said there was a shark bogeyman in the pool. It only ate people who dove into shallow water.

           

            But when John went to the pool, he dove into the shallow end. The shark bogeyman woke up and came out through the filter. His shark fin came up, as he got closer. He came closer and closer and attacked John. 

Grace threw her boomerang at the shark bogeyman. The shark bogeyman let go and went into the filter and hid.

John had to get stitches. They lived happily ever after.

The End

            Part Two

            The shark bogeymen got onto the ship when he went through a sewer pipe, took a wrong turn, and got swept away. Somehow he got into the adult pool.

           

 Facts about the Bogeyman

            He is 10 feet long and he has a shark body from his legs to the waist.

            Grace is a girl scout. She can carry a knife everywhere.

Once upon a time there lived a mother that had one ten-year-old son and he was named Steve. There was another son named Larry. The Mother’s name was Amanda.

            Amanda called out to her sons. “Come in! It’s dinner time!”

            The two brothers said, “Not now.”

            Amanda was so frustrated. They did this every time. She wanted to find out why they did this. She found out what it was, and it wasn’t a bad thing. They were building a hut.

            One day they came in for dinner and they forgot to close the gate. The ground started to shake, then formed into a monster. It was fat, had a rainbow belly, yellow wings, and a bill with a green face.

            It was a nice monster. All it was doing was reminding them to shut the gate. So, Larry and Steve shut the gate and said, “Thank you.”

A mom and dad and their daughter jumped off a cliff. A shark man named Taru got her. They were never seen again.

.

Once upon a time there was a crazy guy named John. When it was a full moon he turned into a Redish.

            Seth was a little boy that went outside in the dark.

            One night, Seth went into the woods. Seth stepped on a rock. He woke up the Redish.The Redish had a red body with red coals.

            Seth threw a piece of wood at the Redish and it died.

Once upon a time there was a mom, sister and brother. Their names were Melissa, Sheila and Bob. Bob and Sheila were playing “Tag, you’re it!”

            Their mom called from the front door, Sheila and Bob heard the call. Sheila and Bob came running to the house.

            Their mom said, “Do not go to the waterfall at night.”

            When it was nighttime, Sheila and Bob sneaked out of the house.

            When Mom woke up, she looked out of the window. She saw Sheila and Bob running to the waterfall.

            Mom went after Sheila and Bob.

            Finally, Mom caught up with Sheila and Bob. Sheila and Bob were at the waterfall.

            The bogeyman jumped out from behind the waterfall. It scared Sheila, Mom and Bob to death.

            Mom saw a piece of broken glass and threw it at the bogeyman. The bogeyman was defeated.

           

Once upon a time there was a class and their teacher was Mr. Bob. He told everybody to please stop picking their noses.

            One day a little man came in and said, “I’m your new teacher, Mr. Booger. Every time you do math, I will talk to you.”

            Mr. Booger had orange wild hair and black eyes.

            Then one day Dylan sneaked over to Gil’s desk and said, “Stop picking your nose. Tell Mr. Booger to come here and say, ‘I’m not going to pick my nose again.’”

            So Gil raised his hand and Mr. Booger ran over to him.

            Gil said, “I’m not going to pick my nose again.”

            Then Mr. Booger grew red eyes, sharp teeth, and big ears and lost his hair.

            After that, Mr.  Bob came in and beat up the bogeyman. He never returned.

            Once upon a time there was a guy named Clark. He told his son never to go to the pond. He told his son that Baba Yaga would get him and eat him up.

            Baba Yaga had a giant with her.

            One night Clark’s son went to the pond and he heard something.

            The next thing he knew he was in an oven! He saw the giant. It was tall and hairy.

            Once upon there was boy named Jack. Jack was told not to walk on the street. Jack, though, ran down the street. He heard a man running, too. Jack didn’t notice him until he stopped and looked to see if there were any cars. In front of him stood a man. He was tall and shiny.

            Jack kept on running. He met another man in a truck.

The man said, “Hop in. I’ll take you home. You’ll have to show me where your house is.”

So Jack did.

            Someone caught the tall man (it was in the news). The man died.

            

            Once upon a time there was a family. The parents’ names were Zack and Lynley. The kids’ names were Barney, Andy and Otis. Their parents told them not to go to the chicken coop. But they did anyway.

            They met the animal called The Chicken. He was huge, 100,000 feet tall! He had a chick that was 500 feet tall.

            The kids said they were sorry for trying to take the chicken eggs.

            They never ate chicken eggs again.

            Once upon a time, there was a cabin. A little girl named Emma lived there with her parents.

            One day Emma’s parents said, “Never go into the woods by yourself because the Bogeyman Big Foot will get you and then boogey with you.

            So Emma never went into the woods alone.

            But, one day, on her birthday, Emma sneaked into woods after school. She saw her Dad hunting. Emma went deeper into the woods. When Emma saw her mom, she hid.

            Then Emma walked into a cave and saw Boogey Big Foot. Emma tried to run but Boogey Big Foot got her before she ran away. Finally, Boogey Big Foot let her go. Emma ran away.

            When she got back home, she told what the bogeyman looked like. She said he looked like a Bigfoot, but had an Afro. She even said that it wasn’t nice. The next day Emma’s dad went hunting and he killed the Boogey Big Foot.

Once upon a time there was a mermaid named Lucy. She had red eyes and white hair. She lived in a swamp in Scotland.

            One day three kids went to the swamp. They did not know the mermaid lived there. The mermaid grabbed their ankles and carried them to the land. She told them that she was not really a mermaid, but a person named Elsa. She was really a bad bogeyman, though, and she turned the kids into ice. Then she turned everything else into ice.

            Then a boy who was 20-years-old came to save the kids. He pushed Else back into the swamp and ran away with the kids.

Once upon a time there were three kids. One of the kid’s names was Conner. The other kids’ names were Jayden and Hayden. Their Mom and Dad told them not to go to Hotel 6. But the kids did not listen to them.

            On Halloween night, the kids went to Hotel 6. Then they got into the car and drove to Burger King. When they got back they noticed the door to the room was open and the power was out. (They had flashlights but the batteries were dead). They went down to the basement then found that the elevator wasn’t working so they were stuck down there.

            Then they heard something. It was black with evil red eyes. (It was scary because it was so ugly). It jumped out at them, but missed. Its name was Zacerman.

            They were smart. They had called 911. The cops came through the window and ran down the stairs. When they got down there, they shot the Zacerman. So Conner, Jayden and Hayden were safe. But, the monster had set the Motel 6 on fire.

            FAST FACT: No one knows where the Zacerman is. No one wants to find out. It attacked five people in 2005 and injured five people in 2016. It only comes out on Halloween. To kill it! Just throw water on it and it will die.

            Once upon a time there was an adult named Eric. He was very childish. He had a daughter named Jibber Jabber. She was very mature.

            One day she said, “Don’t go into the water.”

           They lived in Antarctica so it was very cold.

            That night Eric went into the water, even though she told him not to. Just as he touched it, a puppy came out, who was actually a shape shifter. In normal form it would be a shy black creature with red eyes, a cattail and a mouth with a dog tongue. He had a dog’s muzzle, monkey nose, elephant ears, cow's head, pink hair, and frog legs. Eric thought the puppy was lost so he brought it to the land. As soon as it touched land, it turned into its normal form. Eric screamed like a little girl.

            Jibber Jabber heard him. She knew the shape shifter’s weakness, which was lemon juice. She poured it on the shape shifter. (It really stings that type of creature.) So she brought a jug of lemon juice and poured it on the shape shifter. It turned into a rainbow puddle and froze because it was so cold.

            Eric never disobeyed Jibber Jabber again. The next morning Eric turned mature and the little girl turned childish again.  “Yea! Yea” They shouted. “We are normal again.”

           

Once upon a time there was girl and her sister. The girl’s name was Sarah and her sister’s name was Milly. She lived next to volcano and had a mirror made out of volcano glass. Her father had given her a mirror to remind her of her Grandpa and Grandma.

            The girl’s family had to move to the USA. One day the girl’s mother told her not to go to the Hotel 6 in the woods. Her dad had forgotten to tell her that the bunyip was at the Hotel 6. The bunyip always tried to kill in the nighttime.

            Luckily, the bunyip’s weakness was glass. When the bunyip came, the girl used the mirror. Since it was glass, it killed the bunyip.

Once upon a time there was a bogeyman that helped parents teach lessons. One night Jackson’s mother told him not to go outside. Even though his mother had told him not to do it, he did it anyway.

            When he went outside he heard something in the tree above him. The bogeyman swooped down and got Jackson. Jackson screamed and kicked.

            The bogeyman said, “I am going to take you to my lair.”

            Jackson asked, “Why?”

            “Because you disobeyed your mother.”

            Jackson asked, “If I don’t disobey my mother, will you let me go?”

            The bogeyman said, “I don’t see why not.”

The bogeyman flew home and Jackson went to bed.

The Hand

Once upon a time there was a boy named Ethan. He loved to climb vines even though his mom told him not to. One day, as usual, he went out to climb vines. He was half way up his favorite vine when a hand ripped from the ground. It grabbed Ethan and pulled him under the ground. No one ever saw Ethan again. 

            Once upon a time there was a girl name Scarlett and a girl named Riley.

Their father said, “Don’t go into the woods, or the queen tree will eat you.”

            The girls went on a walk into the woods. The queen tree was waiting. It saw them.

            Their dad showed up. He said, “Don’t eat my kids, and eat me, because I love my kids,”

            Then they found out that their father was a king. Scarlett was a princess and so was Riley. The queen who had a crown, two eyes and a mouth, decided not to hurt them.