A create-your-own adventure writing assignment.

1. I Couldn’t Believe It… A Create-Your-Own Adventure Project Marla Kepsel RDG 5410 Madonna University

3. Our story begins… When I woke up that morning, I never thought I would have such an adventure. My alarm went off at 9:00. I don’t know why I needed an alarm since it was summer vacation. I rolled out of bed nonetheless and began getting dressed. Another benefit of summer vacation (besides sleeping in) was not caring about which clothes to wear. I threw on the first t-shirt and pair of shorts I could find. After, I headed downstairs. I walked into the kitchen and my mom was sitting at the table reading the newspaper and drinking her coffee. “ Nice to see you awake,” she said looking up from her reading. “ Mom, it’s summer vacation! I don’t have to be anywhere right now.” “ Well, what are you going to do today?” she replied. “ Not sure,” I said. I grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl and headed out the door. My mom was saying something behind me, but I didn’t listen to her. I walked over to the garage and hopped on my…

4. As I began pedaling, I noticed my annoying neighbor, Billy, on his front porch. I intentionally ignored him as he called my name. There was no way I was going to start talking to him because then I’d be there forever. I turned right and continued on my bike until I got to the first street. I could go left to Jake’s or right for Kate’s. After thinking for a minute I decided to turn… Start Over Jake’s Kate’s

5. I started pushing my skateboard forward. After rolling down my driveway, I pushed my board back to attempt a trick. Unfortunately, my foot slipped, thanks to wearing flip-flops, and I fell to the concrete. I overheard someone laughing and turned around. It was my annoying neighbor, Billy, on his front porch. “ Didn’t you know you should have tennis shoes to attempt a trick like that?” Billy said. “ Whatever,” I replied quietly. “ Hey, want me to show you how it’s done?” “ No thanks.” I quickly got back on my skateboard and went left on my street. I could hear Billy continuing to make fun of me as I kept going. I got to the first intersection. I could go left to Mike’s house or right to Jane’s house. I decided to turn… Mike’s Jane’s Start Over

6. Heading to Jake’s house, I thought about what we could do with the day. When I got to his house and rang the doorbell, I could hear his dog, Buster, barking like crazy. Jake opened the door slightly trying to keep Buster from getting out. “ What’s up?” Jake said. “ Nothing. Want to hang out?” I asked. “ Ok, give me a second,” he said struggling to hold back his excited dog. He closed the door. Not a minute later, he was back out. “ What do you feel like doing?” he asked me. “ I’m not sure. Any ideas?” I replied. We both stood there completely silent. Then Jake said, “You want to go on the trail off Snake Drive?” I hesitated to respond. People had talked about how scary the trail was, even in daylight. Jake must have sensed my fear because then he went on and said, “Or we could go to the park.” I continued debating and finally said, “Let’s go to…” Start Over BACK

7. Once I got to Kate’s house, I knocked on the door. After a few seconds, I tried knocking again. The door began to open. As it moved, a creaking noise indicated the need for some oil in the hinges. I looked down and saw Kate’s little brother, Jaime, standing in front of me. His hair looked as though it hadn’t been combed in ages and his pajamas had grape juice down the front of it. “ Helwoah. Who are you?” Jamie asked. “ Jaime, is Kate here?” I replied annoyed. Jamie always pretends not to know me whenever I come over. “ Move it, Jamie!” Kate said shoving him over. “ Hey,” I said. “ Hey back,” Kate replied. “ You want to hang out?” I asked. “ Most definitely, Kate said. “ANYTHING to get me away from this house. MOM! I’m going out and will be back later!” Kate shouted behind her. Without waiting for a response from her mom, Kate closed the door and we headed down the front steps. “ What did you have in mind?” I said. “ Let’s go by either Marcus Lake or Smith River,” Kate suggested. “ Alright,” I said. “Let’s go to…” Start Over Marcus Lake Smith River BACK

8. Mike’s house was quite a distance, so it took me awhile to get there. Once I finally arrived, I had to catch my breath on his front porch step. As I stood up to walk up to the doorbell, the door swung open and Mike came out. “ Hi ya!” Mike said. “ Hey,” I replied back. “ What’s up?” “ Just wonderin’ if you want to hang out.” “ Sure, but what do you want to do?” Mike asked. “ Well, we could head over to the baseball field to play catch or maybe go to the junk yard to find some cool stuff,” I suggested. “ Hmmmm. It doesn’t matter to me, what do you feel like?” Mike said. “ How about we head to…” Start Over BACK

9. I hoped Jane would be home when I got there. I couldn’t remember if her family was taking a vacation out of town or not. When I got there, I knocked on the door a couple times. Just as I was about to turn around and leave, the door opened. Jane was standing there yawning and still in her pajamas! “ Hey,” I said. “Are you just getting up?” “ Uh-huh,” Jane said amidst another yawn. “ Want to hang out?” I asked. “ Uh-huh,” she replied. As she said this, she began walking out and closing the door behind her. “ Jane, you’ve gotta get dressed first!” I said kind of loudly. “ Huh?” Jane said. She glanced down at herself, looked up, and smiled. “Oh, I guess I do. Give me five minutes and I’ll be right back.” She darted back into the house and I sat down on the porch. Not two minutes later, Jane came back out all dressed. I was shocked based on her earlier behavior. “ What do you want to do?” she asked me. “ How about you pick?” I said. “We play hide-and-go-seek in your backyard or street hockey with your new equipment.” Jane thought for a minute. Then said, “I think we should play…” Start Over BACK

10. It didn’t take us long to get to Snake Drive. Once there, we walked the few extra yards to where the trail begins. Towering over us was a combination of evergreens and birch trees. The trail wasn’t very wide but could fit the two of us. “ You ready?” I asked Jake. “ Of course I’m ready,” Jake replied. His voice had somewhat of a quiver in it. I tried my best to hide my own fear as much as possible. We began walking. The temperature dropped almost immediately once we got into the forest. I was still fine in my t-shirt and shorts, but Jake began rubbing his arms not long after. “ Do you want to head back?” I asked. “ No, why do you ask?” Jake replied almost annoyed. “ No reason,” I said. We continued walking. All sorts of animal noises could be heard from the birds to the squirrels. We added our own sound as our feet kept landing on sticks and cracking them. I eventually noticed fewer sticks were on the ground so it got somewhat quieter. Then all of a sudden I heard a loud crack and stopped. Jake stopped too. “ Did you step on a stick?” I quickly asked. “ No, I thought you did,” Jake replied in an awkward voice. We both stared at each other for a moment then turned around. We discovered what made the cracking noise… Start Over BACK NEXT

11. We were the only people there when we arrived at the park. That didn’t bother Jake or I at all. “ What do you want to do first?” I asked him. “ How about the swings?” “ Sure!” I eagerly replied. We ran over to the swings. First, we did our usual “stomach swinging” where we lay on our stomachs and “fly.” Once our stomachs were sore we stitched to our bottoms. Back and forth we pumped our legs and kept challenging each other to a greater height. Once Jake had given up out-swinging me, he said, “How about we go to the slide?” We walked over to the slide. As we looked over to the jungle gym, we noticed that a mother and her son had join the park. Jake climbed up the slide first. He looked back at me once at the top and said, “Head or feet first?” “ Definitely head first,” I replied. He disappeared down the slide. I then climbed up myself. As I approached the top and looked down the slide, I couldn’t believe what I saw… Start Over BACK NEXT

12. Start Over BACK NEXT Kate sure is lucky to live so close to Marcus Lake. It only took a five minute walk to get there. As we got closer to the lakefront, I began picking up small rocks. I was a pro at rock skipping. I started immediately after we had taken our shoes off walked a few feet into the water. Kate was looking into the water being her usual curious self. After I had used up all my rocks, I began looking in the water myself for more. We were both looking down when we heard a large SPLASH. We turned around to see what it was…

13. Start Over BACK NEXT It took us awhile to get to Snake River because it was on the other side of Marcus Lake. Once there, we ran to the tree swing that Kate’s dad had made for kids to use. He only puts it out in the summer, though, when the current isn’t too strong in the river. We each began taking turns swinging over the river’s edge. Snake River isn’t very wide, but it does get pretty deep towards the middle. Kate’s dad made the rope so that it didn’t go too far off the river bank. “ Should I let go and go in?” Kate tempted. “ Not unless you like being in wet clothes all day,” I replied. Kate took a fast running start at the top of a slope. As she reached the river’s bank, she began flying. Then it happened…

14. Start Over BACK NEXT It was a good thing that Mike didn’t live too far from the baseball field. I was tired as it was just getting to his house! Once there, we noticed another group of five kids already playing. “ Can we join the game?” I asked the pitcher. “ I don’t see why not. We could use a few more,” he replied. “You’re up next.” We watched the current boy at home plate swing and get a single. I must admit that I am not a great hitter when it comes to baseball. Catching air balls is really all I can do well. Nonetheless I grabbed the bat from the ground and walked over to home plate. Leaning over, I took what I thought might be the correct stance. The pitcher leaned back then forward releasing the ball. SWOOSH! “Strike one!” called the girl behind me playing catcher. She threw the ball back to the pitcher. Getting back into my “stance” the pitcher repeated his pitch. I put all my might into the swing only to make a complete spiral onto the ground. Surprisingly, nobody was laughing hysterically at me. “ Uh, strike two,” said the catcher. “Make sure you keep your eye on the ball.” She threw the ball back to the pitcher. He took his ready position. Leaning back then forward, he released the ball my way…

15. Start Over BACK NEXT Now, you might think a junk yard is a pretty disgusting place to hang out, but you’d be surprised what people get rid of in their garbage! Mike and I usually go once a month just to see what’s new in stock. We usually challenge each other to leave with the “best” item. Last time, Mike won leaving with a remote control. We’ve since used it pretending to change into different people on TV. When we got there, we greeted Mr. Miguel, the manager. He has a small shack right by the entrance of the yard. “As always, you better be careful!” he said in his usual speech to us. “You never know what could come in or out of here!” I think he tries to scare us off every time we come by for his amusement. It never works though. Mike and I began walking through the rows of the yard. When we got to a corner, Mike said, “Let’s split up. I don’t want you seeing my item before you get yours.” We agreed to meet at the front gate in ten minutes. After going our separate ways, I took a left turn into a row I had never been in before. More times than not, the same items are in the same place each time we come back. I had never seen these things before so I made an attempt to walk slower than usual not to overlook anything. Then I couldn’t believe my eyes…

16. Start Over BACK NEXT Hide and seek in Jane’s backyard is always the best. There are so many great spots to pick to hide. “ Who’s ‘it’ first?” Jane asked. “ I’ll hide first,” I said. “ OK. I’ll count to sixty, ok?” Jane replied “ Yep!” “ Go!” I ran around to the back of the house. Standing still, I looked all around. I was determined to hide in a spot never used before. The deck offered a lot of possibilities, but I knew that would be the first place Jane would start looking. In the corner of the yard was a shed Jane’s dad used to keep all their gardening tools. We usually hid outside the shed, so it was then that I decided to take a peek inside for a change. Running over, I opened the small door and closed it behind me. Inside, the shed was packed with gardening tools and buckets. Something in the back corner suddenly caught my eye. I walked over and noticed a really large hole…

17. Start Over BACK NEXT Jane had gotten new street hockey equipment for her birthday. It included two sticks, a pair of rollerblades, goalie pads, a net, and, of course the plastic puck. Not many people liked to play against Jane because she was so good at any position. I was hoping that because she had just gotten up, she would go easy on me. “ I’ll play goalie first,” Jane said once all the equipment was out. “You can use my rollerblades instead of your flip-flops.” “ Thanks,” I said. Once I had the rollerblades on, I started skating around. I eventually made my way over and grabbed a stick and the puck. I moved to the far edge of the driveway, almost in the street. “ You ready?” I asked Jane. “ The question should be if YOU’RE ready!” Jane said jokingly. Laughing, I looked to the street to see that no cars were coming. Leaving the puck behind, I skated back across the street. I turned around and started back to Jane’s driving. Pumping my arms to get speed and being careful not to let the stick go. Once at the puck, I laid the stick down and moved it with me. I tried moving it back and forth so that Jane would be thrown off. As I approached the net, I smacked my stick on the puck and sent it flying. You wouldn’t believe where it went…

18. Your Task You have the job of finishing the story you’ve chosen, picking up where it left off. Using rich details and good organization, carry the story to an appropriate conclusion. You can end in a happy, sad, or cliff-hanging manner. You may use Microsoft Word to type your story. Be sure to get feedback for revising and editing. Please have your story turned in by ___________. I look forward to reading what happens to our characters! Click below to view a rubric for your story. Use this to guide your writing… Good Luck and Have Fun!