Jenna's Story

Below I'm going to paste a recent sample of Jenna's fantabulous writing.  If you read all the way thru, you will also see her teacher's comments!

Jenna Wingert    

                                                                                                     

Honk! The sudden noise startled me, and I jumped up from the leather car seat- only my seatbelt keeping me from slamming into the window. Groggily, I scanned the traffic jam. I must have been sleeping; the last time I looked out my window, we were still in Miami.      

                                           

Studying each car carefully as Dad inched through the traffic, I noticed that most of them weren’t from Florida. That’s understandable, I thought. Somewhere I read that millions visit this place every year!                                 

Our silver minivan jerked to a halt. Dad had pulled off the crowded highway and parked at a bus stop. As I climbed out of the minivan, I gazed at the line of countless tourists. They must have been waiting here a while. Probably for a bus. My family and I joined the impatient crowd. While we waited, I quickly ate a pop-tart; I hadn’t had time for breakfast in the morning’s rush. Finally, our bus came rumbling into the parking lot. When it turned a corner, deep gold lettering on one side became visible: “Walt Disney World Transportation.”                                                                                                      

Not long after our bus dropped us off near the Magic Kingdom entrance, I found myself stepping into a boat for our first ride, It’s a Small World. This ride is more for kids. Even so, I enjoyed the children’s excitement as we gently floated “through the world.” Stepping out of my boat at the end, I hoped that the catchy Small World song wouldn’t bother me too much throughout the day.                                                                                                                    

Several hours later, I realized that I was very hungry. Exhausted from the morning’s fun, I ordered a small meal. Most of my morning had been spent on kids rides. Now it was time for some real fun! Scanning the list of rides on my map, one caught my eye. Space Mountain. I heard that was a good one. Ahead a little ways, a large sign read, “Fast Pass Station.”

          

“That might be helpful! Let’s get some,” Dad suggested, so we hurried to the Fast Pass stand and bought five passes.                                                           

This is nice! We can just walk right past the line, I thought as I strolled through the hallway. And I’ve never been on an indoor roller coaster. Interesting. Since I had no line to wait in, I could already see the coaster’s tracks. Excitedly, I entered the roped in area for people with Fast Passes. Immediately a tired-looking woman escorted me to a shiny black car.                                                   

Thump! Thump! I could hear my heart beating from fear and excitement. Uh-oh, I thought as my seat belt clicked into place. A low, rattling hum filled the air as the train of cars slowly began to inch forward. My car entered a tunnel. All at once, everything went black, and the track sloped straight down. Yes! The ride had begun!                                                                                                        

As the track twisted and turned, a wave of piercing shrieks rose from the riders. After several rapid climbs, slopes, and twists, the cars slowed. Bright lights stung my eyes when my car rolled back into the building’s center where eager people waited their turn on Space Mountain.                                                              

Shakily, I stepped out of my car. Sitting in that small space for so long had cramped my legs. Disappointedly, I realized I would not be able to ride Space Mountain again- my family had planned to take the Monorail to Animal Kingdom for the rest of the day.

          

One hour later, I sat at a café in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Pitter, patter, pitter, patter. Rain had stopped us from exploring the zoo portion of Animal Kingdom. Instead, I munched on some extra-salty popcorn. Mom and Dad were discussing what to do the rest of the day. Hopefully, I mentioned a sign that I had seen for Expedition Everest. To my relief, Dad gave his permission for Kate and I to ride Expedition Everest while everyone else attended a musical version of  Finding Nemo. Eagerly, Kate and I set off toward Expedition Everest.       

Boy was it hot! Of all the days I had spent in the Sunshine State, this was definitely the hottest. Drops of sweat rolled down my face as Kate and I raced toward the roller coaster. From where I was, I could already see the artificial mountain around which Expedition Everest’s tracks were wrapped. In only a minute, I reached a maze of low fencing. Must be where people get in line to ride. Right now, hardly anybody is in line. Both Kate and I were clueless as to how to get into line. No entrance was visible. Seeing our confusion, a nearby worker directed us to the end of the line.                                                                         

Thirty minutes later, I stepped into a shabby-looking wooden car. For this ride, I had no idea what to expect. Because of this, I was terrified in a way- but at the same time, ready for anything. A strange feeling.                                             

Screeeech!  Someone needs to oil these bars!  I said to myself as the hinges screeched when I pulled the safety bar over my head. Briskly, a worker checked to make sure every rider’s bar was secured tightly. She nodded to a worker sitting by a control panel. Smoothly, the train of cars rolled around a corner and up an enormous hill.                                                                                            

What seemed like ten minutes later, we finally reached the peak of the mountain. This coaster didn’t seem so bad, then- whoa! Everything was dark. My car had entered the mountain! Twists, down hills, up hills, fasts, slows- I hoped I wouldn’t get sick. A slow climb uphill brought me into the sunlight. Then I gasped. Up ahead, the tracks were broken off! As if this were, unexpected, the cars jerked to a stop. Now what?  Since we were high up, above everything else, a refreshing breeze blew and helped me to relax. Ahh!  Just as I was complaining to Kate about why it couldn’t be this nice down on the ground, we zoomed backwards- right into the mountain again. Terrified screams and shrieks of excitement echoed throughout the hollow mountain. Somewhere, the cars must have reversed; we were now climbing -forward- uphill. This time the tracks came out of the mountain and dropped straight down. After circling the base of the mountain, my car lurched to a stop where the lines of tourists waited there turn. Alas! I had survived Expedition Everest.                                            

Twenty minutes later, I was waiting in line again. This time, for ice cream. Hungrily I skimmed the list of frozen desserts. When the lady asked me what I wanted, I ordered one small cup of Nestle ice cream bites. Yum! Hastily, I wolfed down the chocolate-covered ice cream drops. Dad had taken my younger sister Clara on a Dumbo ride. Mom and Kate were shopping. With the time I had alone, I mentally looked back on the day’s events. Monorail, Small World, Space Mountain, popcorn, Expedition Everest, ice cream. Over all, it had been one of the best days in my life. Even the rain had only lasted several minutes. It had been the adventure of a lifetime visiting Disney World, “where dreams come true!”

Mrs. Brown's comments:

Jenna, this piece is exceptional!  Truly well done.  I'd like to see you enter this in a contest.  (Get a Washington County Library Card sometime and enter this next year in their Picture Book contest.  You could easily draw pictures to go along with this!)

May I make a copy to use for modeling?