Ethan went camping with his friends. He was glad to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and find some peace and quiet. They rode bikes, fished, cooked hot dogs over the campfire, and exchanged stories with each other. At night the sky filled with stars, and it was strange to fall asleep without the noise of cars and people. Ethan decided that he should go camping more often.

I was jogging with my dog this morning when I saw John Archer at a street corner. He was sitting on a bike with one of his feet on the ground. "He's waiting for someone," I thought. John and I were both in the ninth grade. He was a basketball player on our school team and was very popular with many girls. But I never talked to him before. He was not my type.

John saw me, too. He smiled. For a moment I thought he was smiling at someone else. But he was not. "Hi, Mary Jones," he said to me. "You have a cute little dog." I smiled but did not say anything, because I did not know what to say. "I'm here waiting for you. Would you...would you like to go to the movies with me?" he asked. I was very surprised. I never thought he would do this, and I never thought about going out with him.

I said "no," of course. But he seemed nice and friendly. Maybe I would go to watch him play basketball some day.

Sea-ping is nervous all day long. She is going to Jillian's house 39 tonight and Jillian is an American! Sea-ping and Jillian met at the piano teacher's place three months ago and became good friends.

Jillian has told Sea-ping before that 40, so Sea-ping is not worried about talking to them. What she worries about is how to behave in Jillian's house because she knows different cultures have different customs. Will she know what to do?

41, Sea-ping decides that if she is not sure about something, she'll just ask. And if she makes any 42, she'll learn from them. She feels much better now and thinks the evening is going to be wonderful!

Since the first case of “Cow Cold” was reported in Kirk State in June, this killer cold has moved up north faster than we thought it would. By July, almost every part of the country had been attacked by Cow Cold. In only two months, the number of dead cows has risen to 5,000. Though Cow Cold started in the south, the east of the country is the worst hit area. By this week, 80% of the farms in Osten State have reported cases of Cow Cold.

The sale of milk in Osten State has slumped because of Cow Cold. Before Cow Cold, the sale of milk in Osten State was $2.5 million each week; now it is less than $500,000.

Odin State is the only area in the north without cases of Cow Cold. Before we know how to deal with Cow Cold, we can only hope Odin State will be lucky enough not to experience the power of this killer cold.

(Elaine Baker, City Post)