{ Story Starters }

Wander and Wonder
Sara was 5 years old and was looking forward to a special day at the amusement park with Katie, her babysitter. Katie's instructions were to keep an eye on her, treat her to lunch, take her on four rides and be home no later than 5 p.m. While they were at the carousel ride, Katie ran into one of her best friends. She had not seen Karla in over a year. Right away they began catching up on all the time they had missed. Then, Katie looked down and Sara was no where to be found! Without warning Sara had disappeared, so....

Emergency!
It was a hot, hot day in July--102 degrees to be exact--and because of the heat, Kristen would never leave home without her backpack filled with
several bottles of water and a nutritious snack consisting of an apple and
crackers. Kristen was on her way to work her first day in the ticket booth
at the local amusement park. After having worked two hours, she took a break on a little park bench. All of a sudden, Kristen noticed an elderly man stumbling and falling to the ground, so....

Free Day at the Fair
It had taken Branden all summer long to save up enough money from lawn
mowing for spending money at Disney World. He thought for sure he had put the cash in his wallet, but when he reached into his back pocket, it was missing. Not one penny! Here he was miles from home, so....

A Special Wish
Kevin had just been diagnosed with leukemia. He asked his parents to take
him to an amusement park because he had never been to one. Kevin wanted to be able to forget about the fact that he had a long program of medication ahead. He wanted to have some fun with all of his friends, just like he used to do, so his parents...

Be Careful!
It was Jessica's 16th birthday and her grandma had just given her enough
money for her to buy those awesome running shoes she had so desperately wanted for track season. For her birthday, her parents had taken Jessica and eight of her friends to an amusement park a day's drive away. By the time they arrived, all of them were so excited that they ran over to the ticket booth to exchange their money for some tickets. After going on dozens of rides, they went to get a bite to eat and some snacks for later. Before they knew it, they were spending even more money on tickets to go on rides. When it was finally time to leave, Jessica reached into her pocket and found out that she only had ten dollars left from all the money her grandma had given her, so...

The Lost Puppy
When Tyler and his family moved to California, his parents bought him a new puppy named Barkley because he had been such a great sport about having to leave behind all of his friends. Tyler's parents thought this puppy would keep him from being lonely. They also figured his new companion would help him concentrate less on all the new things that would soon surround him, such as a new house, neighbors, friends, and teachers. Later, his parents decided to take Tyler and Barkley to Disney Land to show him just how much fun it could be to live in this new city. As Tyler took notice of all the people there, he was determined not to let Barkley out of his sight, he just couldn't bare the thought of losing him. While his parents went to get some food, Tyler sat on the bench right outside the snack bar and tied Barkley's leash to it so that he could talk to this girl who was also sitting there. Next thing Tyler knew, Barkley was gone! He somehow managed to slip out of his collar, so...

The Chance of a Lifetime
Matthew had always wondered what it would be like to travel back in time and be able to go to the Columbian Exposition in Chicago and ride the first
Ferris Wheel. After years and years of trial and error experiments, Matthew's famous Uncle Tom had finally developed what he would call the
perfect time machine. Knowing his nephew's dreams, Tom decided to let Matthew be the first one to try it out. At first, Matthew was skeptical, but he just couldn't let this once in a lifetime opportunity pass by. Then, Uncle Tom explained that Matthew would have to very careful about watching the time if he wanted to return safe and sound, so...