The Abby Report

On September 19, 2020 I went to Abbey Farms. An Abbey is a place where monks and nuns live and work. Abbey Farms is a farm run by monks that live and work there. But Abbey Farms also turned into a place for people to go to have fun. There were Covid-19 precautions like masks, social distancing, and hand sanitizer. SO MUCH HAND SANITIZER.

Anyway, when we pulled in, we went to the ticket place to redeem our online tickets. We put them on and headed into the place. The first stop was the petting zoo. There were ducks, sheep, chickens, and goats. The ducks traveled together. There were some white ones and some greyish ones. The chickens wandered around clucking. The goats and sheep were less skittish and at one point a goat and the biggest sheep walked up to me. The big sheep was very fluffy but also covered in hay. Then I saw the baby goats.

The baby goats were so small, maybe a foot tall and a foot and a quarter wide. There was a little white one that was a bit smaller then the other one that was brown. The white one was my favorite because it ran around bleating. The inside of its mouth was bright pink. It located it’s mother and I got close enough to pet it. It was so soft and tiny and cute. But then we decided to move onto the next thing.

The next thing was tube racing. There were these big black tubes that you had to move and they were on little tracks. They were fun and I beat my sister and my mom. Then we went onto the next thing, ziplining.

The ziplining track was about fifty feet. There were 2 ziplines and me and my sister each went on one. They were fun and we went a couple times. And then we moved onto the next thing.

The next thing was a jumping pillow. It was very bouncy and fun. It was orange and yellow and about fifty feet across. It was very fun.

Then after that we decided to head to the megadrop slides. These were some super long slides that you slid down on a sack. Now that was really fun. I went backwards. But since I’d been here in past years, me and my sister decided to go in the corn maze.

So we walked to the entrance and stepped inside. We were swallowed up by the corn. We walked through the maze. At one point, I drew an X in the soft champagne colored soil. I’m sad to say it didn’t work very well. Anyways, I spotted a lookout post, so we went over to it. We saw the exit so we got down and tried to head in that direction. But then we sort of went back the way we came, so it was pretty sad. There were these sort of trails through the corn so we went through one. Then we spotted another, so we went on it. And there was the exit! We went through and I gave a hoot of joy. We had completed the Corn Maze!

Then we decided to head over to the rubber duck races. We saw these cow statues. They had lassos so your could practice. I got it around the cow’s neck once. But then we started riding on the cows and doing tricks and pretending they were horses. Then we saw the duck races, but we were like “BORING” so we got some donuts and headed to the car. Then we drove home.

Did you know around 138 million Americans voted in the 2016 elections? But that’s only about 58% of our eligible voters. That’s not enough. Everyone has to vote. Let me explain why. One, every voice counts. Two, it impacts the future. Three, the country, your family, your friends, and your children are depending on you.

First, you have to vote because that’s your voice. Every voice counts. You may be like “But, but, I’m just one person, how can my vote count? There’s no point.” Well let me tell you something. “The ocean is made of drops.” -Mother Teresa. This quote is very true because even if your vote is a drop, remember the mightiest ocean is made of single drops. Every voice counts. Your vote could make the difference of the entire turnout of an election. The richest people on Earth’s income are made up of single pennies. Remember that.

Second, it impacts the future. This is very true. We can destroy or save the planet based on this one election. We can make the pandemic worse or better based on this. We can change the whole world for centuries, based on this one day, November 3. Your opinion matters. It matters a lot. And the world can change. Drastically. Either way. So vote. Otherwise you’ll be living in a world you let happen. Because you didn’t vote.

Third, the country, your family, your friends and your children are depending on you. The country is depending on you because we need a president. A president to lead us. Your family is depending on you because they want to see you happy. If you vote and your candidate is elected, you’ll be happy. Your friends are depending on you, chances are you all want the same candidate elected. Your children are depending on you. They have voices. But they can’t vote. They’re depending on you to vote for them. Make the country better for them.

So, in summary, please vote. You have to. Your voice matters. This election will change everything. Your country, your family, your friends, your children are depending on you. All American citizens 18 and up are eligible to vote. I hope I convinced you why it’s so important.

Okay. This is how to get someone to like you: 3 things to be sure to do.

1. Don’t act stuck up. This is a big one. I usually don’t like people who are too stuck up. When you’re like, “Wow, I’m so amazing,” all the time it gets really annoying. There are probably better ways to express your greatness without acting that way. Usually these ways can be through art.
2. Don’t make them feel uncomfortable by telling them you like them. There are more subtle ways to let them know. For example, putting your towel next to theirs at the pool or picking up their pencils for them or sticking up for them. Eventually, you’ll be able to tell them “I like you,” but don’t do it right away. And that leads us to our last one.
3. Don’t pressure them. If you tell them you like them and they say no or they tell you to leave them alone, do it. For example, if you tell them you like them and they tell you they don’t like you back, don’t ask them again next week or be rude about it. Feelings don’t work that way, and you can’t make them like you. Or if you’re always up in their business or always trying to be around them, and they say “Leave me alone,” leave them alone. I repeat, leave them alone. If you don’t, they’ll get annoyed with you. Both of these ways can make it easier for them to like you.

Remember, you can’t make anyone like you, but if you try these things it might be easier. Feelings are feelings, and just because you like them doesn’t mean they have to like you back.

I’m good at telling stories about things. Like my friends or a community of elves. So today I’m going to tell you a story about me and my best friend Angelina. 

Once, we were having a sleepover. Your typical Saturday night one, we played games and watched videos. We were young. Eight or nine. 

We were in our beds, trying to fall asleep, but failing, because we were talking and giggling. All of a sudden, we heard “I’m Olaf, and I like warm hugs!” 

We froze. “What was that?” I whispered. 

We brushed it off and started talking and giggling again. 

“My legs! I can’t feel my legs!” 

We froze again. “Seriously, I’m actually scared now.” Angelina said. 

We stopped talking and started trying to fall asleep, for real this time. 

“Look, the sky’s awake.” 

This time, I said “Okay, I’m going to go.” 

I took a deep breath, and found my reading light. I flipped it on, and stepped out of the bunk bed. I walked down the creaky bunk bed steps, and out onto the floor. I tiptoed towards the noise. 

“My legs! I can’t feel my legs!” 

I shivered, bouncing the light back and forth. I approached the noise. It was coming from the stuffed animal bin. I sifted through it until I came across a stuffed Olaf right on the top. This one could be activated by pressing a button where it would say different things. I dropped it back in the bin and hurried back to the stairs. I climbed them and got back in bed. I turned the light off and said, “It was an Olaf stuffed animal.” 

Angelina laughed and said, “It scared me, that’s funny.” 

But I didn’t laugh. Or smile. “To make it talk you have to press a button. How could we press the button from up here?” 

Her smile evaporated as she put it together. “I-I don’t know.” 

I nodded and said, “Well I think we’re okay now. Let’s just try to pretend everything’s okay. That’s how I get through hard stuff.” 

Angelina nodded. We got close and managed to fall asleep. 

Just because I always laugh at it, what can’t compensate is that no one else was in the room. And still it talked. And I shiver to imagine what happened that hot summer night. Sorry. I’m bad at being scary, aren’t I? 

Hello. This is my first entry. 10 jobs I want. 

1. Famous Actress. I love to act, and I’d love to be in movies and TV shows. This is my first choice, definitely.
2. Author. I like to write stories. I always have ideas for them and I want to share them with people. 
3. Vet. I love animals and want to help them. If the first two fail, this is my backup plan
4. Assassin. Okay, I know this is a little dark, but it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. 
5. Marine Biologist. I love the ocean, and I would love to learn more about it, and hope to help save it. 
6. Storm Chaser. I love learning about tornadoes. This job is very dangerous, but also important. It would be cool to learn about these beautiful but deadly freaks of nature. 
7. Park Ranger. I love being in nature, and even though I live in Chicago, I go camping and try to be in nature as much as I can. This would be a really nice experience and I always feel guilty that I don’t make more of an effort to recognize different birds and trees and stuff.
8. Personal Shopper. This would be really fun. No more explanation required. 
9. Resort Manager. I would LOVE to run a tropical resort. Yes, please! 
10. Tour Guide. This sounds really fun! I really enjoy traveling, and this is a good way to do that, all while getting paid!