4 or 5 years ago, when I was about 17, I went to see Patti Smith perform at the St Mark's poetry project. Which is a church in New York on St Mark's place. It was a very casual but intimate show and Patti Smith was just walking around and the other people who performed were just walking around. It was amazing. At the end of the show, I noticed that she was standing at the back of the room talking with some friends and as I was leaving I wanted to talk with her but I was very intimidated and scared and didn't want to be a complete idiot in front of her. So I decided to do something cooler than talk to her and just casually brush my hand against her hair as I walked by. I was wearing two hair bands around my wrist that were elastic bands that were closed, like attached as 2 separate loops that couldn't open. So they were on my wrist, on that very wrist which I touched Patti Smith's hair with. And so as I walked by her I casually did it and that was it. I was so excited and she didn't notice but that's ok. Then when I got outside I reached for the hair tie to put it in my hair and I realised that the two ties had become completely interlocked around my wrist, with each other. I know that they hadn't been about 10 minutes before because I had had one in my hair and I took it out and then I had my encounter with Patti and then left and that's when I noticed they were interlocked. I could not get them undone, they were completely interlocked and attached. I had to leave them like that until I cut them a few months later. I was worried about cutting them but I did it. That's it, that was her magic on my wrist.

by Sarah P, USA
age 21

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"Patti Smith's Magical Powers on my Wrist" by Sarah P

So I'm currently on a road trip to redefine my life and find new adventures. I'm currently homeless and unemployed - but this is by choice. Sometimes we need to let go of what was so we can make room for what's next. As part of this road trip I decided to visit my sister in the Big Apple... New York City. She lives in Chelsea and I read about free street parking... I was excited about the prospect. After circling the block for 50 minutes in my Honda Element I finally found an empty space, a place for me to park. Well... at least for the next 12 hours. As I got ready to move into the space I felt a jerk and heard a sudden crash. A jackass in a minivan side swiped me. I laid down my horn and began to talk to the elderly man responsible for the catastrophe. Since the damage was little he offered to fix it in Long Island without insurance. Although I was skeptical, I begrudgingly accepted his offer, knowing the hassles of fixing a car on the road. The next day I sat with him at the body shop and wrote down my name. "Friedman" he asked "Are you Jewish?" "Why yes" I exclaimed "Jew-ish". "I'm Israeli" he said with a smile. "That's crazy, I loved in Modi'in for 6 months" I responded. He then took me for coffee and a bagel to talk more about my adventures. We discussed the perils of the Middle East, civil justice in America and the meaning of life. Although a pessimist, Joe appreciated my pragmatic optimistic attitude. I think I found a friend in Long Island. Goes to show that accidents can be gifts, if you let them be.

by Zach Friedman, USA
age 25

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"Finding Your Spot" by Zach Friedman

One morning this mysterious kid had a baseball game and when he went down the stairs to get his baseball clothes, his baseball clothes weren't there. He goes back upstairs to his room to find his baseball clothes. He asked his mom for help but she had just woken up and she was so tired so she couldn't help him and went back to bed. The mysterious little boy goes outside and skips his baseball game. He goes to meet his friend John. John is a troublemaker so he tell the little boy to go make something. The little boy comes back 2 hours later and John asks him "What did you make?". The little boy said "I just made a machine". John said" Let's go see if the machine does anything". They press 2 buttons and there was a big flash. The two boys got transported to the future. John says "I think you made a time machine! Let's go back to our time now." They press the button again and they go farther into the future. The mysterious little kid says "I think we're lost in the future." To be continued.... Dun dun DUN!!!!

by Donovan Ingles, USA
age 9

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"The Time Machine" by Donovan Ingles

Back in the year of 2075, a man named Jamie Bryant was so protective that he built gadgets and suits to keep him from being injured or dying. His first gadget was a pair of sunglasses that gave him directions so he would never get lost. Eventually he made a pair of underpants that were soundproof so he would never be embarrassed. The following year Mr Bryant made a suit that gave air supply and kept him from any damage or injuries because he was so scared of dying. One of the pipes to give air supply broke and after a minute of trying to save himself, he died in the suit that was supposed to keep him alive.

by Manny Moreno, USA
age 11

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"Life" by Manny Moreno

I walked in the kitchen and asked "When we were eating these Moz sticks". Colby looked at me and said "We just ate dinner.", but I said "I'm hungry" and I walked away and sat down. 20 minutes later Colby comes over and asked if I wanted Moz sticks. Then we ate them. Success.

by Mike Sullivan, USA
age 29

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"Make Magic Happen" by Mike Sullivan

There's this huge stormy night, there's this girl that was stuck in the ground. No-one can't get out except for somebody. Somebody couldn't get out in the stormy night, they should welly.

The stormy night was stormy and stormy, it couldn't stop anyway. It couldn't stop as whooo, whooo, whooo. It couldn't stop as ever as even it couldn't stop as the stormy night wiggling and jiggling. The End.

by Tali Ingles, USA
age 5

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"A Stormy Night" by Tali Ingles

There I was. Laying on my face, barely able to move. I could see him right next to me - brutally battered from the flames and shells. No fight left in him, not at this moment. Feeling as if he had finally beaten his nemesis, I can hear The King laughing and roaring. At the same time crying, standing above his slain young. I couldn't let this be it. Not like this. I reach into my pocket, and with my dying breath, I hand my brother my last mushroom and I hear it..... "HERE WE GO".

by Daniel Ingles, USA
age 27

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"Brotherly Love" by Daniel Ingles

On a chilly brisk day, my friend, who shall remain nameless, and I went to New York City to do a little Christmas shopping. It was a new adventure for her as she had never been on a subway. As we went underground I knew we had to take a 5 or 6 train to Canal Street. As the first train arrived, we hopped on and took our seats. It was in this moment that I realised we were on the wrong train. I yelled over to my friend and quickly got off before the door closed. When I turned around all I could see were the doors closing and my friends face on the other side of the glass. That was the day that I went to Chinatown and my friend went to Brooklyn.

by Laura Cookfair, USA
age 26

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"Express Train to Brooklyn" by Laura Cookfair

We were at Glacier National Park in Montana. We were doing a 6 hour hike to the Grinnel glacier and we were walking through meadows to a frozen walkway. Ed's crossing it first and we are waiting in the other side. When Ed crosses, his foot steps off and through the ice. He slid down and regrouped himself and crawled back up. He looked at all of us and said "Ok, you come across". We were all panicked. We had two children of young ages and if they fell through they would have gone 5,000 feet under the ice. We all made it across and all ended well. We made it to the glacier.

Now we were walking back and as we appear back into the meadow, a man passes us and tells us to "Be ware, there is a mother bear with 2 cubs up ahead". We all panicked again and the rest of the walk we yelled "Hey Bear! Hey Bear!" Because if the bear heard you, they would get their kids and get out. We got back safely and it was the most beautiful place on earth. Nature at its best.

by Joann Fitzgerald
age 61

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"A day at Glacier" by Joann Fitzgerald

Skidding to a halt at the edge of the precipice, Chris dared to look behind him for the first time in what felt like hours. Peering as best he could through the thick jungle he had just run through he saw no-one. In fact, he thought, he couldn't hear anyone either. He breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to look at the chasm he was so close to throwing himself into. In the darkness below he could hear water, running water. He couldn't remember the last time he had had a drink and this welcome sound made his body ache to dive into the darkness. Chris closed his eyes as memories of living in a free world and swimming in freshwater lakes with his family came flooding back. "I pray they got out alive" he muttered to himself but he was rudely shaken back to reality by the ringing of gun shots. Panicking, Christ started looking left and right for a way out but it was all too open and they would see him. He couldn't let them have it. The artefact he had worked so hard to get. He wouldn't let those lives go to waste. There was only one thing for it. As the thudding sound of feet got nearer, Chris closed his eyes, crossed his fingers and jumped.

by Alan Mandel Butler, UK
age 31

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"Christophe Lockheed" by Alan Mandel Butler

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