Isaiah the Beetle And The Northeast Region

It was six o' clock in the morning in Indiana and Mommy, Daddy, me, and Eliza were at the airport waiting  for our flight to the Northeast Region of the United States. We looked our best. I was in denim jeans and my best shirt, the button-up one with the blue and white stripes. Eliza's hair was in a short ponytail with a yellow ribbon, and she wore a satin dress and white shoes. Daddy wore jeans and a clean white T-shirt.  Mommy wore jeans and a purple blouse. We were eating blueberry muffins.

Two hours later on the plane I was practically dying of boredom. And I am not exaggerating.  Well, okay, maybe just a little. I tried playing Scrabble with Eliza on Mommy's smartphone but Eliza kept winning. Finally, we got off our plane in New York. That night, we stayed in a hotel.


Next morning we took a walk around New York City. "Did you know that New York's state fruit is the apple?" asked Mommy cheerfully. "No," I muttered. I was in a bad mood because I had left my teddy bear at home in Indiana and could not sleep last night. "I knew that!" Eliza piped up. "And some of New York's most important natural resources are rich soil, minerals, and fresh water."

Next day we all spent the day driving our rental car all the way up to the boarder of Maine. The next morning  we visited a souvenir shop and Eliza and I each bought a little bag of lobster Squinkies. Then we went out for lunch. We ordered a big red Maine lobster. "I guess lobsters are a natural resource in Maine," I said. "Very good, Isaiah," said Mommy. "They are."

A few days later, we had a picnic on the beach in Maryland. Mommy said,"Maryland's state flower is the Black-eyed Susan." After our picnic we went to a greenhouse and bought a bouquet of Black-eyed Susans.

Next morning we caught our flight  back to Indiana. It had been quite a trip. Tiring, but fun. I was glad to crawl into my bed that night.

spiraling...

I wrote this for a Matisse inspired art competition at the IMA.  The flowers and the staring woman made me think of hypnotic flowers.  I wrote down the colors the woman saw by looking at the colors of the flowers.  I couldn't write anything really surprising for the ending because in the picture it looked calm.  A fly buzzing in her ear just popped into my head.

Spiraling…

By Eliza Bradbury

Queen Lyla sat in her private chamber and stared at her bouquet of flowers. She felt s…l…e…e...p…y, very sleepy indeed.  Her eyes started to spiral, she felt tingly as she was sucked into a hypnotic daze. Color, lots of color! Red like her blush, white like winter, purple like her gown, pink like her lip gloss, green like the bushes in the courtyard.

She suddenly awoke to the sound of a fly buzzing in her ear.

Isaiah the Beetle

 Isaiah could live as long as a human. (Ninety years at the average, he was six now). Isaiah ate like a human. (His favorite food was pears). Isaiah was the size of a human and could talk like a human.  He wore clothes and lived in a house like a human.  He even went to school like a human. But the truth was, Isaiah was a beetle.  His mother, Kelly, was a beetle. His father, Dana, was a beetle. His eleven- and –a – half – year – old older sister, Eliza, was a beetle. He even had a beautiful beetle girlfriend, seven- year- old Ruthie Georgia.  Isaiah lived in a neighborhood called Beetlecottage Home.   Isaiah was a shiny jet-black rhino beetle who liked to wear a red shirt with a fire engine on it and denim shorts.  Ruthie Georgia was a pale pink rhino beetle who wore a hot pink shirt and a lavender tutu.

“What are you doing?” I asked as I stepped into the garage.  I’m a beetle, so it was more like scuttling.  “Taking apart the rusty canoe,” replied Daddy.  “Can I help?” I said in a helpless voice so that Daddy would loose his head in sympathy and give in.  But it didn’t work. “No, there are too many sharp things in the garage right now,” said Daddy. I stuck out my lower lip and  whined.  But Daddy wasn’t listening.

That night I tiptoed into Eliza’s room. The yellow rhino beetle with a violet dot on her back, my sister Eliza, stirred in her sleep. I nicely woke her up. It would have been fun to sit on her head and make her scream, but Mommy or Daddy would have heard. Where was I? Oh, yes, I nicely woke her up. “Eliza, I’ll shake out my piggy bank for you if you will steal the old canoe parts in the garage,” I said.

A few minutes later, I was in my room with an empty piggy bank and some rusty parts. I heard beetsteps (footsteps in beetle language) coming. I shoved the parts into my suitcase all ready and packed for our ship to England just in the nick of time.

“Hole in the bow! Hole in the bow!” we heard the captain shouting from the deck of our ship one week later.  “Mommy, I stole Daddy’s boat parts and they’re in my suitcase!” I said, worried that I would be scolded. But Mommy was far too afraid of our sinking ship to scold me.

Hours later, the boat parts from my suitcase were back together again and us and our suitcases and the captain had rowed ourselves back to harbor in the rusty canoe .  

Fifth Annual Liars Contest Eliza Bradbury 3rd place youth

I participated in the Liars Contest at the Indiana State Fair and won third place! This is a video of my winning Tall Tale.

On the Outskirts of Downtown Indianapolis- chapter 1

Eliza and her parents and her little brother were going to visit her great- uncle Roy and his girlfriend Mary in Ohio.  Yet there was more news. Eliza's best friend Ollie  got to come along! Eliza couldn't remember a time when Ollie came with her such a long way as Ohio. In the car, Eliza and Ollie listened to stories on a tape, drew and colored pictures, and played Hangman. When they got there, everyone had dinner. Then Ollie's parents arrived in their car. They were just in time for vanilla ice cream with blueberries. Eliza got three helpings.



The next day everyone drove to see G-uncle Roy's friends, Bob and Sylvia, and their daughter who had the same name as Ollie's mother, "Melissa."
When they got there, everyone went on a canoe trip. Ollie and his parents rode so far ahead in their canoe that when they had an accident there was nobody there to help them. Fortunately the others finally caught up. Ollie nor Melissa nor Brian were hurt, but somebody could've been, and Ollie was crying of fright and both Melissa and Ollie lost their shoes and Ollie lost his apple. Ollie was so freaked out that he rode in Sylvia's canoe for the rest of the trip. After the accident, everyone had a good time again. Ducks were spotted, mother-of-pearl shells were found, and at the end, flowers were picked. Before leaving, Eliza, Ollie, Isaiah, Dana, and Brian swam in the pond.




It was hard for Eliza to swim in this pond, for it was cold, and Eliza did not like the cold. But she had fun anyway. She and Ollie did an experiment- Eliza ran to the other side of the pond on land and Ollie swam to the other side in the water. Then they switched. They were trying to see which was fastest-land or water- and it turned out it was land.



Everyone spent one more night at Uncle Roy's house. Next day they went to a place called Serpent Mounds. It was- well- a giant mound shaped like a serpent. Everyone walked around the serpent- shaped grassy hill,  and then it was time to start the long drive home to Indiana. It had been a great trip, but Eliza was eager to get back to her cozy house and she bet Ollie wanted to get back to his.

On the Outskirts of Downtown Indianapolis - Introduction

Once there was a little girl named Eliza Bradbury.  She was eight and a half and had dishwater blond hair; cut asymmetrically.  She was four ft. four in., and she rarely dressed up fancy.  She liked to read, draw, and play house with her friends. She was not a girly- girl.  She did not like the stories where the prince rescues the lady. She thought the princess should rescue the man. Eliza lived with her four old cats: Nimbus, Gilligan, Cirrus, and Lucy; her old dog Willy; her mother, Kelly; her father, Dana; and her younger brother, Isaiah, who was almost three years old.  This is only the beginning of Eliza’s story.

The Last Chapter of Runaway Groom (aka John and Jierra Meet Again)

John Perinski was nice and cozy in his warm bed in his mansion.  He found a job as a baker so he was rich. He did not want to get married, he was afraid his wife would use up all their money.   

Jierra Florence Meetlofe Nadenburger got on her bike to go to the nearest bakery for a midday treat. When she got there she parked her bike. She walked in and a man in a white baker's hat greeted her. "I'm Mr Perinski." "Perinski, Perinski," muttered Jierra. "Very familiar. Oh, you're the guy who tried to marry me for money!" And with that she stormed out the door. But before riding away, Jierra shouted,"Now I'm married to Gerald Nadenburger. So there!"