Envisioning a Perfect World

Ruby
By Megan Moffet

Once upon a time there was a girl named Ruby. She had no family. She was always hungry. She was always cold at night because she had no house to live in and she had no money to get blankets. Ruby was very sad.

One day Ruby found a basket and went out to the streets to ask people for money. That day a nice woman stopped to talk to Ruby. When the woman found out that Ruby had no family the woman said hop in my car

The woman introduced Ruby to her husband. The husband asked Ruby if she wanted to live with them and be their daughter and Ruby said yes. They hired an attorney so they could adopt her. Then they all lived happily ever after.

In my perfect world every child has food to eat, clothes to wear and a home to live in. And most important is every child has a family to love them.

MEGAN MOFFET, 6, is in the first grade at Chandler School.

A perfect world is where there is friendship, freedom, music, and peacefulness. Friendship is important for everyone to get along easier.  Freedom is important so we don’t feel pressured.  Peacefulness lets us preserve our lives. Music makes us feel good. They are all significant in having a perfect world.

Everybody would have good friends. We would not be as harsh with each other. For example, there would be no yelling or arguments or meanness. Countries would be friends with each other.

There would be no war or fighting between countries. We would learn how to keep our tempers down. We would be respectful of others.

There would be fewer laws to live by. There would not be terrorist attacks. Jail would not be as harsh on people. Those who break the law would not have to be in little tiny jail cells.

Music would be fun for everyone. There would be more jazz style of music. There would be fun for everyone. There would be more classical. When people have music in their hearts they are happy.

Peacefulness, music, freedom and friendship are all part of a great world. Getting along together and feeling less pressured helps us to preserve our lives and feel good.

DESMOND MANTLE, 7, is in the second grade at Polytechnic School.

Bang! My machine worked now. I can test out my weather machine. Here it goes … wooooosh! It works! I just sent a rain cloud to Africa, so now they will have clean water to drink. I have to send an ending spot. The ending spot is at 12 p.m. Right now it is 1 a.m.

I’m sending a soup storm with noodles to Africa and that will end at 9 p.m. They will have food to eat. Now I will make a device on your car. You can fly over traffic, and you won’t be late for work. I just made it.

Now I will fly to Africa to get some soup with noodles. I finally go there. The soup with noodles didn’t start yet. Everybody is out of bed now because everyone is eating. There was nothing left.

I can use machines to make more food and water in my perfect world.

LUCAS HUMAYUN, 7, is in the first grade at Crestview Preparatory.

Edward Finch stared out of the window on the 24th story of his apartment building. He sighed. The world was much too industrial. Gray steel coated the earth for miles. He hadn’t seen green for nearly a decade. Green food was scarce because plants don’t grow out of steel.  The sun dipped beneath the clouds and Edward fell into a deep stupor. He dreamed of what the world should be like. He dreamed about trees, squirrels and no global warming, clear oceans, sunlight, rain, vegetables. That was what Edward wanted the most … vegetables.

The next day Edward did not go to work. He got on a bus and did not get off for hours. He only stopped because he had seen green — a plant. He stepped off the bus, picked up the plant, and the earth had taken its first step towards a perfect world. Then the plant almost died. On the bright side, he was a rocket scientist. He built a rocket and flew to Andromeda the galaxy. He brought the shriveled plant which preferred Salmon Sardineland’s atmosphere better (Salmon Sardineland was the planet he flew to).

Plants sprung up all over the place. Food grew and trees grew. Clear oxygen at last! He could breathe! Edward Finch decided the world was plenty perfect so now he just needed a population. This was the hard part. Edward found a magical rock that would give him a single wish. He wished for a population. The people decided that they liked this planet, so they felt they would live here. Everybody ate pears, oranges, grapefruit, grapes, and lettuce. A light, warm snow fell on the WHOLE planet. And then everybody started to tap dance. Everybody looked up and saw one of Santa’s elves running around with a snowmaking machine. The people of Salmon Sardineland built a sonic neutralizer and blew global warming right off the top of the earth. From then on all of the planets were at peace with Salmon Sardineland. People went back to work not for money, but to work for charity and to make others happy. Money was no longer needed. All the plants were plentiful and everyone was a vegetarian — except for the carnivorous animals.

All was at peace for Salmon Sardineland. And they had atmosphere, water, food, nutrients, pet chickens, and loads more. But the best part, there was peace and harmony for all because everybody worked together. And finally, with a sigh, Edward Finch realized he had reached his goal — a perfect world.

CORY ATWATER, 10, is in the fifth grade at Marengo Elementary School.

 If I could make a perfect world I would first take all the money out of my bank account and buy food to give to people – whoever needs it. I would give the food to those Africans in Africa in need. They only get about five bites of food every other day. I would make sure that they would have at least three meals a day like us. It is very sad for those people who live there and not fair.

Next, I would gather all of my family’s clothes that they don’t want or don’t fit and give it to those who need clothes. I am going to find all the people who are lying down on the floor with no clothes and I will give them some clothes. There are too many people jobless, so they can’t pay for clothes or anything. It is heartbreaking for those people and nobody wants to do anything. I am going to make a change.

Last, I would build a house like my dad. I would build the houses for families of separate people to live in one house made for two people. It would have food, electricity, water, and a bathroom. I would supply all the clothes and food and give it to them every week. I would go and get a job application for all of them so they could go and get a job. After they get money and can take care of themselves they can go and have a family.

I could save people and the world. If we had a lot of people like me we could have a better world.

SAMARIA DIAZ, 10, is in the fifth grade at Altadena Elementary School.

Up in the heavens four planets revolve around a dull fading star.

On Weylor — the planet closest to the central star — R.B. Holmes constructs orders for the elongated rows of troops — reinforcements.  Five men stare out over the scene, peering through the rusted metal bars of the lookout box.

Thirty-five million miles away, on planet Anderbac, Lupe Suaverno faces the rest of his dying and somber community. Lupe cannot fix what is happening in the middle of the arid and dry place. All of the people sit with their bones peaking into the folds of their skin.

On planet Fer, Moamay cries herself to sleep. The four children in the next room are holding on to life by fine threads. But all the mother can picture is those glazed-over eyes that she has become accustomed to over the past couple of years.

The farthest planet is a land with no name at all.  The land is simply 117 small islands wrapped in frosted water. This planet has no war. This planet has no famine or drought. This planet has no disease -- just 117 nameless people who sit silently on their piece of the cool, dark sand.

As the five men watch Holmes from high above the battleground, they can see bodies pushed up against the mountainside. As one man glances up into the blackened sky, he speaks. “I wonder if one of these planets has no war.”

Three-hundred children, mothers, brothers, wives, fathers, and friends sit staring into Lupe’s dark eyes. His shoulders seem to crumble under the weight of the lost hopes. The lost loves. The lost lives that the famine has brought. He too can see those surrounding planets. Three separate universes. “I wonder if one of those planets up there has no famine….no drought.”

Out of Moamay’s window, she can just make out three luminous bulbs in the night sky. This moment is destroyed as her eldest child begins to cough. A tear falls down her cheek, burning the skin, and leaving a salty streak in its place. She stares at the empty space where her soul-mate no longer lies. As the other children begin to scream for the assistance of Moamay’s hand, she rips herself from the mattress and dashes into the doorway … that leaves three children. As she stares at the mats strewn across the floor that have become uninhabited, she cannot help but think that soon, disease will take them all. She crawls into the bed and again looks at the three other planets. “I wonder if one of those planets has no disease.”

One-hundred-seventeen nameless sit forever. There are no problems in this land. No war, no famine, no drought, no disease. But no love, no care, no reason to try … But no problems. Although there are no words here, there are thoughts. The thoughts of each 117 nameless is simple: “I wonder if one of those planets up there has no alone. That would make the world perfect.” n

JACLYN COLE, 14, is in the eighth grade at Polytechnic School.

I think most everybody wishes for world peace, food and shelter for the homeless, and help to keep our planet green and safe from global warming. Although these virtuous hopes serve as a paradigm for the people of planet Earth, human beings are not a race of perfection.

We are stimulated by a spectrum of different thoughts that give us personalities that have unique qualities. I enjoy hearing different opinions and discussing new ideas with my friends. It exposes me to different points of view, which expands my knowledge and helps my mind grow and develop.  How boring it would be if we were all perfect with no challenges or surprises. Life without risks would be bland and dull.

My family is a perfect example of imperfection! As individuals we are like night and day, oil and water, ebony and ivory, fire and ice. My dad stays on top of the politics and the news around the world, keeps track of the latest in technology, loves military aircraft, ships, and vehicles, watches sports, would rather stay home, hates talking on the phone, and has a small circle of friends. Mom on the other hand is a social butterfly who knows no stranger, likes to  go out on the town, has lots of friends, doesn’t know anything about sports, is politically challenged, is not tech-savvy, and would be lost without her cell phone. Mom is fashion-conscious and Dad is totally fashion-unconscious, but somehow it all works.

Like a quilt we start out as individual squares, but when you connect them, you create a masterpiece. Together, we are like a prism that showers others with the colors of a rainbow, or the warmth of the sun, or an intricate spider web or snowflake.  We just go together like peanut butter and jelly, squeeze cheese and crackers, or milk and Oreo cookies.

Instead of spewing hatred and fighting and debasing our rights as a sentient life form, we should be advocates of an unblemished society with reputable leadership. Our efforts should be “universal” in teaching our children tolerance, forgiveness, and equality. Universal is another way of saying global, worldwide, united, and common.

There are seven continents on our planet that are all filled with different countries and cultures. This makes us a diverse world and brings us a prospect of enormous expectations and opportunities. This is exciting, and we should respect mankind and future generations and strive to preserve, and not contaminate or taint, a people or heritage.

So, my perfect world would be one where we have learned from our mistakes and use them to our advantage.  Or as my counselor at Camp Montecito-Sequoia once said, “Peace man, love man, give me some granola!”

BRENNAN BILINSKI, 12, is in the seventh grade at La Cañada Preparatory School.