The Prettiest Dog in Town

Five cat friends, called Elly, Sally, Charlotte, Emily and Mary, all loved the prettiest dog in town called Mike. One day, Charlotte decided to go and talk to Mike, “ Hey Mike, hi, do you like me?” Mike stayed silent for a long moment and then answered, “Of course I do! You’re obviously the prettiest  cat I’ve ever saw!” Charlotte smiled, and joined her friends again. The day after, Emily walks up to Mike and asks him, “Mike… hi I’m Emily, do you - do you like me?” Mike struggled a bit before he could answer, “Oh Emily, of course I like you, how can I not like you?” Emily, happy with the answer, smiled and went back to join her friends.
The next day, Sally decided to go and sit next to Mike, and while she was there she asked him, “Mike, I would like to ask you a question… do you like me?” Mike stared at her, and then answered quietly, “Oh Sally of course I do!” Sally, happy with the answer, smiled and went to join her friends again. The day after Mary walks up to Mike, and asks him, “Hey Mike, hi… may I ask you a question?” Mike, not knowing what the question was about, answers, “Sure sure.”  “Thank you… do you like me?” Mike looked at her as if she was an alien ready to eat him, “Of-of course I do!” Mary, happy with the answer, smiled and joined her friends once again. The next day Elly went up to Mike and asked him, “Mike, do you like me?” “Elly please… you know I do!” Elly, happy with the answer smiled and ran to her friends, “ Guys, guys, guys, you can’t believe what happened to me right now…”.  Her friends looked at her for an answer, so she shouts, “ Mike told me he likes ME!” The five cats looked at each other and then started arguing, “No Sally, Mike said he liked me, not you”.  “Mary please… what are you saying, Mike said he liked me!” “ No… me”,  They all continued to argue until Charlotte decided to go and talk to Mike.  “Mike, come here. Now, why did you say to each one of us that you liked her?” Mike started crying,  “I-I’m  sorry” he said, “I just wanted to make you feel better and be happy… I’m so - ” Mary interrupted him, “But you just made it worse, and we won’t be your friends anymore! Bye” The five cats turned around leaving the poor dog alone in the park.

He who tries to please everyone pleases no-one

Angelica D 7T

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The Helper

Once in the town lived a kind hearted man who always loved to help people with their problems and one day while he was going to the market a lady asked: “Please kind man, can you help me get rid of the rats in this building? They are really frustrating me.” So the kind man helped the lady clear the rats and when he had finished the neighbour of the lady which lived In the same building said with anger: “Why did you clear the rats from my house? They are my best friends!” At that point the kind man didn’t know what to do and another man came and said: “ I’m poor, can you give me some money or food?” But he got pushed back by another lady who said not to give him money because he was a robber and at the same time everyone near the kind man all pushed and shouted. They all wanted help, but it was impossible to help everyone because somebody wanted something that somebody else didn’t want so at that moment he realized he never should have helped every body so much in the past days and he then was so stressed that he died.

Moral: He who tries to please everybody pleases nobody.

Cesare 7T

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The Politician’s Bad Decision

One day, a politician decided to want to make his community a better. He had  $1,000.  He estimated that that would be enough. He went to ask his friends what they wanted.

“I think we need more hospitals,” said one.

“I think we need more modern houses,” said another.

“I think we need more roads,” says another.

The politician decided that he needed more roads, so there was less traffic, so he ordered them to be built. He went out for a stroll. Along the way, he met the man with who suggested the roads. He remarked,“Excellent, how intelligent, our community will win the ‘best town prize.’” And he walked away. The politician walked further and came to the man who suggested the hospitals. “Goodness you are stupid, you want people to die, don’t you?” The politician ignored this and walked away. Again, along the way he met the man who suggested the modern houses. “Less houses, less people, less money, the community becomes unpopular and there’s more pollution!” he said angrily. The politician went back to his office to find a nasty surprise. The roads cost 2,100 while he only had 1,000. He looked outside his window and saw that the roads were incomplete. The man who suggested the hospitals saw this and said, “I’ll show you what obedience means!” and he went to the roads, got in a truck and tore up the road. The man who suggested the modern houses saw this and rushed over to the road, got another machine and started knocking down the old houses around the area. Both of them forgot about the houses and the hospitals. When the politician saw this, he realized that he had made a big ‘whoops’!

HE WHO TRIES TO PLEASE EVERYONE PLEASES NO ONE

James 7F

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In a town somewhere in Sicily a man named John loved making cakes for his neighbours and inviting them to his home for dinner.  Practically he loved pleasing people. One day a young boy with his dad knocked on John’s door. “Good Morning”, said the dad.

“John, we really appreciate what you do for us. In fact we’d like you to have lunch with us. We’d be happy to offer you some delicious pie my wife cooks”. The young boy nodded and waited for John’s answer. “Oh I’d love to come but I don’t want to disturb you and your wonderful family”,   he said with a smile on his face. Then the little boy said, “Please come John, you would really please us”. The dad’s boy smiled and looked at John. John smiled back thinking that if he went he would please them just like the young boy said. “Well alright I’ll come.”  He thanked them and went back in the house.

In a few hours he had to leave to go have lunch with the young boy and his family so meanwhile he decided to have a walk in the park.  He was walking when in front of him was the president. “Hello John dear, how are you?” said the president, nearly shouting just to attract the attention of the other people. “I’m fine Mr. President. What brings you here?” Said in a smart voice John, “I hear that you are a kind person to all the people in this town, well then I would feel proud if you came to my place to have a splendid lunch”. “Well  ...” murmured John. “Oh come on you’d really please me”. Hearing that word please really tempted John in saying yes but he couldn’t because he had to go lunch with the young boy and his family. But John thought that he couldn’t say no to the president. So he agreed and thanked the president. John kept on walking... sadly he sat on a bench and simply waited for something to happen while he waited for lunch at the boy’s place and the president’s at the same time... Then a girl and her brother came towards John. “Oh poor John you look so sad, what’s happened?”  John stared at his hands and simply answered back, “Oh nothing, don’t be sad for me”, trying to be nice and not let his friends worry for him. Then the girl looked at her brother and said in a gentle, sweet voice, “John you’re always too kind. Come on don’t be sad! Cheer up! Well actually I know something that will make you happy and please me too. Why don’t you come have lunch at my house? You, me and my brother? Isn’t that cool?” John thought in his head oh please tell me this is not happening, but he had to please her and her brother that tried to cheer him up. So he accepted the invitation (again).

 It was finally lunch time and John started going to the young’s boy family. He had something to eat very quick and said he would have gone to the bathroom. But instead he went to the president. There he said he was sorry he was late. Again he ate a little and said he would go clean his shirt that he pretended had become dirty from the meal. He quickly rushed to the girl’s and her brother’s house and ate a little more there too. Again and again he repeated the same things until he was so tired of rushing here and there. He sat on a bench and thought that what he was doing was not going to please anyone.

In fact he who tries to please everybody pleases nobody. But John only thought about this when his friends discovered everything. They were not pleased.

Lavinia 7DT

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Seagulpotamus

One normal September day, there was a seagull flying overhead.  He stopped on a branch.  He watched as the hippos swam and splashed. 

“Oh, how I wish I had the legs of a hippo so I could swim.”  And instantly, he was swimming like a hippo.  He swam for a long time, then flew off to bed.  But he couldn’t fit in his nest.  “Oh, Bother!” he said as he flew into a cave.

The next day, he saw the humans at the beach.  Some were playing beach bats.  “Oh, how I wish I had arms like a human so I could play it.”  And instantly, he did have arms like a human.

Well, this seagull couldn’t have been happier.  But soon fall came, and he had to fly south for the winter.  So he ran off the edge of a cliff to try flying.  He fell off and broke his leg.  He was sorry he could never fly again, but he remained a Seagulpotamus forever and eventually got used to it.

Be careful what you wish for. Be glad for what you have.

Matilde 7T

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The Baker’s Story

There once was a baker, whose sole ambition in life was to please others.  One day he baked twelve beautiful crispy rolls to take to his mother, whose failing health kept her from cooking for herself.  As he was walking to her house, he came across a beggar.  The beggar was clothed in rags, and was curled up on a street corner. 
“Ha!” scoffed another pedestrian. “He has nothing, yet you have plenty!  Did it not come to your mind you should give, not be greedy?”  So the baker gave the beggar three of his fine rolls, and set off again. 
“Look!” cried a passing girl to her friends, “How silly he looks, trying to carry all nine of his rolls without even a basket!”  So the baker traded six of his precious rolls to a nearby peddler for a basket to carry his remaining three. 
With a light heart, he set out again.  When crossing the final bridge to get to his mother’s house, someone behind him called out,  “Hey, baker! Why don’t you just-“  But, as the baker turned to hear the man’s comment, he remembered he was pressed for time, and began to walk backwards, so as to hear the man who spoke, and get on his way at the same time. 
However, in doing this, the baker tripped over a stone, and all his rolls went flying into the river, and angered a bargeman.

He who tries to please everybody pleases nobody.

Olivia 7F

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The Peacock

The Parrot was having a birthday party. He had invited the Peacock, along with many of his other friends. The Peacock was getting ready, when he heard a knock on his door.
”Come in,” he called. In came the Pelican, smooth, silky and freshly combed.
“Hello! You are on you way to the party, am I not correct?” said the Peacock.
“Oh, indeed,” cried the Pelican, “but I am not yet beautiful enough.  Will you give me some of your colour, and your magnificent feathers?”
“I believe you are pretty enough without, but you may have some of my precious colour and precious feathers, because you want them so,” replied the Peacock. The Pelican took his offerings, thanked him very much, and left.  The Peacock continued to comb himself. Soon he heard another knock on his door.
“Come in,” he called. In came the Penguin, clean and shining.
“Hello! You are on you way to the party, am I not correct?” said the Pelican.
“Oh, indeed,” cried the Penguin, “but I am not yet beautiful enough.  Will you give me some of your colour, and your magnificent feathers?”
“I believe you are pretty enough without, but you may have some of my precious colour and precious feathers, because you want them so,” replied the Peacock. The Penguin took what he offered, thanked him, and left. The Peacock was almost ready to go, when he heard a third knock on his door.
“Come in,” he called. In came the Parrot's cousin, the Parakeet, with new shoes and a polished beak.
“Hello! You are on you way to the party, am I not correct?” said the Peacock.
“Oh, indeed,” cried the Parakeet, “but I am not yet beautiful enough.  Will you give me some of your colour, and your magnificent feathers?”
“I believe you are pretty enough without, but you may have some of my precious colour and precious feathers, because you want them so,” replied the Peacock. The Parakeet took his offerings, thanked him very much, and left. The Peacock took his gift and his card, and gave one last look at his reflection in the mirror. He stared. In the mirror, there was not the usual bright blue bird with large feathers, but a small, ugly, grey bird staring right back at him. He had given all his feathers and colour away, and now was uglier than any of the birds that had come to ask him for his blessings. He left for the party, his head drooping. He could not enjoy the party and be happy for the Parrot, because whenever he looked around, he saw other birds wearing his beauties. But neither were the others happy – the large feathers and blue colour looked ridiculous on them, and they all wished they would have kept to their own color and feathers, and not have wished for more.

He who tries to please everybody pleases nobody.

 Pihla  7T

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The Story of  a Poor Pig

One day a new pig was joined to the farm. For the first period he was sad because nobody ever talked to him or even looked at him . So one day he went to the wise sheep and asked her, “Wise sheep, why doesn’t anyone talk to me or even look at me?”  The sheep responded wisely, “Well, try to do favors for the other animals and see that it will go better.”
So the pig Wally, the next day, went to the other pigs and started to treat them well by changing their the water and food and by preparing their bed for the night.
So after a week Wally and the other pigs were all friends. So he thought that if he was friends with the pig it was because of the way he treated him.  If he treated the other animals like this maybe even they would be his friends.
After some time, unfortunately, Wally got thrown out of the farm because he didn’t give much time to all the animals as he did with the pigs before.

He who tries to please everyone, pleases no-one

Simone 7DT

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The Motorcycle

One day there was a mouse that wanted to buy a little motorcycle so he asked his dad if he could have one.  He responded, "We don’t have a lot of money to buy it for you, but I will try if it is possible".  The little mouse didn't like this answer so he went to his mom and asked her to buy a little motorcycle.  She responded,  “Maybe for your birthday." Again he wasn't happy with this answer so he started to ask his sister the same question but she said, "No!".   So he went to the last person in his family,  his brother,  and he answers, "Mom and dad already bought it for you but you had been so busy asking everyone for money that you didn't even need !

Moral : If you wait you can have what you want.

Valeria 7F

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The Pleaser

One day, a man named Bob was taking his horse through the streets of York. Many people who knew Bob called him ‘The Pleaser’ because he listened to everybody and pleased them. So rumours spread through the city of his habit. So, that day, Bob was stopped by some townsfolk: “Well hello there Pleaser”, they said, “It is a shame that the horse does not carry you.” “I believe you are correct.” said Bob. So he mounted the horse and proceeded to the city gate where a guard said: “Oh, kind sir, do you mind getting my shield for me?” “Not at all!” responded Bob in a cheerful voice. So he left the city and tied the horse up to a nearby tree. When he turned around he was surprised by some other guards celebrating Bob’s 37th birthday and his 2nd year of pleasing people. Unfortunately for the horse, the noise scared it and it freed itself of the knot tying it to the tree and escaped.

‘He who pleases well pleases all.’

William 7DT

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Yes Frog

Two years ago, in England, there was a university called Flinnston, where all the tallented frogs went. The main activity of the school was boating. They participated at many boating events, but they always lost because of their old canoe.

One day, as fate wanted, the school was invited to a boating race, and the winners would recieve a brand new canoe.

“I think my son should participate because he is strong and puts all his heart into the competition.”

“Listen, you should put my son in the race because he has been boating since five years ago and loves this sport.”

“You know which would be the best choice you could make? Putting my son in the race.”

And every day all the parents lined up to tell the teacher who they thought should be in the group of four that participated and the four that stayed home.

Time passed, the students trained, and the teacher had put all eight of his students in the competition. And then . . . the day came. All the English universities were ready to race every other school in a new canoe. On your marks, get set, go! The Flinnston’s group started racing. Everybody was highly concentrated. There were ten participating schools, and they were the sixth. One two, one two, the team captain told his team mates. There were only a few hundred meters left, and the Flinnston’s were starting to slow down. Everybody looked at them curiously. The coach looked up at the sky, and suddenly they started to sink. They had lost, lost both the race and their chances of winning a new canoe.

The teacher had tried to make all his students happy, but at the end he had lost. The four frogs had been too slow because of the weight and didn’t arrive at the finishing line before the canoe sank.

He who tries to please everyone, pleases no-one.


Camilla 7dt

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Yes Frog

Two years ago, in England, there was a university called Flinnston, where all the tallented frogs went. The main activity of the school was boating. They participated at many boating events, but they always lost because of their old canoe.

One day, as fate wanted, the school was invited to a boating race, and the winners would recieve a brand new canoe.

“I think my son should participate because he is strong and puts all his heart into the competition.”

“Listen, you should put my son in the race because he has been boating since five years ago and loves this sport.”

“You know which would be the best choice you could make? Putting my son in the race.”

And every day all the parents lined up to tell the teacher who they thought should be in the group of four that participated and the four that stayed home.

Time passed, the students trained, and the teacher had put all eight of his students in the competition. And then . . . the day came. All the English universities were ready to race every other school in a new canoe. On your marks, get set, go! The Flinnston’s group started racing. Everybody was highly concentrated. There were ten participating schools, and they were the sixth. One two, one two, the team captain told his team mates. There were only a few hundred meters left, and the Flinnston’s were starting to slow down. Everybody looked at them curiously. The coach looked up at the sky, and suddenly they started to sink. They had lost, lost both the race and their chances of winning a new canoe.

The teacher had tried to make all his students happy, but at the end he had lost. The four frogs had been too slow because of the weight and didn’t arrive at the finishing line before the canoe sank.

He who tries to please everyone, pleases no-one.


Camilla 7dt

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The young man and his shop

There was once a young man who worked at a market. One day a very big group of people came at the market and they all had different requests. A woman said, “I need milk to feed my baby!” Suddenly another woman said, “I need flour to make bread!” and other people were shouting their requests. The young man was startled, so he started getting the goods as fast as he could. But one man said, “I need to catch a train in five minutes, hurry-up, man.” Then more people were shouting that they too had special appointments and places that they had to get to. With all of these emergencies, the poor young man was running left and right with many things to get, here and there, until he realized that he was out of goods. He shortly apologised and told the crowd that he was out of goods. Then the crowd grabbed what they needed out of the shelves and they all crowded around the poor young man. The next day the police were investigating the area where there were scattered goods and a body on the floor.

He who tries to please everybody, pleases nobody.

Alessandra G. 7T

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The skateboarder

          In the times of July the sky was bright and the birds were singing tunes that were new to the people. In the town, a man sat in his house and sighed, “What should I do,” he asked himself. The day was perfect for a stroll in the park, but that wasn’t the kind of thing he did. Just then July shone into his house leaving a beam of light across the room. The man’s eyes followed until they hit something, his skateboard.
          The park was five minutes away and the man was holding his skateboard. The sun glistened on the cars and it was a beautiful day. Four minutes away from the park the man passed a group of three girls. They looked at him and mocked him, “Um, sorry to disturb you sir,” the biggest girl’s voice was sarcastic, “But that is a skateboard and it’s made for you to ride it, duh.”
“Yeah, duh,” the other two said.  Three minutes away from the park and the man was riding so fast that a mother with an infant child almost got hit so the mother came up to this skateboarder.
“Excuse me, but you almost hit my child,” she said, “please go and get some headgear on and ride slower young man”. And so the ‘young man’ went to the nearest skate shop and bought a helmet.  Two minutes away from the park and the man met some teenagers. The teenagers told him how to skate ‘correctly’.
“What in the world dude,” the guy beside the buff teen spoke, taking off the man’s helmet, “What is this junk, you don’t need a helmet. What you need is to go faster and do tricks man. Skate until you can’t skate no longer man, just do it.’  One minute away from the park the man was going at the speed of light doing tricks like no other.
Thirty seconds away from the park, the man was almost there. Wow, he thought, look at that ramp. The teenager said, ‘It’s cool to do tricks’. And his mind led him to a jump, a jump that landed on a police car. The police immediately followed the skater.

        Forty-five minutes away from the park the police car turned around and went home. The man looked back in joy but did not see the cliff in front of him, fell down and died.

He who tries to please everyone pleases no-one.

Nicholas 7F

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The Generous Squirrel

There once was a squirrel. He went to school every day. He was a very generous, funny and nice squirrel. He was so generous, he wasn’t able to say “no” to anyone.

One day, at lunch his mom made him a delicious ham and cheese sandwich, which looked delicious too! So everybody asked him to give them a piece of his sandwich.There were 35 kids in his class. After he finished giving the last few pieces, he realized that there was none left for himself: his friends had finished his lunch.

Later on he felt weak and went home.

"He who tries to please everybody pleases nobody."

Luca C. 7DT

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The Horse, the Wolf and the Crow

Once upon a time there was a horse that lived on a prairie. One day a fox passed by and said to him, "How beautiful you are! But if you cut your mane a little you would be even more beautiful".

So the horse thought that he would follow his advice. Shortly after a wolf passed by and seeing the condition he was in, said to him, "You would be a beautiful horse if you didn’t have such a short mane. I would advise you to cut it completely".

The horse followed his advice, but soon a crow passed by and seeing the condition he was in began to laugh and said to him, “But what sort of horse are you without a mane? Aren’t you ashamed of yourself? Go and look at yourself.”

In desperation the horse ran to a take to look at himself but he leant forward so far that he lost his balance and drowned.

Be careful what advice you take

Giovanni 7DT

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The Burning Books

On a freezing, frigid January morning, Hamish the librarian, opened up the Library of Gobblesmack Town. An old man slipped in, settled into an armchair and started reading The Works of William Shakespeare. Not soon after, a group of kids came in to do a school project on the Marbled Orbweaver, a rare type of spider found in South Zittalica. Unfortunately, the library didn’t have the books they needed, so to make the kids happy, Hamish ordered the books on www.amazon.co.uk paying about £28. As soon as the bunch of disappointed kids left, a group of old people came in to warm up and read the newspapers by the fireplace.

Thanks to the snow, the delivery hadn’t made it all the way to the Library of Gobblesmack. An old woman spoke up: “What a library! You would think that with all this new technology they would get the newspapers in, even with some snow.” So, once again, to please someone and to prove that technology wasn’t needed to get a newspaper, Hamish ran the five blocks to the Very Cheap Paper Shop and bought half a dozen newspapers, paying £13 - quite a sum for six newspapers. The oldies had a nice relaxing and pleasant time, but then left to play bingo.

In the afternoon, a few families came to spend some peaceful time in the library. They complained of the limited variety of children’s books, so the librarian let them check out as many books as they wanted, even though the limit was five. Finally, right before closing time, the old man that had been inside the library all day got up and walked over to the librarian’s desk. He said: “It would be better burning the whole thing down, you wouldn’t have to deal with all the complaints.” He disappeared. Being stressed out and all, the librarian struck a match and set fire to the books and shelves. It was a spectacle: red and golden flames roaring in the darkness: “problem solved”.


He who tries to please everybody pleases nobody.

Emma Z 7DT

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The Duck and the Swan

One evening one small duckling passed by some stunning swans.  The small duckling had nothing to do and wanted to play with the swans.  Although the duckling was shy, he gathered up his courage and went up to one of them and asked politely if he could play.  But the swan said, “No way! You are a duck. I don’t play with ugly ducks like you!”
So the duckling nodded his head sadly and a tear formed down his bill.  The swans just looked at him in disgust. Poor little duckling just swam away and felt miserable.
The next day the swan’s friends got fed up with the gloating swan and left him by himself.  The swan felt lonely and a little angry so he went to find someone to hang out with.  He came up to a beautiful pink and white flamingo swan and  asked him to play but the flamingo looked at him in disgust.  Then the beautiful flamingo said sharply, “Who do you think I am? I do not play with puny beasts like you”.

Treat others the way you would like to be treated.

Nadia 7T

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The Tree and the Sun

Once upon a time, there was a tree. Every day, the tree drank water from inside the soil and took the light from the sun but never knew where all these supplies came from. He just stood there, day after day, thinking about happy things and playing with birds.
One day, the dry season came, and it was the driest in a hundred years. The tree started to get thirsty, it dug and dug into the soil, but could not find any water. It took a few days for the tree to realize that it was going to die of thirst. All the leaves were turning yellow and he was so hot that he thought he could burn any second.

One day, he heard two birds talking. One said: “Do you know why the soil has gone so dry?”
The other bird said: “No idea.”
“I’ll tell you. The water was all taken by the sun, the heat of the sun took all the water and threw it back into the sky where it came from!”
The tree heard these two talking, and he started to think: ah, it’s the sun! He took all the water! I’m going to get rid of him!
He told his thought to the birds, and the birds were not very happy: “The sun might have done some bad things, but it’s still important! If we get rid of it, who knows what horrible thing could happen?”

But the tree was so angry that he didn’t even pay attention to the birds. He turned to the sun, which was blinding his eyes, and shouted: “Hey sun! You rotten scum! You took the water all to yourself, you selfish thing! I want you out of the sky in ten seconds!”
The sun heard that. And he was very angry, because taking the water is the way things are supposed to be. But he thought: I’m going to Mr. Cloud! I’m going to tell him that he’s going to take over the earth, and let’s see what happens!
So he went out of the sky. The tree laughed until his stomach hurt, and said: “That wimp! He’s scared of a tree! See birds, nothing bad happened, right? Oh good, it’s starting to rain!”
He was right. Mr. Cloud was above him, surveying the dried and cracked ground. Without a second thought, he began to pour cloudfulls of water down at the ground. The trees and the grass got the water, and were very happy. They drank and drank. And the rain never stopped so they could keep playing.

The rain went on for three days, and the water was about ten centimeters high on the ground now. And it kept getting deeper and deeper. A lot of grass didn’t have enough oxygen because it was under water, and they drowned. The tree didn’t feel anything yet, he was too busy playing and splashing. A week later, the water was about two meters deep, and now he began to feel that he was in danger of drowning. He now hoped the sun would come and take some of that water away. He shouted at the sun, pleaded for it to come back, but either the sun couldn’t hear his sound above the storm, or because he had ignored the tree, he didn’t get an answer.  At last, the rain had covered up to top of the tree, and the tree couldn’t get more oxygen anymore. It drowned.
Three weeks later the sun came back, warming the ground. Slowly, the water dried up leaving rich soil behind. The birds came back too. They had come back to say to the tree: “See, I told you!”

But the tree was nowhere to be seen.

Yi 7DT

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