Felicity, 10, Groton, MA
Once, there was a young lady just starting middle school. Her name was Harriet. She had just moved here and had no friends. By the end of the first day, she had made three new friends.
They started a girls club, and while they were playing on the playground, one girl, named Alyssa, said, “I think we need a clubhouse.”
Harriet was quick to reply, “We could build it in my basement.”
That afternoon, the four girls went to Harriet’s house.
“Where should we put our coats?” a girl named Suzanne asked.
“You can just hang them on the banister of the staircase,” Harriet answered.
Everyone did what she said and then a girl named Evie asked, “Where’s the basement?”
“Right over here,” Harriet replied.
They opened the basement door and looked down the long flight of stairs. They began descending, but as they went down, Harriet and her friends realized that the staircase was much longer than they thought.
“When does it end?” Suzanne asked.
“I don’t know,” Harriet said, beginning to feel nervous. “I don’t remember the person who sold us the house saying it would be this long.” They had been walking down the stairs for fifteen minutes now.
When they finally reached the bottom of the basement, the girls club got the fright of their lives. The basement was flooded with red, orange, and yellow liquid. Lava. No one knew what was happening or what to say at first, but then it suddenly hit Harriet. Her new house had been built on top of an underground volcano. She told her conclusion to her friends and they agreed that that was the only explanation.
“Where are we going to build the clubhouse, now?” Alyssa asked.
“What are you talking about?” replied Suzanne, excitedly. “This is going to be the best clubhouse in the whole entire world!”
Everyone looked at Suzanne as if she were speaking a foreign language.
“What?” Suzanne asked. “I didn’t say I wanted to bring my puppy down here or anything. There’s furniture floating in the lava everywhere. And there’s a big rock right there in the center with 4 chairs on it. It’s like it was made for us. Whenever we have a girls club meeting we can sit in those chairs in the center. And that bigger, cushier chair can be for the president of the club, which I vote for Harriet, because she started this club and because she offered us the best clubhouse in the whole entire world.” “Well,” began Harriet, “I’m honored, but what if we fall into the lava when we’re hopping on the furniture? We’ll turn into burnt toast!”
Suzanne grinned mischievously. “Don’t. It’s as simple as that.” And she began hopping across the room to the platform in the middle.
“Hey!” said Harriet to Alyssa and Evie. “This is just like that TV show, Floor is Lava. There’s lots of lava in a room and they put furniture in, and contestants have to get past the obstacles to get to the other side of the room. And whichever team gets as many people on their team across the room without falling in the lava in the fastest time wins a volcano trophy and $10,000! And there’s even a room on that show called The Basement!”
Alyssa and Evie looked at Harriet the way they had looked at Suzanne just a second ago.
“Oh, come on,” Harriet said. “Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of that show before?”
Evie narrowed her eyes. “Are we going to the center with Suzanne or not?” she said, prancing after Suzanne.
Alyssa whispered in Harriet’s ear, “I’m with you. Floor is Lava is awesome,” just before she began following Evie.
“Who doesn’t love Floor is Lava?” Harriet said under her breath before she caught up with the others.
She was hopping across the furniture when she heard a bloodcurdling scream. When Harriet turned to her left, she saw Evie holding on to a low-hanging, unstable chandelier, struggling to make it to a table a few feet away. Without wasting a second Harriet dashed over to Evie. She grabbed hold of her feet and shouted to Alyssa and Suzanne, “Help us! She’s going to fall!”
They sprinted over as well to help, but before they got there, Harriet yanked Evie onto the chair she was standing on and fell backward. Evie was safe, but Harriet wasn’t!
“HELP!!!” Harriet screamed.
Her legs were on the chair, but her entire upper body was dangling over the lava. Suzanne stood behind Harriet and grabbed her arms and held up her upper body so that she wasn’t just dangling. Alyssa grabbed Suzanne’s waist so that she didn’t fall in, too. Evie put Harriet’s bare feet on her shoulders and said, “Lock your ankles together around my neck so that you don’t fall!”
Once Harriet had done so, Evie grabbed her waist and pulled her up. Suzanne let go, and Harriet landed safely on the chair right next to Evie.
When the girls all made it to the center of the basement, Harriet said, “Well, that was an adventure. But if you ask me, apart from the fact that I almost died, it was pretty fun.”
Then Evie said, “You know what? I agree with Suzanne. Harriet should be president of the club because, like Suzanne said, Harriet offered us the best clubhouse in the whole entire world.”
“Same,” said Alyssa.
“Alright,” said Harriet, as she sat on the biggest, cushiest chair. “Well,” she admitted, “I can’t deny it. It really is the best clubhouse in the whole entire world. See you all at school tomorrow.”
Harriet hugged her friends, said goodbye, and they all left. She sat down in her brand new clubhouse and thought about how lucky she had been in one day. She had been a stranger, at a new school. Three girls showed her lots of kindness and had agreed to start a club with her. She was voted the president of that club, and they had the most cool, extraordinary, one-of-a-kind clubhouse in the whole entire world in her basement.
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