Harris Burdick - 'The Third Floor Bedroom' Stories

The Third Floor Bedroom - 'it all began when someone left the window open'

1. Greta Gervasoni's story, age 8.

http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/harrisburdick/readers_stories.html

A long time ago there was an ancient cottage in which lived a family.

In the morning mum and dad always used to go in the yard to work, And the two children stayed with their grandfather. One afternoon it was raining so the two children played in their bedroom with their grandfather Luciano, who was very clever at the Chinese shadows game. The two children were fascinated about that game and they tried to learn haw to make a bird. At the end of the evening Sandy the little girl was very good at doing this game and looking on the wallpaper her brother and her grandfather noticed that Sandy's shadows hands were exactly the same shape as the birds on the wallpaper. While they were looking at the wallpaper Sandy made her birds wings flying and simultaneously one bird on the paper became alive and tried to move its wings. The next day the bird near the empty space on the wallpaper was found by the family with a followed wing. They thought that it tried all night long to follow the missing bird! The magic of that night never came back but it stayed in their mind for ever.

The End

2. Jamie H's story - Honor Winner – Grades 2-3.

http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/harrisburdick/submit_story.html

             It all began when someone left the window open in Steve’s room.  On the wall were pictures of birds.  One of the birds came to life.  Then Steve came in.  He closed the window without noticing the bird.  The bird fell to the floor.  Plop!  Next, Steve’s sister, Kim, came into his room.  She saw the bird on the floor.
            “Why’s there a dead bird on the floor?” asked Kim.  Steve looked at the bird and yelled for Mom.
            Mom came upstairs to Steve’s room, “Why did you call me?  Also, why is it so hot in here?”  She opened the window.
            Then, the birds were all flying.  Steve and Kim were catching birds.  Some of the birds flew out of the window.
            “I’ll close the window!”  Kim shouted.
            “Don’t!!!!”  Steve yelled.  Slam!  Plop!  Crash!  Boom!  Thud!  Every bird fell on the floor.
            “Here we go again!”  they both said.  Mom told Dad.  Dad told Uncle Jerry.  Jerry told Aunt Ant, and they all kept telling people.
            They tried everything that they could think of—luring them with birdseed, taping the wall, and calling the animal rescue organization, but nothing worked.
            Kim had an idea.  Dad put a sign on the house.  It said “Grand Opening!”  Next, crowds of people came to the house.  Only one room door had a sign that said, “Museum.”  The crowd saw birds flying everywhere in there.  The window was open, and the curtain covered it.  The family smiled.  “What a perfect day,” Dad whispered.