Orange Street News
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The Curious Case of Manla’s Chicken
Manla’s
by Hilde Kate Lysiak
Once there was a girl named Emma. She was twelve years old and not easily impressed.
One day, Emma was on a walk when she ran into her friends, Casey and Melissa.
“Where are you going?,” she asked them.
“To Manla’s, of course!” Casey replied.
Emma saw the big line.
“What’s the big fuss over green, smooshy chicken?” she asked her friends.
“It’s not green smoothy chicken!” Melissa answered.
“Then what is it?” asked Emma.
“Manla’s!” said her friends.
Her friends got in line. Five minutes passed.
“That’s it! I’m going home,” said Emma, tired of waiting.
As she was walking home, she was trying to avoid all the giant Manla signs everywhere.
Meanwhile, a Manla’s truck pulled up.
“Want any Manla’s?”the man inside the truck asked.
“I don’t want any green, smooshy chicken!” Emma yelled.
“Suit yourself kid,” the man said as he drove away.
Emma went home. She was having a sleep-over that night.
When Casey arrived, she looked different. Emma noticed her face looked a little green.
“You know, I’m not feeling very well,” Casey said. “I think I’d better stay home tonight.”
After Casey left, Emma looked at Melissa. She didn’t look green but she was acting sort of funny.
“I’m ok! I’m always ok! I feel very ok! What makes you think I’m not ok?!” Melissa said very fast.
“If you say so,” said Emma, not convinced.
It was getting late. Emma suggested they go to bed because they needed to be up to go roller skating early in the morning.
Emma wasn’t having a really good sleep. She kept tossing and turning. Finally, in the middle of the night, she got up to look out her window.
Emma’s house was on top of a giant hill that overlooked the whole town. From her bedroom window, Emma saw that the streets were lined with people—a very strange thing for the middle of the night!
As she looked more closely, she saw one of the people was Melissa! She glanced down to see that the spot on the floor where she had been sleeping was empty.
Emma wanted a closer look. She grabbed her favorite pair of binoculars, the pink ones with purple spots. As she held them to her eyes, she saw the entire town stumbling around slowly. Even worse, their faces all glowed green!
“I knew there was something wrong with that green smooshy chicken!” Emma said to herself.
She knew what to do. For some reason, the only person not glowing green was Fredrick the sheriff. Emma sat down to write him a letter. It said:
Dear Sheriff Fredrick,
Manla’s green smooshy chicken is turning everyone into Zombies. Please shut down Manla’s and fast!
Sincerely,
Emma.
The next day, there was a letter in her mailbox from the Sheriff.
Dear Emma,
Get lost!
Sincerely,
Fredrick.
Later, Emma went to the library and did some research. It turned out that Mr. Fredrick Manla grew up in the town and was humiliated at a local talent show when people threw tomatoes at him during his cooking demonstration. He was cooking green smooshy chicken he called, “Manla’s” He hated the town since that day and left as soon as he could, vowing one day to return and seek revenge. He had been back for a month, when he returned to open Manla’s.
There was something familiar about that name and it wasn’t just the Manla part. Emma realized she never knew the Sheriff’s last name. Ever since he came a month ago, he had everyone call him Fredrick. Emma figured out that Sheriff Fredrick was Fredrick Manla! Which was probably why no one ever saw Fredrick Manla’s face while he was in the back cooking because he always had a hat pulled low over his face.
It was Emma’s turn to sleep at her dad[the mayor’s] house that night. When her mom dropped her off she went to her dad’s office. Her dad was not there but, on the desk next to his gold medals, lay a Manla’s hat. It looked just like the one Mr. Manla wore at the restaurant! Emma wondered if the hat was just a suvenior. She decided to go to Manla’s to investigate.
Emma saw the giant line. Something—not just the giant line—didn’t make sense. She saw Fredrick Manla standing with Sheriff Fredrick. How could they be the same person? But as she walked closer, she noticed that something seemed different about Fredrick Manla. The hair sticking out of his hat looked much darker. Oh, no! Emma figured it out. It was actually her father dressing up as Fredrick Manla to help him on his scheme.
Emma went up to “Fredrick Manla” aka, her Dad, the mayor, and ripped his mask off. When her Dad saw that Emma knew everything, he confessed and outed the Sheriff, too.
Soon, the other policemen came and arrested the Mayor and Fredrick, “the Sheriff,” Manla.
Emma’s mother became the new Mayor and the green smooshy chicken was never seen again.
The End.
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