Cousins' Chronicles

(When I cut and pasted this it messed up the paragraphs and indents, but you get the idea)

The Attack of the Rogue Mexican Jumping Beans

Prologue

It was a nice, warm, and sunny day in Mexico City. Two men were sitting near a taco shop. Pablo was eating his burrito when his brother, Pedro, told him, “My taco is shaking!”
“Heh heh. Yeah right, Pedro,” Pablo responded.
Suddenly something hit Pablo’s forehead. “Yow!”
“What’s wrong, Pablo?” Pedro asked, shocked by Pablo’s yelp.
“A bean hit me.”
“What the heck, there’s a hole in my taco,” Pedro said.
“Do you think that bean in your taco jumped out and hit me?” Pablo asked.
“It sounds crazy, but it would explain what just happened,” Pedro responded. A minute later, Pablo and Pedro got pelted by beans.
“Ay ay ay!” Pablo and Pedro yelled in unison.
“Run!” the shopkeeper yelled. “Save yoursel . . .” he continued as the beans ate him. Pablo and Pedro saw innocent civilians getting consumed by jumping beans.
“What the heck is going on?” Pablo yelled. They ran away until they found two llamas. They got on them and zipped away. They turned back to see the taco shop blow up, with Mexican jumping beans destroying everything.
“Not the taco shop!” Pablo howled. “Why? Why?”

Chapter 1
Eduardo the Traveler

Pablo and Pedro rode on the llamas until they found a lone traveler. “Hello! La, la, la,” the traveler said.
“What’s your name, good sir?” Pedro asked.
“Eduardo, good sir.” the traveler responded. Pedro jumped off his llama and onto Pablo’s.
“Here, you can use my llama,” Pedro told Eduardo.
“You shouldn’t trust strangers that easily,” Pablo whispered to Pedro.
“Meh,” Pedro replied. “He looks like a good guy,”
“He has a switchblade!” Pablo blurted out as he saw the hilt sticking out of Eduardo’s pocket.
“Self-defense” Pablo said in a calm mood. The duo, which was now a trio, headed off.
“I actually use it to cut pancakes.”
Chapter 2
Mexican Jumping Bean Capital

They came upon a town with Mexican jumping beans everywhere. One bean saw them and started jumping madly. A group of other beans jumped over to the first bean. Then they jumped on Pablo. “Aughhh!” Pablo yelled.
Eduardo took his switchblade and stabbed at the beans. One by one they fell to the ground. “Eat that, you tasteless beans!” Eduardo shouted.
They started for the road, but a booming voice stopped them in their tracks. A giant bean jumped out of a building. “Yo soy el Frijole Saltando de Mexico!! A.K.A. the Mexican Jumping Bean!!!” the bean boomed. Pablo grabbed the switchblade from Eduardo and wildly chucked it without warning.
“I challenge you to a duel . . .” the bean began, and then stopped as the looked at the switchblade sticking out of his stomach. “Oh come on . . .” were the bean’s final words. It blew up and billions of tiny jumping beans flew out of him.
“You have freed us! How can we thank you?” the beans cried.
“Give us a giant bean burrito!” Pedro and Pablo said.
“How ‘bout a watermelon?” the beans suggested in their squeaky little voices.
“Fine,” said the trio. They feasted on the melon and ate the giant bean. They went to bed, feeling pretty good.

FIN

(For school Ethan had to make a brochure about a space trip. Here are some of the highlights.)

It is called "Viking Mission Adventure Tours." Participants will visit the Moon, Saturn, and the constellation Aries. Exciting activities include bunjee jumping in the moon's craters, ice skating on Saturn's rings, and playing board games while listening to Greek and Roman myths. Participants should bring warm pajamas clothes, snacks and DVDs. Don't worry - - oxygen will be provided! For this amazing trip the price is only $200! It's all to pay for fuel, oxygen and the spacecraft itself. The chocolate mints on the bed are complementary! It's highly recommended to wear space diapers.

Sounds like fun!