Pebble Stories
12/27/97
Pebble Stories
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In the rural zone of Sao Paulo and in the state of Minas Gerais (Brazil) there is a type of rock that some people believe have special energy that can help the sick get well. The Brazilian teachers gave pebbles of this rock to the American students at Edenvale School. The Edenvale students wrote stories about these rocks. At the time they wrote the stories neither the Edenvale students, nor their teacher, knew that the pebbles are believed by some people to have special powers.
To learn more about this special rock click here
The assignment was for the students to research the rivers of Brazil using books, encyclopedias, CD Rom encyclopedias and the Internet. The students were to, then, choose a Brazilian river that the pebble was found in. The pebble was to be personified. The story should include information about water pollution and Brazil. Here are the stories:
Maria Machado was a very quiet little rock. she was, also, very good in her studies. She cared for sick rocks. Maria was very friendly. Maria lived next to the bank of the Amazon River. One day Maria got washed away by a current. After a who afternoon of being washed away, the current became calm. While Maria was still in the river, she passed the rainforest. She saw lots of birds and animals. After the rainforest, she stopped at a little city called Manaus. In the morning, a little peasant girl picked up Maria and took her home. The peasant girl's name was Chunha. She like Maria so much, she kept it as a lucky charm. One day Chunha's family had to leave Manaus. They were so tired from their journey that Chunha said, "I wish we had food." After that she had wished, a basked appeared filled with food. Chunha's family never starved again. They found out that Maria had magical powers. One day Chunha was sent to the market. Maria slipped out of Chunha's pocket. Chunha did not notice. Maria ended back in the river. She discovered that the kind of pollution she found was a bit dangerous. She discovered that one of the plants in the rainforest was poisonous. Lots of animals and people were dying because they were eating it. One of the problems Maria had is that she got hit against lots of big boulders. Maria solved this problem by leaning left and right to avoid the boulders as she flowed down the river.. Now that Maria lives with me, she will have lots of fun. She will have this fun when I find her.
By ESMERALDA, Grade 5
Sao Paulo, a friendly, helpful, and caring friend of mine came from
Brazil. Sao Paulo had to go through a lot before becoming my friend.
Sao Paulo was a pebble that was found by a merchant's son one day. Sao Paulo was washed up on shore from a Brazilian river. The river, known as the Amazon River, is extremely muddy and murky. The mud made Sao Paulo sick.
The Amazon River is navigable by ocean steamers as far as 2,514 miles upstream reaching Iquitos in Peru. The Amazon is also known as the longest river beside the Nile River. The Amazon River is the home of caiman alligators.
The merchant's son, named Kawa, found Sao Paulo one day when he was playing along the river banks. Sao Paulo was washed up. One unique thing about Sao Paulo is that when he sees something or someone unusual he shines like a star. Kawa picked up the pebble, feeling impressed. Kawa kept it in his pocket. Kawa, then, one day took it to school and gave it to his teacher.
Sao Paulo has may magic qualities. it is like a wishing tool. Whatever you wish for it may come true any time. Sao Paulo also keeps you out of trouble. If you hold Sao Paulo tight and say "I wish the wish I wish right now!" Sao Paulo will become bright and bring out a shine signaling that your wish is being processed.
The Amazon River where Sao Paulo was found is extremely dirty, muddy, and murky. It is contaminated. Sao Paulo had a hard time going through the Amazon River.
Sao Paulo was hit against rocks as he was washed down the river. All the bumps and hits were considered a minor problem. Once major problem was that one time Sao Paulo was washed into a caiman alligator's mouth. Fortunately, the alligator had its mouth wide open one early morning, and Sao Paulo asked for a wish: " I wish the wish right now!"
After Kawa gave the pebble to his teacher at E.E.P.S.G. Idalina School in Sao Caetano, Brazil, that teacher decided to give Sao Paulo to my teacher at Edenvale School in San Jose, California, USA. That is how Sao Paulo ended up in my pockets. Sao Paulo will have many fascinating adventures to come. I will take him to wonderful places, and we will do everything together. I will feed Sao Paulo everyday. When I need something, I'll simply say: " I wish the wish right now!" Wow! Sao Paulo is more that a friend. He is like an everyday Santa Claus.
By Anthony, Grade 3
| Dear Brazilian Friend, |
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Hi! My name is Donna. Mrs. Ullah, my G.A.T.E. teacher, gave us each a pebble from you guys. They are so beautiful! As a THANK YOU here is a story about the pebble:
MY MAGICAL PEBBLE
Shawny was the name of the pebble. It lived in the Parana River. The pebble was friendly, playful, and happy. In the pebble's view, the Parana River was only a little polluted. The river had smog, oil, and litter in it.
Shawny was a special kind of pebble. It had magical powers. One thing it could do was grant wishes. The second thing it could do was become invisible. The last thing it could do was change things. So, Shawny made the choice of cleaning the river waters. On its way downstream, it had many problems, but the main problems were colliding against rocks, fish, and people. Once again, it used its magical powers to keep out of the way of these things.
One fine day a guy, going looking for pebbles, found Shawny. He brought Shawny home and polished it good. Then, he brought Shawny to his gift shop and put him in the window. That was when I saw it and bought it.
How do I know all this about Shawny? Well, it told me! From then on, we became the best of friends. Once, I lost Shawny, but it found its way back to me, and, then, after that we lived happily ever after.
The End
Well, that was my story. I hope you really like it. I had a wonderful time writing this story. Gotta go now! Bye!
Hugs and Kisses, Donna, Grade 6
Hi. My name is David. I am here to tell you the story of how I found my magic pebble.
My pebble was found in the Sao Francisco River in Brazil. You see, I do not really live in Brazil, but his is how it all begins. I was at my house. My dad was getting ready to go on a business trip. Once he went to the Gulf of Mexico and studied the underwater life. Another time he went to NASA and took control of a shuttle launch! He even went to Antarctica, but I never go on one of his trips.
"Could I go, Dad? Just once?" I asked.
"I'm sorry, but you can't go." he said.
"PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Okay, just this once." he said.
It was a business trip to Brazil!
One day, he let me explore a Brazilian river called the Sao Francisco River. The Sao Francisco River is the largest river wholly within Brazil, flowing for over 1,000 miles north before it turns east into he Atlantic Ocean. The upper river is navigable for shallow draft riverboats in some areas, but only the last 277 km of the lower river is navigable for ocean-going ships.
Then, I saw something drifting slowly across the water. I didn't waste any time. I grabbed it right away. It was a pebble.
"Hey, you!" something said.
I looked around. There was nobody.
"Hey you! Look at me! Hey! You're holding me in your hand, and you can't see me? Hey you!"
I glanced down at my hand. The pebble was talking! Soon, I found out he was very friendly, wise and alert. That 's how I found my pebble. There's something I forgot to tell you. He gave me 8 wishes for polishing and washing him every day! And he also does my homework!!!!!
By David, Grade 4
Thank-you for the pebble. I found it in the Uruguay River. Her name is Tanya.
I gave her lots of personality. She is friendly, wise, bold, merry, playful, thoughtful, helpful, alert, respectful, and caring. Her live was very busy until I saw her and picked her up. She is living with me and is very happy with me. She is getting along with my cats fine. I really enjoy having Tanya around with me.
Thanks again, Vanessa, Grade 6
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GIFT FROM BRAZIL NAME: CARMEN COLOR: PINK OWNER: KIM |
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My pebble was found in t he Madeira River. As I walked, I found it was war like the summer. Some plants I had never before seen, I saw here. I saw a lot of trees.
Nobody picked up my pebble. It stayed on the ground. Sometimes it got knocked by the current. It saw rocks.
My pebble can talk to other people in their dreams. If someone is planning to smoke in their dreams my pebble will tell them not to.
My pebble has different moods all the time. She is respectful, caring, alert, adventurous, thoughtful, helpful, bold, happy, playful, wise, and friendly.
As my pebble was in the river, it saw oil and garbage. It was knocked by garbage and other pebbles. Those were problems. So my rock went with the current and tumbled on the bottom of the river.
When my pebble lives with me it will have a lot of adventures. It will get lost in my room, sit on a plant leaf, get scratched, get brought to restaurants and parties, put in a cup of water, and sleep under my pillow.
By Kim, Grade 4
Along the bank of the Tocantins River in Brazil washed up a beautiful, smooth, pink crystal-like pebble. Unlike a normal pebble, this pebble was alive with magical powers. The pebble's name was Emilia. Emilia was very wise, yet extremely concerned and angry because of all the pollution in the river.
The Tocantins River runs very close to the Brazilian city of Brasilia which is the capital of Brazil. The population was 411,305 in 1980, and has continued to grow rapidly. The river flows north to the Para River. There are many fierce rapids ,and near Carolina there are several diamond washes.
Emilia's magical powers are very important. She is able to tell people about pollution and other major problems which are killing our environment, but best of all, she is able to tell them how to correct these problems.
One day a boy who lived in Brazil found Emilia on the banks of the river. She didn't look like much because of all the oil and garbage from the pollution on her. The boy started to throw her back in the river, but saw a sparkle off of her from the sun. The boy scrubbed hard to wash Emilia clean, and to his surprise, she was beautiful. Even more of a surprise was that she could talk. Emilia told the boy of the problems and how to fix them, so the boy took her to his favorite and very smart teacher. The teacher listened to Emilia very carefully, and with the boy and Emilia's help, started many environmental organizations to help their country. The are continuing to help it.
Once Emilia helped the boy and teacher to start helping their country. They thought about sending her to another part of the world to help new people, and to help the environment worldwide. From their school, they sent Emilia and other magical pebbles to me and my classmates. Now that I have Emilia, I'm going to educate people about world pollution and how we're killing our environment, and teach them HOW TO STOP IT!
One day Pele was floating down the Formosa. As he was floating, he passed
by Boneto. He spotted a 23 foot anaconda. It was staring right at him.
Pele was terrified by this 23 foot anaconda. After seeing that big, old snake, he was very alert. As he reached the next town, he spotted the snake again Pele asked himself if it could be the same one. "It is the same one. It has been following me that who time!" exclaimed Pele.
Pele was getting hungry, so he reached down and grabbed a fish. He caught one so easily because Brazil has about 300 different species of fish. Pele saw something moving in the water, but he could not tell what it was. He kept on looking. After a while he got a clearer picture, and it was the 23 foot anaconda!!!!!!!!
The anaconda took a giant bite, but did not catch Pele. Pele was smarter that the anaconda. He just camouflaged himself and swam to the nearest dry spot. That is where I found him in Formosa Brazil. Now I take him to all my soccer games.
By Daniel B., Grade 5
This is the story of my rock. My rock's name is Sergio. He is adventurous
and playful. He was found on the banks of the Amazon River. He passed through
a rainforest and saw a lot of animals, fish, monkeys and gorillas. He also
went through the cities on Manours and Santarem. Then, someone picked up
my pebble. She didn't like it, so she threw it back. My pebble had powers.
He used his powers when he saved a kid drowning in the river. He found pollution
in the river. It was oil and garbage. He faced water falls and fish. He
avoided these by jumping on rocks and jumping on land. Now that he lives
with me, he will have some adventures like riding bikes with me, swimming
and watching T. V.
By Adam, Grade 6
Thank you for the pebbles. My pebble's name is Alberto. He was washed up in the Sao Francisco River. A little kid picked Alberto and threw him into the trees. Alberto was falling and hitting branches. He hit the ground hard. Then, I found him laying on the ground. So I picked him up. Then, I put him in my pocket. Alberto kept on yelling, "Get me out of here!" But I didn't hear him. When I got home, I took Alberto out of my pocket. Alberto started to yell at me. I just looked at him. When he was done talking, I asked him, "I thought you couldn't talk?"
"I always could talk."
"Let's just be friends?"
Alberto and I became friends. Albert and I went on a lot of adventures.
By Jacob, Grade 4
In the Amazon River there were a lot of different kinds of pebbles.
You think they don't have names, but they do. This one Brazilian pebble--Carmen--was
a special kind of pebble. It was hard for her to move a lot. She kept knocking
over some different pebbles and even some garbage.
It was a hard life for this little pebble. She liked seeing different towns. Once, she saw the town of Sao Paulo. Actually, she couldn't tell. Carmen just overheard a pebble say that the town was Sao Paulo.
"Look at the pretty pebble," Carmen heard a little boy say.
Carmen hoped that pretty pebble wasn't her. After all, she looked like most of the other pebbles, but he picked Carmen up anyway. Then he put Carmen in his pocket. The little boy still kept his hand in his pocket holding onto the pebble. Carmen found another pebble inside the pocket named Paula.
"Hi! My name is Paula. How did you get here?" Paula asked. "Did the boy pick you up?"
"Yes. My name is Carmen. The boy did pick me up." Carmen replied.
"Look!" Paula said. "There's a hole!"
"Let's go and fall out of this pocket, back to the river and go home," Carmen suggested.
So, they went out. The boy was still by the shore. It was kind of dirty with papers The two pebbles moved quickly towards their homes. They lived close together. They stayed friends together until two teachers gave them to some kids in Mrs. Ullah's class.
By Rachel, Grade 5 and Tina, Grade 4
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GIFT FROM BRAZIL NAME: BRASILIA OWNER: ANGELINA |
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My pebble was found in the Madeira River. It sleeps in my backpack. It likes to sleep in my backpack. My pebble is a lot bigger. When I got my pebble I was feeling good that I got it. My pebble will not wake up when I am not there.
It is very friendly, wise, happy, playful, thoughtful, helpful, respectful, caring, and bold. My pebble can talk in her dreams. It found oil and paper in the river. She got knocked by rocks and other things. It moved with the current. If I lose my pebble it would be found in my room.
By Angelina, Grade 4
My rock's name is Edla. She is a shy, friendly, quiet, and sensitive
rock. I found her by the Amazon River. Edla saw many things on her trip
down the river. She started at the northern part of the river, and almost
made it to the end. She saw a lot of other things like other rocks in different
sizes and shapes. She also saw animals like foxes walking down the river
bands. There was on person who had picked Edla up and wanted to keep her,
but her parents said that she was the river's rock, not hers, so she put
her back down. People always ask if she has magic powers. No, she doesn't,
but she does have one power, and that is to be a great friend, as well as
a pet rock. Edla's problem was that a lot of kids wanted to take her, and
tea were not nice to her. Some kids even threw her around in the river like
a dog toy. She couldn't really solve this problem, but she tried really
hard to keep from going all the way down the river. Edla learned to speak,
so she won't have to sign talk. She will learn to act like a human. She
will become friends with my friends and pets. Edla will also learn to act
her age. She will have to get a small toilet and get potty trained. She
will learn to get along with dogs and cats. This is my story of Edla's life.
The End
By Jenna, Grade 6
Thank you for the pebble. It is very pretty. My pebble's name is Susana. I like it because it is green. I like green and red the most because red is the color of blood, and green is the color of the leaves.
By Tai, Grade 4
One day when I was at the
Amazon River, I looked down and saw a glowing pebble. I picked it up and
said, "I wish my father was here." I looked up and saw him. we
went home, and ate dinner. The next morning I saw him fishing. I went to
the Amazon River, and I accidentally dropped it in the water. a piranha
came and ate it. My dad was fishing nearby. He caught the piranha. He found
the pebble, and gave it to me. He began fishing again, and an alligator
pulled him in. I watched him wrestle the alligator. Then I remembered the
wishing pebble. I wished my dad would return safely. Then he did. We went
home, and I only used the wishing pebble for good things.
By Daniel H. Grade 5
My pebble's name is Alberta. Her personality is shy, quiet, happy, friendly, helpful, wise, playful, sensitive, and caring. She was found in a river called the San Paula River. Whenever Alberta got washed down the river she saw big trees and small trees. She saw leaves falling on her.
One day two boys found Alberta in the river. They threw her in the sewer. It was very dirty in the sewer. Alberta flowed past every sewer hoe she could see. In every sewer hole she saw, she saw the two boys trying to catch her again. then, finally, they caught her. They threw her in the river. She liked the river because it was very clean and because it didn't have any garbage floating in it. One problem she had when she went down the river was that she would always bump into other pebbles. One day she figured out a way to stop bumping into other pebbles. She tried to jump over them. Once she tried it. He almost landed on the ground, then on the water.
Alberta can grant wishes and change colors just by thinking about the color she wants to be.
One day a little girl picked her up. She didn't' throw Alberta anywhere. Instead, she put the pebble in her pocket. Guess who that little girl was? Me! She will have lots of adventures.
By Tram, Grade 4
I love my pebble because it is pink. Pink is my favorite color. I like it because it is smooth and flat. It looks beautiful if you put it by the light. In my family everybody loves it because it is very smooth. I love my pebble. Thanks for the pebble.
By Simran, Grade 4
Our pebbles are best friends! Stefanie's pebble is a boy. His name is Eddie. Celena's pebble is, also, a boy. His name is Alberto. Eddie's personality is friendly, wise, happy, playful, silly, thoughtful, helpful, respectful, caring. Alberto is friendly, quiet, playful, and silly. Eddie and Alberto were found in the Amazon River in Northern Brazil.
Eddie can make other girl pebbles fall in love with him. He made Stefanie fall in love with him. He can help anyone who needs help. He can grant wishes. He can also change colors. How he does it is he thinks it. Eddie saw oil pollution. He could not breathe or swim. He likes to have lots of fun.
Alberto can make other pebbles float in the air. He can save other pebbles by flying. He can grant love wishes. He can also change colors by thinking about it.
By Stefanie and Celena, Grade 4
Two weeks ago I went to the Amazon River to find a pebble, but I ran
into an Anaconda. It chased me into an old warehouse where rats lurked and
wherever you stepped something breaks. I burned the snake, then I ran out
of the old warehouse.
Then I found a pebble, but things just got worse! When I put my hand into the water a fish bit me on my finger. I couldn't get it off of my finger. I ran all over the Amazon Jungle trying to get it off my ginger. First, I tried pulling it. Then I hit it twelve times. It started to hurt my finger more. A kid came over and taped it. The fish came off. I thanked him. In my mind, I thought how come I couldn't get it off my finger.
Finally, I got the pebble and went home to show it to my mom. I told her what had happened, but she didn't believe me at all. She said it was my imagination.
By Nicholas, Grade 4
This is a legend
from Brazil of an adventurous, magic, talking pebble. this pebble was washed
off into the River of Amazon. This river goes through many cities in Northern
Brazil. The Amazon River, the world's largest river in terms of water volume,
is the second longest river after the Nile River in Egypt.
This precious pebble's name is Ronaldo. They types of pollution that Ronaldo found in the Amazon were candy wrappers, hamburger wrappers, plastic wrappers, and other kinds of pollutions. The problem that my pebble found is that there were a lot of different types of pollution.
Ronaldo would think for a pretty long time, then he would make the pollution disappear.
Now that my pebble is with me, I will take him on mountain hikes, snorkeling, and on other fun adventures.
This is the story of my wonderful Brazilian pebble.
By Janette, Grade 5
Far, far away in Brazil, in the Amazon River, lived a little greenish
pebble. all day it would see many boats and travelers passing along the
great river. They came from may other little rivers that made their way
into the Amazon River starting in the Andes Mountains and flowing to the
Atlantic Ocean, where the Amazon ended.
Hugo, my pebble, was getting knocked into and pushed by big tourist boats. One day , as Hugo was living on the shore of the Amazon, a lady explorer came up to Hugo and put him in her backpack. When Hugo was taken out of the bag he was called the explorer's lucky stone. She liked his color--green. Ever since then the pebble has been seeing tall buildings, chemistry sets and the explorer's pockets. I know so much about Hugo because I am that explorer.
By Serina, Grade 5
