Hana and the Golden Kenzan

Jim Psy.D. Schell

Description

When Hana's parents leave on a trip to Brazil looking for new plant life, she and her dog, Bunny, must move to her Japanese grandmother's house for the summer. With no Internet and no cable TV, Hana feels cut off from the world. Soon after Hana and Bunny arrive at the house, things start to get strange. Hana discovers a garden with talking flowers and insects. When she finds out that zombie weeds are about to take over the garden and perhaps more, it's up to her to save the day. Will she save her friends, or will the garden finally fall under a wicked spider's control? The ancient Japanese art of Ikebana – flower arranging – may hold the answer.

Hana and the Golden Kenzan is based on characters, illustrations, and story ideas developed by Lina and Erika Schell when they were 12-years-old. The book was written by Lina's and Erika's father. The girls' mother – Miwa – is a licensed Ikebana instructor and provided inspiration for the story.

Sujets

• Foreign Language study
• Lettres et linguistique
• Language
• Japanese

Informations

• Publié par: eBookIt.com
• Date de parution: 21 février 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781456601188
• Langue: English

Extrait

Copyright 2010 by Lina & Erika Schell
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission.
ISBN 978-1-4566-0118-8

Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
http://www.eBookIt.com


This is a work of fiction. The events described are imaginary, and the characters are fictitious and not intended to represent specific living persons. Any similarity to real events or persons is purely coincidental.
Visit us online: www.goldenkenzan.com
Contents
1. Makkura na Doukutsu (A Dark Cave)
2. Obaasan no Ie (Grandma's House)
3. Sakana to Nori (Fish and Seaweed Paper)
4. Facebook wa Nani? (What's Facebook?)
5. Niwa no Hana tachi (Flowers of the Garden)
6. Ikebana to Kenzan (Flower Arranging and Flower Holder)
7. Tasukete! (Help!)
8. Ganbatte! (Fight On!)
9. Kyodai na Kumo (A Gigantic Spider)
10. Tsugi no Keiko (The Next Lesson)
From the imaginations of twin girls...
Makkura na Doukutsu (A Dark Cave)
he humans don't deserve this world anymore!” Vex's words ripped through the stale air of an underground cave. His audience was a bunch of weeds, zombie weeds, scared into silence by this sinister spider.
“Look at what they do to you!” Vex continued, his voice echoing off the dark, damp walls. The walls were as dark as Vex's black, evil eyes, eyes as deep as a well.

“Those inconsiderate humans poison the water and soil by dumping their toxic, filthy garbage into the ground. They are killing off all plant life; and they treat you weeds as if you don't exist!”
Vex knew more and more weeds from the garden were listening to his message. These weeds understood how the humans' careless behavior was destroying the environment, so every day there were new members joining Vex's zombie weed army - the “Z Army.” It would only be a matter of time, Vex thought, until he controlled the garden. Then, all of the other plants and insects would be forced to change into his zombie slaves.
“The humans wanted to drive us all to extinction, but it is they who will become extinct!” Vex finished with power.
The zombie weeds were excited now, moaning out in unison and knocking into each other. Vex stood on his back legs on top of the cliff to get a better look. This vantage point made him feel enormous on the outside. On the inside, however, Vex knew there was something he needed but did not yet have. And without it, Vex would have trouble gaining control.
“I must get this magical item,” Vex thought. “The garden is not enough. I must get beyond the garden walls and use my power on the outside as well.”
As the zombie weeds continued to moan approval, Vex recalled a time when he was a young spider. He and his mother had decided to venture out and explore beyond the walls of the garden. They were so excited to see people for the first time that they overlooked the danger. He returned home alone that day and had, from that point, vowed to take revenge for what the humans had done to his mother.
Then, Sluggworth the slug slugged his way into Vex's cave. He was with a normal weed in a pre-zombie state.

“Your creepiness,” Sluggworth began in his slow, slimy voice, “our zombie spies tell us that the girl has arrived.”
“Excellent!” replied Vex, while thinking, “Yes, I am creepy, and you are a slug.”
The weed was trembling. He was very scared, as he should be, for it was not often that someone would come across the most evil creature on the planet.
Sluggworth cleared his throat, like he did every time he was enjoying how important he thought he was.
“My dear lord! Exalted master! Ruler of the underground empire! Majestic—”
Vex cut him off. “Get to the point, fatty!”
“I have brought a new weed for you to … change.” A disgusting grin spread over Sluggworth's face. This was his favorite thing, second, that is, to eating.
“Excellent,” replied Vex with a gleam in his eyes. “Bring him over here.”
Sluggworth escorted the weed closer to Vex. “I want to go home,” the weed said in a small, helpless voice.
“You are home,” said Vex. “This is where you belong now. Come closer.”
Sluggworth's stomach grumbled as he looked at the weed's quivering leaf limbs. He thought how wonderful it would be to rip off a leaf and grab a quick nibble. The zombie weeds gave him diarrhea, so he had to grab a piece of this weed before transformation. With stinky saliva dripping from his slug mouth, Sluggworth began to reach for the weed.
“Get over here!” Vex screamed at the weed, freezing Sluggworth in place.
Vex addressed the trembling, cowering weed. “Look into my eyes,” he said as he began weaving his silk around him. This was the point of no return. It was always the same: a weed would be attracted to Vex's army, but the weed would change its mind at the last minute before being changed into a zombie.
When Vex was done with the transformation, another zombie weed was ready to report for duty.
“Get to work,” shouted Sluggworth, “useless, ugly weed!
Sluggworth slithered out of the cave. He had been the first one to join Vex many years prior. Vex chuckled to himself. “I must be the only one that appreciates Sluggworth and his disgusting slime— never mind why I appreciate the little Limax!”
Even with a large zombie weed army behind him, Vex knew that obtaining the magical item would be very difficult. This treasure was not behind walls, it wasn't buried deep underground, and it wasn't lost. In fact, Vex knew exactly where it was. But that was the problem. It was located on the top of a mountain in a temple, which could be entered only by those with the purest of hearts. But Vex had learned a few secrets along the way. Deep down in the forbidden caves, the place he had made his empire, Vex had solved a riddle.
“There is balance in nature,” he thought out loud, “good and evil in balance. I have the answer, and soon the time will be right, time for the dark knowledge to be magnified and goodness to be silenced!” He wondered to himself if the old lady knew this.
If she didn't, she would find out soon enough. “The old lady is weak, and I have become too powerful with what I know.” Vex thought.
Vex paused. Even though many years had passed, and even though he was the most powerful, evil creature in the garden, memories of his mother would make him very sad. He could never forgive the humans for what they had done to his mother, so when he thought of her, tears would fill his many eyes and the anger would return.
“I will have my revenge!” he shouted at the top of his lungs, sending the words to the far reaches of the cave. “Old lady,” he thought, “I will take from you what you love the most, just like your people did to me.”
He shrunk back into his cave. Below him, the zombies continued their work.
“Just a matter of time; just a matter of time,” he thought, “before I control this garden.”
Obaasan no Ie (Grandma's House)
he taxi driver was asking a lot of questions, but Hana did not want to answer him. It was strange for her to speak in Japanese with someone who was not her mother. It had been a long journey from the airport, especially for an eleven-year-old child.
“I've never had such an expensive taxi fare before” the driver said to her. “Your Japanese is very good for a foreigner. Where did you learn it?”

Hana told him about her family, all the time thinking about why this was any of his business. “None of your beeswax,” she thought to herself. She remained polite, however, because she knew the driver was just trying to be friendly. At least he had been nice enough to let her put Bunny on her lap, so that the poor dog didn't have to stay stuck in the cage.
“I hope your dog doesn't do something smelly in my taxi,” he said to her cheerfully.
“Don't worry,” said Hana. “She's a very smart dog,” and then added, under her breath, “A lot smarter than you.” Aloud, she said, “She'll let me know if she needs to go.”
They had left the highway and the city streets a long time ago. The scene outside the taxi window now was greener and quieter than before.
It had been such a long time since Hana lived in Japan. She was only five years old when her family packed up and left Japan for what seemed like endless travel around the world. Thankfully, thought Hana, no matter where they lived, her mother continued to speak to her in Japanese.