The Mysteries of

Harris Burdick

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick

Chatfield Senior High

Littleton, CO

2015

I first saw the drawings in this book a year ago, in the home of a man named Peter Wenders.

Though Mr. Wenders is retired now, he once worked for a children's book publisher, choosing the

stories and pictures that would be turned into books.

Thirty years ago a man called at Peter Wenders's office, introducing himself as Harris

Burdick. Mr. Burdick explained that he had written fourteen stories and had drawn many pictures

for each one. He'd brought with him just one drawing from each story, to see if Wenders liked his

work.

Peter Wenders was fascinated by the drawings. He told Burdick he would like to read hte

stories that went with them as soon as possible. The artist agreed to bring the stories the next

morning. HE left the fourteen drawings with Wender.s But he did not return the next day Or the

day after that. Harris Burdick was never heard from again. Over the years, Wenders tried to find

out who Burdick was and what had happened to him, but he discovered nothing. To this day Harris

Burdick remains a complete mystery.

His disappearance in not the only mystery left behind. What were the stories that went

with these drawings? There are some clues. Burdick had written a title and caption for each picture.

Chris Van Allsburg, 1984

Sometime in late 2012 an old, decrepit folder was found in a back cabinet in D203. Upon opening,

the cover disintegrated into a dusty pile while, thankfully, the papers within were still readable.

Dated 1954, the following writings were found.

A Strange Day in July

Nicole Walsh

A young boy sat with his family,

Propped up on his father’s lap,

And they all pointed at the fireworks.

Later, he wandered off towards the lake.

He picked up a stone and then

He threw with all his might,

But the first stone came skipping back.

The next year, the family returned.

Time had passed, new lessons had been learned,

So he went down to the lake.

He was stronger now, brighter.

He threw with all his might,

But the second stone came skipping back.

Another year passed and the boy returned.

He left his family early to go to the lake,

Certain to throw the stone this year.

He threw with all his might,

But the third stone came skipping back.

The following year, they all came back,

And before the firework show began,

He left his family and headed to the lake.

He picked up a stone, anxious, excited, then

He threw with all his might,

But the fourth stone came skipping back.

He scoffed and moved on,

Visiting the lake but never the stones.

Decades later, he came home

To see his mother and father,

Holding a child of his own.

He went to the lake,

Picked up a smooth stone, worn by waves.

This time, he tossed it,

And the seventh stone was lost in the lake.

Just Dessert

Dean Masi

Just desserts they say

The everlasting taste of decay

Cook it up right and it’ll be yummy

A delicious propaganda, all for the money

Darkness slivers into the room

The music such a delight for depression and gloom

Everything prepared for tonight’s big dance

A woman’s eyes ever so lost in a trance

The husband comes home from work

Sees his wife in a trance and tries to jerk

The room becomes bright when he attempts to spite her

She lowered the knife and it grew even brighter

The blissful color of a rose, sparkles in the light

The wife takes off to catch her flight

The pie she made, yum, yum, yum

With a little hint of redrum

The Seven Chairs

Abby Sanchez

The seven chairs from David’s round table,

One day vanished into the air.

The first flew itself to Germany and hung itself above the Berlin wall

The second floated to Italy and sat atop the Tower of Pisa,

Though it hovered just above, it leaned with the bend of the tower

Gazing at the people who stare in awe.

The third to made it's way to Asia,

It's exact location no one knows.

The fourth made it's way to today's North America,

They even built a great, big White House under it.

The fifth one ended up in France,

The Holiest of all the seven,

A house of God built around it.

The sixth in the heart of Africa,

Even the wildlife were mesmerized.

The seventh is unknown,

It's where about is not mapped,

Some say it never existed,

Some say David still sits upon it.

However, this chair is not as comfortable as it may seem.

Harris Burdick

Gabriel Marquez

“I think there’s nothing there” Sam said with a hesitation within his voice. He stood long

the skinny and long-lengthed cobblestone railroad. It pointed down into a cloudy mist that matched

the eerie black sky. The wind made triumphant departures of song and brushed along the clothes of

all four of us. The path seemed constructed of a world none of us knew or could ever imagine. It

was with our sail that we had the motive to achieve a location guiding us towards the ominous dark.

Tet was silent. He wore a sailor uniform and stubbornly continued to redeem the railroad

ship we were sailing, even if Sam persisted to contradict him.

“There has to be, there’s no way that it wouldn’t if there was a railroad.”

Sam retreated in his dialogue. His scattered black hair made frilly dance routines along his

temple. He knew that there was no reason to go against Tet, for after all what else would they do?

It was far too late now even. They had already been sat upon their wooden ship and Tet was

certainly not going to change his mind. He still had the curiosity though.

What was that castle over there?

As Tet adjusted the sail, the car surprisingly started to move. It lazily escalated towards a

steady velocity down the railway. Almost as if it was gliding, just slightly above the beams. A gust

of wind wiped their face and the fog only seemed to get further away.

“This better be as exciting as you said it was going to be Tet. They’ll mame us for sure”

grumbled Bert. He relaxed within his black attire and angrily looked ahead as the mist started to

surround them. Tet didn’t say a way and neither did Sally for she was still shivering from fear.

At first it seemed like a dream. They glided through the mist with a gentle caress against the

track. Every now and then there would be a click between each length of rail and the cart wobbled

in a rocking motion. Each passenger held on and was determined to stick on the ship and ignore all

the omens of the dark sky and blinding mist. It was cold and it seemed as if each second it only

became a little more moist than what it was before.

Then with each moment dissipating, we all saw a light in front of us. IT was all blurry

because of the mist and we all suddenly noticed the rails shaking.

Sally was shaking, “What’s that?”

It then started screaming, a loud and unavoidable sound and all the atmosphere turned into a

dark and corrupt order.

“TRAIN!!” Sam shrieked.

“I’m going to kill you!” Bert belched as he stood up and started to strangle Tet.

Sally, “What’s going on?”

Sam, “What are you doing?”

Then within just moments the train rolled fiercely along the path and screeched a terrible

sound. We were all doomed.

Missing in Venice

Richelle Longan

The bright midday summer sun beat down on the deck of the cruise liner. Water moved out

of the way of the ship making way for it to pass smoothly to its next destination. It was the second

week of the late summer cruise. Venice, Italy was the last stop for the ship, which to Lily couldnt

come fast enough. Her family was planning on staying in Italy for another week. She was the only

one who cared. This had been her graduation present, but she wish her parents flew them in rather

than waste their time on a giant crowded boat, with nothing but nonstop sun.

She stood at the front of the boat, leaning against the railing, watching the horizon. She waited for

her first glimpse of the city. Her two younger brothers were chasing each other behind her.

Her parents went for their normal mid afternoon drink, just a bit early, and left her in charge

of the little devils. They were yelling, running into each other and other people. They tripped over a

chair and landed on a young woman who was sun tanning. Maybe it was so much of a trip but more

of one pushed the other.

She was fed up. She put her head against her arms, letting out a loud sigh.

A presence appeared next to her. “Sea sick?” A male voice questioned.

“No, annoyed.” She peered up at him.

“Ah. I see. At who?” He asked looking toward the main part of the ship.

“Well, to start, those two.” She pointed to her brothers then returned her gaze to the

horizon.

“I can see why. Some peoples kids.”

“And some peoples siblings.”

“Oh, younger brothers?”

She let out a sigh with a short nod.

“Your first time to Italy?”

“Yes, how did you know?”

“You come and wait here everyday until someone makes you move. So you’re either sick of

too excited.”

“I’ve been wanting to go to Italy since I was five. I wanted to see it all. Now I finally get to.”

He looked down at the water. “It must have made you so happy to hear that you were going

on this trip.”

“I guess, I would have rather just taken a plane but my mom wanted the full Europe

experience; so barely getting off the boat and just saying you’ve been to Europe.”

“Lets hope we make it soon then.” He grinned at her.

“How come I havent seen you on here before?”

“I work on the ship. Today is my day off. I’ve been mostly sleeping but I needed to get out

and get some air.”

“mmm, working on a giant cruise liner with a bunch of other people who just get angry at

everyone else by the end of the trip sounds like my dream job.”

“Dont mock it, it pays amazingly and well, I get a week or two off where ever we end up.”

“At least there’s that.” SHe looked out towards the water. There were small bumbs on the

horizon. “We’re almost there!” She yelled, jumping up and down.

The man stared down at the water again and muttered something.

“What?”

“Nothing, you should go get ready, we’ll be there within the hour.”

She left his side, grabbed the boys hands and lead them to the bar.

“Mom!” She yelled.

“Yes, Darling?” A soft voice spoke from behind her.

“We’ll be there before the end of the hour.”

“Are you packed then?”

“I’ve been packed the entire time. You know I dont want to leave a mess.”

“Yes, of course. The rest of us have to get ready though. Why dont we go start packing

now.”

They got to their room. Lily sat on the bed. There was a jerk, people on the deck of the ship

were screaming. The captain was panicking. He had lost control of the ship miles before. Lily ran to

the deck of the ship Building surrounded the entire ship. She had wanted to see Italy, but she didnt

want to be the reason it was destroyed. Even with her mighty engines in reverse, the ocean liner was

pulled further and further into the canal. Lily ran to the railing peering down into the barely visible

water. Hundreds of aquatic creatures were pulling the ship deeper into the canal. The creatures

were mermaid like, except they weren’t majestic. They lacked beauty. They were the opposite of

beauty. Their faces were distorted. Teeth sharp. Ears pointed. Skin scaly yet still flesh like. Blending

with the side of the boat. They noticed Lily staring down at them. Nails dug into the side creating

leaks, but a few climbed their way towards her. She screamed.

She began to walk backwards but tripped over someone. It was the man from earlier. “What

the hell is going on?” She yelled at him. “What the hell are those things?”

“Listen to me, okay? We need to get off this boat right now. Those things will murder

anyone who looks at them. They already seen you, so it is important that I get you off of this ship.

Do you understand?”

“Yes. But how are we supposed to get off when they’re surrounding the boat?”

He looked over to the other side of the ship, there was an open window, but it would be

quite a jump. He started to run towards it, pulling her along with him. He let go of her hand and

jumped towards the open window, making it safely inside the building. The creatures were on deck,

making their way towards Lily. She followed his lead. She missed, but managed to grab a hold of the

window seal. Of course with her luck, her only trip to Italy would turn out going completely wrong.

“But,” she grasped his hand in expectant curiosity, “where’d they go?”

They’re not here.

March 2015