2014 Grade 5 [Type text] Page 1 Josephine’s Canyon
Josephine’s Canyon
A fictional story
Josephine’s parents lived at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Josephine did, too, when she was young. But she always preferred the quiet of the rim, to the loud noises in Phantom Ranch at the bottom. So, when she was just old enough, she went up to the rim to carve out a life for herself.
She lived close to, but not in the town of Flagstaff. However, she knew everybody who lived in Flagstaff. Whenever she rode her mule to Flagstaff to buy or sell things, she waved to everybody, and everybody waved back to her, even babies!
Josephine loved her new quiet life, so the rumors surprised her the next time that she rode into town.
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“Why are you packing up Mrs. Ropes?” Josephine asked that day in town, “You aren’t moving, are you?”
“Aye. We are moving. More and more people are coming here Jo, and we don’t think they’ll stop. So we’re moving south.”Mrs. Ropes replied, “It’s a good thing you stopped by when you did, because our dog just had babies, and we can’t take them all with us. So, do you want one?” Josephine was astonished. She knew that more tourists flocked in every day, but she didn’t understand why Mrs. Ropes and her family were moving. Still, she wanted a puppy,
“Sure! I’ll take that little one right there!” Josephine happily said.
Josephine named her new puppy Spot, because he had one spot on his back. Spot and Josephine soon became great companions. They went everywhere together, and they said goodbye to a lot of people who were moving out of Flagstaff.
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Josephine soon realized that she, too, wanted to move out of Flagstaff because of all the people coming and going. She and Spot started packing up, but she wasn’t sure where she should go. She wondered if she should go down to Phantom ranch to be with her parents at the bottom of the canyon. Even though she knew that it would be busier than ever, the only home that she could remember other than Flagstaff, so she set out for Phantom Ranch.
She got out her hiking backpack, and filled it with homemade energy bars and bottles full of water. She then got out her hiking sticks, put her pack on the mule, and started the long trek down Bright Angel Trail.
Hiking on Bright Angel trail from the South rim to the bottom, is a full day’s hike, and Josephine made sure that she had enough provisions in her backpack to get down to Phantom Ranch. It was a
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long boring hike, but seeing the Grand Canyon from different angles created some amazing views.
Eventually Josephine reached Phantom Ranch. She lived out the rest of her life there, in the Grand Canyon. She became a park ranger, and helped the tourists that came to the Grand Canyon. She did marry another park ranger, and had adventurous children. She was always satisfied with what she did, and lived a very happy life.