Little Mermaid & the Snake Pit Once upon a time there was a magical ocean. In this ocean lived the little mermaid. She wanted to become human, so she went to this wizard and asked him to change her into human. Since she was the king's daughter, he agreed. The little mermaid swam to the surface. When she came up and started walking around, she realized that the surface wasn't so great! It had trash, gunk and more trash on the ground. Also, the air was full of smoke. As she kept walking, she wondered where she was going to stay. She went up to many houses and asked if she could stay, but all they did was slam the door in her face, and also, barely anybody was home. She finally found a gippy hotel that she could afford because she barely had any money. The next day she went to search for a job. Again, either nobody was home or they slammed the door in her face. She finally found a job spinning wool into yarn. It didn't pay much, but at least it was something. The next day, she decided to take a look around. As she was walking in the forest, she suddenly fell in a hole. It wasn't just any hole, to the side of the hole there was a pathway. She decided to see where it ended up at. As she was walking, she started hearing hissing noises. She just then saw that the noises were coming from giant snakes! She realized she was in a snakepit! The giant snake was holding everyone captive--which explains why nobody was home! Just then, Brad Pitt came in and freed all the captives; and saved the little mermaid. Brad Pitt decided that he and the little mermaid would change back into mermaids and get married--and of course, live happily ever after. By Halie Ferguson, age 12, Choctaw, Oklahoma--2001