This book was created and published on StoryJumper™

©2014 StoryJumper, Inc.   All rights reserved.

Publish your own children's book: 

www.storyjumper.com

Wybraska!   A beautiful place where fields of swaying corn go on for miles.  

Beefy bossies dot the farmland, grazing away on lush green grass.  

Farmhouses and red barns can be seen every few miles with children 

playing in the yards in their spare time.  

This is the place I call home.   Wybraska was a beautiful place to grow up and 

enjoy being a child.

My name is Julie Starks and I am 13 years, 8 months and 22 days old which 

means I am almost 14 and close to being a grown up!   I am the youngest of five 

children with four older brothers.  

Yeah, that’s right, I said four older brothers!   Jacob, Joe, James, and Jackson 

are my protectors.   They make sure nothing bad happens to me and treat me like 

a little girl.   It was nice when I was little because they made sure I was always 

taken care of.  

The older I became, however, it became really annoying, but I showed them just 

how grown up I could be.   Yep, I SHOWED them and the rest of Wybraska how 

grown up a 13-year-old can be by saving the entire place. 

Oh wait, I haven’t told you about my great adventure and how I BECAME a grown 

up.   After you hear my story, you will see, Julie Starks is a grown up!

Well, where to begin?   Like I said, Wybraska was a great place to grow up.  

I had lots of friends and everyone had pretty happy lives.   That was until 

the Great Drought. 

When I was 11 years, 6 months and 21 days old, the weather changed and it 

stopped raining.   At first, no one was worried because our Wybraska always 

provided for everyone who lived here or that is what all the old people said.  

They would tell stories about when they were little and another great drought 

happened and how Wybraska magically yielded up Corn Treasure.   The magic 

corn brought rain and saved all the crops.  

I usually would stop listening at this point as I really didn’t believe their 

stories, but after a year of almost no rain, every Wybraskian started to worry.

This is when I started to pay attention to those old stories instead of zoning out 

and thinking about riding my best friend Jasper.  

Oh my goodness, I can’t believe I haven’t told you about my friend Jasper.   He is 

my horse and I have had him since I was 3 years, 4 months and 5 days old.   We do 

everything together and spend most of our days, especially during the summer, 

riding around the countryside trying to find adventurous things to do.  

This is where my annoying brothers drive me crazy because they don’t think I 

should be doing those things. 

 My ma and pa, Jordan and Jill Starks, tend to agree with them and make me stay 

close to home where they can all keep an eye on me!

Oh, sorry, back to my story.   So, when I was 12 years, 10 months, and 9 days old, 

I decided I should go investigate these stories the old people told.   I went up to 

the General Store where they all sat outside on benches talking about those 

“good ‘ol days”.  

I really wished I had listened to the second part of their stories because I 

wouldn’t have had to sit there telling me how they caught the biggest fish or 

grew the biggest pumpkin.   But I sat there and listened until they got to the part 

of the Great Drought and the Corn Treasure.  

This is where I sat up tall and really listened.   They talked about how all of 

Wybraska was saved and everything was good because of the Corn Treasure, until 

it was stolen and destroyed.   The oldies all gave different theories why someone 

would steal and destroy it, but the one that stuck out to me was that Mr. Phillip’s 

the banker was behind it.  

Now, that Mr. Phillips died a long time ago and his mean grandson was now in 

charge of the bank.   The old people said the old Mr. Phillips destroyed the Corn 

Treasure because farmers no longer needed to borrow money from his bank since 

their crops were growing so well.  

This had to be it!!  

I knew my parents had borrowed money from bank since the crops weren’t 

growing and they needed money to pay for things.  

My parents didn't know I knew this because they still thought I am a little girl, 

but I did some secret listening. I found out that Mr. Phillips was going to force 

my parents to sell our farm if we didn’t pay back the money we owed.   It had to 

be the mean Phillip family who stole the Corn Treasure, but I still needed to find 

some more!

After listening to the stories of the old people, I asked one of them 

if there was any more Corn Treasure.   That mean old person just 

laughed at me and said, “Well, if anyone is stupid enough to go look 

for it, they say it is in the majestic mountains in northeast 

Wybraska, but that is dangerous land and no little girl should go 

there alone.”

I was shocked! How dare this mean old person call me a “little girl”! Didn’t he 

know I was 12 years, 9 months, and 5 days old? 

I hadn’t been a little girl for at least 1 year, 6 months and 7 days!   I was a grown 

up now and was going to show everyone just that!

I rushed home on Jasper to come up with a plan to not only find the Corn 

Treasure and save my family’s farm, but save all of Wybraska.   This plan of 

leaving the farm was going to take some planning as the trip would last several 

days and I couldn’t just up and leave.  

My dumb over-protective brothers would come looking for me and they were 

some of the best trappers in all of Wybraska.   They could pick up a trail and find 

almost anything.  

I was going to have to wait 3 months and 28 days until I was supposed to leave 

for camp.   I just hoped that the mean Mr. Phillips didn’t take our farm by then.

Jasper, who I tell everything to, and I came up with a great plan to go 

searching for the Corn Treasure in the majestic mountains.   Obviously, I 

needed food and supplies and couldn’t just take them because my dad and 

brothers would notice the supplies and my mom would notice the food missing.  

Over the 3 months, I would sneak a little food or supplies every few days.   I 

would tell my mom that Jasper was really hungry and needed some extra food 

or tell my brothers I needed rope or others tools to work on my girl play house.  

They hated anything that had to do with girls and never went in my play house, 

so I could say it was for that and then keep the tools in there.  

The week before I was supposed to leave for camp, I had almost everything 

ready for my trip to the mountains.   Then something bad happened.

The evil Mr. Phillips drove out to the farm in his super nice car.   He stepped out 

all dressed up and with an evil smile on his face. 

My mom and dad asked him inside and I snuck in behind them and hid in the 

closet where they didn’t know I was listening.   Mr. Phillips informed my parents 

that if they didn’t have the money for the loan by next week, he was going to 

foreclose.  

I didn’t know exactly what foreclose meant, but I knew it was bad because my 

mom immediately started crying.   We were going to be kicked out, so there was 

no time to waste.  

I snuck out the back door, ran to get Jasper and went to my play house.   I had 

everything packed in the bag my grandma had given me for my 11th birthday.   I 

tied the bag on Jasper and we raced out into the corn fields.  

This was my chance to show all the people of Wybraska who thought a 13 year, 1 

month, and 2 day old girl wasn’t a grown up! I was going to show all of them and 

save my farm from the evil Mr. Phillips.

As I raced towards the majestic mountains, I could feel the hot sun beating down 

on my back.   The blistering sun would be in the sky for a few more hours and then 

the darkness of Wybraska would settle in.  

I had never really been a fan of being out in the woods in the dark, but this was 

the only way I could save my family farm and once and for all show everyone that 

I was an adult.  

My parents and brothers always treated me like a little girl.   They never let me 

know the struggles we were facing and made it seem like everything was fine.  

Even that mean Mr. Phillips called me a “little girl” when he would come out to the 

farm.   Oh, was I going to show him!  

I couldn’t wait to show him just how “big” and “grown-up” I could be!

After a few hours on my loyal friend Jasper, I was starting to realize just how 

lonely it was out there.   If it wasn’t for Jasper and his reassuring neighs, I might 

have turned back.

But, I couldn’t turn back! I had to save my farm!   The sun was slowly starting to 

set behind me as I left the farmland and entered the woods of Wybraska. 

I had never been to the woods and it quickly became cool and dark.   The trees 

swayed above my head almost in unison.   The trees, creatures, and wind all 

seemed to be talking to me.  

The song of nature was telling me to turn around; that there was danger 

ahead.   Jasper was no longer riding with confidence.   There was a time where I 

wanted to turn and run, but I had to be a grown up and push on.

The deeper we got into the woods, the darker it became.   I could barely see the 

quickly darkening sky above my head.   It would soon be pitch black and I only had 

a small head lamp to guide the way.  

Thoughts of despair and doubt started to creep into my head.  

Why was I here? 

Did I really think I was grown up enough to save my farm and bring the drought 

to an end? 

What if there was no Corn Treasure?  

What if it had all been made up? 

 I was in a dark, terrifying place with no one to protect me; no one to tell me it 

was okay.   I was alone and scared.

You've previewed 25 of 39 pages.

To read more: