About Jen Johnson
Creative and Adventurous
MG Book Sample Excerpt More Than Blood
MG Book Sample Excerpt More Than Blood
As a writer, I am passionate about creating compelling content that engages the reader by incorporating adventure and knowledge of survival skills. I also enjoy writing relatable short stories that keep the interest of the most reluctant readers. With a strong work ethic and a commitment to excellence, I am dedicated to delivering high-quality stories that push your imagination to its limits.
MG Book Sample Excerpt More Than Blood
MG Book Sample Excerpt More Than Blood
MG Book Sample Excerpt More Than Blood
(Coming Soon!)
Even though we ate, we did not consume three square meals a day. Many days, we got up and ate whatever was left over from the night before, which wasn’t much. We hardly ate anything for lunch except occasional mushrooms, which we’d make into mushroom soup. Dinner was when we would eat whatever animal we hunted that day. It wasn’t enough, and all of our pants were getting too big on us. We used whatever leftover string we could find to tie them up around our skinny waists. Our shirts were baggy too, and we were filthy. Everything was filthy after five weeks out there in the wilderness. Our clothes smelled, our hair smelled, and our skin smelled. The bottle of soap we took from the foster home had long ago run out. We were left with nothing but the smells of dirt and sweat.
Middle-Grade Short Stories
MG Book Sample Excerpt More Than Blood
Middle-Grade Short Stories
Jen Johnson's Short Stories
Fart Boy
By Jen Johnson
My name is Nancy, and I have a story about a boy who drove me crazy in 8th grade. Come to think of it, he drove everyone crazy. His name was Nick, but we all called him Fart Boy. You may be wondering how a boy could get such a nasty nickname, but let me tell you, he earned it.
Nick came into my middle school as a transfer student two months into my 8th-grade year. He was short, and skinny, with a messy mop of hair on his head. Most kids were quiet when they were new to my school, especially when our groups of friends were established, but not Nick. He was loud and silly - not in a way that disrupted the class, but whenever a teacher was not around, he showed off something fierce. The other boys thought he was funny and would laugh their heads off. My two best friends and I would roll our eyes and walk away giggling “He is so dumb.”
About a week after Nick’s arrival, we noticed a foul smell during Mrs. Murphy’s English class – right after lunch. Students started shouting.
“Oh my gosh! What is that smell?”
“It smells like rotten eggs.”
“That smell is going to make me puke.”
“Who has a rotten butt? It stinks!”
Mrs. Murphy tried to hush the class, but the comments kept flowing, and the smell lingered much longer than expected. Finally, Nick, all red in the face, raised his hand and asked, “Can I be excused to the bathroom?”
The whole class burst into laughter, tears running down their faces, including me. The teacher kept waving her arms like an excited toddler trying to quiet us down, but the laughter kept rolling. Mikey Higgins stood up and shouted over the laughter, “We got ourselves a fart boy!” and the laughter lasted through the rest of class.
Nick spent the rest of that class period in the bathroom. As a matter of fact, he spent the next period in the bathroom, too! I didn’t see him until our last period of the day when he took a seat in the back of the classroom and put his head on the desk. The whispers started all over the room.
“Fart Boy is back.”
“Hopefully he doesn’t stink up this room.”
“He is so gross.”
Nick didn’t move at all. His head remained on the desk even when the teacher told him to sit up. He said nothing, he did nothing for an hour straight. He looked like a slouched-over statue.
The next day, I didn’t see Nick until lunch because we had different classes in the morning. He sat with a few boys at lunch, but hardly moved or spoke to anyone. After lunch, a group of us headed to Mrs. Murphy’s English class. Then, it happened again. The smell was awful, the laughs were plentiful, and Mrs. Murphy had no chance of quieting us down. This time, Nick didn’t leave the room. He laughed just as hard as the rest of us! Then, he farted again. The room never cleared of the smell. It was gross, and by the end of class, only a handful of people were laughing at Nick’s farts. Most of us were annoyed that he kept stinking up the room.
After class, I noticed that some of the class clowns surrounded Nick and were still laughing about his atomic farts. They all called him ‘Fart Boy’ and high-fived him as they walked to their next class.
During math class, things did not get much better, the only difference was that Mr. Hartman was strict and yelled, “Whoever is stinking up this room must at least excuse himself or herself to the restroom!”
The class giggled, until Mr. Hartman gave us that stare, you know, the one where the adult doesn’t have to say a word and you know he or she means business. We all sat up and got very quiet. Nick excused himself three times during class. The farting was uncontrollable.
The farting continued on every single day. Nobody called Nick by his name anymore - we all referred to him as Fart Boy. He didn’t seem to mind because he never corrected us. Fart Boy had some friends, but nobody I hung out with. He was nice, just smelly, like in a fart way. Some of the boys had girlfriends, but not Fart Boy. No girl would dare get close to him. Plus, most of us girls were much taller than him and we knew the other girls would laugh at us if we held his hand or danced with him at the school dances. He was gross.
That first year with Fart Boy was a smelly one. My friends and I would constantly tell him to stop, but he claimed that some farts snuck out before he could excuse himself from the classroom. Eventually, we just accepted his farts as part of our day. When the school year ended, I was sad that middle school was over, but relieved to smell the fresh summer air over the stink bombs from Fart Boy.
∞ fast forward
I was nervous on my first day of high school. It was a bigger school compared to middle school. I was relieved to know that two of my closest friends, Becca and Rene’, would be attending the same school. As I entered the doors of the school building, my first mission was to find at least one of my friends from middle school. Instead, the first person I saw was…Fart Boy.
“Hi, Nancy. How was your summer?”
I couldn’t find the words, I just stared. Then the sentence finally found its way out of my mouth, and boy was I embarrassed about what came out.
“Fart Boy, is that you?”
He gave me a strange look. “I was hoping to escape that name this year. Apparently, I didn’t.”
“I’m sorry, Nick, but you are so much taller, and you have muscles. Plus, your hair is short, and looks really good.” That last sentence embarrassed me even more!
“I guess I grew up.”
Moments later, Becca and Rene’ walked into the school.
“Hi Nance. Hi Fart Boy.”
Nick shook his head and walked away. I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach.
“Maybe we should just call him Nick.”
Becca quickly defended herself “Why? He farts all the time, and he is gross.”
“I don’t know, Becca, he looks totally different! Plus, he hasn’t even farted this year.”
“Give him time, Nancy. We just got here. So, I would ask you how your summer was, but we spent almost every day together. Let’s get this year started!”
All three of us giggled and walked off to our first-period class. Becca and Rene’ had a class together next door to my first-period classroom. I entered the room by myself, with my heart beating fast, sweat pouring out of my armpits, and my legs shaking. I noticed no one…that is until I looked at the third seat closest to the windows. There was Fart Boy. He waved his hand and with a loud and embarrassing voice called out, “Sit here, next to me, Nancy!” I could feel my face getting hot and I began to sweat even more.
After quickly scanning the room only to find that all the other seats were taken, I gave Fart Boy a small smile and slowly walked to the empty desk next to him. The nerves became worse because all I could think about was what will other people think about me sitting next to Fart Boy? I sat next to him and whispered, “Hi.” Thankfully, seconds later, the teacher walked in and introduced herself. Nobody from middle school was in class, and I was relieved.
The rest of the day, I had classes with Becca, Rene’, and a few other acquaintances from middle school. Fart Boy, was in every single class of mine. I didn’t sit next to him in any other class, but he always waved and said, “Hi” when he saw me. I smirked and gave him a small wave. My friends looked confused and laughed.
“Why are you waving to Fart Boy?”
“His name is Nick.”
“Don’t you remember how gross he was? He will always be Fart Boy.”
I didn’t want to argue with my friends, so I just let it go and they continued to call him Fart Boy along with some other people from middle school. I called him Nick.
A few weeks passed and some kids who didn’t even know Nick in middle school began calling him Fart Boy which made no sense because he no longer farted in class. Nick didn’t say a word about it. He went on with his days like nothing was wrong, or at least that is what it seemed like.
One morning, I arrived at school early and all the chatter in the hallway was about the upcoming Homecoming dance. This would be our first big high school dance. Becca and Rene’ came over to me to announce that two boys had already asked them to the dance.
“How about you, Nancy? Did anyone ask you, yet?”
“No, but I don’t care if I go stag. It might be more fun.”
“Nancy, you are the hottest girl in ninth grade! I am sure someone will ask you.”
“No, really, it won’t bother me if nobody asks me.”
I couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous even though I insisted that being asked to the homecoming dance was not a big deal. I didn’t feel like listening to Becca or Rene’s bragging, so I went to first period hoping that nobody arrived yet. I wanted to be alone.
When I turned the corner and entered the classroom, there was one person in the room…Nick. I let out a breath and quietly took my seat hoping he would not speak. Unfortunately, Nick took the opportunity to start up a conversation.
“Hey, Nancy. Thank you for not calling me Fart Boy anymore. It kind of gets on my nerves, well, actually, it really hurts my feelings.”
My heart sank. I felt sad that so many people were making fun of Nick, and I didn’t do anything to stop it. See, Nick didn't stink up the classroom anymore, but the cruel nickname stuck with him. It didn’t make sense to me that kids who didn’t even experience the middle school stink would call him Fart Boy.
“I am sorry, Nick.”
“Why are you sorry, Nancy? I just thanked you for calling me by my name.”
“Yes, but I didn’t do anything to stop others, including my friends, from calling you Fart Boy.”
“Oh, Nancy, I don’t expect you to fix my problems. Hopefully, they will stop eventually.”
I didn’t know what else to say, so I just smiled at him and opened a book. The silence felt awkward until Nick began to speak again.
“Hey Nancy, I know you are the prettiest girl in this school, and way out of my league…” Nick got quiet.
I looked at him, shocked, was he about to…
“I was wondering, Nancy, will you go to the homecoming dance with me?”
The shock froze my words. My first thought was, what would they think if I said ‘yes’ to Fart Boy?
“Look Nancy, I am not the same kid that I was in middle school. I had a stomach condition that made me fart a lot. It was gross and I had no idea what was going on with my body. I was so embarrassed.”
“Then why did you laugh about it?”
“It was better than shrinking up. I wanted to have some friends, so I figured I would join in with them.”
“So, what is the stomach condition? Do you still have it?”
“It was a condition where food was not getting digested in my stomach. It was actually rotting. The condition caused all kinds of nasty gas. My doctor put me on a special diet and some probiotics which fixed the problem. I found that once I started the diet, I felt so much better. I even began working out and playing sports.”
“Wow. I had no idea. Also, working looks good on you.”
A big smile appeared on Nick’s face. At that moment I realized that he had a beautiful smile and beautiful eyes. I wondered why I never realized them before. I took a deep breath and words spilled from my mouth.
“It would be an honor to go with you to the homecoming dance.”
“Really? Are you sure?”
“I am very sure.”
The homecoming dance that year was one of the best nights that I experienced in high school. Sure, my friends said some mean things about me going with Nick to the dance. However, once they got to know Nick, they quickly realized that he was a great guy. We danced all night, and after the dance, we had our first kiss. It was magical.
∞fast forward
Nick and I have been married for 20 years. He was my high school sweetheart and I am honored to call him my husband. We attended college in the same town and got married three weeks after graduation. We have two beautiful children and travel to many places around the world as a family.
See, Fart Boy was a real boy - a real boy with feelings. He had a medical condition that he could not control. Kids were mean, including myself. They didn’t even get to know the real Nick in middle school. Nick is a great person with a big heart. I am grateful he built up the nerve to ask me to that dance in high school. I am also grateful for not letting others determine my decision to go with him.
The Creepy Shed
Coming soon!