• By Ayushi Shah, Timothy Ritchie, Adela Dimov
• Posted Friday, February 19, 2016

Wendy Wic and Her Adventure at Great Plate City

Wendy Wic was a curious girl. With curly brown hair and her trusty tennis shoes she was always exploring and learning new things. A very happy and fun girl she was indeed!

Dinner time had always been Wendy’s favorite part of the day. As she sat around the table with her family and ate from her favorite striped plate, she would tell them about all the new things she learned that day. But dinner time today was not much fun. Wendy started off talking all about her day, finishing her juice cup before she even knew it. “May I have more juice please?” she requested to her mommy. To Wendy’s surprise, when her mommy returned with the cup it was filled with water. “Mommy, I don’t want this. I want juice!” she exclaimed. “Wendy, we can only have 1 cup of juice every day. Too much juice is not good for you,” replied her mommy.

As she got ready for bed in her polka dot pajamas a thought kept coming to her mind. Why do grown-ups always say “It’s not good for you?” But WHY is it not good for you? All of this thinking was making Wendy tired and very soon she drifted off to sleep.

Suddenly, Wendy felt tapping on her shoulder and could faintly hear “Hello…hello…HELLO!” She rubbed her eyes and sat up only to see a slender blue milk carton with sky blue nail polish to match! “Where am I?” she asked.

“Well hello there! My name is Mandy Milk and you’re here in Great Plate city!”

“Great Plate city? What do you all do here?” asked Wendy. As Mandy gave Wendy a hand to get up, she explained to Wendy all about Great Plate city. She told Wendy that at Great Plate city everyone used TV screens and cameras to make sure kids are eating a “Great Plate” of food.

“What is a Great Plate?” Wendy asked.

“Well why don’t I show you around and you’ll get to see for yourself!” exclaimed Mandy.

Mandy took Wendy all around and introduced her to many new friends. There was Sunny Strawberry and Sassy Spinach. They told Wendy how fruits and veggies should fill up half of your plate! Then she saw Flippy Tuna and Brainy Brown Rice, who told her lean meats and whole grains are best. They excitedly explained that a quarter of each of these make up the other half of your plate. Wendy was learning so many new things and having so much fun with all of her new friends.

BOOM! BANG! BOOM! All of a sudden a giant cup of juice with raging red eyes could be seen stomping around, ruining Great Plate city! Wendy and her new friends all hid away behind a big oak tree. “What is happening?!” exclaimed Wendy. “That’s Jessy Juice! Sometimes when kids have too much juice, he grows too big and crushes things in Great Plate city!” Wendy was afraid and cried “Oh no! What are we going to do?”

“Never fear! Captain Water is here!” a voice shouted from afar. “Hooray!” exclaimed all of Wendy’s friends. Captain Water was there to help save them from the raging Jessy Juice. Captain Water started flying in circles around Jessy Juice, spraying him with very cold water. Every time the water sprayed at the giant cup, he got smaller and smaller until he came back to his normal size.

“I’m sorry friends.” said Jessy Juice.

“It’s okay Jessy, we know you didn’t meant it!” replied Mandy Milk.

“Who’s this?” Jessy asked, pointing at Wendy.

“This is our new friend Wendy!” answered Mandy Milk.

“You scared me.” Wendy said to him.

Jessy Juice apologized for scaring Wendy. He explained to her that just like in real life when drinking too much juice can hurt your teeth or your tummy, when kids drink too much juice, it makes Jessy Juice grow big and mess things up in Great Plate city. Wendy shook hands with Jessy Juice and promised to protect Great Plate city by having no more than 1 cup of juice every day!

The sun was beginning to creep through her bedroom curtains. Suddenly, Wendy’s eyes opened and she was in her bed again. “Well that was a strange dream,” she thought.

That night at dinner when Wendy’s mommy asked her if she would like some more juice, Wendy remembered her promise to her new friends in Great Plate city. “Only one cup of juice for me, Mommy,” she cheerfully replied. Her mommy smiled back, proud of her good decisions.