Text Leveling System

Poppy

RDQ:	1695	Max Word/Sent	38	Total Words	3002		Diff Words	963
Lex	850	Ave Word/.Sent	9	Hi Freq occurs	2043	68.1%	Hi freq	384	39.9%
AR	4.6	Long Sentences	8.4	Low Freq occurs	258	8.6%	Low freq	206	21.4%

Mr. Ocax 
A thin crescent moon high in the sky shed 
faint white light over Dimwood Forest. Stars 
glowed. Breezes full of ripe summer fragrance 
floated over nearby meadow and hill. Dimwood 
itself veiled in darkness lay utterly still.
At the very edge of this forest stood an old 
charred oak on which sat a great horned owl. The 
owl's name was Mr. Ocax and he looked like 
death himself.
Mr. Ocax's eyes - flat upon his face - were round 
and yellow with large ebony pupils that enabled 
him to see as few other creatures could. Moon-
light - even faint moonlight - was as good as day-
light for him.
With his piercing gaze Mr. Ocax surveyed the 
lands he called his own watching for the comings 
and goings of the creatures he considered his 
subjects - and his dinners. He looked at Glitter Creek 
home to the fish he found so appetizing; the Tar 
Road across which tasty rabbits were known to]] 
hop; Jayswood where meaty chipmunks sometimes 
skittered before dawn. By swiveling his 
head he searched the Marsh for a savory frog 
then New Field where usually he could count on 
a delicious vole or two. He looked at Gray House 
where Farmer Lamout used to live then upon the 
Old Orchard. He even looked nervously toward 
New House. But nowhere did he see a thing to 
eat. Profoundly annoyed Mr. Ocax was beginning 
to think he would have no dinner that night.
But finally there - near the top of Bannock Hill 
where the ponderosa pines had all been cut where 
only a few struggling saplings and bushes grew - 
he saw movement. Just the glimmer of food was 
enough to cause his owl's heart to pound his 
curved black beak to clack his feathered horns to 
stand up tall.
Mr. Ocax shifted his head from right to left forward 
and back. When he did so he beheld 
two mice! Of all the creatures the owl hunted he 
enjoyed mice the most. They were the best eating 
to be sure but better still they were the most 
fearful and Mr. Ocax found deep satisfaction in 
having others afraid of him. And here after a wait 
of nearly the whole night were two savory subjects 
to terrify before he ate them.
One of the two a deer mouse crouched 
cautiously beneath a length of rotten bark. The other 
a golden mouse stood in the open on his hind 
legs his short tail sticking straight out behind for]] 
balance. From his left ear an earring dangled. In 
his paws he held a hazelnut.
"It's not as if I haven't warned these mice" Mr. 
Ocax murmured to himself. "If they will move 
about without my permission they have only 
themselves to blame for the consequences." As he 
leaned forward to listen his sharp-as-needles 
talons four to each large claw and jet-black at their 
tips cut deeply into the branch he was perched 
on. "Catching these two mice" he mused "is going 
to be fun."

ON BANNOCK HILL the golden mouse turned to his 
timid companion and said "Poppy girl this hazel-
nut is bad-to-the-bone. Bet you seed to sap there's 
more where it came from. Come on out and dig."
"Ragweed" Poppy replied as she sniffed tensely 
in all directions "you promised we'd dance when 
we got here. We can't do it in the open. Besides 
I want to answer your question. So will you please 
get under here with me."]] 
Ragweed laughed. "Dude you must think I'm as dull as a dormouse. You just want to get some of this nut."
"I don't want any of your precious nut" Poppy insisted. "I want to give you my answer. And I want to dance! Isn't that the reason we came up the hill? Only it's not safe out there."
"Oh tell me about it."
"You heard my father's warnings" Poppy went on. "It's Mr. Ocax. He might be watching and listening."
"Get off" Ragweed sneered. "Your pop talks about that Ocax dude just to scare you and keep you under control."
"Ragweed" Poppy cried "that's ridiculous. Mr. Ocax does rule Dimwood. So we have to ask his permission to be here. And you know perfectly well we never did."
"Dude I'm not going to spend my life asking an old owl's okay every time I want to have fun. Know what I'm saying? This is our moment girl right? And now that I've dug this nut up I'm going to enjoy it. Besides" he said "it's too dark for an old owl to see me."]] 
"Poppy" Mr. Ocax scoffed under his breath. "Ragweed. What stupid names mice have. Now if only that deer mouse will move just a little farther out from under cover I'll be able to snare both mice at once."
The mere thought of such a double catch made Mr. Ocax hiss with pleasure. Then he clacked his beak spread his wings and rose into the night air. Up he circled his fluted flight feathers beating the air silently.
High above Bannock Hill he looked down. The golden mouse - the one eating the nut - was still in the open. So brazen. So foolish. Nevertheless Mr. Ocax decided to hold back another moment to see if the deer mouse might budge.

"RAgweed" Poppy pleaded "please get under here."
"Girl" Ragweed said "do you know what your problem is? You let your tail lead the way."
Poppy hurt and wanting to show she was not a coward poked her nose and whiskers out from under the bark. "Ragweed" she persisted even as she began to creep into the open "being careless is stupid."]] 
Her friend took another scrape of the nut and sighed with pleasure. "Poppy" he said "you may be my best girl but admit it you don't know how to live like I do."
Poppy took two more steps beyond the bark.
Just then Mr. Ocax pulled his wings close to his body and plunged. In an instant he was right above and behind the two mice. Once there he threw out his wings - to brake his speed; pulled back his head - to protect his eyes; and thrust his claws forward and wide like grappling hooks - to pounce.
It was Poppy who saw him. "Ragweed!" she shrieked in terror as she hurled herself back undercover. "It's Ocax!"
But the owl was already upon them. Down came his right claw. It scratched the tip of Poppy's nose. Down came his left claw. It was more successful clamping around Ragweed's head and neck like a vise of needles killing him instantly. The next moment the owl soared back into the air. A lifeless Ragweed - earring glittering in the moonlight -  hung from a claw. As for the hazelnut it fell to the earth like a cold stone.
Powerful but leisurely strokes brought Mr. Ocax back to his watching tree. Once there he shifted the dead Ragweed from talon to beak in one gulp. The mouse disappeared down his throat earring and all.
His hunger momentarily satisfied Mr. Ocax]] 
tilted back his head and let forth a long low cry of triumph. "Whooo-whooo!"
Poppy did not hear the call. In her terror she had fainted. Now she lay unconscious beneath the length of rotten bark.
The owl did not mind. He had enjoyed the first mouse so much he decided to wait for the second. Indeed Mr. Ocax was not entirely sorry that Poppy had escaped. She was terrified and he enjoyed that. And for sure he would get her soon. "Oh yes" he murmured to himself "mice are the most fun to catch." Then Mr. Ocax did that rare thing for an owl: He smiled.]]
A stinging sensation on her nose woke Poppy. She touched a paw to the sore spot and winced. Then she looked about in the dark and shook her head with confusion. Where was she? Under a piece of rotten bark. Where was the bark? On Bannock Hill. What was she doing there? She had come with her boyfriend Ragweed. Where was Ragweed?
No sooner did Poppy ask herself that than the full horror of what had occurred rushed upon her. Ragweed dead! Eaten probably. Poppy closed her eyes. The sheer ghastliness of the thought made it hard for her to breathe.
Then recalling how close she had come to the same fate she checked herself for other injuries.
Though her plump round belly was white the rest of her fur was orange-brown. She had large ears and dark almost round eyes full whiskers tiny nose pink toes and tail. Even for a deer mouse Poppy was rather dainty. Upon examination]]
everything - except the nose - seemed to be intact.
She stole a look out from under the bark and considered her situation. She was on Bannock Hill alone and without permission. Oh how she wished she were home.
From her earliest days - just a few full moons ago - her parents had been teaching their litter about Mr. Ocax. She recalled how they had lined up all twelve of them to take instruction.
"Mr. Ocax has been about for ages" her father Lungwort lectured in his sternest voice. He was a rather stout fellow with elegantly curled whiskers and slightly protruding front teeth. His crowning glory was an ivory thimble he had found and which ever since he'd worn as a cap. "Mr. Ocax's been here longer than any mouse's living memory" Lungwort continued. "The territory around Dimwood belongs to him. Mr. Ocax is king."
"And he protects us" said Sweet Cicely Lungwort's wife and Poppy's mother. "That's the most important thing." Sweet Cicely was a small creature even for a deer mouse with soft pale eyes and a nervous habit of flicking at her ears with her paws as if they were dusty.
"Protects us from what?" Poppy remembered Ragweed asking. An outsider he had taken to hanging around the family. He was always asking for answers: "Why do deer mice live here and not there?" "Why do you folks eat this and not that?" "Why is your fur dark on top and white on bottom]]
when mine is golden? Why couldn't it be the other way around?"
Though these constant questions could be irritating Poppy had to admit that she'd often wondered about the answers. Curiosity however was not something her parents encouraged. Poppy admired Ragweed's persistence.
"Mr. Ocax protects us from creatures that eat us" Lungwort answered gravely. "Raccoons foxes skunks weasels stoats . . ." One by one he displayed pictures of these animals. "Most important he protects us from porcupines. Like this one." He held up a lurid portrait of a huge black-nosed beast covered with gruesome spikes. Blood seemed to drip from his snarling mouth.
The young mice gasped in dread.
"Porcupines are our particular enemies" Lungwort insisted. "There is nothing porcupines won't do to catch mice."
"What would they do with us then?" Acorn one of Poppy's sisters asked in a trembling voice.
"First they shoot their barbed quills into you" Lungwort said.
"Then they trample you" Sweet Cicely added.
"Finally" Lungwort concluded "they break you into little bits and gobble you up."
Now it was terror the young mice felt. All except Ragweed.
"Lungwort" he demanded "other than that picture you ever seen a porcupine? A real one?"
"Not precisely" Lungwort snapped. "But let me]] 
tell you something Ragweed. I'd be more than thrilled to get through my whole life without ever seeing one. After all Mr. Ocax has seen porcupines. Often. In private conversations with me- mind these are actual personal experiences I can verify-he informed me that porcupines are not only extremely dangerous but also devilishly sly.
"Take note that this judgment comes from a powerful meat-eating bird. The point is Mr. Ocax protects us from porcupines. It was he in fact who was kind enough to educate us about them as well as supply these pictures."
"Then how come you have to worry about this dude Ocax too?" Ragweed pressed.
Struggling to control his temper Lungwort tapped his thimble cap down over his forehead.]] 
Fuming he replied "Mr. Ocax protects us from vicious porcupines only when we accept him as our ruler that's why. All he requires is that we ask his permission whenever we move beyond the immediate area of Gray House.
"We have freedom to go about the Old Orchard up to Glitter Creek. We can do the same for Farmer Lamout's fields. At our own risk of course. Life is full of danger. Go beyond however and we need to get Mr. Ocax's permission.
"What's his reason?" Ragweed persevered.
Sweet Cicely brushing her ears sighed with exasperation. How Poppy her own daughter could take up with such an ill-mannered ruffian was beyond her understanding. All the same she said "Ragweed as Mr. Ocax has patiently explained to my husband he needs to know if we're moving about so he won't mistake us for porcupines. Asking permission is a small sacrifice to pay for our safety."
Lungwort nodded his agreement. "That owl" he pointed out "has incredible vision. And hearing. He can hear or see anything even in the dark. And a good thing too. Porcupines prowl at night. Move like lightning Mr. Ocax says. Shoot quills without asking questions. Kill without mercy.
"No my boy we don't argue with Mr. Ocax. He's our protector. If we disobey him break his rules- and I can't say I blame him either-he gets upset."
"What'll he do then?" asked Leaf one of Poppy's brothers.]] 
"He'll eat you" Lungwort replied briskly as he put away the picture of the porcupine. "And" he continued "it happens. During the past year we have lost some fifteen family members. It may be presumed that all failed to ask Mr. Ocax for permission to go somewhere."
The children were shocked into silence.
Ragweed however spoke out again. "Hey Pops didn't I hear you say porcupines are huge?"
"You saw the picture" Lungwort responded. "And don't call me Pops. It's common."
"So them porcupines are bigger than us right?"
"A lot bigger" Sweet Cicely said emphasizing the lot.
"Well old lady" Ragweed kept on "if them there porcupines are so huge and we're so small and if this dude owl has such amazing sight how come he might confuse us mice with them there dude porcupines? Know what I'm saying?"
An indignant Sweet Cicely looked to her husband.
Lungwort sputtered "Ragweed for your information proper grammatical usage is 'those porcupines' not 'them there porcupines.' And while I'm thinking about it if you intend to court my daughter I'll thank you to groom your hair properly when you get up in the morning. As for that earring you've taken to wearing I don't like it. Not one bit. This family is committed to keeping up mice values and is opposed to stupid questions."]] 
With that Lungwort stalked away tail whipping about in agitation.
ON BANNOCK HILL Poppy remembered it all. She also remembered it was Ragweed who insisted they come up the hill but that he absolutely refused to ask Mr. Ocax's permission to do so. Perhaps then what occurred-horrible as it had been-had served Ragweed right. Then and there Poppy vowed she would never leave home again.
The difficulty was that at that moment she was far from home frightened and alone.]] 
Poppy Alone
Poppy glanced to the east. The horizon was streaked with layers of pink and red. Did that make it night or day? Neither. It was impossible to guess then if the owl was still awake as he was at night or asleep as he was by day. Besides the place in Dimwood Forest where Mr. Ocax slept-not the same as his watching post-was unknown. He kept it secret.
As if she might discover it Poppy gazed into the forest. All she could make out was a great mass of dark trees. No wonder it was called dim she thought and shuddered.
Poppy considered the distance from the north side of Bannock Hill where she was hiding to the dwelling on the abandoned farm where she and her family lived-Gray House. It was about the length of four cornfields. Poppy decided she'd best race from one protected spot to another in quick low belly runs.
She peeked out from beneath the bark again. There was a fallen branch up ahead but it was leafless so]] 
it would provide no cover. Beyond the branch however she spied a rock with a crevice just large enough to wedge into. Poppy decided to aim for that.
Whiskers stiffly alert breathing deeply to catch the smallest whiff of danger she crept out from under the protective piece of bark. If only if only- she kept saying to herself-if only Mr. Ocax was not watching.

BUT MR. OcAx was watching. He was perched perfectly still on the dead branch of his tree with very wide-open eyes. Not for a moment had he ceased staring at Poppy's hiding place. If there was one thing the owl hated more than a creature who neglected to ask permission to move about the territory it was a creature who escaped punishment for not asking. How could he keep the mice terrified if any one of them got away with that? No this Poppy must not escape!
Mr. Ocax belched bringing up a pellet of Ragweed's bones and fur as well as the earring which he had been unable to digest. The pellet fell to the ground to lie among a large pile of other pellets.
Intently the owl moved his head from side to side back and forth adjusting his depth of vision. In time he saw Poppy's pink nose poke out from her hiding place. Then he watched as she raced toward a rock. At last! The mouse was on the move. Mr. Ocax clacked his beak with pleasure spread his wings and leaped into the air.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Little support

Dialog: Multiple speakers

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Dialog: Unlabeled Speaker

Vocabulary: Some difficult words

Language: Many descriptive words

Sentences: Some Long/Complex

Text structure: Story/Poem

Inferences: Some implications

Complexity: Several ideas - closely related

Concept: Fanciful

Chapters

Features

Character traits

Character development

Integral Setting

Complex Problem/Solution

Topic

Mice

Bullies

Food Chain

Fears

Danger

Nature

Fighting

Forests

*Animal Life

Birds

Low Frequency Words

abandoned	absolutely	actual	adjusting	agitation
annoyed	beheld	belched	brazen	cautiously
clamping	comings	committed	companion	concluded
confusion	consequences	constant	conversations	cornfields
coward	crescent	crevice	crouched	curiosity
curled	curved	dainty	dangled	delicious
depth	devilishly	digest	disobey	dormouse
dread	dude	earliest	earring	ebony
educate	elegantly	emphasizing	enabled	encouraged
escaped	examination	exasperation	extremely	feathered
fellow	flicking	fluted	fragrance	freedom
fuming	gazed	ghastliness	glimmer	glory
grammatical	grappling	gruesome	gulp	hazel
hazelnut	hind	horizon	horror	hunger
hurled	immediate	incredible	indignant	informed
injuries	instant	instantly	instruction	intact
intend	intently	irritating	ivory	judgment
lamout	lamout's	lectured	leisurely	lungwort
lungwort's	lurid	mannered	marsh	meadow
mercy	mere	momentarily	moonlight	movement
murmured	mused	neglected	nervously	nevertheless
nosed	nowhere	ocax	ocax's	occurred
opposed	orchard	outsider	particular	patiently
pellet	pellets	perched	permission	persevered
persisted	persistence	personal	piercing	pleaded
pleasure	plunged	ponderosa	porcupines	portrait
pounce	precious	precisely	presumed	private
profoundly	properly	protective	protector	protruding
prowl	pupils	ragweed	ragweed's	recalling
refused	requires	responded	ridiculous	ruffian
sacrifice	saplings	satisfaction	satisfied	savory
scoffed	sensation	sheer	situation	skittered
snare	snarling	sneered	soared	spied
stalked	sternest	stiffly	stoats	stout
streaked	surveyed	swiveling	talon	talons
tensely	terrified	terrify	territory	terror
thrust	tilted	timid	trample	unable
unconscious	undercover	understanding	unknown	usage
utterly	veiled	verify	vicious	vision
vole	vowed	warned	warnings	weasels
wedge	what'll	whiff	whipping	whiskers
winced