Today I woke up at 7:30 to the beeping of my alarm clock. You may think that is good, but I meant to set the time to 6:30. I frantically jumped out of bed and dug through my closet for something, anything to wear. At this point I didn’t care about if it matched or not, so I just threw on some random clothes and ran into the bathroom. Do you know how there are those days everything just goes bad? Well today was one of those days when everything just falls of a cliff and is run over by two different trains. I ran into the bathroom and started brushing my teeth. Sure enough, my toothpaste fell on my shirt. I groaned and ran back into my closet to find another shirt. As I was rummaging through, I finally looked at myself in the mirror. Boy did I look awful. I decided that I would just throw on a jacket to cover up the toothpaste stain, but the problem was that it was 80 degrees outside. I did it anyways, and by the time I finished breakfast and got into the car, I was sweating. It was 7:56 and it was clear that I was going to be late for school. I sighed as I pulled into the middle school.

I opened the door and it was silent. Class had already begun and I was going to get a tardy slip. I peeked into the middle school office and saw no one, so I proceeded up the stairs to my first class. My first and second class went by smoothly, and as I was walking back to the middle school after second period, I realized that I had forgotten to do the science homework. I immediately started running. I rushed up the stairs and into the 8th grade hallway. I desperately pulled out my tablet and started typing. Break was almost over, and I had 3 minutes to finish 2 more questions. I finally finished and sent my paper to the printer, but the printer wouldn’t work. I sent it over and over but the printer still said “No Records Found”. I ended up getting 10 points off the assignment because the stupid printer wouldn’t print. In fourth period math, we had a test. I had forgotten to study the other night and I wildly searched for the answers in the back of my head. Knowing that I had probably failed the math test, I trudged to lunch. At lunch, I spilled marinara sauce all of my pants and shoes. I went into the bathroom to clean it up, and as I was walking out, I slipped and fell and hit my head on the door. The rest of the day was okay, not great, but okay. I went home and flopped down on the couch, thinking of the hectic day I had just survived.

===========================================================================================================

Today was way better than yesterday. Yesterday I had so many things to do and everything basically collapsed. Everything went bad yesterday and today was like a rainbow after a furious thunderstorm. I didn’t have anything due today and I even woke up before my alarm clock. That didn’t happen very often so the moment that I woke up, I knew today was going to be a much better day than yesterday. I even picked out an outfit the night before just in case it was one of those mornings. I had a great breakfast that consisted of oatmeal with brown sugar, scrambled eggs, and a smoothie and I had remembered to do all of my homework. I walked into school feeling that all the weights that had once been on my shoulders had suddenly been lifted up. I got more partial credit that I had expected on my science assignment and I got a good grade on my math test. I even got a 100 on my Spanish quiz, and that rarely ever happens. After art, I knew that everything was alright and all the things that were important were taken care of.

At field hockey practice, which I wasn’t late to, we played games almost the whole time and we did corners at the end. It was like the world was giving me ice cream and candy after getting shots at the doctor’s office. When I came home, the smell of fresh pizza filled my nose and I saw my grandma taking out a pizza out of the oven. I was overwhelmed by how nice the world was being, but also a feeling that all my worries were floating away. That night, I flopped onto my bed thinking about the relaxed day that I had just lived.

===========================================================================================================

Words:

frantic, carefree

The Night Room

– – – –

He watched helplessly as she got pushed into the Night Room by the henchmen. He had been in there before. The Night Room was eight blank walls painted white and shaped like a perfect octagon curved upwards into a perfect point. The darkness loomed and shifted and screamed in your face.  This was the horrible darkness of the feared Night Room. Nobody wanted to be there. Nobody. Ever. It was a horrible place. Good luck, he prayed. Good luck, child.
– – – –
As she was pushed into the light filled room known as the Night Room, and the door, no, the wall closed in sharply with a click and the darkness of the room fell. It loomed and shifted and screamed in her face, the walls shifting and moving in the dark of the room. It was the stuff from her nightmares, dark images flickering all around the walls, shadows dancing, claws scraping on the walls, dark sounds, the metallic smell of death everywhere.

She frantically felt for a keyhole, a lock, anything on the walls in the dark of the room. Anything, she prayed. Anything. But there was none. She frantically looked for a light switch on the eight walls and found none. She pounded on the walls, searching for a hollow sound. She pounded and smacked until her arms and hands hurt. She sighed and leaned against one of the walls. When was she going to be let out of this horrible place? The next thing she knew, she nodded off and fell asleep. She was woken by three sharp raps on the seemingly solid wall behind her. She stood up and wondered, Who’s that? “Come in,” she said, trembling as the wall swung inward, creak, creak, creak, letting in a small crack of cold light. Fingers crept in slowly, pushing the crack farther in, illuminating the fingers that crept slowly into the room. Long fingers of death. White. Blue. Cold. Dead. Five long fingers that belonged to a arm with a perfectly pressed suit cuff, the sleeves thin and long. The arm belonged to a man, no a creature with a television head, the face thin and his features bulging out of the thin face, seemingly disproportionate and dead. The Television Head buzzed and scratched and it often showed bars. What she could make out was only a sharp knife-like nose with pale-blue colored eyes, and thin lips. All the color seemed to be leeched out of him. As he stepped toward the small girl in the Night Room, his steps whispered, I am coming for you. I am coming for you. I am coming for you. Every. Single. Step.

She stared at the man with wide, terrified eyes. Who are you? What are you? Where did you come from? Definitely from the nightmares, she decided. Then, she saw his left hand. Clutched in his left hand, was a knife.

|fearful|

“Kingyo-sukui” aka “Goldfish Scooping”

金魚すくい

The Goldfish Game

One Summer, when I was young, I went fishing down by the river with my friends. There were four of us. We were having so much fun. Until the sky grew dark and clouds covered the sun. It began to pour. We were getting drenched. We heard the loud, low, rumble of thunder over our heads. We ran to take shelter under a big tree that was close to us, about ten strides away.

And then, all of a sudden, there was a blinding flash of light and a deafening crack as the tree was struck by lightning.

At first, I had no idea what had happened. I didn’t understand. My ears were ringing. I could not hear anything.

When I opened my eyes, I could not believe what I was seeing. I blinked a few times. It was still there. I looked around. I found myself at a Summer festival, standing in front of a stall. In large kanji it read, “Kingyo-sukui,” “Goldfish Scooping.”
I heard a voice. “Would you like to try your luck?”

I recognized that voice. It was so familiar! When I looked up at the blurry shape behind the stall, it slowly came into focus. It was my father! But it could not be! My father had passed away years ago.

“Where am I?” I wondered. “What is this place?”

“Don’t you know?” my father quietly asked.

I looked into the aquarium. Three goldfish were dejectedly swimming around in the pool, their baleful eyes looking up at me sadly.

That was when I understood. I realized where I was, and what I was supposed to do. I was here to help my friends.

“How much does it cost?” I asked.
“Ten years of your life,” My father replied.

“For every scoop?” I asked.
“For every scoop, he replied sadly, as he handed me the paper net.

I was so nervous. My hands were shaking. Kingyo-sukui takes much skill and dexterity. You must be very careful or the paper net will break and you will lose.

I sat down on the wooden stool and watched the three goldfish swim in the pool. I put my net into the water and I scooped. I missed. I tried again, and I missed. Again and again, I missed the goldfish. It was useless. The goldfish were swimming too fast and I broke the fragile, thin, paper net. My father handed me another, but that one broke too. I kept scooping, but the nets kept breaking. The sweat was pouring down my forehead as I tried and tried.

Just then, I managed to scoop up one of the goldfish and I dropped it in the blue porcelain bowl that was sitting on a stool next to me. It was a good start, but there still were two left. I began scooping again, but the net broke immediately. My father handed me another. I managed to scoop up another goldfish and put it in the bowl. Then the net broke again as I tried to get the final goldfish. My father handed me another.

“This is your last net,” He sighed.

There was only one goldfish left. It was not an easy decision. It was going to cost me my life, but I had to save him.

I steadied my hand and concentrated harder than I ever had in my life. On my first try, I scooped up the last goldfish and dropped it into the bowl.

“I did it!” I cried happily.

My father looked at me from the stall and smiled. It was a sad smile, but I could tell he was proud of me. He said, “I tried very hard and I managed to save one more goldfish.”

Then, everything went dark as I lost consciousness again.

“Hey! Wake up.”

The voice was faint, but I definitely heard it.

“Wake up,” it said again.

“Am I dead?” I asked.

“No, you’re not dead,” the voice gently assured me. “You’re alive.”

I opened my eyes and blinked. My friends were standing over me.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Yes,” one of my three friends said. “You’ve been unconscious for thirty minutes, but you’re alive.”
The tears started flowing. I could not help it.

I was still alive, but for how long? I managed to save my friends but I had spent my whole life doing it.

But then, I remembered the last words my father had said to me before I lost consciousness.

“I tried very hard and I managed to save one more goldfish.”

|melancholy|

Angry

I was walking to work, unfortunately. Why do I have to go to work? I hate work. Waking up early to do something I hate with a bunch of morons. I work at one of the World Trade Centers, commonly called the twin towers. I’m done with this year, even though it is only September 11^th. Work starts at 9:00 am, and it is currently 8:45. This morning has been horrible, I spilled my coffee on my white shirt, and had to iron a new one. I see a plane, its speed is dashing, and altitude is very low. In New York City planes should never fly that low. What a bad pilot. I look down to my feet and suddenly hear a very loud sound, louder than any sound I’ve ever heard in my whole life. I scream while I look up. The plane was gone, and there was a huge whole in the building where I work in.

Expectant

Everyone around me was looking the same direction as I was, astonished. I have never seen anything like it. The Building had a hole in it, almost like a holed piece of paper. Some people were screaming, calling 911. 15 minutes after screaming and disorder, there was another plane, same speed, same height, same direction. After looking at that plane for a couple of seconds everyone could know what that plane was going for. Screams became louder and louder the closer the plane got to the second tower. I could almost hear the countdown in my head. 3… 2… 1… Bam! The same loud noise went for round two. A hole in the second tower. Everyone started running, including me, we thought that the third plane was gonna crash on us. While we were running, the first tower collapsed completely. Sending a cloud of dust outwards, the cloud was racing toward me, and people started to push and shove. Someone pushed me into the sidewalk, my head crashed against a street sign. I stood there, on the ground not being able to get up. I was amazed how people completely ignored me. The air got darker and darker, and soon enough I couldn’t see anything, I started to cough and cough. The last thing I heard was another loud noise, the second tower collapsed. I closed my eyes and lost consciousness.

Calm:

I woke up the morning of my huge math final feeling the best I ever had. I got up out of my bed and strolled over to my dresser. I took the clothes I was going to wear that day out, and peacefully made my way to the bathroom. I got into the shower and the hot, steaming water filled every part of the room as if I were relaxing in a sauna. I mentally went over what I had studied the night before. I was so prepared for this test; I couldn’t wait another minute to take it. As I stood in the shower, I let my body soak in the heat and I felt every muscle in my body release whatever tension it had holding within itself. After completing my shower, I stepped out of the bathroom feeling psychologically and physically rejuvenated and ready to face my test first thing at school. I ate breakfast slowly, to be sure to savor every flavor that burst across my tongue and ignited my mouth with a feeling of happiness and joy. At the conclusion of my meal, I gathered my things for the day and headed out the door where my dad was waiting to take me to school. I hopped in the car and sat down in the passenger seat, letting all of my emotions just sink into the cushion of the seat. As we drove to school the radio was playing and it seemed like every single one of my favorite songs played. I rolled down the window to stick my head out and get a better view of the magnificent colors arching across the sky glorifying the sunrise. I felt the air rushing through my hair and I heard the tweeting of the songbirds making the sounds of their chorus in the trees above. Everything at this moment was perfect and I just could not wait any longer to take my test.

As I walked into school, I headed straight for my 1st period class. Nothing around me mattered, it felt like the weight of two mountains of stress had been lifted off of my shoulders and the consequences of the test were in my hands and within my reach. Nothing at all could go wrong at this moment. I walked into the classroom and took my usual seat at the front of the class where I could see the board most easily. Other students began to file in looking as nervous as possible. I just gazed their way and smiled because I knew that there was nothing to worry about at all. I knew the material so well that I could have gotten an A+ on any test in my sleep. Finally, the teacher walked in. I greeted her kindly and she responded quirkily. I knew she could tell that I was more than ready. As soon as the clock struck 7:30am, she closed the door shut, and got our attention. She explained the format of the test and that we would have one and a half hours to complete the test. I sat back in my chair and relaxed my mind as she worked her way from the back of the classroom up handing out tests. Once she put one down on my desk I sat ready, pencil in hand and calculator on desk. As soon as she told us to begin, I flipped my test over and started taking the test without a worry in the world.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Frantic:

I flipped over my test and made sure to write my name down first. Before I started the first question, I took my time to look at each question on the test. There were a total of 30 questions, there was plenty of time to finish. Then, with a sinking feeling in my stomach, I looked at the first question. I realized with panic that I hadn’t the slightest idea how to solve it. Then, I began to flip through the rest of the test. I looked at each problem twice and with tears in my eyes and a sick stomach, I found that I had studied the wrong information. I looked rapidly at everyone else in the room already past the first couple of problems and I knew that I had to do my best to finish the test in time. I wasn’t sure if it was possible, but I knew it had to be done. I looked at the first problem once again and started writing things down. It was a diagram of lines and I had to find the measure of angle one. I used what I knew about the latest unit to try my best but ended up with nothing. I nervously looked around again at everyone and then at the clock on the wall. 20 minutes had passed and everyone else had already completed the first page of the test. I sat there, on the verge of tears, when it hit me. I knew how to solve the first problem. I wrote down my answer, and almost celebrated internally, when I realized that after 25 minutes I had done one question and still had 29 more to go.

“10 minutes left!” shouted my teacher at 9:30am. I still had 12 problems left. I was slowly but surely making my way through the test trying to come up with an answer. I was doing my best not to panic but I knew I really didn’t have enough time to finish. Another glance around the room told me that people were already checking their work. At this point I had no choice but to rush and finish what I could in the next 10 minutes. I fought through the urge to run out of the class and throw up in the bathroom. I rushed and rushed through each problem in scrawling handwriting covering the pages. “5 minutes to go!” my teacher exclaimed. With 5 questions to go, I had to go at insane speed to just finish all the questions, not to mention checking my work.

Dear Diary,

I’ve been working in this small little office building for way to long, I’ve been working here for close to 10 years now.  365 days a year I come here to the smallest little corner to what I call “work”.  I only have a desk, chair, and a small file cabinet, that’s all my bosses have provide me with.  I’ve also been on the same level in this office for 10 years also.  Ten years!  No moving up, no change for 3,650 days.  They treat me as if I’m nothing there.  They don’t give me time off, weekends and all I have to work.  They don’t provide food or even a nice office space.  They make me sit in the same dull chair and do paperwork day in and day out.  But the worst part is they expect me to be loyal to them, and love what I do.  Just when I don’t think I can stand it another day, they offer up a new job,  that I could easily move up to.  I was all excited and finally ready  for stay at work and you know what happens.  I’ll tell you what happened.

An intern got the job, they said it was something like I’m not excited and dedicated to the job.  Of course I’m not excited to go to work,  I’m an accountant.  Just to top it all off, she get a brand new office and higher pay.  She also doesn’t have to even work weekends and she get a month worth of time off. She’s only worked here for a few months.  I can’t stand it anymore diary!  I just need to quit.

Until text time

Billy Stonefisher

“Jimothye, wake up! It’s Christmas!” I wake up with the cheerful cries of my younger brother, Tyromal. The aroma of Mama’s cinnamon Christmas tree pancakes hit my nose like Babe Ruth hits a baseball. I jump out of bed and run to the closet. I put on layers and layers of clothes to stay warm while sledding outside. Sledding is my brother’s and my favorite snow activity for we have quite a steep hill in our back yard. All of the kids of our neighborhood come to our back yard to sled. I ask Mama if I can go and she allows me to go, but to stay in Negroville, the name the white people gave our African American community, for segregation will get me killed in the early 60’s. I go outside to our backyard and after an hour of fun sledding, I decide the only thing to make it more fun was to call my friends Jebediah and Lamar’on.

Lamar’on comes over first. I ask him to sled but he refuses. “No Jimothye, I know a bigger, badder, steeper, more fun hill, right outside of Negroville.” I simply refuse, for Mama told me to stay in Negroville. “Let’s talk to Lamar’on when he comes, but till then, let’s sled here.” Lamar’on arrives 15 minutes later with a sled. “Jimothye, I know of a great hill!” I know what he is talking about. “Is it in Negroville?” I ask him to confirm. “Almost, it is just outside it.” I explained what Mama said to me about leaving Negroville. “Boys! Come in for pancakes!” We eat pancakes and they convince me that it is a good idea to go there. “Mom we’re going too…my friend’s house to sled.” I say. She approves. We go down to the hill. There are already two white kids there sledding. I go first, it was totally worth the lie, or at least it was up to now.

“Hey Negros, get back in your little black community, punks!” Jebediah refuses. “It’s not your hill!” he pushes Jebediah and the snow makes him slip down the hill. This enrages Lamar’on and me so we start punching them, and they punch us. Next thing you know, the police arrives. Regret, a strong word with much power in gust 6 letters. This is how the worst Christmas in the world occurred because of the color of my skin.

I walked into to school and everything was different. It was like everything that I thought was there was gone, but that’s ok because I am a quick learner. Unlike some people, I thought to myself. As I walk down the tremendously lengthy hallway I saw a bunch of people talking with their friends. I don’t have any friends, but that’s ok because I have my books. There he goes, the most popular guy in school, or ­­­­­swagalishious, as he calls it. I don’t know how he got there, being a bully and putting everyone else below you shouldn’t boost up your popularity. I also don’t have any calculations that would plug in either. I walk into the classroom and sit right in the front, like usual, and pull out my books. I can usually get away with reading my high school textbook in class and college textbooks after classes.

A loud noise runs all around the school, which means my favorite time of day is here, when class starts. The teacher walks through the door and says pop quiz. My face lights up with joy and I grab my fully sharpened to the point #2 pencil. He gives my quiz and I can’t wait to start.

Question 1:

Given a triangle ABC. BL is the bisector of angle ABC, H is the orthocenter and       P is the mid-point of AC. PH intersects BL at Q. If ∠ABC=β, find the               ratio PQ:HQ.If QR⊥BC and QS⊥AB, prove that the orthocenter lies on RS.

Duh, this is sooooo easy, I thought and quickly wrote down the answer.

Answer 1:

In the figures below, I have added the circumcenter, U, and the centroid, E. I        have also placed Lon the circumcircle.

Note that since both are perpendicular to AC¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯, we                                               have BH¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯||UP¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯; furthermore, |BH¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|=2|UP¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|. The        latter is because △PUE is similar to △BHE and

P=A+C2 and E=A+B+C3(1)

so that

P−E=A−2B+C6 and E−B=A−2B+C3(2)

Thus,

|UP¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|=Rcos(B) and |BH¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|=2Rcos(B)(3)

where R is the circumradius of △ABC.

Since the line containing UP¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ is the perpendicular bisector                              of AC¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯, the point at which UP−→−−intersects the circumcircle                         of △ABC splits the arc between A and C in half. Of course, the bisector                      of ∠ABC also splits the arc       between A and C in half. Thus, the                                perpindicular  bisector of AC¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ and the       bisector of ∠ABC meet on the       circumcircle at L.

Note that △BHQ is similar to △LPQ. Equation (3) gives                                                   that |UP¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|=Rcos(B) so that

|PL¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|=R(1−cos(B))(4)

Therefore, (3) and (4) yield

|HQ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|/|PQ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|=|BQ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|/|LQ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|=|HB¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|/|PL¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|      =2cos(B)1−cos(B)(5)

which answers the first part.

Because △BUL is isosceles with central angle 2A+B=π−(C−A), we have

|BL¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|=2Rsin(A+B2)=2Rcos(C−A2)(6)

Equation (5) yields that |BQ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|/|BL¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|=2cos(B)1+cos(B).                           Thus, (6) gives

|BQ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|=2Rcos(C−A2)2cos(B)1+cos(B)(7)

Let X be the intersection of BQ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ and RS¯¯¯¯¯¯¯. Since X is on the angle          bisector of ∠ABC, RS¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ is perpendicular                                                                  to BQ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ and |BR¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|=|BS¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|.                                                                     Thus, |BR¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|/|BQ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|=|BX¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|/|BR¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|=cos(B/2).                       Therefore,

|BX¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯||BQ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|=cos2(B/2)=1+cos(B)2(8)

Equations (7) and (8) yield

|BX¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|=2Rcos(C−A2)cos(B)(9)

Since ∠HBC=π2−C and ∠QBC=B2 we get that ∠HBQ=C−A2. Using (3), the                   orthogonal projection of BH¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ onto BQ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ has length                                   is 2Rcos(B)cos(C−A2). Thus, the orthogonal projection of H onto BQ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ is X.      Therefore, H lies on RS¯¯¯¯¯¯¯.

DONE!

Wow, easy 100%, and back to my textbooks. It has only been 5 minutes so I am going to get started on month 6’s homework.

Dear 8^th Cary Academy Students,

I am Courtney Macintyre and I work for Fighting Cancer is the Answer. Cancer kills 7.6 million people each year and every day more than 40 children are diagnosed a day. I work to raise money to help find a cure for cancer and raise money to pay medical taxes for those in need of it. This topic is very important to me because almost everybody has been effected from cancer in some way. Cancer has impacted my life drastically, my brother passed away when he was just 8 years old from leukemia and my father is currently fighting brain cancer. Ever since my brother passed away I always felt compelled to help fight this horrible disease. It has now became a huge part of my life and I truly believe that we can make a difference.

I am here to talk to you because I hope you guys can raise money to help pay off a child’s medical taxes. I believe that with all of you guys working together you can achieve this goal. The child’s name is Cory and he is 15 years old. His family has been struggling to afford his medical taxes for the past three years. He really needs us to help him in order for him to keep fighting and hopefully defeating the cancer. It would mean the most to him and I if you donated any money towards this cause. Thank you so much your time, it is greatly appreciated. Remember you can make a difference.

Sincerely,

Courtney Macintyre

As I look out my window rain fills the glass. Outside is dark with storm clouds filling the sky. I am sitting on my warm couch, with a bright red blanket wrapped around me. My body has sunk into the plush cushion as I turn my gaze to the television. Next to me is a steaming hot bowl of chicken noodle soup and a giant box of tissues. My dog is sleeping at the end of the couch snoring every few minutes. Outside I watch all the kids in my neighborhood jumping in puddles with their brightly colored rain jackets in tow. I am envious of their fun but my body is too tired to even care.

My brother and his friends come inside after being in the rain for hours. My dog finally gets up to greet them. He is wagging his tail and is jumping up and down excitedly. They take their shoes off in the garage and walk to the kitchen. They are laughing about all the fun they had. This makes me really wish I wasn’t sick. It never rains here in California. I finally decide I am going to go out even though I’m sick. I use my arms to push myself up and out of the couch. But my body gives out and I fall straight back to the couch. I realize that the couch is way more fun than outside.

Bethany,

OH My Gosh!! This history test sounds so hard! I’m totally going to fail it! What if I get every question wrong? My parents would kill me! Oh no, oh no, ohhhh nooo, I’m going to fail! I literally don’t know anything and everyone said his tests are SOOO hard! Bethany, I’m am legit going to fail!! No, No, No, I am going to get into so much trouble! And also along with this test that I know none of the material, I have to deal with the mess of trying to finish my Language Arts project that is due tomorrow and I am only half way done. Haven’t you already finished yours? Oh my gosh I’m so stressed!! What if I don’t have any time to finish my project? What if don’t have time to finish the test? There isn’t enough time in this world to get anything done! Bethany, I am so scared! I am going to fail everything! Well anyways wish me luck, cause I am going to need every little bit of it for everything that I am going to fail!

Talk to you later,
Dorrit

*********************************************************************

Dear Diary,

Ahh… his big chocolate brown eyes, feel like a magnet, pulling me in. I can’t stop looking at them while he sauntered towards me. His luscious golden hair was blowing in the wind like a model in a photoshoot for Vogue. His wavy hair like the ocean on a calm day. I smile, he smiles back; oh his smile. As big as it can get, a big teeth showing smile. I have to be honest, his teeth aren’t so beautiful. They are so crooked, it makes me giggle. And guess what?! He walked right over to me and sat right down next to me on the not so large couch! Leaning into me, I felt so safe in a scary world. We sat there for a while, his arm on mine. Never could I imagine being with the boy of my dreams. It was so nice until he just ran away from me! His 4 legs moving as fast as they can, his tail like the motor on a speed boat. The boy of my dream’s name is Fender, and he’s a dog.

~Dorrit

Dear Mom,

This morning at skating today was not my best practice. Of course I started my day out like any other day at 4:45, but it was pouring rain and pitch black outside. I got my skating clothes on and packed all of my bags, and after quickly eating a bowl of cereal, I shot out the door. I had to run through the rain which left me freezing cold once the air conditioning came on in the car, which was not pleasant at all. Dad and I got to the ice rink in about 10 minutes, and then I had to encounter the pouring rain once again to get into the ice rink complex. Once I made it safely inside at 5:40 , my coach immediately made me drop my bags and run laps around near the shops in the building. This was definitely my least favorite way to start a morning. Once I was all warmed up, he made me lace up my skates and get on the ice. Within five minutes, I had already fallen face first because of being half asleep and tripping over a giant chunk of ice because the Zamboni hadn’t done a good job. The rest of practice was all basically hearing my coaches yell at me because I was falling on very basic and consistent jumps as small as single jumps. I heard the phrases “jump higher” and “skate faster” what it seemed like a million times. I got off to change into my clothes for school, but as I got into the bathrooms to change the light wasn’t on and I couldn’t turn it on because the room with the light switches was locked. I ended up getting ready in the dark which lead to me falling over a trash can and putting my shoes on backwards. I said my goodbyes to the people at the rink, even though I would see them less than 12 hours later jumping rope, running and slipping all over the ice.

________________________________________________________________________________________

The arena is dead silent, but then I hear loud cheers call out from everywhere around me as I see a blonde girl gracefully step onto the ice, and then stand in her starting position. The rhinestones on her dress sparkle as all of the lights flash because of people getting every picture they can of her while she is out for as little as four minutes. The loud and beautiful music blares out of the speakers as she begins to glide across the smooth ice. She begins with footwork that fits together like a puzzle piece, and then onto one of her incredible jumps that consists of three rotations in the air. She lands it with so much ease as her back leg extends, and a joyful look is expressed on her face. Her program is put together so carefully with creativity and steps that no one had ever seen before.

She continued on landing double and triples and weaving in perfect movements and steps in between each element that were perfectly in synch with the music. What looks like the smallest push, got her half way across the ice and into a never ending spin with multiple positions that seemed almost impossible to accomplish. Once the music had ended and she had completed a successful clean program, she was awarded not only with a first place medal, but an applause out of every single person in the arena.

1. Cheerful

Today has been such a wonderful day. Nothing has gone wrong at all. Everything went perfectly: I did all of my homework, I didn’t get too much homework in class, and I finally got a new four square ball.  I am just so happy with today. Today was a great day, and I wish that everyday could be like this.  Nothing bad happens, everything goes perfectly, and I get 100’s on everything, even tests.  Hopefully tomorrow is even better, though I highly doubt it can get much better than this. If it did go better tomorrow, I would wish everyday was like tomorrow. I would get whatever I wanted.  It would be free, everything would go perfectly, and I would finish first in the XC race, even though I didn’t exercise for 3 weeks.

Today was so perfect, especially since I was happy the whole time, and nothing went wrong. I guess nothing would be able to go wrong, otherwise it wouldn’t be a perfect day.  Perfect days are definitely a lot worse than this. I guess even not perfect days aren’t that bad.  If you have a good attitude going into them, then you should be perfectly fine throughout the day.  If you go in with a bad attitude, then you will probably hate those days, hate them with a fiery rage, which you will get over when you get a perfect day, and become blissful, and happy again.  Ah, the times of rage, and sadness. Those are over now that I am at peace with happiness and perfect days. I am at peace.

2.  Somber

“I have some very bad news to tell you.” said the man in the dark, black coat.  I wondered what it could be, and decided that he must be telling me that one of my relatives died.  I hoped it wasn’t one of my favorite grandparents. “Your grandfather James died yesterday while getting a heart transplant.” What? I thought. How could my favorite grandfather die. And while getting a heart transplant.  My eyes started to tear up as I thought about all of the good memories I had of James.  Throwing a baseball to him when I was younger, him teaching me how to properly swing a golf club.  All of those memories, and now no more would be created.  I ran upstairs and fell into my bed. I lay there and I cried for God knows how long.  When I was finally able to get up, I went back downstairs.

The man was still there.  I don’t know why he was still there, but I just wanted him to leave.  All of the sadness he had given me, all of the hate towards the doctors, all of that just from a few words.  I told him to leave, and he did, his head held low.  When he reached the door, he turned around and said “I am truly sorry for your loss.” “I know.” I said.  Once he had left, I decided to go look through some of the old photos of James.  The first one was of me and him.  He was in mid-swing of his golf club, and I was watching him.  That made me tear up, since I had never fully learned how to swing a golf club. I had always intended to learn from him fully, and in fact I had planned to take a lesson this coming Saturday, but now all of that was ruined because of a heart transplant.  It’s funny how life can seem great one moment, and in the next you’re suddenly in a world of sadness, hate, and loneliness.

1st Writing Piece:

Sometimes I can’t help but wonder why I didn’t enjoy that time. Those days, those hours, those minutes all just seem like a blur to me. Sometimes I can’t help but look back at that time and just feel a brush of sentimental sadness like a chill crawling up my back. I remember that feeling I got when I hopped off the airplane. “A New Beginning” was a chapter that had just begun right as my feet touched the ground in a place halfway across the world.

As I exited the airport, I could feel the energy waving and dancing around me as a new found excitement took the place of boredom and monotony. As nightfall came, I gazed out the huge glass window of our modern long-term hotel and was amazed by the million lights that dotted through the skyline. A few series of fireworks burst through the night. The constant beautiful booms and lights illuminated the already bright city as I fell asleep. This free firework show continued right outside our window every night. I miss the bright lights. I miss the crazy tall skyscrapers. I miss the energy. I miss everything.

2nd Writing Piece:

I jumped up awake as the alarming sound coming from my phone screaming and buzzing at me, telling me to wake up. I swiped to the right disarming the alarm clock and laid back down. Five minutes later, another piercing sound awakened me again. I suddenly remembered that I had set three consecutive five minute alarms last night, making sure I would definitely get up in time. I swiped right again, knowing that the third one would definitely do its work. And yet it did, as the vibration and bell sounds jolted me awake again; my day had just begun.

I then remembered that I had a dance performance that night. I have this crazy theory that if I wanted to do well on stage, everything during the day had to be perfect. Don’t ask me why, but it’s just like that. I had to be very careful in order to do this.

Tone Writing 1:

This need to happen now, for you have waited for the actually last moment. This has been put off for at least a week now and now it’s time for you to take the responsibility of it. This is the most important thing in the class this year and what did you do, you blew it. You have known about this assignment for some time now but no you put the Xbox and your phone ahead of it. All you had to do Harrison was write 2 pages about the class.

It’s like every other project, it’s the night before its due or it’s the day of that you finish it Harrison, but now there are no excuses. I have been reminding you at 6:30 sharp every night to do this simple task, for it is your entire grade this year. Now you have the biggest, hardest and most tedious task to complete, but you don’t remember.

Tone Writing 2:

You have never been so scared in your life Spence, whenever I’ve fallen you picked me and no matter the challenge before picking yourself up. You played with a broken wrist and stepped up for coach when he needed someone, now look at yourself, scared to look at him. He hit you, you need to hit him back. It’s me Spence what would you do if you were the reason you little brother got hurt. Mom and dad say you have the responsibility and courage to do whatever I say you can.

It’s not just for me bro, it’s for you entire reputation. You get hit and go down, I get hit twice hobble and fall down. That’s not like you, you have the heart of a lion and are willing to do anything for the family. Opa said he saw something special in you but right now I see a coward hiding in the protection of his injured brother. You have to get up and show him and the entire world that you are NOT a joke.

Hey everyone!

Today we played awesome! As Coach said she has never seen anyone win 23-0. And we didn’t beat any team, we beat Ravenscroft. We did so many things amazingly. We never passed to them, our defense kept their sticks on the ground and didn’t let anything by them, we took the ball down the sides of the field, we had a lot of shots, and we made them foul a lot in the circle, which led to a lot of corners. Everyone on the team had at least one goal, even the goalies. Again something that Coach had never seen before. We already had a game this year when the other team only made it past the half three times, but today they didn’t even make it that far. There was not a single time when they made it over the 50, and they really were only close once. Our defense did a great job of playing up, but still stopping their offense when they would try and get a break away. Our offense did an amazing job of using flicks, pulls, and pull backs to create space and get around defenders.

We had twenty-three goals. That is outstanding. You would think that if we had twenty-three goals we would have at least seventy-five to one hundred shots on goal, but we surprisingly only had about sixty. That is good and bad. It is good because that means that about a third of our shots go in which is pretty amazing, but that also means that we did not take as many shots as we should. Even though we need to shoot some more, I’m not going to talk about that because we won 23-0. All of the offensive drills in practice have paid off. Not only that but practice at home was shown off today. We had four girls with amazing reverse goals. We had two in the top left corner, one in the top right, and one in the top center. Our offense was amazing.

Our defense also did a great job. Instead of the defense being so bored like they were when we played Cary Christian, Coach decided for you to play up. You put a lot of pressure on their defense, so it was almost impossible for them to clear it. I’m guessing you guys had a lot of fun trying out a new position and all of you guys scored. I think one of my favorite parts of the game was when Madeline and Naya both scored. It’s not like we put them in as a different position, they scored wearing goalie gear. They also kicked the ball all of the way up the field, which we are not even sure if that is  legal. Great job defense.

This was the greatest game in Cary Academy history and I can’t wait to make more records with this team. You guys are amazing and I don’t know what I will do without you next year. Always remember, run like Coach T is watching!

Dear Diary,

Today hasn’t been a very good day. I slept through my alarm, so I only had ten minutes to eat and get ready. When I got to school I found out that I had forgotten to do my math homework. I got back three grades that weren’t exactly my favorite. There wasn’t anything good for lunch today, so I had two peanut butter sandwiches, which gave me a peanut butter overload. For field hockey we had a full running practice. We spent an hour and a half conditioning, even though we have a game tomorrow. I then went home and was up until two in the morning doing homework. I only got four hours of sleep.

Tomorrow I have a test, two quizzes, a project due, and I have to give an oral presentation. I also have to run the mile in PE and I have a field hockey game. Not just any game, we play Ravenscroft. We also have so many hurt players that we have zero subs and so when someone gets tired they will just switch positions to the least running position, so I will have a lot of running to do.

I have so many emotions that I don’t really know what I’m feeling because I’m not angry, I’m just so stressed. I can’t believe it.

Man I love Windows Updates. They come at the best time ever. And they happen so often and do so much for our operating system, it is great! Just the other day I was playing video games, and that games I play you are locked in. I mean there is now way that you can leave them. You better be sick, kidnapped, or dying if you leave a game in progress. I mean I love it. When I going on that 10 kill streak in “Call of Duty,” and boom! 15min warning! Or Boom! Your computer is updating, no if, ands, or buts about it. It seems that is happens at least once ever and every time it happens, I’m filled with joy and suspense of when the next update is going to happen. Every day is a great day with Windows Updates.

OH, but wait. I haven’t even touched on the Apple updates. Once in a blue moon will Apple releases an update. For one of the largest companies in the world, how can it not update more than once or maybe twice a year. I’m not talking about 8.0 to 8.1 with bug fixes or anything small like that. I’m talking about Windows 8 to Windows 10. Now that was good. Windows actually made a smart move, but where was Apple for a counter. All they were making was I.O.S. 8 point whatever. And when you update to the new O.S.X. on mac, every program you got on your computer won’t work because it’s out of date and you got to download the new version. What you don’t see is this is real good. It makes you work for what you want and we all love to work more than we should.

Overall both of these companies are super smart (one more than the other). Both know, and release updates on correct schedules. There updates always add something super important and always promises to help me in the future. In all, I totally love software updates.

Last night I went over to Mashianos for dinner. I sampled several of their finest dishes and am now here to report what I tasted. They started me off with one of their most gourmet juices, at least that’s what they called it. This fresh squeezed organic grape juice with natural flavors was a horrendous mess. I knew the moment it touched my taste buds that this facility was not going to be up to my standards. My number one rule for any critique sessions is that if the first thing they serve is not of the upmost delightful taste then why bother with the rest of the meal. As disappointed as I was I stupidly decided to stay for the next course. As the waitress brought out my hors d’oeuvre I was taken back by the magnificent smell. But with many years of experience under my belt I knew not to judge the food by its smell. The appetizer in front of me was a small Caesar salad with grilled chicken. Now you may think, what a simple dish to order. Well another rule for me when going to judge other people’s food is that you should order the simplest things to see how the chef can make them intricate. A simple Caesar salad can be an awful taste if not done right and a startlingly impressive one if done well.

I soon discovered that the smell of this Caesar salad was a deception. The dressing was bland, the chicken was dry, and worst of all the lettuce was way too crunchy. I was extremely discouraged at this point and I wasn’t sure if I should give this chef another chance. Out of the kindness of my heart, and hungriness of my belly from not being able to eat any of this unpleasant food, I decided to stay for the next course. The next course was the main meal and it was a medium rare filet minion with a side of their finest fresh cut vegetables. The meal came out and once again I was disheartened. Not to my surprise the meat was over cooked and under sauced. The vegetables were under cooked and over sauced. This whole experience was very unpleasant and I did not appreciate this. I am currently writing this from a Ben & Jerry’s across the street from Mashianos because I could not stay one more second, much less encounter whatever they had cooked up for dessert.

A lone ship flies down into orbit. It is covered with red dust and shows signs of wear and tear, as if it had been away from its home for too long. The astronaut inside was in fact very tired and missed his family dearly. He could hear the creaking and groaning of the engines and mechanisms as the prepared for their final descent. The lone occupant was used to hearing the monotone voices of the NASA technicians “congratulating” him for his return to Earth. The astronaut himself felt terrible, and not worthy of any sort of joy, even from a non-emotional worker getting paid less than minimum wage. Sighing, the lone worker pressed a button on his wrist, sending out a signal to the nearest communications tower, wanting to hear where and when he would be landing.

He heard a beeping, which meant a signal was approaching him. “Hello?” No response “Hey?” There was a buzz, followed by the sounds of people screaming. “Conrad! Screamed an unknown voice. There was huffing and puffing, as if the speaker was running. “Stay in orbit, they are here, repeat they are here”! Conrad was so caught up in getting home, he did not even bother to look out his port window at his home planet, Earth. Glancing out the window, he did not see the luscious blue seas and rolling green valleys, instead he saw the horrific sight of molted brown and black-blue seas of pure death and misery. Earth was dead. All that remained was a shell of its former magnificence that seemed to be an overgrown asteroid of Hell .

The puck glided gracefully across the ice as 13 year-old Jack Haldane pushed forward towards the offensive zone. The tens of thousands of fans in the audience at the Consol Energy Centre were all hollering, their smiles seemed to explode from their faces as they saw their favorite young player, number 77 dangle the defenseman and toe drag the puck fast his flashing stick. Haldane charged past Chara, cutting to the middle. Marc-Andre Fleury was skidding back and forth across the crease, trying to track the movements of this insanely fast right wing of the Buffalo Sabers as he tucked the puck between his legs.

Jack spun, and with one swift motion, he had the puck on his stick. Coming off of his spin, Jack released the puck, sending the vessel of victory towards the top right of the net. Fleury saw this, but was to slow and could only watch as the puck sailed past his blocker into the net. Brinnnnnng! The red timer on top of the net went off in a flash, igniting many of the fans from their shocked demeanor to raucous applause and loud and ecstatic cheering. Jack had never felt this excited and overwhelmed in his life as his team hoisted him above them, carrying the Stanley Cup.

I only walked in due to the end result; health. As I walk into the dreaded doctor’s office barely tall enough to stand up in my mother approaches the assistant working the desk. There is no line because well, there is no one there, the office was so quiet you could hear a mouse fart. My mother is handed the forms she must fill out every time we come here, she goes to sit down on the plush one person couches to start the paperwork. As she does so I cough so loud that I think that I triggered a car alarm because as soon as I coughed a car alarm went off. Don’t blame me! The only reason I coughed was because of my stupid sister anyway who thought it would be fun to spit on me when she was sick. My mom looked up from her paper work then looked around to see where the noise might be coming from, she has a hunch that it is our car so she rushes outside to go check. Meanwhile I wait, and wait and wait and WAIT! She still does not come back for what seems like hours. I sit there, with my head propped against my hand and I think about how in the world it could take this long to check who’s car is making the noise. All the while the noise had still been blaring but suddenly it stopped and my mom walked in and I felt a moment of relief; finally! I don’t have to wait in this stinkin broken wood chair any longer and as soon as I think that I am done with this static experience I realize that my mother is not even close to done with the paperwork. I try to hold back the surge of anger I am having, but I can’t so I belch “How in the world can someone wait this long for crying out loud?” and the lonely lady working the desk and my mother both look up in the same surprised manner, so similar I think that they are twins for a second, but there was one thing that they did different and that was my mom yelled “Don’t you ever talk to anyone like that ever again!”

Looking back on that moment the feeling that I had during my time waiting for my mother was very similar to that of the man’s feeling in the telltale heart. It was almost as if I could see the seconds ticking by getting longer and longer every time one passed. It felt like my life was ticking away ever so slowly, so slowly it was almost painful, I could feel my youth slipping away even though the wait was supposed to help me. That moment was full of dread and loneliness and I never want to experience it again.

I do this all the time, I sit in lines and wait for up to hours just to do something, usually at the end of the wait there is a magnificent roller coaster or delicious treat at the end of it, but no; I was waiting in line for a painful experience called donating blood. I waited and every half hour I took one step forward towards the needle that would eventually take my blood and put it into a bag. I stood there in line with people in front of me and people behind me, it turns out that the person behind me was horizontally challenged and had the strongest body odor on the planet. This lead to a very unpleasant experience for my nose so I only breathed through my mouth as I waited to have me blood extracted by a hideous needle. If you can’t tell by now I have a fear of needles and giving blood, so you may ask why I am in line, well the answer to that is simple, my friend is dying of leukemia and it made me realize that my blood could be needed so I decided against every logical thought to donate blood. So when I am waiting to do something I highly dislike I can definitely afford to wait.

I wait and wait until my time comes and when it comes I feel very anxious and wish I had never stepped in line in the first place. I finally walk up into the truck and a nice old lady asks me to sit down, I do and after I sit down she works on her computer for a minute or two just before she can give me instructions my mom calls to me, “Sun I don’t think you are ready for this, do you wanna come out?” I was so glad I had a savior and I immediately said “Yes please.” I rushed out of the truck with so much joy, I was glad that my blood which is meant to be in my body stayed in my body.

Hey Jenny,

I just can’t get over how gross Robert’s new haircut is. I mean, it’s so, like, 1950’s. Who would actually think that that, like, looks good on them?! I mean, it’s just, like, “Ew!” Who cuts their hair with a part, like, down the middle, dyes the two parts, like, blue and yellow, and then, like, believes that no one will, like, notice? I mean, like, his reaction when the first person asked him about it was just like, whoa, I didn’t think that anyone would, like, notice. I mean, really?

How did his parents let him get that? I mean, there’s no way they were there, or else he would be, like, totally grounded. How does that, like, even work, being grounded? Are you just, like, thrown into, like, a hole in the ground or something? That makes, like, the most sense to me. Anyway, I’m writing this to talk about his hair, and his hair, like, scares me. Like, the two things that scare me in life are butterflies, and Robert’s haircut.

Anyway, just letting you know to avoid looking at his hair as much as possible, so you can avoid falling over in laughter, and, like, dying. I gotta go, my parents are making me do homework, the most useless thing on this planet. See ya later!

Gertrude

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

The old man, with the black glasses as dark as the darkest night, stared back at me. His eyes, although covered, seemed to follow me around the room. A small, hoarse request emanated from the dying man’s mouth. “Come here, boy”. I hurriedly complied as I rushed to his bedside. He looked at me, seeing into the depths of my soul. He spoke quickly, as to not waste a single, precious moment, saying “something is coming, and there’s nothing you can do”.

“I have seen what lies beyond, and there will be no way you can save your family, your friends, or yourself”. At this, I chuckled to myself at the senile old man’s theories, but the chuckle died as soon as I saw that he had not turned his gaze away from me. “You think me a fool, boy” he rasped desperately. His time was running out. “Once I am gone, there will be no one left who believes in me. Unless, of course, you choose to believe”. This time, and uncontrollable fit of laughter came over me, as I feel to the floor, laughing my heart out. As I was able to regain control over myself, I stood up again, only to find the old man not moving, not breathing, or making a sound.

As I notified the nearest doctor, I quickly made my escape. “What if”, I said to no one in particular, “what if he had been taken before more had been said? What if someone didn’t want us to be warned?” The thoughts quickly ran through my mind as I saw the lightning crash to Earth, the lava erupting in the streets, people running for dear life, as the end of days began.

“Beep Beep!” the car locked. I need to do a history project where we describe how life was back in 2050. The good thing about this project is that I had a great grandpa, Shon Bagade, who had a wish on the deathbed that not a thing in his house would be moved. We walk onto the front porch. A wooden door!? I can’t believe that wood was used 175 years ago. We don’t even have trees! As we walk through the hall, everything is different from ours. Wood flooring, plaster walls, stone countertop, carpet, a TV, Laptop, we stopped using these since my dad was born. Now, we have all metal flooring, walls, counters, and even steel wool carpets. Everywhere in the house, the path is guided by led lights. We stopped using TVs since Dad was born. Why watch it when you can be present in the movie, with the MovieSim 3000. Now you can just choose a movie, choose a character, and press the button. You are in the virtual world.
Later we walk into the garage. “Wow” I am amused. “So many antiques.” There was a Lamborghini 2046, Bugatti Veyron 2038, and a 2027 Ferrari. “Son, back in the day, this was the future, not the antique.” There is also a skateboard, a bicycle, and a pogo stick. If you were to make those sound modern, you would say hover board, hover cycle, and hover stick. We still have road cars, but it was predicted back then that flying cars would come out by the year 3000, and it is 3000 but they have not come out. All cars are electric though. It is time to go to the bedroom. “Oh my god, a bed!” I dive onto the bed. It is sooooooooo comfortable because the last time I slept in a bed was when I was 3. It is just hoverbeds now, which are not nearly as comfortable. Before you know it I fall asleep. I later wake up and it is time to go home. I enjoyed my day in 2050.

The day is September 15, 2215. I just arrived at the soccer stadium and am very excited. First thing I see is the giant metal dome that reflects all the snow white, puffy clouds and the orange and red rust color from the pollution state in our atmosphere. As I enter, I can instantly smell the terrible stench of the corrosion on the paint of the 200 year old stadium. This is the only part that is left. As I find my seat in the upper-middle of the 30,000 seated stadium, I am already squinting from the bright yellow, artificial, sun they put at the top of the dome.

The game has begun and I hear the roaring chant of the fans as if they were ocean waves crashing on a beach. Then the robot player sprint onto the field. Of course they are robots, since we have lost our ability to play ourselves because of our obesity. This came from the metal age about 100 years ago when all we did was stare at our screens and lose our motivation. The ball moves swiftly across the field and rustles through the bright orange grass as the robots do their interesting tricks. The color is orange because real grass died away ages ago so we started using fake grass and different fields now have different colors. The game goes on for a couple hours and then stops with the score tied 102 -102. This is usually a pretty low score since its almost always double the score of a basketball game. Robots will be robots.

It has been a hundred year since the air was actually clean up here in the sky.  After the invention of flying cars, and after building hundreds of new factories the air started getting bad.  What use to be a light beautiful shade of blue has now turned a dark purple or even a shade of black thick muck.  People tried to continue on with their life style with their planes, and fancy flying cars, and even tried doing simple things like continuing to breath without help of a gas mask.  They couldn’t do this though because as the sky got darker the air got thicker.  Being in the sky is like being in thick mud.  The type you can’t move in, the kind you can’t breathe in.  Breathing is labored up here, like you just ran a marathon when you haven’t moved at all.  You can even taste the thick air when you are up there.  The taste of dust and dirt fills your mouth, your lungs, and your eye.  People can’t see in the sky any more.  You could hold your hand just an inch from your face and still see nothing.  It is like being in a dark hole one with no way out.  The smell of trash and dirt fills the air.  Making it absolutely unbearable to your nose, making your brain turn off because of the conditions you are in.

Sometime you will see a person that believes he is strong enough to handle the air.  He’ll come up in a flying car or helicopter and only be in the sky for a few minutes before he chocks on the dusty thick air.  No one can be up here any longer.  This is what people have done to this planet, the pollution is just no much. The sky is totally off limits because of them.

The City of Lind

~*~

As the dawn broke in the densely populated city of Lind, (LIhnd) on the planet now known as Erthe, (Ai-ruh-dee) and as the faint sun, on its last millennia, rose into the sky, the dark city slowly woke up. Lind was a beautiful city, with shining, high skyscrapers with twisted spires and wind turbines painted in all sorts of glorious colors from the darkest midnight blue to the palest sherbet; an entire spectrum of colors that blended in and stood out at the same time in the sky. There were all sorts of things you could see in the city of Lind. Ancient clock towers spiraled up high into the sky, from the sonorous booms to the seemingly melodic chimes of the hour; leaving you breathless as you looked up into the skies at the facades of the towers and the buildings that seemed to float, even though you knew they were held up by the buildings below. The historical buildings where the historians lived and worked, the simple carvings in the blocks of brownstone and granite seemed incongruous, squatting next to the beautiful streamlined metal shapes of the pointed spires of the business buildings, which seemed to intimidate you with their complexity and mechanics; in the glass walls and windows, you could see all the elevators and the passengers zooming up and stopping at their respective floors and destinations in which they worked and lived. There were the science labs and the programmers’ labs which were a block across from the brownstone and granite buildings of the historians. The labs were shorter than that of the business buildings, yet they were taller than the brownstone buildings, which were so very tall. The labs were perfectly shaped squares and rectangles; with only a few spaces in between with patches of engineered trees that gave off light, heat, and oxygen. It also provided shade for the scientists and the programmers, who were the backbone of the entire city. They designed and engineered all of the buildings, finding the best possible ways to cure diseases, build higher buildings, safer roads, and so on and so forth. The scientists’ labs were simple, flat-topped, sixteen-story buildings full of the smartest people in the city. The programmers’ labs were higher, the highest one being twenty stories high, and were filled with the best programmers and engineers in the city. As the sun rose higher, the first cars of the morning were zooming along the suspended highways and through the city, spiraling in and out and up and down from the bridges into the places they were going, as the sonic trains flew by on the tracks, and as the blimps and flying things floated to their destinations and dropped off the few passengers of the morning to the central station, which was named after the man who was the founder of the company that controlled almost all things in the city. His name was Linder Cass, but that’s not our story. Our story here, is about a girl named Ehmery Cass.

In a specific part of the city, a girl and her family were sitting in the living room, each absorbed in his and her own world. The clock tower in their quadrant of the city, which was quite aptly named Tinkerbell, since it was painted a bright neon green and every half hour tinkled and glowed a soft, pastel yellow. The light from the outside streamed into the room as the game and the music faded into darkness. Ehm took off her headset and stretched in her blue egg-shaped chair. She stifled a yawn. Her games always were the first to end. She watched as her twin brother, Dess slowly come out of his game, Ender. He was frozen for exactly 4.7 seconds as the AfterShock of his game wore off. As her mother came out of the book they were reading, Dess slid off his headset, a sleek metal pair of bright blue headphones with a visor so dark that you almost couldn’t see through it. He stretched and yawned. Ehm asked, “How was Ender?”

“It was amazing,” Dess gushed. “Dude, how can anyone create something even better than this? I fought a dragon that shot bolts of light that could kill you, and its name was Rainbow Dash. How was your game Ehmmy?”

“It was okay,” she replied quietly. “I played Gravity Ghost again.”

“Again?” Dess asked, “That’s been the tenth time you’ve played it!”

“I know, Dessy.” Ehm grumpily returned, “I like that game.”

Dess sighed, “Find something else to play, Ehmmy, that game is so boring. Besides, don’t you like Ender too?” He pouted, “Come on, Ehmmy pleaaaaase?”

Ehm sighed, “Fine, I’ll play with you tomorrow. The morning is almost over anyway.”

Dess grinned. “Yessss!” and pumped his fist in the air.

“What are you two talking about?” asked their mother, Asha Cass.

The two replied simultaneously, “Ender.” What else was there to talk about?

“Alright,” smiled their mother. “Now it is time for school. Do you all have your passes and your bags?”

“Yes,” groaned Dess who abhorred school, while Ehm grinned, since she loved every single minute of it.

“Then hurry, the Sonic Express Train is leaving our quadrant of the city at nine. You’d better go,” their mother said.

~*~

The Express Train was located just outside of the Database Core, near their home. The Core was a quiet place where all of the historical records and all the old books and artifacts were stored. It was a beautiful building, with tall windows that let the light in, a huge dark blue glass dome on the ceiling with all the constellations of the northern hemisphere projected on it, with just enough light let through to see all the shining titles of the books on the shelves in the top room. It was an amazing place, with nooks and crannies to read and hide in, all the places you could get lost in the Core without a CorePosition Device, (CPD), soft, comfortable chairs that seemed to morph into your spine, and to top it all, an absolutely ginormous map of the city of Lind that was interactive and could give you directions to anywhere in the city, thanks to the hardworking programmers and scientists that were the backbone of the city of Lind. “I so want to work there,” Ehm thought.

~*~

The train’s whistle knocked Ehm out of her reverie, as everyone surged forward to get on the train. She hurried after them, almost knocking Dess over. As Ehm stepped onto the train and found a place to sit on the crowded benches near her brother, an almost human voice came over the speakers. “Next stop, the Lind Tree.” She looked out the glass windows at the quickly receding station, where her mother was standing and watching for the next train to take her to the science labs. The train whooshed to a stop in front of a beautiful station painted all green with leaves and animals. “The Lind Tree Station,” the automatic voice said. “Please depart through the doors on your left.”

Most of the passengers stepped off the train onto the platform. Ehm watched the people leave, each absorbed in their handheld device, until it was just her, Dess, and the boys and girls that went to her school. The school was named The Heathmoor School, and it was located in the northernmost part of their quadrant. It was closer to the labs of the programmers and scientists, just a few blocks away from where her mother worked. The train started up again. The automated voice said, “Next stop. The Heathmoor Station.”

~*~

The station was near her school, about one block away. After the station, you had to walk about five minutes down to the lift. The lift took you up to a platform where your retina was scanned and then you were let into the school. You walked into the front doors, and the walls were painted a dark cerulean, the school color. The ceiling was a dark blue; almost midnight black, and covered in constellations from the north and southern hemispheres that seemed to twinkle and glow. The ceiling showed the glory of the heavens. The floor was tiled with a lighter, cheerful, blue pattern that resembled intricate cogs and gears, representing the scientists and the programmers. Walking out of the front hallway, the hall separated into a “T” shape, still painted with the school color. You could see all the offices and the high-speed elevators that were only reserved for the teachers, the staff, and the injured. The stairs were at each end of the hallway. She walked up the stairs to the eighth floor where her classes were. Ehm and her brother were each in the eighth year, and Dess was in a different class from Ehm, though they were across the hall and had the same teachers. The first class Ehm had was Higher Mathematics with Dess. She walked to the classroom over. As she walked into the door, she heard bolts firing and screeches of terror from her classmates. What is going on? She wondered, walking closer to the scene. She saw holes in the supposedly bulletproof windows and the glass on the ground. What the f*ck? The windows aren’t supposed to do that, she thought. Why would the windo– More gunshots sounded, this time hitting another window in the room.

“Psst! Over here!” Dess called. She looked around for him, just spotting him in his school uniform crouching behind a bookshelf near the wall. She hid with Dess just in time as a man with long hair and was wearing dark clothes climbed into the window. Ehm watched from behind the shelf. Who was this? What did he want?

~*~

The man called after him, “All clear! Come on in!”

More people came in and Ehm caught snatches of conversation. “Revolution,” “Change is coming,” “What next?”

What change, she wondered, what revolution? What is going on?

The apparent leader of the group barked, “Come on you all, what’s taking so long? Hurry up!”

Ehm whispered, “Dess, what is going on?”

Dess shushed her with a sharp ssssh! and a finger on his lips. “Be quiet, Ehmmy, those people are mercenaries. They work for the government and they’re looking for someone in this building that escaped the prison in another city. Lope, I think. The man that escaped is a high-risk inmate who is trying to bring the entire government of the imperial city down. Now quiet, there are more people coming!”

Why would an inmate from Lope be here? Ehm wondered. Was he looking for something? Someone? If he was, than why and what was he looking for? Why was he here?

“Who are the mercenaries?” She asked. “Why are they here?”

Dess answered, “I told you already, they work for the government! They are looking for a man who escaped the prison in Lope. Shut up!”

More people streamed in from the broken window. The room slowly filled up and then receded, as the man with the long hair sorted them into groups and sent them to their respective places. When the footsteps faded away to nothingness, Dess finally decided all was clear. He motioned for Ehm to move quickly. As he hurried out the classroom door, Ehm noticed a dirty white square on the floor. She called Dess over. “What’s this?”

Dess picked it up. He opened it. Inside was an address for the science labs. It read in a messy scrawl: surround labs with mercenaries. street address: 1094 faulkman’s square. in 2400 hours find the man and bring him back to lope. be on your guard. may you prosper and grow. -a.

~*~

“That’s the motto of Lope,” Dess said excitedly. “It must be a government letter from the mayor of the city!”

Ehm slowly said, “We should take that letter to the Core Database and see what’s going on there.”

Just then, their CleaScreens buzzed simultaneously. It was from their mother. It read in all caps: WHERE ARE YOU GUYS AND ARE YOU ALRIGHT?
Ehm opened the message. She replied, “We are safe and sound on the eighth floor of the school. West wing, room 122. Dess is with me. All the people seemed to have fled the school after they heard gunshots. Are you alright?”

A minute later, the screen lit up. “I am alright, and thank odd, I managed to make it out of the labs before it caught on fire.”

~*~

A sigh of relief came from Dess as he read the message on the Clea. “Let’s go,” he said. “Back home.”

They quickly hurried to the stairs and pounded down the eight flights of stairs. They paused, as the mechanical voice inputted into the door said, “Have a great day!” as they left. Down they ran to the lift that carried them up and down to school each day, past the labs, and over to the Express Train station, and hopped on. They were the only ones on the train. The mechanical voice beeped, “Welcome to the Express Train. Next stop, the Lind Tree.”

~*~

Dess groaned, “Won’t this thing go any faster?”

As the tree blurred by and the landscape changed into buildings and the Core came into view, the train slowly came to a halt. The voice came on again. “You are now at the Database Core of Lind. Please watch your step as you leave, and have a nice day!”

Dess and Ehm leaped off the Express, and ran all the way to their house. They pounded on the door, which opened quickly inward. Their mother was standing there. “Hurry! We have a visitor.”

~*~

A man dressed in black was standing in the living room, just in front of Ehm’s chair.

Dess stepped into the room from the kitchen. “Hello father.” Dess said coldly.

Her jaw dropped. “What the…”

END.

The year is 2215. I’m sitting all alone in my bedroom on my floating bed. I call over Jeffery, the robot butler, and his limbs quickly form together from his charger in the wall as he swoops into my room for any need I might have. Jeffery speaks in a soft scratchy tone as he said “What can I do for you?” I ask him to bring my some hot chocolate from the kitchen downstairs. As he goes off my right wall illuminates with an incoming call from a friend. I answer verbally and we talk for a little bit about getting together this weekend to see the revealing of the iPhone Ultron. We hang up as Jeffery returns with the hot chocolate. I ask him the temperature as his chest piece slowly lowers and a tablet appears displaying the forecast. I see that it’s sunny and warm and I run downstairs. I grab my hover board and walk out the door.

As I place the silver shiny hover board down I hop on it push my weight forward. Below the hover board engines are working hard pushing air out the bottom levitating me to a certain height and air out the back propelling me forward. I drive by our neighbors house as their solar powered porche sits in the driveway. I zoom down the street on my hover board as I smell the fresh crisp air from the bright blooming trees on the sides of me. Off in the distance over the local pond I see my friend Henry using his jetpack. As air shoots out the long cannons facing the ground it propels water away from him sending him upwards in a gliding fashion. I quickly reach the end of the street and turn back home. My hover board glides into the driveway and I hop off. I say “power off” as it turns off and self-propels itself onto its charger.

The air around me whips me across the face as the doors to Chick-fil-a open cautiously. It only takes a few small steps before you’re flooded with technology, after all it is the year 2215! Apple is the main technological establishment due to most of the other companies joining on to Apple. Chick-fil-a is now only a small, yet nice building due to the lazier common delivery system. As you walk small, cute androids fly around you with the menu. They do not all swarm each person that walks through the door, instead they scan your mind and try to see what you would like. Being a more frequent customer they know that I don’t need one at all.

A few steps later, I reach the belt. The belt is where your order comes out. When I step onto the platform where it scans your brain to know what you want to order, it says in a very friendly voice “Thank you for choosing Chick-fil-a your order will be right out.” As it finishes up its sentence it spits out your food, and says the Chick-fil-a catch phrase… “My pleasure”. Since the technology is so advanced it knows my order and it is already paid for. A chair floats up to me efficiently and takes me to a table. When I am done eating it takes me to the door and brings me to my car which is waiting outside.

It was a dark and mysterious night. The wind and air around Annalise was cold and felt like ice. She was walking quickly now, the wind throwing her long red hair across her face, making it look like she just woke up. But when the wind dies down, Annalise knew that her hair would be the same afterward. It was just a test. Just a test in life skills at school. Just a test to see how she was doing throughout the class. Once she had finished she would grab her pocket computer, which expands into a full sized laptop; her Apple Watch 5390984; and her teleportation key, to head home. But for now she was in the machine. The machine that was displaying to her cold and mysterious walls. She knew (because of what Mrs. Harr, her teacher, had told her) that if she touched the walls, she would get a shock, and her arm would feel useless forever. She was very curious what they would really do if she touched them, and if they were just trying to hide something from her and everyone else. But she couldn’t shake of Mrs. Harr’s stern glare when she told everyone about the shocking, so she didn’t touch the walls. She kept walking, walking into what seems endless night. An endless street that would keep going until she had decided which way to go. She had choices you see. She was thinking about them in the back of her mind. She could use all of her supplies to help herself, and end up killing her best friend and family; she could use them to help her friend, but kill herself and her family; or she kill herself and her friend, to save her family. As soon as she spoke her choice she knew the scene would change. She was thinking about how she could alter the changes. How she could share the supplies, but have everyone be so sick that they would have to see a doctor for several days. “I choose none of them.” Annalise said suddenly coming to a halt and making up her mind. “What do you mean you choose none of them, Miss Hall?” came the cool and soft voice of the machine that she had often heard before in her dreams. It freaked her out, but she replied anyways.  “I mean that I won’t kill anyone. I make my own destiny. I choose to help everyone, and suffer the consequences. I would split the medicine and supplies. Because then we all have at least a chance to live.”  Annalise argued to the annoying voice. “Well said. Thank you for your time today. When friends ask how it went, please answer with: no, sorry I can’t tell you. Now would you kindly exit through the door labeled with a dot.” said the voice out of nowhere. “Wait, you mean that I don’t have to do anymore of the test?” Annalise said with a hint of curiosity. But the voice didn’t answer. Two doors appeared out of nowhere in front of her. She tried and tried to remember which door the voice had said to enter, but a cool breeze had just entered and distracted her. All that entered her mind was the word: no. And so she entered the one without a dot. Inside, she found what looked like the room that she had entered the machine with. But everything was different colors, the transmitter was golden instead of silver, the benches purple instead of wooden, the signs and rules on the walls were gone. And even worse, there was no sound. Annalise had been inside the room many times before the test just to see the rules and make sure she would do everything right. And always it had been noisy. Even in the dead of night. Now it was as if the transmitter and all the machinery had died. Gone. The body was still there, but there was no spirit. No component to move or operate it all. She went over to the walls and tried to feel them. “Ow!” she exclaimed and drew her arm back from the wall quickly. She was still in the machine. The walls really did shock you. She could feel her arm losing feeling. Losing the touch that she had always known. It sunk in even further. She was still in the machine. Her arm was shocked and useless, and there were no ways out. She looked and looked for switches, teleporter keys, speakers, intercoms, everything. There was nothing. She searched for hours on end. Quadruple checking everywhere for anything to contact the outside world.  There was nothing. Nothing at all. She tried to imagine her family’s reactions when find out that she was locked in the machine. Locked in a maze of doors that could kill her. Locked away from humanity, with only machinery and herself to keep her company. She couldn’t do it. It was too hard and she didn’t want them to feel like she was in danger. She looked around again. Everything was fading. Fading away from her. Soon she would have nothing but death. Her bright green eyes widened. She was scared now as she realized that she might not ever see her family and friends again. She might not see her dog, Hubert, again. She was so distressed by these thoughts, so that she just laid down on the already fast disappearing floor and fell asleep because there was nothing else to do. “Annalise!” Annalise’s bright green eyes shot open so fast they could have won in the Guiness World Record books. Was it a dream? Had she just imagined it? Or did they somehow get her out of that prisonlike machine? “Annalise dear! Come on down for breakfast! You don’t want to be late for your machine test today!” Her mother called. So it was a dream. It was just a dream. “Coming Mother!” she called, feeling much better that it hadn’t actually happened. It was just a dream, or was it.