Write a "quick" short story :) Your story should have all the elements: a protagonist, antagonist, clear setting(s), exposition, rising action, climax, falling action/resolution, and of course, it should revolve around a main conflict.
There once was a parrot by the name of Pete. He was a very smart bird and unlike other birds, he could repeat almost any sound he heard. While this ability seems like it could be useful, he didn’t have his own sound. For example, the crows had their “caws” and the owls their “hoots”. All the birds in the animal kingdom mocked Pete for not having his own sound. Pete grew very frustrated and went into the jungle and hid from his fellow birds. One day, he heard people walking into the jungle. As he looked down at the people, he noticed them taking all the birds from the jungle in huge nets. Scared, Pete stayed in his tree and hid. However, Pete’s bright colors exposed him, and he was taken, too. All the birds in the entire jungle were locked up inside of a dark, damp cave. The cave had two doors, one that kept the birds behind, and another where a human guard sat to keep watch. All the birds where terrified. The songbirds didn’t sing, the owls didn’t hoot, and the crows didn’t caw. They panicked and wondered how they were ever going to get out. Yet, Pete remained calm and tried to figure out a plan. Several days inside the cave, Pete noticed that the guard that kept watch would open the door at the sound of a knock and a “Hello”. So, Pete got all the birds together and told them the plan to go for the door when Pete got the guard to open it. They all questioned how Pete would be able to do this but saw no other option and decided to try it. The next morning, when the guard came to feed the birds. Pete banged twice on the cave wall replicating the sound of a knock and squawked out a “Hello”. Unsuspecting, the human guard recognized this greeting and went for the door leading out of the cave, leaving his keys in the cage door. As Pete reached around and twisted the key all the way, the birds swarmed out the gate and through the door that the guard just opened. All the birds escaped back into the jungle and thanked Pete for helping them. Now, all birds appreciated Pete’s ability to mimic other sounds and from then on, parrots became known for their intelligence ability to speak like humans.
Finally, I got a new horse. I have been waiting my whole life and my parents finally gave in. Dad and mom built him a pen with grass, and I woke up to feed the cats and there was a big black horse, with a shiny red bow on him. I couldn’t wait to ride him this spring. The new years had just ended, and we didn’t get too many presents or do anything besides move to Iowa, to live in the country. I decided to name my new horse, star because he has a little white star on his face. That is the only white he has on him. Mom and dad are always telling me not to leave the gate open. I tell them not to worry and that I will close it all the time, but it wasn’t until one morning I saw the gate was open. I ran around the farm looking for Star but couldn’t find any trace of him. It was too hard to see what way he ran because there were hoof tracks in every direction. The gate was wide open, and I was so mad at myself because I left the gate open. I ran inside crying to tell mom and dad what had happened. They said we would go drive around even though they were mad at me. I decided I would make posters to hang up around town and hopefully get a phone call from someone saying they have seen him. After a whole day of driving around mom and dad decided it was time to go home and go to bed and they said, “he’ll come back through the night, I’m sure.” The next day, we got no phone calls and saw no sign of him. I kept looking and looking, I decided to go to different places to look and ask around for him. I went to the police station to ask them to keep an eye out for him. I also decided to go to all local businesses and farms in our town of Maquoketa. Only one place said they might have seen Star. It was the one place I didn’t want to go and ask if they have, it was the sale barn. I thankfully brought Star’s bill of sale and papers with me, so they would know that I wasn’t lying about him. They told me to go home and they would talk to the police to get to the bottom of this. I decided to go home and tell mom and dad to go talk to the police about it so they could let me know what is happening. A couple days later, mom, dad, and I are sitting in the kitchen when we hear vehicles pulling up our driveway. We all rush to the window and see a truck and trailer, a police car and one other car. We all rush outside to see the sale barn man unloading Star. I started crying and hugging Star who nickered at me when he saw me. Mom and dad talked to the police about the man who stole star. I was so happy that I got Star back, but at the same time I was furious at the man who stole him. The police said that he is jail for theft and that his sentence is for 25 years. I still can’t believe I got him back and now our whole family knows to put a lock and camera on his pen.
“Alex, I told you I don’t like this thing.” Bennett yelled at me. “Bennett, Tiam isn’t a thing, he’s a dragon.” I replied shortly. “I know but he hates me too.” “Maybe because you call him a thing.” I love Tiam, I really do but Bennett hates him. Bennett is the love of my life and my fiancée. I want both of them, but I have to choose between the two. Tiam has always hated Bennett and because of that Bennett hates Tiam. I don’t know what to do about it. This is such a nice day; I might as well enjoy it while I can. I take a walk I the park that is near my apartment. The lush green trees and the lovely smell of flowers calms me down. Bennett has been getting on my nerves lately. He has been fighting with me at every turn. I can almost side with Tiam about Bennett today. Since Tiam has met Bennett he has growled whenever Bennett is nearby, that’s been a lot lately because we are planning a wedding. Bennett has never hurt my feelings, well, okay maybe a few times. I know he loves me deep down, even when he is picking a fight with me. I love Bennett. I think. I don’t know. Bennett has been acting weird lately. I get the feeling he wants to be married already. I don’t know why though; we already live together at my apartment because he got laid off and lost the lease on his apartment. Once I get home I go to the comfiest chair in the place and sink into it. It isn’t a joke when they say planning a wedding is stressful. Bennett comes in and starts to get angry with me for some mundane thing that didn’t happen. He is yelling so loud, I hope the neighbors can’t hear him. He raises his hand to hit me then drops it. Each day I am getting more scared of the person he is becoming. He stalks out of the room. I take a deep breath, collecting myself. I hug Tiam and finally start to think that he might be right about Bennett. The next day dawns and I awake to find Bennett already up for the day. He is in the kitchen. He has started making breakfast he turns around and starts yelling at me for no apparent reason. I start yelling back, I am so upset with his behavior recently. He pulls a gun on Tiam and shoots. I jump in front of it. I feel searing pain in my chest. Tiam starts to rip apart Bennett. This is why people say dragons are dangerous I think as I take my last breath. Anna Sanders
A boy named James is going on a hunting trip with his father Tom. They are going up north to Maine to go bear hunting. All they are bringing is food, a tent, stuff to make a fire, and two rifles. When they got their things ready, they boarded a plane and people thought they were going bear hunting without a guide showing them were to go. But Tom and James thought having a guide would make it was less fun. When James and Tom landed, they got a taxi and the taxi drove them up the mountains as far as it could. The James and Tom hiked a little bit until they found a good camping spot. They decided after they had a good night sleep and a good meal that they would go hunting first thing in the morning. When James and Tom woke up, they got ready and grabbed their guns. They went down to a river because they figured that the bears would be their trying to get fish or drinking water. When they arrived at a river, they saw two elk’s but no bear. But sense the river was filled with fish they stayed a little longer. James and Tom still had no luck, so they split up. Tom went up the river a little and James went down the river a little. But when James just got to a good spot. He thought he heard his dad screamed. But James thought It was just his imagination. So then James just stayed in his spot and wait for a bear until he heard another scream. So, James ran up to where his father said he was going to be and he didn’t find him all he saw was a trail of blood. James followed the blood trail that lead to Tom sitting against a tree. Tom was bit very badly by a bear. James realized that his dad was about to die so he had to act fast. James threw tom on to his shoulder and headed his way to the place when the taxi had dropped them off. But when he was heading back, he heard sticks crack and he turned around and saw a bear staring him down. So, James ran and sat his dad down behind a tree and pulled out his rifle. James waited to get a good shot but then the bear started sprinting after him, so James just aimed between the bears eyes and killed it. James finished his journey to the road and flagged an old man down. And the old man took them to the Hospital, and Tom was taken care of.
Society: Part 1 Running, it was all he could do. One second. If he stopped for a single second, they’d catch up to him, they’d have him in their captivity once more. He wouldn’t allow it; he’d rather die first than allow them to experiment and torture him. He wasn’t about to bow down and conform, even if everyone else did. If the world were ending, facing Armageddon, he still wouldn’t compromise…wouldn’t become one of them. The trees passed by in a blur of numerous shades of brown and black, the green that once filled the lands completely burned away. His black shoes, which were once a beautiful mixture of white and gray, clung to the muddy ground below. He had to push, heave with every step if he hoped to get away. The dogs barking behind him were fierce and untamed beasts that breeched through any obstacle in their way. They snarled their fangs, slobber drooling from their open mouths. The men not too far behind them shouted, but their words faded together into one loud roar across the sky. They held assault rifles; military weapons that shouldn’t have ever been allowed to the public. With every second, the mass of enemies were gaining on him. With a shake of his head, he spun back around and focused on the passing landscape before him. It was slowly becoming softer from the rainfall the night before, and where there were smoldering trees now a bare field. He kept running despite the lack of cover, despite the burning of his lungs. He wiped the black tangles of hair pasted to his head from the sweat drenching his forehead. His heart pumped faster, every second seemed like another foot of ground lost. The dogs were on his heels and the men with guns were not too far behind. Then, all of a sudden, he heard the worst noise to ever exist. The growling of a truck engine, the roar of the muffler as it spewed a gray fog into the gray world. The truck cut through the field but the brakes screeched to a halt and the wheels dug up dirt as the entire truck came to a halt. The boy slowed down, his eyes finally coming upon the immediate danger that faced his front. His breathing slowed as his feet stopped, his legs like jelly as they threatened to give out right there. Colson Cruciani
Society: Part 2 From the truck behind him, a large man wearing a zipped-up leather jacket exited the passenger’s seat. He spun around a club of sorts with nails protruding. His face, from what the boy had seen, was fine and chiseled for an older man. The boy remembered the makings of a beard, the stubbles grown past a five o’ clock shadow. His hair was a golden blonde, but has turned blacker since the incident, and his eyes were a crystal blue. Now, though, his face was protected by a mask that everyone else wore, except for the boy. “You can keep running,” the man hollered, twirling the club around, “right off the cliff if you like but you won’t ever escape the cycle. You won’t ever be free from the norm.” The boy stood his ground, refusing to reply, but the refusal only provoked the other man to force action. He stormed to the back of the trunk and removed a young girl, a little older than the boy, but still younger than an adult. She kicked and squirmed, but the ropes tied around her kept her fairly bound. “Otherwise, you can come back with us and face your punishment,” the man continued, “and if you don’t, then one of your kin can receive the punishment for you.” The boy’s eyes flicked from the man, to the girl, and back to his own red sweater that held splotches of a darker red. His sight finally settled and matched the glare of the man with the bat, narrowing with hatred. “You may be one cold son of a gun, just like me,” the man laughed, his deepthroated chuckle causing an eruption of light giggles from the rest of his men, “but even I wouldn’t stoop this low.” The dogs barked, leaping forward but held back by the men grappling onto their red leashes. The men’s hands lowered down to the buckle that would release the beasts, all they needed was an order to do so. “You’ve got to make a decision,” the man barked, but the boy seemed content enough with engaging in the world’s longest staring contest. “Not making a decision is making a huge decision!” Finally, with those words, the boy bowed his head to the girl and took a few steps forward. The man in the leather jacket still held the girl on her knees, his bloody club resting on her shoulder. Just as the boy was about three inches from the man, he shot him one last glare before spinning around and charging toward the cliff. “Stop him!” the man yelled, gunshots filling the empty air. The bullets flew by, one piercing the boy’s shoulder and adding blood to his already stained sweater. It didn’t slow him down any, though, as he leapt off the cliff and plummeted to the waters below…free at last. Colson Cruciani
It all started on a dark night, the wind was blowing, the night sky clear, and nobody was near. All except an outcast group of teenagers. They huddled around the bonfire they worked so hard to build. The teenagers where on the first day of a three day stay at a camp for troubled youth. The names of these 4 teenagers were Carren, Aron, Hidey, and Lance. Carren was very talkative, energetic, excited, and alert. Aron was the opposite of Carren. He was relaxed and chilled out but could get very aggressive sometimes. Hidey was always tired, she had short burst of happiness, and always seemed to be in a different state of mind. Lastly there was Lance. Lance had a lot of mood swings which often caused him to be super mean to his friends. He often didn’t know what day of the week it was and claimed he had an encounter with God.
The next morning the children sat around the smoldered fire. Their first objective of the day was to create a team building exercise and present it to the rest of the youth group. Now, this challenge was very hard for them of course because their personality's differed tremendously. They started shooting out ideas. Carren wanted to do something that would get peoples blood flowing, but Lance immediately decided against it saying he wanted to do something that would mentally exert people. Since those were the two ideas offered up the group decided it would be best to vote. Carren won and Lance went off into a raging fit. He didn’t come back for a couple hours and when he did, it looked like something bad happened to him. Everyone asked if he was okay, but he just sat in bitter silence.
A few hours later the youth group advisor came by to tell them it was time to present. Everyone started to walk towards the crowd of people, except Lance. He sat there. Hidey turned nervously and went to talk to him about what was wrong. He said nothing. Eventually Aron came by totally calm and sat down. Lance still said nothing. A few minutes later Lance stood up walked and walked towards the crowd.
Hidey was standing waiting for her group to come by to help present. Finally, she saw them walking over. They walked on stage everything looked and seemed normal except Lance. Once everyone stopped, she started talking about their exercise. All the sudden out of the corner of her eye she could see Lance shaking dramatically and all then he dropped.
Turns out Lance had been suffering from the addiction of the drug LSD. Before he left for the troubled youth center, he had a bunch of it. This eventually led to his death. Immediately after his death everyone left, and the camp was shut down. That was until the next summer when new teenagers came in and something miserable happened.
Kalvin sat alone in his room starring at the white walls. Some days they granted him comfort; other times they drove him mad. Besides his daily visits from Doctor Vins and the Nurses, he only had himself to keep company.
What’s the weather like today Kalvin?
Oh, not bad at all. Just the usual Kalvin. How are the children?
Children. You do realize I would have to be in the outside world in order to reproduce, right?
Why Kalvin, don’t say such things. We mustn't think about the outside world if we want to stay sane.
Well, insane would be easier.
Why do you say that?
If we were insane, we could stay here happily.
If you’re unhappy, show them you're not insane and leave.
You and I both know we can’t do that.
Why not?
It isn’t safe with them out there.
Who Kalvin? Who's out there?
The people who want to take us away.
The scientists? Why do they want to take us away?
Because we survived the plane crash.
So?
So. We survived. No one else did. They think we have a superpower or something.
Well, do we?
I ‘m not sure. I think we might.
Oh. Kalvin. Can I tell you something?
Sure.
You’re talking to yourself agai--
Kalvin snapped himself out of it and looked up. He noticed the handle on the door turning slightly and a nurse poked her head through.
His heart ached for her to speak, to have any form of human contact.
“Time for your supper.” She said in a way that you would speak to a child.
She left the tray full of what appeared to be meatballs by the door and left with a, “Good boy.” Followed by a grin full of sympathy.
Dinner. And I’m not three.
Kalvin became to count. As he did most days when he ran out of things to dream about.
1, 2, 3 …....999,876, 999,877 a scratch on the door interrupted him.
RUFUS! Kalvin eagerly thought. Rufus was a therapy dog occasionally brought in by Doctor Fins as a special treat.
“May I come in Kalvin?” Doctor Fins said. He didn’t wait for an answer but instead opened the door allowing Rufus to run in followed by a new lady in a lab coat like Doctor Fins’.
If I was in the outside world, I would have twenty dogs to keep me company.
You hated dogs back when we were in the outside world.
How would you know?
I remember.
No, you don’t. You know that as soon as we came to the asyl--
When was that again?
I don’t know I forgot but let me finish. You know as well as me that when we came here, they wiped our memory. All except the plane crash.
Why didn’t they take the plane crash memory?
I’m not sure. You can’t expect me to know everything about how they work.
Doctor Fins waved his hand in front of Kalvin's. “Hey Kalvin. I’m going to leave Rufus in here with you. My daughter and I are going to review your file in the hallway, is that okay?”
Tell them about the crash. Tell them how you are in danger.
No.
They might help you. Do you really want to be stuck here the rest of your life?
Kalvin glanced around, “DOCTOR FINS. He shouted.”
“Yes Kalvin?” The doctor smiled in that same “I feel bad for you but have my own life to worry about” way that the nurse had.
“I need help. I was in a plane crash and I was the only survivor. I can’t remember when, and I don’t know for sure who, but someone is after me. I need your help because I am not insane and can’t stand it in here anymore.” Kalvin stopped out of breath.
The Doctor, to Kalvin’s surprise looked not the least concerned as he said, “Kalvin, we are going to help you. We will talk about this tomorrow after I consult some of my coworkers. Ok?”
Without another word the Doctor and his daughter walked to the door.
See. What did I tell you? Now, go to the door and listen just in case they are the bad people who want try to harvest our power.
Kalvin crawled to the door as Rufus followed closely behind. A muffled voice said, “Wh...happ...d?”
He said what happened.
Is he talking about--
SHHHHH.
Kalvin pressed his ear against the door harder.
“What do you mean?” A male voice said.
That’s Doctor FIn--
I KNOW NOW SHHH.
“I mean what’s the case in this one.” HIs daughter asked.
“Oh. Well we aren’t sure. He came to us about...” Papers shuffled around.
“Ten years ago. He was taken hear by two police officers claiming for the past month he had come in everyday coming up with different stories of why he was in danger.”
“Can he not remember anything?”
“He seems to forget everything in the mornings except he always has a story of why he is in danger.”
“Oh. So, the plane crash is just made up?”
“Yes. But to him no. To him he is fully convinced. Some days he attacks us because he believes we are the bad guys. Some days he hugs me thanking him for saving him.”
“Why don’t you tell him the truth.”
“We’ve tried. He just forgets in the morning. There’s no use.”
The Doctor closed his file and walked back into the room. “Kalvin. We’re going to take Rufus outside now. Ok?”
Kalvin didn’t respond. Instead, he lay slumped onto the floor holding his head, “But, there was a crash. I, I, know there was.”
It all started on a cool autumn day in the town of New York City, New York. A woman named Alli was sitting on one of the green benches in the park just sitting watch the river flow. Before she came to the park, she had a bad feeling about this Wednesday, but she didn’t want to stay inside on this beautiful autumn day. She had come to these benches before and the past couple times that she came she got that feeling that someone was watching her. The only people ever around her at this park were children and their parents. She never saw someone that could harm her. Every time that she got up to leave the park, she would hear footsteps for a little bit then they would go away. She never really thought much of it until one night these footsteps grew closer and they didn’t stop like they normally would. She was working on a short story because she was a writer and this bench at the park really got her mind going. She would sit here for hours on end just working on this story. It was about her friend that had passed away in the years prior to this point. Her friend and cancer and she wanted to share her experience and that affects that cancer had on her. The longer that she sat in this spot the more that she was getting that feeling that someone was watching her. She just kept thinking that she was imagining things. No one was in this part of the park but her. The sun was starting to set, and the air was starting to get cooler. She decided this was her cue to leave and she started to make her way through the park. As soon as she got up, she got this same feeling that someone was watching her again. She paused her steps and started to look around her. No one was there so she kept walking. Then came the footsteps again, coming up behind her. She started to walk faster and faster, but she realized how far she was until she was finally going to be out of the park. She didn’t know what to do. If she stopped walking, then the footsteps behind her would also stop. She was too afraid to turn around and look so she decided to take another way home. She kept on walking but there came up footsteps up behind her and they were closer than they ever have been before. This time she had started running, running faster then she had ever run before. She was knocking over bushed, garbage cans, anything to put something between her and person that was chasing her. She turned the corner and there she felt a hand on her back. She then was laying on the ground looking up at her attacker. Then from out of no where she heard a voice yelling. They were saying to get off her. They came and started to get the attacker off Alli. It was her night in shinning armor. After this incident they lived happily ever after.
It was a breezy mid-summer afternoon in the town of Cleveland, Ohio. “Ahhh,” Alisha sighed. She was looking across the small pond behind her house, when she noticed a turtle sitting on a log near the water’s edge. She had often gazed upon the lake for inspiration for her poetry. Alisha is the head writer for a company called Poetry Playground. This day, she was having a slight writer's block. She normally never experiences this but today didn’t seem like an ordinary day.
Alisha tried her hardest to overcome her writer’s block. She was being pressured by her boss Velma. Velma was a nasty lady. She would always sit in her office and glare at Alisha. Velma knew that she couldn’t fire Alisha because Alisha was the best writer of the whole company. Velma was jealous of Alisha and wanted to be as good of a writer as her. Velma handed out topics to the writers of the company to write about. Because of Velma’s hatred and jealousy for Alisha, she gave her the hardest assignment. “This will surely stump her,” Velma thought to herself. “The changing seasons affecting animals.” “How the heck am I supposed to write about that?” Alisha moaned. A smug and vengeful smile arose on Velma’s face. “Well that’s why I am putting my best writer on the case,” Velma replied.
Later that day after Alisha left the office, she went home to begin her writing. “The seasons: they are a changing. No that won’t work.” Alisha Thought to herself. She gazed out the window looking over her backyard. “That’s it!” Alisha Exclaimed. “A little pond being affected and changing due to the changing seasons.” Alisha began vigorously writing. The words and rhymes seemed to flow from the tip of her pen like water from a waterfall.
Hours raced by. Before Alisha knew it, it was dark out, and she had a three-page poem ready to hand to her boss the next day.
The next morning, bright and early, Alisha proudly marched through the front doors of Poetry Playground and her poem to her boss Velma. Velma was dumbfounded as she read through the poem. Velma couldn’t believe how Alisha did it.
Alisha marched out of Velma’s office and took a seat at her desk and smiled.
The year is 2021 and Jim and his family are sitting down by the stove waiting for super to be ready. Tonight's dinner is fish that Jim caught and bread that his father worked for. They sit around the table eating their meal talking about the good times. They would talk about the times before the corona virus and the good pizza they use to love to eat for supper, but now they are stuck eating whatever Jim can kill and whatever his dad Mike can work for. Jim's mother Tracey stays home sick she's been sick for months, but they don’t have money to go to the doctor. Mike makes sure that they are grateful that they are alive. At this point 50% of china has died from the deadly Virus. They were able to contain it there has been 0 cases in the past 3 months outside of China. Everyone in the U.S is feeling the recoil from China's whole market and government being shut down. Mike no longer has a steady income he got laid off from his assemble line because they didn't have anything to assemble because china isn’t making anything. The next Jim wakes up early just as he has been doing for the past couple of months to go in search for food. Mike goes to work on a small farm today. Tracey still stays home in bed sick, But Tracey is getting worse by the day soon she won't be able to live like this anymore. While on the hunt Jim sees a monstrous deer run past Jim sits up in his tree and then kills his deer. That night at supper while cooking the deer Mike said he heard a new lab was able to make a shot to defend against the corona virus when Jim hears this he gets very excited because he has been saving his money for this so that he could invest in the companies making the shot early so he could afford a couple of shares. When he woke up he checked the market a couple hours after it had opened It was up by %300, but everyone knew it would keep going. Jim ran to his parents' room to tell the good news but when he got there all he found was his mother lying dead. Jim was crushed because they finally had the money to get her better, but he was a day to late. So Jim that day also took his own life out of sadness.
There once was a parrot by the name of Pete. He was a very smart bird and unlike other birds, he could repeat almost any sound he heard. While this ability seems like it could be useful, he didn’t have his own sound. For example, the crows had their “caws” and the owls their “hoots”. All the birds in the animal kingdom mocked Pete for not having his own sound. Pete grew very frustrated and went into the jungle and hid from his fellow birds. One day, he heard people walking into the jungle. As he looked down at the people, he noticed them taking all the birds from the jungle in huge nets. Scared, Pete stayed in his tree and hid. However, Pete’s bright colors exposed him, and he was taken, too. All the birds in the entire jungle were locked up inside of a dark, damp cave. The cave had two doors, one that kept the birds behind, and another where a human guard sat to keep watch. All the birds where terrified. The songbirds didn’t sing, the owls didn’t hoot, and the crows didn’t caw. They panicked and wondered how they were ever going to get out. Yet, Pete remained calm and tried to figure out a plan. Several days inside the cave, Pete noticed that the guard that kept watch would open the door at the sound of a knock and a “Hello”. So, Pete got all the birds together and told them the plan to go for the door when Pete got the guard to open it. They all questioned how Pete would be able to do this but saw no other option and decided to try it. The next morning, when the guard came to feed the birds. Pete banged twice on the cave wall replicating the sound of a knock and squawked out a “Hello”. Unsuspecting, the human guard recognized this greeting and went for the door leading out of the cave, leaving his keys in the cage door. As Pete reached around and twisted the key all the way, the birds swarmed out the gate and through the door that the guard just opened. All the birds escaped back into the jungle and thanked Pete for helping them. Now, all birds appreciated Pete’s ability to mimic other sounds and from then on, parrots became known for their intelligence ability to speak like humans.
ReplyDeleteFinally, I got a new horse. I have been waiting my whole life and my parents finally gave in. Dad and mom built him a pen with grass, and I woke up to feed the cats and there was a big black horse, with a shiny red bow on him. I couldn’t wait to ride him this spring. The new years had just ended, and we didn’t get too many presents or do anything besides move to Iowa, to live in the country. I decided to name my new horse, star because he has a little white star on his face. That is the only white he has on him. Mom and dad are always telling me not to leave the gate open. I tell them not to worry and that I will close it all the time, but it wasn’t until one morning I saw the gate was open. I ran around the farm looking for Star but couldn’t find any trace of him. It was too hard to see what way he ran because there were hoof tracks in every direction. The gate was wide open, and I was so mad at myself because I left the gate open. I ran inside crying to tell mom and dad what had happened. They said we would go drive around even though they were mad at me. I decided I would make posters to hang up around town and hopefully get a phone call from someone saying they have seen him. After a whole day of driving around mom and dad decided it was time to go home and go to bed and they said, “he’ll come back through the night, I’m sure.” The next day, we got no phone calls and saw no sign of him. I kept looking and looking, I decided to go to different places to look and ask around for him. I went to the police station to ask them to keep an eye out for him. I also decided to go to all local businesses and farms in our town of Maquoketa. Only one place said they might have seen Star. It was the one place I didn’t want to go and ask if they have, it was the sale barn. I thankfully brought Star’s bill of sale and papers with me, so they would know that I wasn’t lying about him. They told me to go home and they would talk to the police to get to the bottom of this. I decided to go home and tell mom and dad to go talk to the police about it so they could let me know what is happening. A couple days later, mom, dad, and I are sitting in the kitchen when we hear vehicles pulling up our driveway. We all rush to the window and see a truck and trailer, a police car and one other car. We all rush outside to see the sale barn man unloading Star. I started crying and hugging Star who nickered at me when he saw me. Mom and dad talked to the police about the man who stole star. I was so happy that I got Star back, but at the same time I was furious at the man who stole him. The police said that he is jail for theft and that his sentence is for 25 years. I still can’t believe I got him back and now our whole family knows to put a lock and camera on his pen.
ReplyDelete“Alex, I told you I don’t like this thing.” Bennett yelled at me.
ReplyDelete“Bennett, Tiam isn’t a thing, he’s a dragon.” I replied shortly.
“I know but he hates me too.”
“Maybe because you call him a thing.”
I love Tiam, I really do but Bennett hates him. Bennett is the love of my life and my fiancée. I want both of them, but I have to choose between the two. Tiam has always hated Bennett and because of that Bennett hates Tiam. I don’t know what to do about it.
This is such a nice day; I might as well enjoy it while I can. I take a walk I the park that is near my apartment. The lush green trees and the lovely smell of flowers calms me down. Bennett has been getting on my nerves lately. He has been fighting with me at every turn. I can almost side with Tiam about Bennett today. Since Tiam has met Bennett he has growled whenever Bennett is nearby, that’s been a lot lately because we are planning a wedding.
Bennett has never hurt my feelings, well, okay maybe a few times. I know he loves me deep down, even when he is picking a fight with me. I love Bennett. I think. I don’t know. Bennett has been acting weird lately. I get the feeling he wants to be married already. I don’t know why though; we already live together at my apartment because he got laid off and lost the lease on his apartment.
Once I get home I go to the comfiest chair in the place and sink into it. It isn’t a joke when they say planning a wedding is stressful. Bennett comes in and starts to get angry with me for some mundane thing that didn’t happen. He is yelling so loud, I hope the neighbors can’t hear him. He raises his hand to hit me then drops it. Each day I am getting more scared of the person he is becoming. He stalks out of the room. I take a deep breath, collecting myself. I hug Tiam and finally start to think that he might be right about Bennett.
The next day dawns and I awake to find Bennett already up for the day. He is in the kitchen. He has started making breakfast he turns around and starts yelling at me for no apparent reason. I start yelling back, I am so upset with his behavior recently. He pulls a gun on Tiam and shoots. I jump in front of it. I feel searing pain in my chest. Tiam starts to rip apart Bennett. This is why people say dragons are dangerous I think as I take my last breath.
Anna Sanders
A boy named James is going on a hunting trip with his father Tom. They are going up north to Maine to go bear hunting. All they are bringing is food, a tent, stuff to make a fire, and two rifles. When they got their things ready, they boarded a plane and people thought they were going bear hunting without a guide showing them were to go. But Tom and James thought having a guide would make it was less fun. When James and Tom landed, they got a taxi and the taxi drove them up the mountains as far as it could. The James and Tom hiked a little bit until they found a good camping spot. They decided after they had a good night sleep and a good meal that they would go hunting first thing in the morning. When James and Tom woke up, they got ready and grabbed their guns. They went down to a river because they figured that the bears would be their trying to get fish or drinking water. When they arrived at a river, they saw two elk’s but no bear. But sense the river was filled with fish they stayed a little longer. James and Tom still had no luck, so they split up. Tom went up the river a little and James went down the river a little. But when James just got to a good spot. He thought he heard his dad screamed. But James thought It was just his imagination. So then James just stayed in his spot and wait for a bear until he heard another scream. So, James ran up to where his father said he was going to be and he didn’t find him all he saw was a trail of blood. James followed the blood trail that lead to Tom sitting against a tree. Tom was bit very badly by a bear. James realized that his dad was about to die so he had to act fast. James threw tom on to his shoulder and headed his way to the place when the taxi had dropped them off. But when he was heading back, he heard sticks crack and he turned around and saw a bear staring him down. So, James ran and sat his dad down behind a tree and pulled out his rifle. James waited to get a good shot but then the bear started sprinting after him, so James just aimed between the bears eyes and killed it. James finished his journey to the road and flagged an old man down. And the old man took them to the Hospital, and Tom was taken care of.
ReplyDeleteSociety: Part 1
ReplyDeleteRunning, it was all he could do. One second. If he stopped for a single second, they’d catch up to him, they’d have him in their captivity once more. He wouldn’t allow it; he’d rather die first than allow them to experiment and torture him. He wasn’t about to bow down and conform, even if everyone else did. If the world were ending, facing Armageddon, he still wouldn’t compromise…wouldn’t become one of them.
The trees passed by in a blur of numerous shades of brown and black, the green that once filled the lands completely burned away. His black shoes, which were once a beautiful mixture of white and gray, clung to the muddy ground below. He had to push, heave with every step if he hoped to get away.
The dogs barking behind him were fierce and untamed beasts that breeched through any obstacle in their way. They snarled their fangs, slobber drooling from their open mouths. The men not too far behind them shouted, but their words faded together into one loud roar across the sky. They held assault rifles; military weapons that shouldn’t have ever been allowed to the public. With every second, the mass of enemies were gaining on him.
With a shake of his head, he spun back around and focused on the passing landscape before him. It was slowly becoming softer from the rainfall the night before, and where there were smoldering trees now a bare field. He kept running despite the lack of cover, despite the burning of his lungs.
He wiped the black tangles of hair pasted to his head from the sweat drenching his forehead. His heart pumped faster, every second seemed like another foot of ground lost. The dogs were on his heels and the men with guns were not too far behind. Then, all of a sudden, he heard the worst noise to ever exist. The growling of a truck engine, the roar of the muffler as it spewed a gray fog into the gray world.
The truck cut through the field but the brakes screeched to a halt and the wheels dug up dirt as the entire truck came to a halt. The boy slowed down, his eyes finally coming upon the immediate danger that faced his front. His breathing slowed as his feet stopped, his legs like jelly as they threatened to give out right there.
Colson Cruciani
Society: Part 2
ReplyDeleteFrom the truck behind him, a large man wearing a zipped-up leather jacket exited the passenger’s seat. He spun around a club of sorts with nails protruding. His face, from what the boy had seen, was fine and chiseled for an older man. The boy remembered the makings of a beard, the stubbles grown past a five o’ clock shadow. His hair was a golden blonde, but has turned blacker since the incident, and his eyes were a crystal blue. Now, though, his face was protected by a mask that everyone else wore, except for the boy.
“You can keep running,” the man hollered, twirling the club around, “right off the cliff if you like but you won’t ever escape the cycle. You won’t ever be free from the norm.”
The boy stood his ground, refusing to reply, but the refusal only provoked the other man to force action. He stormed to the back of the trunk and removed a young girl, a little older than the boy, but still younger than an adult. She kicked and squirmed, but the ropes tied around her kept her fairly bound.
“Otherwise, you can come back with us and face your punishment,” the man continued, “and if you don’t, then one of your kin can receive the punishment for you.”
The boy’s eyes flicked from the man, to the girl, and back to his own red sweater that held splotches of a darker red. His sight finally settled and matched the glare of the man with the bat, narrowing with hatred.
“You may be one cold son of a gun, just like me,” the man laughed, his deepthroated chuckle causing an eruption of light giggles from the rest of his men, “but even I wouldn’t stoop this low.”
The dogs barked, leaping forward but held back by the men grappling onto their red leashes. The men’s hands lowered down to the buckle that would release the beasts, all they needed was an order to do so.
“You’ve got to make a decision,” the man barked, but the boy seemed content enough with engaging in the world’s longest staring contest. “Not making a decision is making a huge decision!”
Finally, with those words, the boy bowed his head to the girl and took a few steps forward. The man in the leather jacket still held the girl on her knees, his bloody club resting on her shoulder. Just as the boy was about three inches from the man, he shot him one last glare before spinning around and charging toward the cliff.
“Stop him!” the man yelled, gunshots filling the empty air.
The bullets flew by, one piercing the boy’s shoulder and adding blood to his already stained sweater. It didn’t slow him down any, though, as he leapt off the cliff and plummeted to the waters below…free at last.
Colson Cruciani
It all started on a dark night, the wind was blowing, the night sky clear, and nobody was near. All except an outcast group of teenagers. They huddled around the bonfire they worked so hard to build. The teenagers where on the first day of a three day stay at a camp for troubled youth. The names of these 4 teenagers were Carren, Aron, Hidey, and Lance. Carren was very talkative, energetic, excited, and alert. Aron was the opposite of Carren. He was relaxed and chilled out but could get very aggressive sometimes. Hidey was always tired, she had short burst of happiness, and always seemed to be in a different state of mind. Lastly there was Lance. Lance had a lot of mood swings which often caused him to be super mean to his friends. He often didn’t know what day of the week it was and claimed he had an encounter with God.
ReplyDeleteThe next morning the children sat around the smoldered fire. Their first objective of the day was to create a team building exercise and present it to the rest of the youth group. Now, this challenge was very hard for them of course because their personality's differed tremendously. They started shooting out ideas. Carren wanted to do something that would get peoples blood flowing, but Lance immediately decided against it saying he wanted to do something that would mentally exert people. Since those were the two ideas offered up the group decided it would be best to vote. Carren won and Lance went off into a raging fit. He didn’t come back for a couple hours and when he did, it looked like something bad happened to him. Everyone asked if he was okay, but he just sat in bitter silence.
A few hours later the youth group advisor came by to tell them it was time to present. Everyone started to walk towards the crowd of people, except Lance. He sat there. Hidey turned nervously and went to talk to him about what was wrong. He said nothing. Eventually Aron came by totally calm and sat down. Lance still said nothing. A few minutes later Lance stood up walked and walked towards the crowd.
Hidey was standing waiting for her group to come by to help present. Finally, she saw them walking over. They walked on stage everything looked and seemed normal except Lance. Once everyone stopped, she started talking about their exercise. All the sudden out of the corner of her eye she could see Lance shaking dramatically and all then he dropped.
Turns out Lance had been suffering from the addiction of the drug LSD. Before he left for the troubled youth center, he had a bunch of it. This eventually led to his death. Immediately after his death everyone left, and the camp was shut down. That was until the next summer when new teenagers came in and something miserable happened.
Kalvin sat alone in his room starring at the white walls. Some days they granted him comfort; other times they drove him mad. Besides his daily visits from Doctor Vins and the Nurses, he only had himself to keep company.
ReplyDeleteWhat’s the weather like today Kalvin?
Oh, not bad at all. Just the usual Kalvin. How are the children?
Children. You do realize I would have to be in the outside world in order to reproduce, right?
Why Kalvin, don’t say such things. We mustn't think about the outside world if we want to stay sane.
Well, insane would be easier.
Why do you say that?
If we were insane, we could stay here happily.
If you’re unhappy, show them you're not insane and leave.
You and I both know we can’t do that.
Why not?
It isn’t safe with them out there.
Who Kalvin? Who's out there?
The people who want to take us away.
The scientists? Why do they want to take us away?
Because we survived the plane crash.
So?
So. We survived. No one else did. They think we have a superpower or something.
Well, do we?
I ‘m not sure. I think we might.
Oh. Kalvin. Can I tell you something?
Sure.
You’re talking to yourself agai--
Kalvin snapped himself out of it and looked up. He noticed the handle on the door turning slightly and a nurse poked her head through.
His heart ached for her to speak, to have any form of human contact.
“Time for your supper.” She said in a way that you would speak to a child.
She left the tray full of what appeared to be meatballs by the door and left with a, “Good boy.” Followed by a grin full of sympathy.
Dinner. And I’m not three.
Kalvin became to count. As he did most days when he ran out of things to dream about.
1, 2, 3 …....999,876, 999,877 a scratch on the door interrupted him.
RUFUS! Kalvin eagerly thought. Rufus was a therapy dog occasionally brought in by Doctor Fins as a special treat.
“May I come in Kalvin?” Doctor Fins said. He didn’t wait for an answer but instead opened the door allowing Rufus to run in followed by a new lady in a lab coat like Doctor Fins’.
If I was in the outside world, I would have twenty dogs to keep me company.
You hated dogs back when we were in the outside world.
How would you know?
I remember.
No, you don’t. You know that as soon as we came to the asyl--
When was that again?
I don’t know I forgot but let me finish. You know as well as me that when we came here, they wiped our memory. All except the plane crash.
Why didn’t they take the plane crash memory?
I’m not sure. You can’t expect me to know everything about how they work.
Doctor Fins waved his hand in front of Kalvin's. “Hey Kalvin. I’m going to leave Rufus in here with you. My daughter and I are going to review your file in the hallway, is that okay?”
What do they expect me to say? No?
Tell them.
Tell them what.
ReplyDeleteTell them about the crash. Tell them how you are in danger.
No.
They might help you. Do you really want to be stuck here the rest of your life?
Kalvin glanced around, “DOCTOR FINS. He shouted.”
“Yes Kalvin?” The doctor smiled in that same “I feel bad for you but have my own life to worry about” way that the nurse had.
“I need help. I was in a plane crash and I was the only survivor. I can’t remember when, and I don’t know for sure who, but someone is after me. I need your help because I am not insane and can’t stand it in here anymore.” Kalvin stopped out of breath.
The Doctor, to Kalvin’s surprise looked not the least concerned as he said, “Kalvin, we are going to help you. We will talk about this tomorrow after I consult some of my coworkers. Ok?”
Without another word the Doctor and his daughter walked to the door.
See. What did I tell you? Now, go to the door and listen just in case they are the bad people who want try to harvest our power.
Kalvin crawled to the door as Rufus followed closely behind. A muffled voice said, “Wh...happ...d?”
He said what happened.
Is he talking about--
SHHHHH.
Kalvin pressed his ear against the door harder.
“What do you mean?” A male voice said.
That’s Doctor FIn--
I KNOW NOW SHHH.
“I mean what’s the case in this one.” HIs daughter asked.
“Oh. Well we aren’t sure. He came to us about...” Papers shuffled around.
“Ten years ago. He was taken hear by two police officers claiming for the past month he had come in everyday coming up with different stories of why he was in danger.”
“Can he not remember anything?”
“He seems to forget everything in the mornings except he always has a story of why he is in danger.”
“Oh. So, the plane crash is just made up?”
“Yes. But to him no. To him he is fully convinced. Some days he attacks us because he believes we are the bad guys. Some days he hugs me thanking him for saving him.”
“Why don’t you tell him the truth.”
“We’ve tried. He just forgets in the morning. There’s no use.”
The Doctor closed his file and walked back into the room. “Kalvin. We’re going to take Rufus outside now. Ok?”
Kalvin didn’t respond. Instead, he lay slumped onto the floor holding his head, “But, there was a crash. I, I, know there was.”
It all started on a cool autumn day in the town of New York City, New York. A woman named Alli was sitting on one of the green benches in the park just sitting watch the river flow. Before she came to the park, she had a bad feeling about this Wednesday, but she didn’t want to stay inside on this beautiful autumn day. She had come to these benches before and the past couple times that she came she got that feeling that someone was watching her. The only people ever around her at this park were children and their parents. She never saw someone that could harm her. Every time that she got up to leave the park, she would hear footsteps for a little bit then they would go away. She never really thought much of it until one night these footsteps grew closer and they didn’t stop like they normally would.
ReplyDeleteShe was working on a short story because she was a writer and this bench at the park really got her mind going. She would sit here for hours on end just working on this story. It was about her friend that had passed away in the years prior to this point. Her friend and cancer and she wanted to share her experience and that affects that cancer had on her. The longer that she sat in this spot the more that she was getting that feeling that someone was watching her. She just kept thinking that she was imagining things. No one was in this part of the park but her. The sun was starting to set, and the air was starting to get cooler. She decided this was her cue to leave and she started to make her way through the park.
As soon as she got up, she got this same feeling that someone was watching her again. She paused her steps and started to look around her. No one was there so she kept walking. Then came the footsteps again, coming up behind her. She started to walk faster and faster, but she realized how far she was until she was finally going to be out of the park. She didn’t know what to do. If she stopped walking, then the footsteps behind her would also stop. She was too afraid to turn around and look so she decided to take another way home.
She kept on walking but there came up footsteps up behind her and they were closer than they ever have been before. This time she had started running, running faster then she had ever run before. She was knocking over bushed, garbage cans, anything to put something between her and person that was chasing her. She turned the corner and there she felt a hand on her back. She then was laying on the ground looking up at her attacker. Then from out of no where she heard a voice yelling. They were saying to get off her. They came and started to get the attacker off Alli. It was her night in shinning armor.
After this incident they lived happily ever after.
It was a breezy mid-summer afternoon in the town of Cleveland, Ohio. “Ahhh,” Alisha sighed. She was looking across the small pond behind her house, when she noticed a turtle sitting on a log near the water’s edge. She had often gazed upon the lake for inspiration for her poetry. Alisha is the head writer for a company called Poetry Playground. This day, she was having a slight writer's block. She normally never experiences this but today didn’t seem like an ordinary day.
ReplyDeleteAlisha tried her hardest to overcome her writer’s block. She was being pressured by her boss Velma. Velma was a nasty lady. She would always sit in her office and glare at Alisha. Velma knew that she couldn’t fire Alisha because Alisha was the best writer of the whole company. Velma was jealous of Alisha and wanted to be as good of a writer as her. Velma handed out topics to the writers of the company to write about. Because of Velma’s hatred and jealousy for Alisha, she gave her the hardest assignment. “This will surely stump her,” Velma thought to herself. “The changing seasons affecting animals.” “How the heck am I supposed to write about that?” Alisha moaned. A smug and vengeful smile arose on Velma’s face. “Well that’s why I am putting my best writer on the case,” Velma replied.
Later that day after Alisha left the office, she went home to begin her writing. “The seasons: they are a changing. No that won’t work.” Alisha Thought to herself. She gazed out the window looking over her backyard. “That’s it!” Alisha Exclaimed. “A little pond being affected and changing due to the changing seasons.” Alisha began vigorously writing. The words and rhymes seemed to flow from the tip of her pen like water from a waterfall.
Hours raced by. Before Alisha knew it, it was dark out, and she had a three-page poem ready to hand to her boss the next day.
The next morning, bright and early, Alisha proudly marched through the front doors of Poetry Playground and her poem to her boss Velma. Velma was dumbfounded as she read through the poem. Velma couldn’t believe how Alisha did it.
Alisha marched out of Velma’s office and took a seat at her desk and smiled.
The year is 2021 and Jim and his family are sitting down by the stove waiting for super to be ready. Tonight's dinner is fish that Jim caught and bread that his father worked for. They sit around the table eating their meal talking about the good times. They would talk about the times before the corona virus and the good pizza they use to love to eat for supper, but now they are stuck eating whatever Jim can kill and whatever his dad Mike can work for. Jim's mother Tracey stays home sick she's been sick for months, but they don’t have money to go to the doctor. Mike makes sure that they are grateful that they are alive. At this point 50% of china has died from the deadly Virus. They were able to contain it there has been 0 cases in the past 3 months outside of China. Everyone in the U.S is feeling the recoil from China's whole market and government being shut down. Mike no longer has a steady income he got laid off from his assemble line because they didn't have anything to assemble because china isn’t making anything. The next Jim wakes up early just as he has been doing for the past couple of months to go in search for food. Mike goes to work on a small farm today. Tracey still stays home in bed sick, But Tracey is getting worse by the day soon she won't be able to live like this anymore. While on the hunt Jim sees a monstrous deer run past Jim sits up in his tree and then kills his deer. That night at supper while cooking the deer Mike said he heard a new lab was able to make a shot to defend against the corona virus when Jim hears this he gets very excited because he has been saving his money for this so that he could invest in the companies making the shot early so he could afford a couple of shares. When he woke up he checked the market a couple hours after it had opened It was up by %300, but everyone knew it would keep going. Jim ran to his parents' room to tell the good news but when he got there all he found was his mother lying dead. Jim was crushed because they finally had the money to get her better, but he was a day to late. So Jim that day also took his own life out of sadness.
ReplyDelete