Final Story

Allie Moore


P.2

Final Creative Writing Story



“Kids, your mother and I have very exciting news for you!” Mark turned to his family at the dinner table. “The first payment for the lease went through at the empty building on the corner! We can start that restaurant we’ve always dreamed of!”

The five, seven, and ten year olds jumped up and down like kangaroos. This had been something the family had wanted for a long time. Mark had always dreamed of opening up a Greek restaurant to honor all of his Greek ancestors. He had gone through years of cooking school, but they never quite had the resources to be able to afford a building. His wife Lisa had been working for years to be able to help her husband’s dream. She was going to quit her job after the restaurant was established so she could just be there for her family. Hopefully it would be enough.

The next few days were filled with a million meetings with interior designers, contractors, and health inspectors. Everyone in the area would walk by the building and wonder in excitement about what the empty space would be. Everything would be done in about ten months. Mark’s family helped with any painting and tiling they could to help the contractors get it done faster. The kids Jane, Christy, and Tom would bring the contractors sandwiches everyday to make sure they were happy! For the next ten months, everything was pretty happy in their small town of Stonefort. Lisa would be able to quit her job in about a year, too!

The interior of the restaurant had a green and white color scheme. Every table had fresh flowers, white tablecloths, and black chairs. There were pictures and maps on the walls from Mark and Lisa’s adventures to Greece. People would walk through the double doors, down a short hallway, and into smaller-sized dining room. The doors to the kitchen were immediately to the left of the door entering the dining room. The family hoped they would be able to extend the walls of their dining room after a few months.

The restaurant opened, finally, exactly ten months from the start of the project. People waited at the door to enter and finally taste Mark’s famous homemade pita bread and gyros. The menu had a wide variety of Greek salads, cheese, chicken and lamb gyros, Moussaka (eggplant casserole), among many other different kinds of ethnic Greek foods. All the people living in the area raved about the food at the restaurant. Food critics and newspapers rolled in after a few months. All the critics loved the food, and the newspapers wrote extraordinary reviews telling everyone to eat there when in the area. Mark and his family were ecstatic.

Lisa was still working her job at this point, just until the remodel. She didn’t really like working at the publishing house, but it did help out the family a great deal. If they were able to pocket most of the income from the restaurant, they could use her income to pay for the remodel. They would have a bigger restaurant which would mean more customers. More customers meant more money for the family. She was happy to see her husband so happy.

Five months later, Mark and Lisa decided that they had enough money to go through with the renovation. They would shut down the restaurant for two weeks.

Five day into the renovation, Mark received a call in the middle of the night. There was a fire at the restaurant! The cause was from the gas line running to the main stove. Mark rushed over to the building immediately while Lisa stayed home with the kids. He talked to a police officer. The officer explained that he wouldn’t be able to go inside until it had been inspected and deemed structurally sound. Mark just had to wait for the call.

After two quiet days in the house, Mark received the call from the inspector. He was able to go into the restaurant now. Lisa went with him while the kids stayed with their grandma. They passed through the door and into the burnt dining room. The once white tablecloths were now black, the flowers gone, and the chairs now matched the whole room. The green walls had a darker tint to them. Everything in the kitchen had been eaten by the flame. The couple started tearing up as they saw their creation was ruined.

People from all over the city came to Mark’s house to offer sympathy. He knew he had a lot of support, but he was still disappointed that his dream was not in reach at the moment. He wondered if he would ever get the restaurant back. The next day, the insurance company got in touch with Mark. If they wanted to repair it, they would have to pay $50,000 in damages. Clearly, they didn’t have that kind of money.

People in the town would walk past the building and hope they could eat at Mark’s restaurant again in the future. It was a shame that such a great place would have such an unfortunate event happen.

Lisa and Mark talked about it a bit and decided that Lisa should keep her job and they should wait a while to open the restaurant again. The whole family was disappointed as they wondered if they would actually be able to open the successful restaurant again.

Creative Writing

+

It was fun to be able to just take a break in the day to write. In the morning, I have a little more energy but I find it harder to focus on classes with a lot of precision like physics or math so early. Taking two writing classes this quarter made me enjoy writing a lot more and made me realize I'm better at it than I thought I was. It was interesting to learn about technology tools for writing. My favorite part of the class was doing lyrics everyday. This class overall made writing about anything at all seem more accessible. I had always been a little afraid of writing because I thought there was always going to be someone better at it than me, but now I see that it doesn't really matter. Anyone can do it, and anyone can get better at it.

-

I probably would have enjoyed this class a little more if it wasn't on the computer. Personally, I like just having  pen and paper and then typing when necessary. I know this is different for many people, though. I liked the times when we learned about technology tools, but I thought they kind of took over the class. We would spend a lot of time learning about tools that I probably wouldn't use. I like the idea of having a blog, but I would just prefer writing on my own, privately. Another thing about this class was that I didn't feel like I got a lot of feedback about my writing. It was a really good pair with Advanced Composition because I got a lot of feedback, and then could use it in this class, but it would have been nice to have two sources of that. Just taking a little more time for general things like a review of how to use dialogue in stories would have helped a lot.

Food

A couple of years ago, I was really craving potstickers. I had made them before so it wasn't really a big deal. I was on the phone with the guy I was dating at the time and then all of a sudden the pan start smoking really badly. The smoke alarm started going off and it was really embarrassing to have to get my sister to stop freaking out by explaining what was going on, the potstickers to stop burning, and then go to the garage to stop the fuse box all while on the phone with this guy. He pretty much still laughs at me whenever we talk. I'm never going to live that down apparently.

Then, another time, I was making macaroni and cheese and I forgot to put water in the pot. More smoke alarm time. Fun stuff. I melted part of the pan.

Despite all of this, I'm actually a good cook. I'm not lying. Seriously! Ha.

As far as other food experiences go, I am apparently really sensitive to germs in food and have had like five different cases of food poisoning. The worst of it was probably in sophomore year and I was throwing up for like four days because of some milk. I basically sat at home for that time and consumed only gatorade because for whatever reason, it's one of the only things that calms down my stomach. That is one of the worst feelings in the world. Ew.

Restaurant

I've always liked the idea of opening an old 80s diner. I'd have all my waiters and waitresses skate on old roller skates to serve everyone. They'd also wear older clothes to look like they're in the 70s! There would be old hangings on the walls and the whole place would have a light blue and red color scheme. There would be one long counter for people to sit on and a bunch of tables with smooth red upholstery. Kind of a stereotypical diner. The hangings would show tacky things like the day it first opened and the first dollar earned in a special frame. People would be able to sit at the counter or at tables to order a burger, fries and a shake. The place would be really family friendly so everyone could enjoy their time there. And, what is a 70s diner without a jukebox!? People could pick whatever they want to play. That way the diner would seem even more lively. I'd want the diner to be near/on a pier so that it could look out at the water. It would be a fun stop along the way for families just wanting to have some relaxed fun.

The monster under the coffee table!

Well, looking back on it, throwing that chair probably wasn't the best decision I've ever made. But hey, there was a freaking monster in the floor! I wasn't really sure what was going on, but next thing I knew, the floor was moving from underneath my coffee table. My first reaction was to grab the chair from next to it and throw it down. The monster came out from under the rug! I ran behind the wall connecting the living room and kitchen. As it turns out, my imagination went a little wild and my cat was actually under the new rug NEXT to the coffee table. Whoops... Harry wasn't too happy that I tried throwing a chair at him. Luckily, I missed and it wasn't too much of a drama. He's still mad at me, but I've given him a new thing of catnip everyday this week. Then, I scratch him behind the ears when he's just about to fall asleep so it makes him purr. He really likes when I do that. Hopefully we'll be able to work through this and be better by the end of the week. We have to go to my best friend's house next week so our cats can play together. I don't want harry to put up a fit and attack her cat. That would probably get ugly. Who wants a catfight? But hey, Harry would totally win. He wins every time. I love my kitty.

Science Fiction

Allie Moore


Creative Writing Story

Blue, black, and green lights were flashing all over the science lab of Dr. Savoy. The power had shut itself off moments before. The mad scientist was yelling out of anxiety that he would lose all of his progress on his projects. His most prized 100-year-old experiment was a cryogenically frozen woman. His great grandfather started the experiment, hoping that he would be able to test the woman’s reaction after 200 years. He heard a huge thud from the next room over.

Dr. Savoy ran into the room and saw the experiment broken onto the floor. There was a loud beep. Dr. Savoy directed his attention to the pressure gauge of the tube the woman was once frozen in. It was off the gauge. He gathered that there was too much pressure, and the tube with the woman burst. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye! All of a sudden, the woman was on her feet and looked extremely distressed. She bolted to the door. He started to chase her, but was too slow as she slipped out the door.

The woman was able to get out of the laboratory and make enough turns around the busy city to get the crazy professor off her tracks. She had no clue where she was. Exhausted, she decided to sit down by a tree in a park. A woman running past noticed she looked very confused and stopped to talk to her.

“Uh, hey, are you okay? I know I don’t know you, but you look pretty rough right now…” The jogger said. She helped her up. “I’m Andy.”

“My name is Celeste. Do you know where we are right now? It’s a long story, but I don’t even know what’s going on in my life right now” The woman hesitated, but had lost all other hope.

“Why don’t you let me help you out? You can come back to my place for a bit to clean up and maybe I can help you figure out whatever it is you’re confused about.” said Andy.

Celeste studied Andy’s face. She had pin-straight blonde hair. Her face had a thick layer of caked-on makeup. Her blue eyes were emphasized by the heavy black eyeliner. However, through all that, she looked vaguely familiar. Celeste agreed to go with Andy to her apartment. It was her only hope to figure out what was going on.

As they walked together through the city, Celeste noticed that nearly everyone looked the same. All the women had pin straight hair and the same amount of makeup as Andy. They all looked like clones of each other. They had tight clothing, small surgically corrected noses, and dainty figures. The men were all built. They had a lot of muscle and there didn’t seem to be any extreme flaws to them. She overheard conversations about how easy getting plastic surgery all over their bodies seemed, about all the diets they had tried, and bashing parts of themselves that they didn’t like and planned on changing. Everyone looked like they were in about their 30s, or younger. All the billboards and advertisements around the city looked like all of the people. Celeste realized she was in an extremely different place than she was used to.

They arrived at Andy’s apartment which was filled with extremely new looking furniture.

“Wow, did you just refurnish your apartment?” asked Celeste.

“Nah, the furniture is two weeks old. It’s getting outdated. I have to have the newest and greatest things. I’m going shopping later,” replied Andy.

Celeste had figured out that people viewed themselves a lot differently than she was used to. This new world was filled with more insecurity and obsession with having the newest thing. Was that where her world was heading too?

She strolled past Andy’s fridge, and the calendar caught her eye. She read the date: November 11th, 2111. She fell over from the shock. Andy rushed over and figured that time would be the best time to start discussing what was going on.

“Well, I woke up on the floor of some strange laboratory. All of a sudden, there was a scientist chasing me. I figured it wasn’t a good place to be if he had reacted that way, so I got out of there as fast as I could. Last I checked it was 2011. Do you have any idea what could be going on with me?” Celeste struggled to find her words.

“Well I don’t know, but maybe we should go to the scientist and confront him about whatever it is that is going on.” suggested Andy.

They both agreed and began to walk back to the laboratory. All the conformity that Celeste noticed stuck out to her even more. Were people really this concerned with their looks?

As they continued to walk over to the laboratory, they saw Dr. Savoy running toward them. Celeste started sweating and tensing up. What would he do to her? He grabbed onto her and started yelling.

“Woman, you need to get back into my lab. I can’t let you get hurt or else the entire experiment is destroyed a lot of bad things could happen.” He screamed at her. He turned and saw Andy’s face and went completely pale. “What? You two found each other? Oh my gosh. How am I going to explain this to them? Oh my gosh. I am so dead.”

“I think you have a lot you need to explain here.” said Celeste. “I really need to know why all of a sudden I’m in a different year than I remember being in.”

“Okay, well you two should just come in and I can explain everything.” said the Professor.

They hesitated, but took the risk. The two women followed him in. He told them to sit down on the chairs in his break room as he made a phone call. After a few minutes, he came back in and was started to explain everything.

“Okay, well I know this isn’t going to make a whole lot of sense, but you’ve been part of an experiment for the past 100 years. You have been cryogenically frozen, so we could do a case study on incorporating the past and the subject’s future. You weren’t supposed to get out of that tube for another 100 years.” explained Dr. Savoy.

“So, how do I play into this exactly?” asked Andy.

“Well, I’ll just have the agency explain that…” Dr. Savoy trailed off.

There was a knock on the door, and three tall men in slick and shiny black suits stood there. They held up their badges that read GABS, for Governmental Agency of Beauty Sciences. As the professor stepped aside to talk to the men, Andy was able to talk to Celeste alone.

“Okay, well that’s the agency that controls pretty much everything about society. They have the most authority out of anyone. They control what advertisements can be published; make sure there aren’t any individuals who stick out too much, and anything else that needs to be done. Their power is pretty much limitless. But I have no clue why they’d be here.” explained Andy.

The men and Dr. Savoy came into the room Andy and Celeste were in. The men looked extremely cautious, but nonetheless began explaining the situation.

“Well, our branch of the government hired Dr. Savoy’s grandfather to start the experiment the professor told you about. We wanted to test the effects of how you would react to your surroundings in a different place in time. It would cause a lot of breakthroughs for our time travel kit that we are planning to release to the public. However, we couldn’t just wipe out your existence in 2011. The minute you were frozen as part of the experiment, the “slot” with your life was empty. It was illegal for that to be empty, because then it would appear as if we killed you. So then, we filled your slot with Andy. We scientifically created her not to age, so that she would never be able to die, and your life slot would be in tact until you came into the world again. This means that Andy will soon have to leave the world shortly, because you came out of the tube too early.” explained one of the men.

This took a while for Celeste to be able to process.

“So, what happens now?” asked Celeste.

“The only way that you and Andy can both stay alive, is if you are sent back in time, back to 2011. This must happen very quickly. Fortunately, Dr. Savoy has been improving this technology.” said the other man.

Dr. Savoy dragged out the machine. Celeste and Andy had to say their goodbyes. Celeste jumped into the machine, and reflected on everything she had seen. She knew she had moments where she was obsessed with and hated how she looked. If those thoughts continued, is this where society would be in 100 years? She made it a goal to love herself more, and spread that word to everyone else. She didn’t want the world to look like how she had just seen it. Celeste closed her eyes and saw light through her eyelids. She woke up back in her room in 2011. The machine disappeared after she stepped out of it. It was her first step to making a difference in the world.

Parachute

Behind her the noise escalated. The two friends she was with were cheering louder and louder. She was about to jump off the small plane and into the open sky. She had always toyed with the idea of going skydiving, but would never have guessed that her friends were forcing her to go on her birthday. She took the dive off the plane, finally. She had never felt so free. The world opened up around her. Cities and lakes gradually got bigger and bigger as gravity pulled her in. Finally, the man helping her pulled the chute and they floated slowly back down to earth.

Time

The clock winked and all of a sudden I'm in my senior year. Where did all the time go? It seems like yesterday that I was walking in the lower doors of Eastview as an insecure freshman. Now, I'm making college decisions, figuring out a major, and planning the date I'm moving. Time went by so fast. I remember so many times where I thought graduation seemed so far away, like a promise land that was never going to come. I'm so happy to see time that was once frozen was actually moving forward. It's weird to think that around August 7th, I'll be out of here without much looking back. I'll be off in Washington without probably coming back a lot. Time goes by a lot faster than I ever gave it credit for.

Spring Break

Over Spring Break, I went to Europe with the band. We landed in Switzerland and then drove through the beautiful French Alps. We drove through a lot of Southern France and went through various small towns and such. It was pretty cool. Then, we drove to Barcelona, Spain. That was probably my favorite part of the trip. There was so much going on in that city. It gave me another reason to learn Spanish. The Mediterranean Sea is so beautiful. Overall, the trip was really fun and it gave me a chance to discover more beautiful places and get to know people better.

3/28 Journal

As we are shoved into a small jail cell together with other forks and knives, we are screaming for help, but no one hears us. There's a decreasing amount of light as the drawbridge from the jail goes up. Everything is now dark. All of a sudden, it starts raining from the inside of the jail. We are splashed with burning hot water and a cirtus soap. After a few minutes of the torture, wind comes through the jail to dry us. The drawbridge comes down again and we are freed by hands. We find ourselves back in our drawer, our home.

3/18 Journal

If I could invent one thing to help mankind, it would be a garden ray gun. There would be like one per county and it would help people in areas where there is little food. Not all areas of the world have good conditions to be able to grow food. The person named by the county would go around to different houses and shoot the ray at wherever the owner wants it, and it would set the foundation of a healthy garden. Then, the owner of the property can grow a lot of food and everyone will be able to be fed.

Character Description

Celeste -

Strengths:
Book-smart
Has a lot of common sense
Sticks with her beliefs
Very moral, not rebellious

Weakness-
Insecure about looks
Considered doing things to change her looks before the experiment
Extreme

Andy - Like Celeste but more influenced by culture

Strengths-
Tough
Smart
Resourceful

Weakness-
Vulnerable to opinion

possible slogans for gov
"the beautiful work for it"

Short story prewriting

The setting of my story will be in a major city called Catropolis, a hundred years from now.

PLOT
Introduction- Celeste wakes up from the frozen state and is really confused about where she is. She finds out that she is a science experiment gone wrong and she runs out of the lab for freedom. She looks on the streets for any sign of a familiar face.

Rising Action- Celeste walks around and notices that all the girls have pin straight hair, clear skin, faces covered in makeup, plastic looking bodies, and absolutely no signs of aging. The guys have a lot of muscle, and show no emotion. It doesn't seem like there's a flaw. Things look generally the same, but a lot more slick, new, and fancy. The girl notices how helpless she looks and approaches her to help. Celeste is skeptical and doesn't open up to the girl right away. She looked vaguely familiar. Her name was Andy. She seemed nice but Celeste couldn't trust anyone yet. She does mention, however, that she needs a place to stay. They go to the apartment and Celeste sees the calendar that says August 10th, 2111.

Conflict - Celeste will find out that Andy is really her in 2111, but because her existence was frozen the advertising sector as part of the government needed the void of her existence to be filled. She wasn't considered to be alive nor dead during the 100 years.

Dream

Once I had a dream that I married a guy that was two feet tall. I was really tall, and he had to stand on a phone book to kiss me at the wedding. Everyone in my family adored him, and the wedding was pretty happy. I didn't even know the guy very well, but apparently I just wanted to make my family happy. My cousin was the flower girl!

Another dream I had a little bit ago was really weird. There were a couple of friends who I had drifted from at my house. One of them kept saying I couldn't hang out with the other, and then that friend kept telling me that if I didn't play Call of Duty with them, I couldn't be friends with them. I spent the whole time trying to balance out the friendships. The COD friend kept yelling at me about how I had to pay to play with him and how he came over specifically to play the game with me. I didn't even want to play, but I wanted to be his friend. Weird.

When I was little, I used to have a reoccurring dream that I would be at a birthday party in the basement of a warehouse. Every time we were about to eat cake, a mud monster would come to chase us around but there was only one way out - the window. I would have to hide until it scared me enough that I woke up. I would wake up and get really scared. I think there's a character like it in Candyland (a game I played with regularity) so I probably got the image from that. I'm not sure why I would have a dream like that.

I wish someone had told me...

I wish someone had told me about the reality of high school. The truth of how grades would translate into scholarship money didn't quite hit me until I started looking at colleges. I'm not ashamed of the GPA I have, but it would have been nice if I had tried a little harder so that it would help me out in the future. It seems like I actually did get the warnings, but I was too focused on external forces in my life to realize that it was up to me to actually make everything right. I figured everything would figure itself out eventually, and that I was a decent enough student to be average. I didn't think I could actually do great things. I thought there was always going to be someone better than me and I shouldn't bother trying being better than them. I'd constantly compare myself to the "smart kids". If I got a B- on a test, and someone else got a B on the test, I probably wouldn't strive to do any better because that's what I figured my place would be, because they were smarter than me. As time went on in high school, I felt I gained more control over what I could be doing with my life. However, I still had to make up for the times where I didn't feel like I had that control. I just wish I had taken the warnings more seriously. I might be having a bit better luck with scholarship and grant money in my college searches. Overall, I know things are in my control and I hope to improve all of that in college.

Science Fiction

Two books I've read that I really like the message of are Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451. The authors both say something about where humans are in the future based on where we are now. I think it'd be interesting to write something about the fashion industry and its definition of "beautiful" and how this corrupts peoples' self image. More people are getting plastic surgery and starve themselves, while others are told to hate themselves due to being overweight. It's a subject that really bugs me. So, maybe I'll write a story from a Brave New World approach and make it seem like everyone is doing these things to show how corrupt this industry will become if we continue on this way.

Shoe

As a kid, I had always waited for the day when they would come out with a shrink ray. Finally, my generation got the first one. We live in 2030. My dad got me one for my birthday! I heard they are really expensive because they're so new. This is a big day for me because we aren't exactly bursting with money. I start shrinking everything I can find. Eventually, I accidentally shrink my shoe. I try using the reversing effects on the ray. They don't go the way I plan. Instead, the shoe grew and grew! I have no clue what to do with it. I didn't want my dad to see it because then he would never let me use it again. I have to get it to the warehouse where the rays are made to see if they can fix it. I get the idea of putting spare wheels on the bottom and rolling it down the hill to the warehouse. Hopefully it ends up okay. It turns out I can use the laces to steer! I got the shoe out of the house through the side door and start rolling it and jump in. Besides the fact that I ran (no pun intended) a lot of red lights, I made to the warehouse in one piece. It turns out that all the rays are faulty because of this feature. They have to recall all of them. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. Who knows what they will come out with next!

My Journey on a Pirate Ship.

One day, I woke up and decided that I wanted to finally follow through on my dream of becoming a pirate. I knew I had to select a fine crew to explore the sea with. I walked around to different taverns and asked around about people with special skills. After talking to many different people, I had a crew of about six others. My uncle lived a pirate life, but then died in a battle. He left his old ship to me. When he was alive, he ranted about a treasure map that he once found. He had hidden it on his ship, but told me the location of the map right before he died. We took three days repairing the ship. Then, it was ready to sail. Everybody took a different position in the boat and got ready to push off from the dock. After a few hours of sailing, we came across another ship. They shot random objects from their cannons to try to hurt us. Fortunately, our ship was twice the size of theirs and three times as sturdy. All we had to do was shoot one cannon that put a tiny hole in their boat to get them to back off once and for all. The captain of the other ship shouted something about getting revenge, but we didn't take it very seriously. We knew we could take them again, anyway. Who knew how long it would take before we would find the treasure?

Picture.

Every night before he went to sleep, Gary would see a moving shadow in his garden. He ran out with a shovel to see if he could find whatever the running object was. He would have no such luck. Then, the next morning he would find that all of his precious and award-winning plants were destroyed. This had been happening for months. He was really frustrated. One day, he decided to try putting out a trap. The plan didn't work for a week. But then one morning, he walked outside and found a huge rabbit in his trap! He decided to take the rabbit to animal control. It was the biggest rabbit they had ever seen. Gary got some money for finding this huge rabbit. It was enough to make up for the money he had lost because of the damaged plants. He let the rabbit run free far away from his house, so it would never attack his plants again.

Technology writing project

http://storybird.com/books/love-279/

CARS

Lightning McQueen lost his steering wheel. It was a very depressing day for him. He wouldn't be able to race or go much of anywhere because he couldn't control his movements. The whole day, he had a really poor attitude because he was stuck in the garage. Sally stopped by to cheer him up, but it just made it worse because he saw that she could still drive around wherever she pleased. Then, Sally had a really great idea. She would get everyone in the town to help out Lightning McQueen. Half of the people went driving around to look for the lost steering wheel, while the other half went sang a song for McQueen. It cheered him up a lot. Then, Mater decided he could tow Mcqueen around so that he wouldn't be stuck in the garage all day. They both had a lot of fun even though Mater couldn't drive very fast. They hadn't been able to just hang out one-on-one in a while. They caught up on the latest news of one another. McQueen eventually got his mind off of the fact that he was missing the big race taking place that day. He was just happy that his friends were there for him to cheer him up. It was dark when they pulled back into the town. There was a group of their fellow cars circled around something. The two cars got a closer look. It was McQueen's steering wheel! They also had news that the race was rescheduled to a week later. McQueen was victorious in the race.

Paper shredder!

It's really a war out in the world! I just saw my best friend the notecard get shredded apart by that terrible machine. What did we do to deserve such crazy treatment? We're innocent creatures. And it's not like we exactly have a getaway plan. Not having legs will do that to you.

Our stack of paper sits on the front desk of Mr. Mullbery's fourth grade class. I am the top sheet of this stack of spelling tests. We've been graded and now we're in the place where a billion of our relatives have been: in line to go to our shredded death. I can feel the other sheets trembling under me. We don't know when it will happen. The crazy man loves doing this to us. He doesn't think we feel the pain. He doesn't know how it feels to see a family member shredded apart from under him.

Suddenly, I feel a hand wrap around all of my friends and I.

We are put into a folder as we hear the words, "save for parent-teacher conferences all year."

Being saved felt great, even if it meant being handled by the hands of parents from now until the end of the year.

Yep.

Marian Bartsch and Joey Catsalgi met on his first day of work. It actually doesn't really matter that he had a rough childhood because even people with rough childhoods can find love. Not a big deal. He thought she was beautiful. So like any sane man, he asked her out for a cup of coffee after work. Being the thirty-year-old people they were, it was very informal. Marian didn't know what to think. She thought he was pretty great looking, too. The coffee date turned into dinner, which turned into a movie night, which turned into them falling asleep on Joey's couch in each others arms. They knew that they had both hooked something special. So they kept dating. Until a couple of months later, Marian hadn't noticed a lot of Joey's really annoying habits and then they slowly stopped dating. He would twitch every time she said the word "sock." He was also really messy. She hated it whenever he cooked at her apartment because he left everything a complete mess. Eventually he got really clingy and she couldn't take it anymore. Joey also thought she was too focused on work. It just wasn't meant to be. It goes to show that not all love stories have happy endings. Cool. Later, Joey married a supermodel who was willing to do whatever he wanted to do at any time of day, and Marian discovered she was a lesbian, and that was fine. She found a woman and they got married in Iowa. The wedding was very happy and her and her wife have been together ten years. Marian and Joey didn't stay in touch, and there was no "rediscovered connection" between them. They were two people who once worked at the same law firm. And they both eventually lived happily ever after, separately.

Cousin

Little cousin,
I wish you saw your own talent
and potential and opportunity
the world is a pretty great place
for all that you will want to do.

Little cousin,
Don't give up on yourself
you're fantastic
and still so young.

Little cousin,
The world will be tough on you,
I have no doubt
but I know you'll be okay
because you're strong
whether or not you realize it.

Last day to live

If I had unlimited resources on my last day to live, I would do a lot of things. I would probably spend a big chunk of my day with my sister and a couple of my best friends. I'd go buy them anything they want and help them pay off any debt they have. I'd want to die knowing people around me are happy. Then, I'd go skydiving, four wheeling, tubing, and a lot of other things I either haven't gotten the chance to do, or like doing. Then I'd go to a sports game (Twins or Wild) with those people and make sure we have really great seats and just have a lot of fun. Then, after the game I might tell them what's going on and try to let as many people as I can know that I am thankful for them being in my life. At the end of the day, I would rent out a huge space and invite all my family (even fly them into town earlier if necessary) to a huge dinner party so that I'm the happiest when I have to die at the end of that day.

Memories & accomplishments.

• Being a role model for my cousin.
• Getting into all the colleges I've applied to so far.
• Getting my drivers license
• Working toward my boating license
• Road trips
• Helping my sister move in and out of her old apartment.
• West Coast family barbeques
• Summers
• Grad parties
• Fourth of July
• Backpacking 110km in Spain

Beach

waves
creep up
in between
my toes and rush
back down farther than
they were before, the tides
rush in and out, in and out
people stroll slowly down the beach
as if they have nowhere else to go
another calm day at the sunny beach

How ridiculous was I?

How ridiculous was I as an octopus for halloween when I was eight. My goofy costume kept twisting itself up as I marched up to doors as I was trick or treating. I'm guessing I looked totally silly. I would walk around and pretend I was about to drench someone by slapping water my tentacles. All the people who passed out candy stared out in amazement and applauded my mom for her creativity. It was clearly a hand sewn and stuffed costume. The blue and purple dyed sheets suggested that even halloween costumes could be semi-realistic. While most of the other kids were Pokemon or ghosts, I was flailing about in my creative octopus costume.

Acrostic Poem

Allie
Loves
Life
In between fun, challenges, and chances.
Even though
More
Often than not it is hard
Or seems impossible
Reedeming qualities of living and opportunity make
Everything work out in the end.

Changin' the world.

There are a lot of things I would do to change the world. First, I would make sure that there were multiple ways for EVERYONE to get the news in an unbiased way. News stations, newspapers, and basically everything we have is biased in some way. It'd be nice if we just had at least one source that laid it all out there so we could form our own opinions. This would make people a lot less ignorant. I realize that there's not a lot that can be done to reform the government so that there aren't so many power struggles between the houses, but I'd certainly try to figure out a way where everyone could more easily come to a decision. Then, I would fix the fact that so many extra things get tacked on to bills. Bills should be more straight to the point so that we have more getting either passed or failed without a bunch of "fine print" reading. Moving onto international affairs, I'd probably try to make people think more like John Lennon in the song Imagine. People should start thinking in terms of the human race instead of money, power, and personal goals. What's the point of having other people around if we aren't looking out for each other in the larger scheme of things? I think that would save us a ton of money because we wouldn't be spending so much money on war and defense and we could actually get to the root of the real problems. If we stopped kicking brick walls all the time, then we could actually help people get their needs met.

Duck for cover, find protection, get somewhere safe. People live when they get away from me.

I am a tornado. Destroying everything in my path. There's nothing you can do stop stop me.

Once I get started, nothing can stay. Everything you have will just get in the way.

From houses to porches to sheds and even to your new barbeque.

I'll take it all and it won't mean very much to me.

You'll hate to love my chaotic beauty.

Pulsing through the sky

Spiraling through

bringing up

eve

             ryth

                       ing

                you

     do

not

                                                                             w

                                                                           a

                                                                         n

                                                                           t

                                                                              m

  e

                                                                                   t

                                                                                   o

TA

KE

FROM

YOUR

LIVES

The house was made of...

The house was made of a light brown brick and vertical wood panels from the ground on up. My grandparents had been living there as long as I had known. My grandpa used to pull me in a wobbly wagon out of the garage and down the driveway. He'd pull me around the block. He was the twinkle in my eye with how much fun I was having. I lived for moments like these. He seemed to enjoy himself no matter how much he had to squint from the sun going in his eyes. We rolled past his gabby neighbors, and they asked what we were up to. He explained that his family was visiting and this is what we did every time we were there. Then we'd end up back at their house and back into the garage for more afternoon fun. We'd do anything from bake, play animal games on the computer, wrestle with the puppy, or just sitting on their L-shaped couch reading a book. Everything was so much more fun when I was little.

You are my best friend and that will not change
We fit together like a simple song
People around us may think we are strange
You are someone I have not known so long

I know you will forever be my friend
You have been there for me through thick and thin
When I am with you I need not pretend
That my world is not in full hectic spin.

You always know exactly what to say
Even when I do not feel the greatest
I know I am my total self any day
You don't always see me at my toughest

But I know you are always there for me
Just like I will be there for you with glee

Dinner Table

If I could invite three people to the dinner table, two would be dead and the other one alive. I would invite my grandpa who died when my Dad was 17, my aunt who died right before I was born, and my sister so she could meet them too. I never met my aunt and my grandpa but I heard really amazing things about both of them. Heather didn't know my aunt very well when she died. I'd want to Heather & I to hear their stories and experiences. I'd invite my sister so she'd be able to talk to them too. Another reason I'd invite her is because she moved and I hardly ever see her anymore. From what I've heard, both my grandpa and aunt are different from a lot of people. I'd give anything just to be able to sit down to a dinner with them.

Assonance

Get up, or you will miss out.
You can take a nap
Or write a rap
Dwell in the time it took
Or read a book
Life is a bull
You have to take it by the horns
Or you will be bored and filled with scorn
No one else can tell you
How to live, how to give
Or how to be free
When your life is full, so will your soul.

Wordle

The Future!

Right now I'm pretty happy because I feel like a lot of things in my life are pulling together in a positive way. I haven't really known where I want to go to college because most of the places I've been looking at have a lot of pros with a few deal breaking cons. Just recently, I decided where I actually want to go: Western Washington University. I decided I want to go to a larger school because they will have more options in the way of majors and study abroad programs and other things. Since I'm not sure what I want to do, I think this will help. The school is in Bellingham, Washington. It's about an hour and a half away from Seattle, and about two and a half hours away from my Grandparents. It's a pretty good distance. Another thing that is coming together is the fact that my sister is going to probably move up to the Seattle area so she can establish residency and go to the University of Washington next fall. Seeing as she lives in Arizona, it'll be really great to be in the same area as her again. I really miss her. Now my grandparents are pretty happy that more of their family will be in the same general area. It won't be too close, but it also won't be too far. My cousin Emma also talks about how much she misses me and how much I mean to her, so I'm excited to be able to move out there and play a bigger role in her life as she continues her teenage years. My really close friend Morgan also lives near my grandparents so I will be able to go help her through the time she is taking for her gap year. All of this just reminds me that no mater how frustrated I get while I am still living in Minnesota, going off to college and living near a lot of people I am close to is kind of the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm really excited just to move on to the future.

Alliteration

The boy bounded by the bay
Darted down the dark road
And past the pale and pretty hay
Then he gazed at a green-gray toad
Who taught him how to hijack a boat
He charged a pretty price of a meal
Soon enough the man was mad out of the muddy moat
As the frightened frog feasted on veal

Early Childhood Memory

My earliest childhood memories are when I would hang out with a bunch of my cousins in Washington. My grandparents live on waterfront property on Miller Bay (off of Puget Sound). Their cabin is basically a hub for everyone in our huge family. All the older people would sit on the porch and laugh with one another while the kids played in the mud or swam in the water (depending on the tide). Other times we would go play in the orchard in the backyard and pretend we were anything from pirates to puppies to pokemon. We basically had free reign of the place. Sometimes we could even go out in boats by ourselves and explore around the bay. It's the kind of place where the only people you'll run across will probably be related to you somehow. No one worried much about a group of kids being off on their own. We didn't have the cares we do now. When Summer rolls around, I still see all these cousins and we hang out and do different things. It's great knowing that even in twenty years, this place will be the glue that holds us together.

Sense of Time Poem

Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is red and brown
The colors that mark Autumn.
Thanksgiving feels hectic.
It sounds like parents fighting about a clean house.
It smells like yams that get burned every year.
Of couse, it all tastes delicious.
But Thanksgiving is the holiday I usually want to get over with.

Parts of Speech Poem

The Ocean
Wide and Blue
Whispering and Flowing
Sink of Earth

A Plane
Smooth and Narrow
Flying and Diving
Down to Earth

Secret

Secrets;
can be hard to
keep from everyone
especially from a loved one
so tell

Emergency

I wake up and try to take a deep breath, but the deeper the breath the more severe the pain. The ground is hard beneath my back, and I feel a dull pain in my arm…

I wonder, what the heck happened? Where am I and how did I get here? I see that my car is smashed up and that the paramedics are walking over to get ready to put me into an ambulance. I feel as if I'm fading in and out of the world. I still had no clue what was going on. I heard scattered pieces of the paramedics' conversation, "hit black ice... hit the median... flew from the car..." and I automatically get scared. I try screaming out but I have no voice. I can hardly breathe due to the pain. Soon enough, they are putting me into the ambulance as I am shipped off to the hospital.

Tree

Our relationship has never been simple.
You are a tree, with many branches
climbing up to the top
branches get in the way on the way up
some sturdier than others.
Sometimes I fall,
and it hurts
and I'm lucky if I don't hit any of the branches on the way down.
But I get up and start climbing again.
As I look up at the intimidating height of the tree from the bottom,
I wonder if I'll ever get to the top.
Up so far from the ground that nothing can get to me,
unless I climb down again.

Best Friend

My best friend is my sister. She knows me better than anyone else. Being with her makes everything fun. One time when we were little, we were really bored at my Grandparents so we made up a secret language to talk in with code words no one else would understand. Even now, we can have a lot of fun by just cooking or sitting around. We both make the best of what we have. Despite the fact that she is five years older than me, we have a really tight bond. I can call her at any point in a day to talk to her about any problems I have or just something funny I want to share. She lives in Arizona right now, but I still feel very close to her. Growing up together caused us to see the world in a similar manner; she understands why I think a certain way or why I would have a problem with something no one else would struggle with. I used to see her everyday; now I am just thankful for the times that I can visit her or when she visits Minnesota.

Similie Poem

Autumn is like a canvas of many shades of red, brown, and orange.
Kids scream like sirens as they jump into the leaves.
As they hurl into the pile, the leaves jump like a miniature explosion.
Then kids run inside like the wind
And enjoy carving pumpkins that look like halloween at its finest
As they wonder what will come in the coming days activities.

1. A calendar is like a mirror because it helps you see what you can become.
2. A sandwich is like a shoe because you never know what the inside really holds.
3. An ice cube is like a cookie because both can be eaten.
4. A knife is like a whisper because they both say something silently.
5. Kissing is like a careful collision because it isn't usually planned.
6. An eyeball feels like a peeled grape.
7. Wet hair feels like leftover spaghetti.
8. Falling in love sounds like a foghorn because once it happens, you can't avoid it.
9. A dentist’s drill feels like a keyboard because the clicking away can translate to pain.
10. Tomato soup tastes like bleeding hearts because

Out of the dark we came into the...

Out of the dark, we came onto the brightly lit room. Spotlights blinded us all.  It was time for our final band concert of the year. There were squeals and cheers coming from the crowd as everyone clapped because our band was climbing onto the stage. Normally it would be dangerous to have had that many people in one room, but the crafty directors made everyone fit by cramming in extra chairs and having people stand. We began playing our first song. The ecstatic trumpet player played a wonderful solo that everyone enjoyed. He reeked of immense talent and determination. After we played three other songs, everyone cheered and really enjoyed the concert. It was a good way to end the year.

Change Poem

Freshman:
Lost,
Roaming
The
Halls
Trying
To
Figure
Out
Where
And
What
To
Be

Sophomore:
Slowly
Figuring
Out
What
It
Means
To
Be
Apart
Of
Something
Bigger

Junior:
Change,
Learning
About
What
It
Means
To
Be
A
Scholar

Senior:
Figuring
Out
The
Rest
Of
My
Life

Bucket List

• Hike at least part of the Grand Canyon
• Walk beginning to end on the Camino de Santiago
• Go jetskiing
• Fall in love
• Get my Phd
• Join the Peace Corps
• Learn how to play saxaphone
• Be fluent in German
• Buy a house
• Live in Europe until I miss the United States
• Have kids (maybe)
• Live near my cousin, sister, and best friend, at the same time.
• Be the leader of something important to me.
• Learn about all the different religions.
• Learn four different languages
• Celebrate Mardi Gras in the South

Limerick

There was a young girl named Morgan
She wanted to learn the organ
She'd play and she'd play
And all the people would say
Hearing you is quite the bargin!

Hello, ten years from now.

I jolt out of a deep sleep because of the blaring of my annoying alarm. It's just another typical day. I'll crawl out of bed and look out the window of my apartment at the snowy mountains of Denver, Colorado. I have class in a couple of hours at the local Grad School. Because I was in the Peace Corps for two years, I got some money to be able to attend Grad School to work toward a degree. After class, I'll be heading off to my job/internship that is helping me save up money for when I am done with Grad School. I'm hoping I'll be able to travel ocassionally with money I earn until I want to settle down and/or get a job that pays enough for me to have a sense of adventure throughout my life.

Ode to cookie dough

Ode to cookie dough.
It calls to me
From the fridge
Squeezing from the tube to get "just a bit"
Or scraping the sides of the mixer
Ignore salmonella!
The risks of food poisoning are trifles in comparison
To the delirious happiness
That cookie dough brings.

Embarassing Moment

One time over the summer, I was about to pump gas into my Dad's car. I wasn't very familiar with his car because I don't drive it very often, so I wasn't quite what sure what side the gas cap was on. I took a wild guess first. Turns out I was wrong. A guy at the next pump over started laughing at me. Then I turned the car to the other side but I hadn't done that right either so the gas cap still wasn't on the right side of the gas pump. The guy just kept watching and tried not to laugh. On the third try, I figured out how to get the car in the right position and pumped the gas and the guy kept staring at me like I was a huge idiot teenager(which I probably was at that moment). When I went into the gas station and the clerk made some comment about how I was having an off day. Overall, I felt like a huge idiot but that wore off after I left because I knew I probably wasn't going to see those people again (hopefully). We all have our moments.

Lyrics Assignment

Song Title: The Scientist 

Artist: Coldplay 

1. Why did you choose this song? Why is it important to you?

I chose this song because I heard it a while ago and it has been able to match how I’ve felt about many situations in which I’ve felt I was losing my grip. Right now, it pretty much sums up how I feel about a friendship I have with a really close friend who recently moved. It reminds me that things in life can change, and it won’t be easy, but we’ll always pull through what is thrown at us.

2. What is the story in the lyrics?

Chris Martin (member of Coldplay) felt as if their album that was about to be released was missing something. The whole band came up with this song and found that it made their album complete. The song itself is about a person who is shocked by the fact that the power of love cancels out all Science and fact. The song starts out with an apology to Love and tells a story of how the “Scientist” just wants to start over with Love.

3. What is the structure?

This song is mainly in free verse but has longer vowel sounds at the end of most sentences which drag out the end of each idea in the song.

4. What is the emotional tone or mood?

The tone of this song is mainly reflective because the meaning of the song intends for more thoughts to branch off for the listener to contemplate about love and life.

5. What is the message or lesson?

The message this song sends is that as much knowledge as a person may have, they may not know what they are getting into when they are confronted with love.

6. What is the intention of this piece of music?

The intention of this piece of music is to spark contemplative thought about one’s life. It has open-ended meaning and can be applied in many situations. It is an easy song to listen to because it’s slow and the lyrics have something everyone can relate to.

Allie
Curious, caring, light-hearted, loving
Sister of Heather
Lover of exploration, conversation, music
Feels excited for her future
Needs support for her ideas
Gives loyalty, and honesty
Fears boredom, being overwhelmed, and not being good enough
Would like to see everyone happy
Resident of the World
Moore

You are walking down the street and out runs a zebra, you hear a roar and then out strolls a lion. It turns and looks your way…

I jumped into the local coffee shop. The store manager looked very concerned and cocked their head and looked at me with extreme worry. Sweat dripped down my forehead. Was no one else afraid? This lion probably wanted us all for its lunch. It seemed as if the world was frozen and no one else but me knew what was going on. I panicked. I told the manager what was going on, and he definitely did not believe me. Though when I think about it, I probably wouldn't have believed me. Soon enough, I saw the lion through the small window of the coffee shop. The manager saw the lion and belted out a shrill scream, not quite knowing what to do from there. We heard sirens from down the street. We turned on the TV and heard news of animals from the nearby zoo being released by some crazy animals rights activist. No one had any idea whatsoever of how that was possible. Shortly after that, we saw a giraffe, hippo, and a rhino all walking down the street. All we could do was hope that someone would be able to help put the animals back in the zoo.

Road Trip Haiku

Road trips can be fun
For those who like adventure
Make sure you have gas

Hey, thanks!

Morgan -
Even though you live in Washington and I'm here in Minnesota, I've always considered you to be one of my best friends. I know I can trust you with absolutely anything. We have the type of friendship that doesn't need a lot of attention. We don't need to talk everyday to stay as close as we are. Thanks for giving me advice when I've really needed it. In a lot of cases you've been the only one who really gets what I'm going through. Even when I've felt like I've really messed up something, you remind me to keep my head up and remember who I am. You are my second sister. I've always appreciated your loyalty, honesty, and the fact that we always have fun when we're together. Anyone would be lucky to have a friend like you. Even though we only see each other maybe twice a year (if we're lucky), you're still my best friend.

Memorable Experiences

• Meeting my cousin for the first time after she was born.
• Breakups
• Great Aunt's death
• Dad's car accident
• First day of high school
• Family Problems
• Getting into colleges
• Going to Spain
• Italian Camp
• Sister moving to Arizona
• Kayaking
• Marching Band
• Visiting colleges
• Chinese food
• Road trips

Beauty

My favorite view in the world is in Suquamish, Washington. It's a small town right off of the Puget Sound. If you turn off the main road and into a culd-a-sac, you have a clear view of the water. Nothing stands in the way of an extremely beautiful view of the water, evergreen trees, Mt. Rainier, and the distant skyline of Seattle. You can go down on the beach to just sit and stare out in peace. Being there reminds me of all my favorite things about being in Washington in the summers: boating on Puget Sound with my Grandparents, adventuring around Seattle, and being in nature.

Creative Writing

I'm excited to learn about different types of writing while I am in Creative Writing class. I want to learn how my writing differs from when I am writing poems to when I am writing a story or other kinds of works. I'm looking forward to free write about whatever I am feeling on a given day. It will also be interesting to learn about blogging and how to use technology to aid writing.