Scared, Revision

Sep8

I decided to write a short story based on one of my ZOOMING IN entries.

In a humble home, on the upper east side of Manhattan, Jenn, a teenage girl, was running up the phone bill, talking to her best friend, Jill.”So anyway, he said that and I’m like, oh my gosh, like did you really just ask me that? Johnny is so clueless.” The lights flickered and the phone connection crackled, “Mum! What was that noise?… MUM?!”
Becoming annoyed at her non-responding mother, Jenn, still on the phone, decided to walk down to her mothers room and demand an explanation for why she was being ignored, but when she stepped out of her doorway, an icy breeze brushed past her shoulder. “I’ll call you back Jill.” She set the phone down and looked around the hallway. “Frank, if you’re trying to scare me, knock it off.” Frank was her little brother, he was 9, and always trying to prank her because she forget his birthday 4 years in a row.
The phone, on its stand next to the light, started making loud crackling noises in short outbursts every second. “Frank! It’s not working,” she banged on the door hard, it’s hinges creaking,” come out here right now! Frank!” She stood even closer and knocked harder.

Just behind her, icy fingers softly grazed her neck, sending chills down her spine, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up. “You’ve gone too far! Let me in!”
The phone line crackled again, but this time, more vigorously. Only a second after, the yellow lamp (the only lamp in the hallway) started shaking on the table, it shook so much that it fell on the ground, shattering to pieces.
She opened a draw and fumbled around for a flashlight and two double AA batteries. Swiftly, the batteries slid into the slot.
The torch clicked on, and she saw a shadow- but it wasn’t hers, it had long pointy fingernails, a long black robe, and no hair.

Even though she knew that she shouldn’t walk any closer, Jenn seemed to be pulled into a trance the shadow had put on her from around the corner, she just had to know what was back there. Her heart remained stable and hypnotized. The frozen fingers clasped the width of her neck and started to squeeze until she screamed and her ears started ringing.
With the most forceful tug, she managed to release the grip from the dark silhouette. Her left foot tripped over the right one, resulting in her stumbling into, and pushing open, her brothers door, where she ran to close the door behind her.

Heart rate slowing, she turned around… but she shouldn’t have. Her brother lay in his bed, looking peaceful. Then Jenn blinked and looked again, the figure had poised a knife above Franks temple. Then- in slow motion, she ran towards the figure and pushed him out of the window, which was cracked open, letting in a icy breeze. Still, she had not completely succeeded, the knife had rammed into the center of her silk pajamas, she then fell on her brothers red sheets, the last thing she said was, “happy birthday” 4 times.

Reflection: Seventh Grade

May12

When I first arrived in August, I excepted to have trouble trying to follow the strict dress code rules, seeming as my clothes that I had were spaghetti straps, but most people (including me) figured out ways to dress around the code. By October, my life at school was an easy routine to follow, and I had bought all of my clothes to fit the rules.
Eventually, I figured out that as long as you try to follows the code- and really try, you may be able to get away with more things.
In seventh grade, I learned;
1. The STAAR test is way easier than expected.
2. You wIll start to figure out what kind of friend group that you fit into.
And 3. Dress code is not too hard to follow.

As the year comes to a close, I begin to wonder how this year (academic and social wise) will affect next year. Although this year had it ups and downs, I would not- if given the chance- choose to repeat it. Since mistakes can turn into good things.
If I had to give any incoming sixth graders advice on seventh grade, I would tell them to always look past the negative experiences, and live in the moment with good experiences. Oh! And I would let them know that they should not be pushing the dress code too far.

Leadership

Apr30

A leader is described by a person who leads a group.
In order to be a good leader in life, you need to have certain skills that can be balanced evenly.
You need to have intelligence, but not too much, or you may start over-analysing situations, and use. Infusing words to tweak equivocate situations.
You can NEVER use violence, or people will start to be scared of you, and live their lives in fear.

But there is a lot of pressure on leaders to do the right things, if they make one slip-up when they are in a conference meeting, or signing a law, they can be judged, and never trusted again.
I could never personally be a leader, I wouldn’t be able to handle all of the pressure set on my shoulders to do the right thing, but I do look up to them anyways.

Favourite Poem

Apr21

SEVEN WAYS OF LOOKING AT AN ORANGE

by Rich Accetta-Evans

1
“One orange Section
Standing for the whole.

2
Two of them
their thin wet skins
adhering gently.

3
A long white string of pulp
pulled
from the mouth
of the naked orange.

4
The translucent orange body
holds
opaque and pointed seeds.

5
The setting sun
is hotter
And drier than an orange.

6
The orange peel is gone,
a soft white coat remains.

7
Orange peel and eggshell
Among the coffe grounds.”

September 14, 1994

I really do like this poem, although I don’t like poetry. The poem shows different ways to look at an orange, but it may make you have different ways to see the world.

Spirit; Stallion of the Cimmarion

Apr11


Spirit. It was a name of which I was familiar with. A name from my childhood. A horses name to be more precise.

This horse inspired me to have courage, bravery and some people may not know this but- this movie is the reason why I started riding horses. Spirit belong to a herd. And he is the leader, his coat is golden that has a black line going down his spine (see incised in video). One day, he wanders off and gets captured by cowboys. From there on, he is made to go to a ranch and be tamed, branded, but along the way, he meets an Indian who is determined to escape and get Spirits’ trust, which he does when he helps him get out, along with all of the other horses.
Then, he meets Rain and they obviously fall in love, he saves her life and all that stuff. Blah blah blah.

Spirit was definitely my number 1 favorite movie! Still is.

Austin, Texas

Mar24

Austin is a great city where the races and culture vary. It is just the right amount of crazy and sane.
Except maybe, it is becoming too much like a ‘steel city’, meaning that all of the buildings are being knocked down, and turned into condos for easier transport throughout the different streets. Austin is becoming more of a tourist attraction (even though more concerts are held on Dallas and Houston!) if you happen to come here, visit the Alamo Drafthouse, it serves dinner and a movie with lots of leg room, unlike most theaters, and they have great chocolate cookies for dessert.

6th Street has the most diversity in different cultures. There are tattoo places, bars, but don’t get me wrong, it is a great place to bring family and kids. Go to the costume stores, restaurants, or live music.
I think that you should come check Austin, TX out ASAP.

Scared *DO NOT READ IN THE DARK OR ALONE*

Mar5

I decided to write a short story based on one of my ZOOMING IN entries.

The yellow lights flickered above Jenn’s head. Probably just the automatic sprinklers, they come on every night at 10:03, trying to water the bone dry ground. Jenn, the oldest child of the house, was on the phone to her best friend, Jill, “So anyway, he said that and I’m like, oh my gosh, like did you really just ask me to do that? Johnny is so clueless.” The lights flickered again, and the phone connection crackled, “Mum! I don’t think we need to water the grass! It’s not going to help!” No reply.
Still on the phone, Jenn decided to walk down to her mothers room and aggravate her more, but when she stepped out of her doorway, an icy breeze brushed past her shoulder. “I’ll call you back Jill.” She set the phone down and looked around the hallway. “H-hello? Frank, if you’re trying to scare me, knock it off.” Frank was her little brother, he was 9, and always trying to prank her because she was 4 years older than him. The phone, on its stand next to the light, started making loud crackling noises in short outbursts every second. “Frank! It’s not working! Come out here right now!” She knocked on his door that was covered in superhero merchandise. “Frank!” She stood even closer and knocked harder. Just behind her, icy fingers softly grazed her neck. “You’ve gone too far! Let me in!”
The phone line crackled again, but this time, more vigorously. A split second later, the yellow lamp started shaking on the table, it shook so much that the only light source in the middle of the dark hallway- went out.
Remembering that there was a flash light in the tables long draw, she opened it and fumbled around for the flashlight and two double AA batteries. Swiftly, the batteries slid into the slot.
The torch clicked on, she saw a shadow- but it wasn’t hers.

In a second, Jenn seemed to be pulled into a trance and walk closer to the shadow from around the corner, she did not know what she was doing. Her heart remained stable and hypnotized. The frozen fingers clasped the width of her neck and started to squeeze until she screamed and her ears started ringing.
With the most forceful tug, she managed to release the grip from the dark silhouette. Her left foot tripped over the right one, resulting in her stumbling into, and pushing open, her brothers door, where she ran to close the door behind her.

Heart rate slowing, she turned around- but she shouldn’t have. Her brother lied in his bed, looking peaceful. Then Jenn blinked and looked again, the figure had poised a knife above Franks temple. Then- in slow motion, she ran towards the figure and pushed him out of the window, which was cracked open, letting in a icy breeze. Still, she had not completely succeeded, the knife had rammed into the center of her silk pajamas, she then died on her brothers red sheets. Fortunately, the silhouette had not survived the fall from the 3 story window.

Animal Slaughter

Feb11

BOOM! Another animal was just shot for a pointless reason. Imagine how you would feel if you were killed for food.

First of all, when chickens are sent to the slaughter homes, they are tied to a rotating post by their feet, but if they move the slightest bit, they can fall onto a moving conveyer belt underneath them and be burned alive. So if I were to come to your house, tie your feet together and burn you to death- you wouldn’t be able to say anything, because I would be treating you like factory workers are treating the chickens. Who would want that horrible job?

In addition to that, let’s talk about how veal is made…
When baby cows are born, they are taken away from their mothers just to be locked in a tiny stall, that they have to stay in for the rest of their lives, without EVER seeing the sunlight. In some places, they are underfed, and in some others, they are over fed. Now they have spent their lives in that 1 stall with no room to move and sometimes even sit!! But the worst part is, the only time they can stretch their legs are when they are being taken to the slaughter house. Imagine that are you are stuck in a safe room for you WHOLE life.

In conclusion, I think that we (as humans) should reeducate the amount of meat intake that we consume. Animals should be treated like us, not like a foreign invader who is a serial killer!

Surprise

Feb7

“Surprise!!” Everyone yelled from their hiding places. Amy looked shocked even though she had known about her party for over three months now.
Her parents spoke loudly on the phone when Amy was just in the next room, “so I was thinking that for her birthday party, we should get chocolate cake- it’s her favorite.” By that time, she was rolling her eyes in disgust, chocolate was her least favorite flavor in the whole wide world. And if she wanted to lose three pounds AFTER her birthday, she would. But now the 5 layer cake was well- caked with assorted frosting and multicolored sprinkles with the picture of her and when she had met Dora the Explorer the one time at a fair.

“And there should party hats, you can’t have a pary without party hats. Well… Maybe you can. How about I sing The Party Song?” The Party Song was what Amy had made up when she could first speak, it was much too literal and long.

Even though she had to put her Game Face on, and pretend like EVERTHING was going fine, people still believed her.
And at 10:30pm, everyone was singing around the cake joyfully, of course after she had licked of the edible Dora the Explorer photo.

Zooming In

Feb1

She was frightened. All the lights were out.
Her eyes showed a deer in headlights- the kind that stay frozen like a statue. She fumbled around the bedside table, looking for those darn double AA batteries. Power in her house was always unstable, but it had never just gone out before. The flashlight clicked on, she saw a shadow.

She was sad, her grandma had just passed away.
Funerals always brought out the other side of people- like for Kathy, she was always upbeat and cheery, but now she wasn’t- she wasn’t herself- she was crying. Hymns were next in the ceremony, she grasped her speech tightly in her hands, there were water drops covering up the words. She decided to put away the speech and make a longer, more important one instead.

He felt guilty.
Nothing could erase what he did, not even the biggest eraser he could find. He never meant to do it. He never meant to hurt her, yet he did, and she will never forget that. Never.

She was hurt.
The needle pierced through her delicate flesh. She looked stunned at first- not able to talk. Then the blood started coming, she started to cry in fear and pain. “Mum!”