“Etiwanda Soccer Tryouts” by Vannah R

     This girl named Cierra was the best soccer player you could ever watch play. High
school tryouts were coming up and she was confident in herself that she could make
varsity as a freshman. Tryouts were just in a few weeks. Her grades were one thing that
stopped her. Our report cards come out a week before tryouts. She checked her grades,
and her GPA was a 1.6. She tried desperately to bring up her grades as soon as possible.
To be eligible to play soccer you need a 2.0 GPA. The next day Cierra had tests and she
didn’t study for any of them. She found out that she passed all of them with at least B.
Few days later Cierra got her report card and her GPA was still not high enough, it was at
a 1.8. That same day were tryouts and we had to give coach our report cards. Cierra was
very talented and the coach wanted her but her GPA just wasn’t high enough. Coach told
cierra he wanted her on varsity and so that meant she didn’t have to worry about her
grades. So, eventually we find out that she made varsity and her parents were proud of
her but cierra never told them about her grades.The school then sent out report cards in
the mail and cierra’s parents looked at it. They were very shocked and immediately pulled
her out of school soccer and the coach got fired. Cierra didn’t play soccer until her GPA
was over a 2.0. In her junior year of high school she picked up her grades and her GPA
was 3.5. The last day of school in her junior year she got a letter saying she got accepted
to a division 1 college, she thanked her parents that same day and continued to work
hard on both her academics and soccer.

" The Old Commination of the Sick" by Alexis M.

Normally, when I help Mrs. Tate she will give me extra time to watch the
television so i help out as much as i can. The nurses here are nice but they are
watchful. They are always in a rush that's why i always try to keep out of the way. I'm in
room A16 the children's ward the adults ward is across the hallway. I have tried to get
in it but it is blocked with metal gates. One kid Ansgar claims to have seen it before and
says they tell stories of the place being cursed but he lies like a cheap watch. Ansgar
may lie a lot but he’s still my buddy. During our playing hour Ansgar and me decide to
play ball. Just as we are about to play Larissa another kid from the ward decides to
keep taunting Ansgar about the time he peed his bed. It was his first night here at
Commination of the Sick so it was unfair for her to bring up the event. I asked her to
leave but she stayed instead. I threw the ball at Larissa hitting her in the face. She falls
onto the floor and starts crying. I run through the hallway into the storage room. I close
the door quietly and start climbing the the loose cabinets shelves. I reach the top and
open up the ceiling door hearing Mrs. Tate trying to calm down Larissa. I hop on the
wooden planks that surround the small 4ft room. Nobody knows of this room i only
found out about it a few weeks ago when i was setting the food on the shelves. I had
tossed up a can of soup hitting the ceiling door, it's nearly invisible. I hear Ansgar and a
few others calling out my name Ansgar saying “ Albin Mrs. Tate wants to speak to you!
She's says you are in no trouble but must apologize.” I shake my head and laugh
reenacting me throwing the ball but i accidently hit the wall with enough force to create a
hole. I hold my hand in agony trying to hold in my tears. I look at my hand sure that a
bruise will likely form. I angrily look at the wall and notice a light peeking as i crawl
closer. I hear the door open to the storage room followed by heavy breathing. Frozen,
there’s nothing but silence. The ceiling door starts shaking rapidly as whoever is down
there is banging on it. I forget my hand and turn my body around to try to kick the wall
with my foot. The wall takes no chance to defend itself. Once i break through i can see a
light emitting from the vent cover on the side of an air duct. I can remember Mrs. Tate
saying the vents did not work and they could not afford to fix them. I peeked through the
vent cover that reveals the hallway. I listen and the sounds of children whispering. I start
to move into the darkness trying to reach whatever was on the other side of the air duct.
I knew if i did go back down to face Mrs. Tate it would not end good. I crawl forward and
the air duct seems to be going down instead of up. Five minutes pass and hear the
metal creak loudly and suddenly it breaks apart. Falling down i hold onto the walls then
the air duct hits something and i fly to the top of the air duct hitting the back of my head.
I regain focus a few seconds later and realized the air duct is sinking into water. Not
able to think i use all my strength to catapult out and the water engulfs me. I try to swim
but the water drags me down. I fight the water but find myself sinking even further into
the water. The water drags me under and i can feel it infect my lungs as i try to gasp for
air. My vision gets blurry, i cannot remember anything else. I wake up in a room holding
my chest from the pain. The room is too dark to see anything but as my eyes start to
focus in the dark. I can see tall figures walking towards me. Frightened, i try to stand up
but fall to the ground. The figures get closer and surround me. I cover my eyes and feel
the cold fingers on my skin. They try to grab me but suddenly the ground falls in and all
of us fall into the endless pit. I wake up once again but to Mrs. Tate smiling and asking
me how am i feeling. “What happened?” i asked “Well after you threw the ball at
Larissa’s face you started to run but did not notice the cord to the television and tripped”
replied Mrs. Tate, who then sets a glass of water on my nightstand. “Wherewhere’s
Ansgar can he come in here?” i stuttered. “You need to rest and Ansgar or any other
disruptions will interfere with that” smirked Mrs. Tate. She closed the door to the room. I
laid there trying to make sense of what happened. I started to feel the pain in my chest
again and reached for the glass of water on the nightstand hoping it would cure the
pain. Once my hand was out reaching for the glass. I noticed a bruise on my hand.
Puzzled, I looked towards the door and there stood Mrs. Tate smiling.

" The Proposal" by Kiyah M

     Today was the day. It was June 4th and I decided I wanted this special moment to befall
under the light of the stars and fireworks. I told the love of my life to meet me at Le Colonial .
She thinks it just an ordinary anniversary dinner. She was now on her way so I grabbed the ring
case, made sure the ring was in there, and left. I fixed my tux up and called my planner that I
hired because this had to be perfect.
When I was about to drive off I got an unexpected call. I answered and there was a
woman's voice, “Jason Linse?.”
“This is him,”.
“I’m Natalie, from Kaiser Permanente hospital, I’m sorry to inform you that your girlfriend
Melanie Carver is currently in the hospital due to a car accident.”
I felt as if someone hit me in the heart. I instantly freaked out “,Oh my gosh, is...is she okay!?”
“She's in a coma facing incredible damage, you should come in as soon as possible.”
“Okay I'll be there soon.”
My body was quivering, I rushed over to Kaiser and peaked in the window of her room
she was just laying there, eyes closed.
It's been hours since I've been here and she's still in a coma. All of her family is here
now and we're finally allowed to see her. I grasped onto the soft small case in my hand the
whole time until Melanie’s Aunt said that everyone has seen her, that I can go in now.
I looked at her just lying there for a really long time. I took her hand and and grasped it
with mine and laid on her chest feeling and hearing her heartbeat and began to pray. I looked
back up at her and said,“Please don't leave me.” I took out the box and slid out the ring and
softly said “,Melanie Carver, I've loved you since the first time I saw you freshman year, I could
tell you that you're smart no...intelligent, and beautiful, rare, but come on, you already know that.
I love waking up with you as the sun creeps in and hits your face glowing up your eyes and then
you smile that amazing smile that I absolutely live for. You light up my world and if you don't
mind I would like to see that smile everyday…can you light up my world even more and become
my wife.” Two slow beeps came up on the electrocardiogram, it was kinda weird but I ignored it.
I slide the ring on her finger and I smiled and began to cry. I layed on her stomach again and
started to sob uncontrollably. A couple minutes later I felt a hand touch my hair and the words “I
will”. I was so confused I was the only one here and I didn't hear anyone come in, till it hit me,
the voice came from Melanie’s direction. I looked up and saw that her eyes was open and she
touched my face and said once more “,I will.”

“I Love You” by Madison B

     I was walking home from work one night on the phone with my boyfriend when out of the blue he asked me if I loved him. I honestly didn’t know if I did I mean we had only been dating for a few months. Every time I asked why he was asking he would talk over me and ask me over and over if I loved him. I told him that I didn’t love him because it was too soon and suddenly the line went dead. I was so confused why he had asked after only a couple of months… did he love me? When I got home I was so tired I just went to bed without any thoughts of the crazy phone call I just had. When I woke up the next morning I was startled to see the long message I had from my boyfriend. It said “Hey baby I’m sorry for acting so strange on the phone I just had to know if you felt the same way… I’ve loved you since the day I laid my eyes on you. You’re my life, my world, my everything. I understand that it’s soon but I love you and if people ask about us I’ll tell them were fine. See you soon love.” After reading his message I realized how blind I was and knew that I had to tell him soon that I loved him back, so I threw on clothes as fast as I could and drove to his house. When I got there I was instantly worried when I saw an ambulance and a few cop cars outside. When I knocked on the door I was surprised to see his mom crying. I asked her what was wrong but she didn’t answer she only hugged me and cried harder while muttering incoherent words. My heart stopped when I saw her move away for the paramedics to pull my boyfriend out of the house strapped to a gurney. When I turned back to ask her what happened I saw her and her husband busy with the cops so I followed the ambulance to the hospital and waited and waited and waited until finally the doctor call me and his parents over. I asked him if he was okay and all he said was that they tried as hard as they could to save him. That’s when I tuned everything out and fell to the floor screaming and crying asking the doctor for it not to be true. I jolted awake when I heard someone yell, “ANNIE WAKE UP! WAKE UP LOVE!!” when I opened my eyes I saw my boyfriend and I started crying happy tears knowing that I was only dreaming. I hugged him as tight as I could and looked up at him and said “I love you, I love you so much.” He looked at me like I was crazy but smiled, kissed my forehead, and said “I love you too, now let’s get back to sleep.” Before I fell asleep I whispered “never let me go babe I love you to the moon and back, forever and always.”

“Would Everything Be Different?” By Valarie L

Always having to move around is tiring, but it’s not so bad sometimes. I have always wondered what would happened if we never moved. What would I be like? Who would I hang out with? Would everything be different from how it is now?

In my past years, I have moved 6 times. However, there are many people who have moved more than I have. Even though moving has caused me to always have to make new friends and cope with the new environment, I have always told myself that there is a reason for why we move. I have met many people that influenced me and helped me build up my confidence as a person. If we had not moved around so much I wouldn’t have found such loving and caring friends. I wouldn’t have met all these wonderful teachers that helped me overcome my years in school. Every time I entered into a new school, I was this shy new girl that could barely talk to people. Moving makes you realize how many wonderful people there are in the world. The people I met were so nice and loving, they helped me be more comfortable and more outgoing.

If I hadn’t moved so much, I think I would be so different. I would be so much shyer and I probably wouldn’t talk to anyone. If I just stayed in one place, I wouldn’t have ever learned how to cope with a new and different environment. On the other hand, I would’ve been a lot closer to all my old friends. I would’ve been able to grow up with them and know them a lot more. After moving so much, I have discovered that all teachers teach differently, so if I didn’t move I wouldn’t have been able to experience so many different ways of teaching. Moving has allowed me to travel a lot because different areas had different amusement parks, scenery, etc. I used to live in such a cold area and now I live here, which is so much warmer than where I used to live. If I stayed in that area, I think I wouldn’t be used to the warmth at all. The weather was so different from where I used to live and where I live now, so I got a lot of allergies, which caused me to get sick very easily.

The thing I hated the most about moving is how I had to always make new friends and leave them in like 1 or 2 years. I didn’t mind making new friends, but the thought of always having to leave these new friends sucked. However, if I hadn’t moved, I wouldn’t have met the awesome friends I have now. So far, I have been in the area for 4 years, which is the longest I have stayed in one area. Overall, I’m glad to know that I won’t be moving anytime soon.

"?" by Deborah F

I caught him staring once again. And as expected, he turned his head away from me.
Typical, I thought. I sighed, continuing my work. About a minute later, he was looking my way
again. I was becoming agitated. I turned towards him and stared back. Except I didn’t have the
same blank expression he had. I gave him a face that said “What do you want?” He rolled his
eyes and turned away yet again. This brat! Matthew, the one I always catch glancing at me, does
this routine every single day. Looks at me. Once I notice, looks away. Soon afterwards he starts
looking again. I show my annoyance, and he gives me a rude gesture which furthers my agitation
with him. He started doing all of this after second semester began. The first time I noticed him
looking at me, I thought he was looking at someone else. I soon realized it was me that he was
fixated on. I assumed he had a crush on me or something like that. But it didn’t take me very
long to figure out that this was not the case. Well, it at least didn’t seem like so. One day, I
returned his gaze. He looked away. I wasn’t really surprised with this, so I looked away as well.
But once he saw that I was no longer looking at him, he started looking at me again! I was
definitely baffled with this action. I looked at him with a perplexed face. He then narrowed his
eyes at me and gave a look closely resembling a glare. He turned away. I was now slightly
angered. Who did this boy think he was? Unfortunately for me, this continued just about every
day. On some days I would pay no attention to him at all. On others, I showed my annoyance
with him. He then always gave me an impudent glance in return. I eventually found out his name
and also found out that he was a senior, just like me. We both were in our last year of high
school. But the fact that he is a senior is very obvious since he shares a few classes with me, a
senior. I never met him before nor noticed him and most likely would never have if he didn’t
start this stupid routine of his. I don’t even know why he does what he does. Like I stated before,
I made assumptions, but they did not seem too likely to be true. I have Matthew for two of my
classes. Math and art, my elective. I also have him for lunch but I usually never see him during
this period. I encountered him a couple of times during lunch but I just ignored him. I don’t
know if he ignored me though.
Math class, first period. I walked in and sat down in my assigned seat. Another day, I
thought. I was waiting somewhat impatiently for my last year of high school to end. We are in
the last three months of school. It is currently the middle of March. I never really enjoyed high
school as much as others. To begin with, I don’t have many friends. I have a couple of people I
chat with in certain periods but no one to hang out with. However, I never perceived this as an
issue. I find people to be quite a hassle most of the time anyways. I don’t enjoy school much not
because of the lack of communication between me and my peers, but mostly because school feels
more unnecessary than it should be. The curriculum taught by the school comes off as
nonsensical to me. It has felt like this ever since my freshman year. Despite the fact that I feel
this way, I don’t complain too much about it. I do very well in school and that is all that matters
to me. As I was contemplating all of this, a familiar face walked in the classroom door. It was
none other than Matthew. I forgot to mention that he sits on the seat to my right in math class. In
art class, he sits further down the rows of desks, which is a relief. As he walked toward his desk,
he looked my way. I looked at him and gave a frown. He scoffed and sat down. I rolled my eyes
at his unnecessary but usual attitude. We had five minutes till class started. There were a couple
of other students in class but not many. Most students wait in the school’s quad till the bell rings.
This made me wonder why Matthew comes in class before it is time to. I figured he has friends
to hang out with. Or maybe he is like me. I turned my head towards his direction. He was staring.
“Why are you staring at me?” I whispered at him. This was the first time I ever spoke to him. To
my huge surprise, he responded. “Because I can.” Still bewildered that he actually responded, I
quickly composed myself and spoke back. “I don’t care if you can, it’s annoying.” “Do
something about it then,” he said. I was shocked even further. “Is that a challenge?” I responded,
trying to keep my voice low. He smirked. “You are more interesting than I thought, Caroline.”
“Huh?” I said, confused. “How do you know my name? And what do you mean by
‘interesting’?” “We’re both in the same class. It doesn’t take a genius to find out someone’s
name, genius.” “Whatever,” I replied. “You didn’t answer my second question.” “Hmm,” he
said. “Don’t need to.” I was mad now. “Stop being a brat, and answer my qu”
the bell rang
before I could finish. Matthew faced forward. That answer of his upset me for the rest of the day.
What kind of trouble and level of annoyance will this kid bring me in the future?

“Cinnamon” by Michael R.

            I woke up to the sound of pebbles being thrown at my window. I opened it up and stuck my head out to see Cinnamon standing in my front lawn. “’bout time you woke up! Come on, man, get your money and we’ll head out.” I didn’t know what she wanted, and it was way too early in the morning to ask questions, so I just put on some clothes and pocketed the 6 bucks I had been saving. I looked up at my calendar: November 25^th, 1967. Today was circled in red marker. I wonder why. I moved downstairs and poured myself a bowl of cereal when I heard a commotion outside. I opened my front door to see Cinnamon and Mrs. H. yelling at each other from across the street. All I could catch was Mrs. H. saying “Just get outta here, you hippie trash!” Then she just turned and went into her house. Cinnamon looked obviously hurt, so I gave her a hug and said “Don’t let her bring you down, she just doesn’t understand.” We walked down our street and into town, which was totally empty. It was unsettling, like it was awaiting a coming storm. Cinnamon said “What’s Mrs. H.'s problem?” “I hear she lost her husband in the war.” “Really?” “Yeah, haven’t you seen it on TV, all those soldiers with their arms blown off. It’s terrible.” “That’s no way to die.” “It’s not.” We continued our thought provoking conversation until we reached Mr. Vinyl’s Record Shop in the town mall. Then I remembered, we were gonna buy some records to listen to on our sleepover tonight. We went inside and were looking through some albums when we were met by our friend Daniel. “Hey, did you guys hear?” “What, what did we hear?” “There’s gonna be an anti-war protest down on vine street tonight. You guys in?” “Yeah, were in.” We said bye to our friend, bought our vinyl, and walked back to my house. Our night just got more interesting. Luckily, Mrs. Haggarty wasn’t at her position on the porch, so she couldn’t torment us. We listened to our music until nightfall. I told my parents that we were going to sleep. We actually climbed out of my bedroom window and we were in the street in no time. I kinda felt bad about lying to my parents, but they would never let me go out this late. We made our way to vine street and we were greeted by a group of I think 70 people that were dressed in tie-dye and armed with signs that said things like “END THE WAR” and “FLOWER POWER.” Even late at night there were still a bunch of on-lookers. It was obvious that word had got out that there was gonna be a protest. Basically, we just stood around, waving our signs. Nothing hard. The moon was bright in the night sky, and the streetlight’s orange glow illuminated the city streets. We stood in front of the town’s recruiting office. It was a perfect place to protest the war. Me and Cinnamon kinda hung out there for about 2 hours, telling the occasional person that we were here because we believed that the war was immoral and unnecessary, when the police showed up. They had asked us to leave. Some of the hippies told them that they can’t tell us what to do. I felt the same way, but I didn’t like the way the police looked at us. They asked us one more time. Out of the crowd I heard “Why don’t you make us!” Me and Cinnamon looked at each other, and then back at the crowd. Things got out of control very, very fast. The cops came at us with batons and gun-butts, and they didn’t hesitate to smack, hit, and beat every hippie there. There was screaming and I had stepped in a puddle of blood. Time seemed to slow to a crawl, all I could hear was “Ahhhhhhhh!” coming from all directions. People were bumping into me left and right, and I lost my balance. I righted myself and frantically ran around, looking for Cinnamon and trying to dodge punches and baton swings. I didn’t notice that she had been tugging at my sleeve the entire time. When I finally noticed her, I grabbed her hand and we ran out of that chaos as fast as we could and we didn’t stop running until I finally tripped over a crack in the sidewalk. We were already on our street. As soon as I caught my breath, I got up off the ground and gave Cinnamon the tightest hug I had ever given anyone, thankful that she had gotten out of there unharmed. We walked to about the front of my house when we spotted Mrs. H. sitting on her porch. She said “What are ya’ll doing out here at this hour? Don’t you tell me that ya’ll were in that riot!” Still recovering from our misadventure, I remained quiet. Cinnamon spoke up “That’s none of your business!” “Don’t you take a tone with me, you ugly girl! It’s not my fault that all your hippie trash got beat for doing something stupid! I’m glad you all got beat, it should teach ya’ll some manners! You’re all a bunch of idiots!!” “Your glad!!! Do you know how many of our friends got hurt out there!! Do you know how much blood was spilled out there!!” Mrs. H. said in a quiet voice “Still glad.” Cinnamon was furious “Oh, you’re still glad, are you!! Well you know what!! I’M GLAD THAT YOUR HUSBAND DIED IN THAT WAR!!!!!!!!!!!!” What happens next was too much too handle. Mrs. H. had pulled something out of her pocket. Suddenly I heard a loud bang. Then I saw Cinnamon topple over in a puddle of crimson that stained the sidewalk. Blood oozed from her chest. Her eyes were glazed, staring at nothing. I couldn’t believe what I had just witnessed. All I could do look at her. I could her sirens off in the distance, coming closer. I could hear Mrs. H. curse to herself. Then I could hear nothing. It was too much for me to take. I felt myself falling backwards. Then it was dark. I woke up to the sound of pebbles being thrown at my window…

“Fine” By Victoria E

“... but if anyone asks tell them we’re fine.” Lisa told Lex, her best friend, as they were
heading home from the woods. The night before, they told their parents they were going to a
birthday party. Both of their parents agreed to let them go, as long as they were home by 10:00.
Unfortunately, Lisa and Lex did not make it home by 10:00.
Lisa and Lex met by the park. Once they met, they started walking to their friend’s house.
They decided to go through the woods because it was much faster than going by street. As soon
as they started walking into the woods, Lisa told Lex that she had an eerie feeling. Lex reassured
her and said “ There’s nothing to be worried about, this way is much faster..”
After walking less than a mile, they heard a noise. The noise started off as a rattle in the
bushes. The noise kept getting louder and louder, and whatever was causing it was getting closer
and closer. Lisa and Lex looked at each other for a split second and then started sprinting through
the woods.
Lisa tripped over a rock, and Lex tried to quickly help her up, but Lisa could barely move
her leg. Lex looked down at her leg and saw a huge scrape. There was a lot of blood coming out
of her leg. Lex grabbed her handbag and started looking through it in hopes of finding her first
aid kit. Luckily, she found it and started wrapping a band aid around Lisa’s wound. Lex heard
the noise again and told Lisa “Get up fast! I hear it again!”
Then suddenly, they saw a pair of reddish brown eyes peeking at them through the
bushes. They heard a low rumbling voice growling at them. Suddenly, they began to see
whatever was causing the noise, a dog. The dog slowly began walking out of the bushes and
revealed itself. It had foam coming out of it’s mouth and looked dirty and mangled. It was
positioning itself like a tiger getting ready to pounce on it’s prey. Just as it was about to attack
them, they hear a loud “BANG.” The dog collapsed on the floor, just as a tall man began walking
towards them. It was Lisa’s dad.
“Are you two okay?!” he said. “Yes we are now.” said Lisa. “C’mon let’s get you two
home.” Lisa asked “How did you know we were here?” Lisa’s dad said “I heard a rattling sound
and followed it through the woods. I’m just glad you girls are okay. Let’s go home now.” He
and Lex pick up Lisa since she was injured and they all went home. “I’m glad we’re okay.” said
Lex.” “Me too,” said Lisa. “Except you have a scraped leg, so you’re not completely okay Lisa.”
“... but if anyone asks tell them we’re fine.”

"9/11/15" By Destynee T

     We all know September 11th, is an remembrance towards the several lives lost in the first terrorist attack in the United States. For me, I gained a whole new reason to have a love hate relationship towards this day. This day started off as normal as it can be, I have to admit. I did my daily routine then I was off to a place a dread daily (aka school) ,but luckily it was an Friday. Let’s skip the whole talk of what happened at school and to the time after. My mom had told me she had an doctors appointment that day. So here I come into a car filled with silence my only concern was about how horribly wrong my day had gone and myself questioning if I done something wrong. After some mumbles here and there, I decided to ask, “How was the doctor's appointment mom…” That’s when I knew something was weird because both my mother and sister looked to and from each other and said, “We’ll talk about it when we get home.”
     The news I was told shortly after getting home was four simple words a daughter or son never wanted to hear come from their mother's mouth. “I have Breast Cancer…” My mother had said not even seeming sad about it or mildly upset. For me none the less, I was upset more like frustrated and completely scared at that very moment. I did what any teenager would do from receiving this news, I cried my heart out and after talking for a while with my family. I ran upstairs to my room where I just sat there upset at the world.
     Fast forward to right now as I type this. It’s February 19th, one more month and it’s my birthday month. My mother only has two more rounds of chemo. By the time this posted it will be March and that means my mom only has one more round .but back to what I was saying. It’s been a rollercoaster a harsh rollercoaster where you should probably sue someone for all the whiplash. I have to admit, throughout this whole life changing event my mom has been amazing. Yeah, here and there she has those days where all she needs is rest ,but I am glad to say she is my mom. She’s a strong independent women, who has dealt with so much in her life and now she can brag about how she kicked cancers butt. I am not writing this because I simply want sympathy… I am writing this because, my mom is an strong women. If you didn’t know already March is mostly a month dedicated towards strong women who have changed the world. So I decicate this to my mother, Evelyn Torres, a woman who has raised three children on her own with no man’s help and has been my light through the darkest moments.

"Purple Mist" by Eric E

     Years ago in Okinawa Japan lived a young man named Raizo.Raizo was born an
ordinary child who was often picked on because he had purple eyes and that made him
different from the other brown eye children. The bullying was so bad that he considered
suicide so one night he climbed atop an abandoned hotel turned around and leaned
back falling a sheer 25 foot drop on the way down his life flashed before his eyes and
before he hit the floor his purple eyes started glowing and a purple mist emerged from
his eyes rapidly spreading through his whole body and when he was only a few feet
from the ground a portal opened sending him to a dark room he was knocked
unconscious. When Raizo awoke he was still in the dark room then all of the sudden his
eyes started to glow again and the purple mist started to fog up the room he could now
see the room “oh my god” said Raizo “where am i ?” he looked around for a couple of
minutes then he saw an eye scanner so he approached it and put his eye to it. After a
moment of silence lights started to light up a path it's like it wanted Raizo to follow it so
he did and at the end of the hallway he found his corpse. He was in so much shock that
it caused him to wake up. Breathing heavily Raizo said “it was a dream?! Oh thank god
it was all a dream.” He immediately got out of bed and took a look at himself in the
mirror and in the mirror he saw his purple glowing eyes.

"Plausible Death" by Corey C

     It was a very warm Wednesday afternoon in late November, like a lot of days in Fontana, it was
nice and the breeze was light. I was only 10 at the time and very close to turning 11, as my
birthday was on the 14th of December. I remember back at that time I used to go out a lot with
the kids in my neighborhood. It was really fun going out and seeing them every day because we
had a lot of things to entertain us, simple things, riding bikes, the stupid pokemon cards we used
to collect and even just walking around outside and talking. This day I had gone over to my
friend Ezra’s house, and everything seemed to be fine until it started to get later into the
afternoon. Me, Ezra and his little sister decided to go outside and just go to sit down and talk to
each other. Their dad had let their dog out to come out and play with us. We didn’t really play
with the dog until a bit later after he was let out. The dog was a Rottweiler and was very friendly
although I did have a tiny fear of him, I had disregarded it while I was with them. The dog came
out to lay on the grass very close to where I was. Without thinking I quickly got up pushing
towards the dog which was a huge mistake on my part. The dog quickly attacked and I had
clenched my neck and curled up my shoulder and the dog had bit the right side of my lip and
arm. Blood was all over the ground as I was bleeding profusely. The little sister was screaming
as their dad hurried her over to go get my dad as he tried to bandage what he could and take care
of me for a bit. My dad grabbed me and took me back to our house to get in the car and we
rushed over to urgent care. While on the drive there, he of course, asked me questions about what
had happened to me. My shirt was torn down and blood was everywhere on me. We went into
the UC and explained what had happened. Quickly they led me to a room because of my critical
condition. I was there for about an hour and a half. During that time, I was injected with 3 shots,
2 in my arm and one in my face, it hurt a lot and it felt like a bee stinging me. They told me that
the hole in my arm was 1 inch away from the bone and that the tissue from there was torn out
completely but it would grow back eventually. After being stitched up which consisted of 5 in
my shoulder and 7 in my face I was finally able to leave and go back home. I still felt really bad
and I was shaky. I was still able to have a little bit of the taste of blood from when I was first
attacked. I was told that the dog had to be quarantined and had to stay in the backyard for 2
weeks while tested to see if it had rabies. Fortunately, the dog didn’t have rabies and the county
decided not to put him to death based off of this incident. I learned from this experience that
even the most friendly animals can turn on you if they perceive a threat. I learned that day that I
could have died if he were to have bitten me in the neck. Which still to this day makes me sit and
wonder, what would have happened if I had never curled up in fear?...

“The Letter Not in My Name” By Audriana Y

Checking the mail is a normal thing that we do every day and as teenagers don't think much of it considering our parents pay for almost everything. So as we sort through the bills and junk mail searching for a piece of mail that might just be for me. If there is something, it's normally just a coupon for a store or something unimportant. Today is different though as an envelope catches my eye it’s sent to my grandma and it’s from my mom. Also just an important statement at the moment my mom is in Chicago visiting my aunt who recently moved out there and I'm staying with my grandparents, but why wouldn't she just text us or call if it was this important that she sent a letter? Wanting to open it but then realize that since it's not sent to me then obviously I shouldn't open it but my curiosity takes over and I find myself opening the envelope and as I'm about to take out the letter it's snatched out of my hand. As I looked up to see who it is I see it’s my grandma. As she starts reading the letter she looks up at me and in her eyes I see sadness and a hint of confusion. She hands me the letter and as i’m reading it I can feel the tears in my eyes threatening to fall any second now, And the only thing that is running through my head is why didn't she tell me before.

" How to Get Over a TV Show That's Ending" by Evan T

     Let’s be honest, you’re probably in the middle of a show and enjoying it to the
point where you will not shut up about it to your friends. But at some point, that show is
going to meet its bitter end and you won’t know what to do when it does. Fear not, that’s
probably why you picked this entry to read.

Step 1: Acceptance
They say that the first step is the hardest. This will definitely be the hardest thing
to do when it comes to TV. Once you finish a show, you think,”Oh, there will probably be
another season. Right? Right?! RIGHT?!?!” Sorry to say but there won’t be. The only
thing you can do is slowly count the days until the end… of the show I mean. The only
thing you can do is count the days until the show meets it’s bitter end with your friends.
But then comes the next part.

Step 2: The Depression
Once you have accepted that the show you love has ended, you now enter “the
depression.” In this state it will be obvious that your spirit is broken from your great loss
of your favorite characters and such. And if your friends are oblivious to this, they’ll ask,
“Hey, why do you look so sad and depressed?,” and then you’ll break into the puppy
eyes and explain your TV loss. The best remedy for this is to hang with your friends who
are suffering the same kind of TV loss as you. Maybe get together, sit around eating
desserts, rewatch your favorite moments in the show and noticing the small details.
There’s no shame in that at all.

Step 3: Desires
This is the more interesting stage in the process. In this stage, you will start to
rewatch the show and have sudden cravings for specific things to happen. For instance,
I recently rewatched Sword Art Online and noticed a moment between two characters in
the first episode that seemed somewhat romantic. I then proceeded to “ship” them,
basically meaning that I put them in a relationship, hence the term ”ship.” Almost all the
time, you will go through this when rewatching a show: you notice the small details, you
point them out, you may even start shipping people you would’ve never “shipped,” and
then you start turning into a hot mess and start bragging that you now ship “so and so”
with “so and so.” The best cure for these desires… fanfiction. This may sound odd, but it
actually works like magic. If you have any sort of desire that you want to have happen,
the world of fanfiction will have it.

Step 4: Something New
This sounds fairly obvious to everyone. So once you’ve gone through all the
other steps, feel free to watch another show that you might like. At some point, you’ll
forget about the show and move on to the next one. But eventually, you’ll have to go
through the process again, and again, and again. So happy watching!

"How to get over not having a valentine" by Mackenzie T

     February 14, is a day that many of us dread every year but here are some
ways to avoid having a terrible day. By following these simple tips you can make
the day like any other. I am no expert on love but I do know it’s hard to see couples
all over each other.
     One thing you can do is hangout with friends and enjoy being single with
them. Plan a fun night thats allows you guys to have just as much fun as if you
were with your crush. Movies, snacks, makeovers are all fun things to do even on
normal nights so this way you can pamper yourself and have bonding time. Don’t
worry guys you can do this too, i’m not sure exactly what guys do but do what
guys do whenever they hangout.
     You can also do things by yourself if you need to. Do things that you love
and that make you happy. Watch you favorite movie and eat your favorite things,
whatever you want!
     Valentine's day shouldn’t be just for those in a relationship but it should be
based on those who love each other. Use this day to show anyone and everyone
how much you love them. Always remember that you shouldn't need anyone to
prove how worthy of love you are because you are. If you do have a valentine that
is awesome and you're one lucky person! Whatever you this day be safe and have
fun.

“The Real Titanic Story” by Marco G

     One day I was going on a trip to go to New York. I wasn’t planning on going in a
car. I was was going on this enormous boat it was very classy and a truly amazing
sight.The people there called it the Titanic. While I was on my way going up the boat an
odd man with blonde hair bumped into me yelling,”I won tickets to go to New York
City!!!”.After we sailed i saw this beautiful red headed woman, she looked very wealthy.
But one day i was walking on the poop deck minding my own business until I heard
screaming I went to go check it out and all i saw was the blonde man saving the red
headed girl.Later on the next day i was walking around looking for a bathroom because
them fish food and my stomach don’t mix well.So as i was looking for one I saw the
same blonde man who bumped into me and the same red headed lady who almost fell
overboard, spitting out the boat. It seemed like the blonde man was teaching her how to
spit a loogie.
     I was disgusted so i threw up the fish back in the ocean. Then later that night I went to
bed.and a heavy thump awoken me from my slumber ,It was like 2 in the morning still
dark. So I went to get check out what was happening. When I was on my way to talk to
the captain to know what that thump was I saw big chunks of ice on the poop deck. So
when I finally made it to the captain's headquarters. I saw the same blonde man and the
same redheaded women except this time they were holding hands. But it seemed like
those two were talking something very important with the captain. So I thought
something fishy was going on. As I was being nosey trying to know what they were
talking about the captain I overheard them say that the Titanic has hit a giant iceberg
and has made a breach in the lower belly part of the ship.
     The redheaded woman and blonde man asked “How long do we have until the entire
ship sinks?” and the captain responded saying “We have about only one hour”. The
blonde man says “Shall we tell the citizens on this boat?” and the captain says “No we
don’t want to make the people panic.” When I heard them have that “private
conversation” I knew that I had to do something. So I packed my belongings and fled. I
took an escape boat by myself,I warned the people but they did not believe me. When I
was already in a safe distance. I could still see the boat. It began to lift itself from the
water, as I saw the people fall down from it and hit the cold water,I didn’t know if I
should leave or go back and save the others.After the boat finally sank to the bottom of
the ocean. I decided to go back and save the survivors. It would take me a while to go
back,But when I finally got there mostly everyone got froze to death. So I decided to
give up and go, But as I began to paddle away I could a whistle in the distance. So I
decided to follow the whistle and I would not believe my eyes. It was the redheaded lady
with a whistle in her mouth and she was laying on a floating wooden door. I asked what
was her name, and she said...Rose.

"The Hunting Trip" By Jace A

      A few years ago there was an old man who went out hunting all alone. He was in the woods with an old browning bolt action rifle. This rifle was very special to him because it had been passed down from his great grandfather. he was excited to be able to go on a hunting trip for the first time in many years. He was sitting up on a rock cliff gazing over some trees looking for bears. He wasn't successful. For many hours he sat waiting and then he saw movement in the distance. He raised his rifle and saw a huge black bear walking towards him about 75 yards away. He squeezed the trigger, took a breath, and fired. Instantly, the bear ran away. In frustration, he fired a few shots in a random direction. He heard screaming so he got down from the cliff and started running towards the commotion. The screaming stopped. He looked around and found a little, yellow bird that whose chirp sounded like someone screaming. Now he is lost deep in the woods and trying to find his way back. The sun is setting and he has given up. He sits down and rests until morning. He is awakened to find himself surrounded by bears. He slips a round in the chamber of his gun and fires. The bears quickly run away. Now frightened, he gets his stuff and runs. He is lost, so far away, that it would be impossible for someone to find him. He is weak and hallucinating. He staggers towards a cliff and falls. He breaks his leg and can't walk, so he crawls and makes his way to what he thinks is water. When he gets to the water, he finds a cabin. He yells for help and crawls towards it and two people rush out and bring him in. They give him water and food. Looking around, he notices that there is a ton of hunting supplies and he asks why. They tell them that they like to hunt but there is at least 4 or 5 of everything that people would normally need to go hunt with. It doesn’t make sense. He asks how many other people live out here. Three, including you. The man replied, “What?” and one person pulled out a knife and chased him. He fell over and the person jumped on him. He fought back then all of sudden he woke up in his bed at home. He had a nightmare about his upcoming hunting trip. He went downstairs to get a drink of water and turn on the news. While flipping through the channels, something caught his attention. He saw that there was 2 men that had killed a man out where he was going to go hunting the next day. As he got a closer look, he realized that they were the men from his dream. The next morning, he canceled his hunting trip decided to wait until next season.

"Fallout" by Logan D

      It was the year 2077. There was a big war going on and I just got out of the military. Any day could be an attack with nuclear bombs so they built fallout shelters. As my robot was giving me coffee the doorbell rang. It was a man asking if I wanted to sign up to be in the vault 111. I said yes because of the threats. As he left my wife said “look”. I looked at the tv and there was a news reporter saying that there was confirmed nuclear explosions. We all went to the vault 111. Some people couldn’t get in but since we also had a baby they let us in. As the elevator to the vault was going down there was a big nuke explosion. If we were about 10 seconds later we would all have died. They told us that we were going to decontaminate us so we can go deeper. But what they didn’t tell us was that they were freezing us to try an experiment. After a while I woke up to two guys, and one of them killed my wife trying to take my baby. I got out a while later, and everyone was dead. I went back up to the top and went back to my house that was barely standing, and I met my robot. He said I was gone for 210 yrs. I went around exploring, met some good people and some bad people. There were mutated people, large scorpions, and more. After a while I went to this place called diamond city. There was a lot of people there. There was also traders which where I got my guns. There I also found a detective that was a synth, which is a robot. I worked with him, and went to crazy places. I hunted down and killed the guy who killed my wife, and the info. I got from him was that my baby was in a place called the institute. There was only one way in and out and that was to teleport. I got a piece and went there and it was all white like nothing happened there I found my baby after a long time.

"The Scroll" by Christian K.

Once there was a child. In The 160’s This child had endured many conflicts with the law.
As the government of other nations wanted to exterminate all children with “light” flowing
through them. This special child had no idea what he were to accomplish and succeed. But he
knew that the army of other nations wanted him gone for something. They wanted all of his guild
to be gone for this special so called “light”. The child was very incular. He wanted nothing to do
with anyone and when the elders told him he was very special to the guild, along with others, he
would deny it. Even though on the inside he knew he was going to be important, he didn't want it
to be him. But it was. He was going to have to face that he was important and when he would
look at the mountains that guarded them, he saw the red color in the sky that indicated that evil
was near.This special child's name, was ash.
Deep in a luscious green meadow a guild was going throughout their day. Trying not to
worry about any danger. The guild of Greystone was admiring all that was around them, but
also grieving over what they thought is their final day in their city.There was a faint roar. Arrows
were unleashed with fire on the tips. Fear spread across the guild. As the army approached,
the city geared for the fight for their lives. Blazing arrows flew threw the air, torching every house
and burning it along with all of the furniture and decor. Ash was only 12, and his parents were
one of the wealthiest of the city. So his parents grabbed him and rushed him to a safe spot.
Under a cave there was a hole that could be sealed with wood and on top was grass and dirt to
hide it. He entered and saw a friend of his. He had very few. Her name was chandra. Ash had
very few friends, but the one he spent the most time with was her. Their parents were good
friends but they weren't happy to see each other as there was too much panic. their parents
closed the hatch. Ash was stricken with fear, he never liked being without his parents, especially
his mother.As they calmed all they could hear was violence. Chandra herself was filled with
rage, and loved violence and the thrill to hunt, but even she was overwhelmed with fear.But she
calmed herself, as she was very controlling of her feelings. Ash was too anxious and knew he
had to calm down, like chandra. However they both noticed that the village grew very quiet.
There was no movement. The only remnant of life was the stench of fire.After 12 hours, They
agreed to resurface. But both of them wished they never had of done so. They got out and both
went searching for their families. Both realised they couldn't find them. They agreed they were
to part ways to search for their families. For they were arguing and couldn't decide which way to
go. Chandra said “I will see you, for it is indeed a small world, especially the one we live in.”
As six years have passed, ash was not used to being bound by the rules. He wanted to
fight, but not under the control of an army to resist the nation, the one that had exterminated his
village. Ash soon realised he were to go through many tough obstacles to achieve something.
He wanted to go incognito, off the radar to search for a secret that could find him his path, to
destiny. His trainer wanted to control his destiny as he saw the light within him, but ash was not
able to be controlled as he flead. Going to the top of a mountain, it was a task few dared to take.
This was called “The Throat of the World”.Facing trolls and elemental spirits made of ice he had
to conquer the foes that stood between him and his destination. And once this was complete he
saw a very thin but deep chasm. he leaped across it and saw what would mark the finale of his
adventure.Only two days passed as he flea. One to contemplate what he was doing, and the
other he used to set out on this remarkable journey. Entering the one story mansion, he saw
what had appeared to be a scroll. This scroll is something that he believed to resurrect anyone
within the same heritage. As he approached he heard rustling. Thinking it was just the wind, he
remembered a soldier that knew he was fleeing telling him someone else was after it. And then,
in the corner of his eye he saw a shadow. He glared a lantern at the shadow and saw a slim
figure that was unrecognisable as a human. As he saw no skin, only fabric. This person talked,
but the way the shadow talked was with a distorted voice, as the person had a spell to disrupt
their voice. “I knew you would come to this retched place”! the shadow said. Ash was confused,
“How do you know me? And you have no business of what to do with that, for the writers are
long passed away”! The shadow rebuttals “I Do for i will be causing the end to this planet's
disease,the humans. Ash still confused “What?! This scroll is meant to resurrect a family, not to
cause the planet's demise”! The shadow moves forward, appearing as a human figure. “The
outcome of this scroll depends on the type of light is flowing through the caster. As it is different
for both of us”. Ash yells at the person. “I can't let you take this away from me, for it is what i
have been searching for and you will have to go through me to get it”! As they both draw swords
and fight ash slices the persons robe, blood is now visible so ash knows he is fighting his kind.
With the training of his master he was able to put up the fight that would able to throw his foe to
the ground. Stabbing the person in the chest, he saw that there was tears that appeared from
the cut fabric. It was a tear that he had seen before, the tear that was from when he had left his
village. He unwrapped the robe that covered the person's face, hoping it wasn't who he thought
it was to be. But it was. It was chandra. Desperately trying to inflict pain to those that caused her
a great deal of sorrow and pain. And her last words were. “Don't let others change your path, for
it is your own unique path. And know one else can control it, just how no one will be able to
control you”. But Ash wasn't going to be able to help it for this person would change his path
forever.

"I Wrote This For You" by Alex R

You are all I think about. The way your eyes lit up when something you like is mentioned. The
way your eye color darkens when you’re angry. Everywhere I go, something always reminds me
of you. Whether it is from the way someone walks or it’s just a simple phrase I hear. You are
always around me and it sickens me. I want you to leave my memory but I also want you to
stay. It’s suffocating me. Sometimes, I walk past the old swing set we used to play on when we
were kids and end up with salty tears running down my face. You were the light of my world but
you sadly left me. It’s quite funny actually, you said you would never leave me but look what you
did.
Your mother cannot even look at me. She says I always remind her of you. We were
inseparable. She says that she misses you everyday. Your father doesn’t even want to talk
anymore and when he does, he gets very angry. I haven’t talked or seen them in a while
though, it hurts too much to see both of them in that state. Why did you decide to leave me? Or
even them? Did I do something wrong? God, all these questions flood into my brain and it kills
me to not to know the answer to them. I’m trying to manage without you, it’s really hard. It feels
like I’m being held underwater for a long period of time and I’m struggling to breathe. No matter
how hard I try, everything is still stuck in my memories. Your hair, your eyes, your smile, your
laugh. I hope you’re doing good wherever you are. I wrote this for you. I love you

“How to make authentic Pho” By Jordan D

            Pho is a national dish of Vietnam; it has captured many people’s taste buds by complex flavors. Pho is perfect comforting food because it is warm and refreshing. It is great to eat it in the winter and summer basically any weather. In Vietnam pho is considered street food or people food because it is common.

Ingredients

-       2 pounds beef soup bones

-       2 onion, unpeeled and cut in half

-       1-2 tablespoon salt

-       3 pods star anise

-       2 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce

-       4 ½ quarts water

-       1 (7 ounce) package dried rice noodles

-       2 1/2 pounds beef top sirloin, thinly sliced

-       1 1/2 cup chopped cilantro (optional)

-       1 tablespoon chopped green onion (optional)

-       1/2 cups bean sprouts
(optional)

-       2 bunch Thai basil

-       1 lime, cut into 2

-       Any amount hoisin sauce (optional)

-       Any amount Chile-garlic sauce (such as Sriracha®) (optional)