"NTS: How To Survive College Application Season" by Sherry L

                                
                                                      ***not to be taken 100% seriously***

 If you were raised in a typical Asian home, then you would know that the only action more prevalent than eating rice is talking about C-O-L-L-E-G-E. This summer, I started my college search. Contrary to popular belief, college search was not exciting. The more I looked into the admission requirements for the schools I wanted to get into, the more depressed I became. This summer, I dodged, I weaved, but now it’s college application season. If you haven’t hit the “stressful” stage of college application season yet, good for you. For me, it was only after a series of prophetical dreams and visions did I finally come to the conclusion that college application season doesn’t have to resemble hell. In fact, it could be a little fun(No I’m kidding. It won’t be fun). I'm writing here to tell you that I have seen the light and am now avowing the great truth that will help you skip this ‘stressful’ step and go right on ahead to enjoying your senior year. Although I obviously have yet to experience the application process first-hand, I wanted to write this “Note to Future Self” letter as a reminder to just CHILL OUT. I mean, after all, it’s just your future.

Dear Self,

1. Do not compare yourself - Ever heard of the quote “There is always someone better than you.” ? Well it’s a lie. There is always 8967956089 ‘someones’ better than you. Accept it. Move on. In writing college essays, the goal isn’t to steal the spotlight and outshine everyone else. The goal is to show positive growth, or to put it bluntly- be likable. You don’t have to be valedictorian or MVP to be likable. Focus on personal achievements that matter to YOU and enhance your uniqueness through your college essays.

 2. Take the SAT/ACT - Since GPA, transcripts, AP scores, letters of recommendations, extracurricular activities, community service hours, brag sheets, and supplemental essays fail to show colleges who you are, colleges wish to ‘get to know you better’ by evaluating you based on the SAT Reasoning Exam! The SAT measures a student’s ability to succeed in life by substituting his or her entire 17 years’ worth of work with a 4 hour test. Not only does the SAT ignore genetics and social influences, it conveniently screens out all of the potential philosophers and artists in society. How thoughtful! As much as colleges claim they take a holistic and nonpartisan approach to their decisions, SAT/ACT scores can make or break an application, so make sure you study very hard!

 3. Apply to reach schools, match schools, and most importantly, safety schools- Here is how to apply to UC’s, Cal States, and private CA colleges: -UC’s: http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/how-to-apply/index.html -Cal States: http://www.csumentor.edu/admissionapp/undergrad_apply.asp -Private CA colleges(Member colleges only): https://www.commonapp.org/Login List of member colleges: https://www.commonapp.org/Login#!PublicPages/AllMembers Private colleges, like USC or Pitzer College, usually ask for letters of recommendation, so get on that now!

4. Remember deadlines!!! - Not turning in your application on time would be like discovering the meaning of life and then forgetting to write it down. Engrave these deadlines into your soul: All UC’s: November 30th All CalStates: November 30th All private CA colleges: https://secure.californiacolleges.edu/admissions/california-independent-colleges/california-independent-deadlines.asp

 5. No matter how nervous you are, don’t ask someone else to read the admission results for you - If the result is bad, the aura of awkwardness will be a labyrinth unto itself.

6. Handle rejections with a positive attitude - College decisions do not define your worth as a human being. If you don’t get accepted into your top choice, it’s not the end of the world. Send a letter of appeal. If that college rejects your appeal, then it is obvious that the awesomeness seeping through your application was too much for them to handle. You don’t need a program to tell you how great you are. YOU ARE FABULOUS!

7. Handle acceptances with a humble attitude - Since college decisions totally define your worth as a human being, it is proven that you‘re a genius. If you get accepted into your top choice, all there is left to do is to conquer the world. Send a letter of appreciation. It is obvious that the awesomeness seeping through your application was too captivating for them to peel away! Let’s admit it: You need a program to tell you how great you are. YOU ARE FABULOUS!

 8. Avoid Senioritis - If you must catch it…do try and come at least once a week to avoid death rumors. Don’t slack off now! Push harder, dig deeper, and remember: There’s more to life than college.

Sincerely, Self

Work Cited Kelly, Jane. "Community." BuzzFeed. BuzzFeed, 14 Mar. 2013. Web. 20 Sept. 2013.

"Rescuer" by Jakob C.

When I was a medic in world war two I was a donor scientist and also a doctor. I was never scared to help people with deep impacted wounds. But, one day fifty-eight solders were bombed by an enemy aircraft. I was scared because I did not have any hope. But, people believed in me, and I said to myself ‘’nothing can shock me I’m a scientist.’’

I had helped fifty two solders with in twenty-four hours. I still had six solders that were still bleeding out. I was scared for them I cause I know they weren’t going to make it. Then just in a matter of

I managed to save to five more people. But one person, my brother I’d thought he would’ve been ok but he wasn’t. He had a conclusion that no one know about he didn’t know about it. Two days go by hand he’s dead.

New Stories, Articles, and Reviews Are On Their Way!

A big thank you to those August featured writers who were brave enough to be our first blog participants!  We enjoyed hearing your "voice", and being encouraged, taught, and in some cases, scared! :)

The deadline for our September submissions is this Friday, so keep an out out for some new reading soon!  (And don't forget, each new crop of submissions means a new "comments" grade for everyone, so be sure to comment on several once they're here.

Have a great day everyone!

"A Goat Story" by Felisa M.

A mysterious goat holds two keys in a forest. They are both hidden and if you want them you must go through obstacles. These two keys open a box that you must also find. As a story begins, a very serious and boring man was on his way to work when his car stopped near the forest. He saw a cabin nearby so he went and knocked, there was a breach at the door so he opened it. He heard a noise so he turned around looking at a goat. He became circumspect of where the goat came from. Suddenly, he fell somewhere in earth sitting next to a can of soup. He was cumbersome after the fall and hurt his leg. The goat began to speak; he didn’t understand what was going on as the goat began to explain. The goat admonished him that he was to find the two keys before dawn or he’d suffer consequences. He tries to speak as everything gets black…
                                                                               *********************************
            Getting up from the ground, he realizes the goat is gone. As he finds his way out, he wonders into the forest with a bad headache. He finds a paper on the ground as he reads, “Now that you know you can’t leave, find the two keys and you’ll receive.” He continues to wander when he notices in front of him was a tree that doesn’t look real. Stepping forward he knocks on the bark of the tree and it makes a hollow sound. Randomly, the tree opens with a secret door he didn’t notice. While walking down the door shuts and he finds another note, “seems like you found your first entrance, ones blue but what about the shoe.” After reading the note, he feels water by his feet and drops the paper by accident. Tricky goat he thought to himself. He continues to walk up the stream and think what the note meant; he didn’t understand what a shoe had to do with anything. He hears a noise and notices three objects that have fallen behind him. The three objects found on the ground were a towel, a spoon, and a sock. He realizes that the sock has a relation to a shoe so he puts it in his pocket believing he will need it. Everything around him lights on fire so he quickly tries to grab the towel and the spoon but unfortunately the towel burns so he grabs the spoon. He looks back and believes he hears a dog barking but he continues to run. Tripping over a wire he finds a squirrel holding a key.  When he reaches after grabbing the key, he sees the squirrel running and many squirrels begin to run towards him. He hides behind a cave and finds another key! This one blue, it was stuck in between four heavy rocks. He manages to get the key and walks into the cave hearing the squirrels run by. To find another note at his feet he reads to see that it says, “well, two keys already?! In front of you there is a chest in a cage figure it out.” His arms could not fit through the cage so he ties the thin black sock to the spoon and blue key. He gets it in and the blue lock unlocks. He does the same thing to the other key but when he puts it in the lock the key breaks into two. He thought it was over, he should have known things went by quick. Standing before him was the goat holding a red key in its mouth, he runs as the goat does as well. When he touches the key he hears a dog barking once more. He opens his eyes waking up and looks out the window to see his does chasing a goat with a red key in its mouth.

"To Save a Life" by Akelah A.

Heavy gasps entered the atmosphere at a rapid pace. Insecure thoughts roamed her mind and tears leaked down her face. She quietly rethought what she planned to do, but all the hatred and helplessness welled up and filled her heart with pain. She breathed slowly, took a step forward and while the initial rush of weightlessness hit, her someone pulled her backwards. Squealing, she relaxed herself, and fell into the arms of her best friend Blake.

She rotated herself to stare at him and flinched with the anger that radiated off him. His lips moved rapidly but she could not read them. He gesticulated wildly, but she could not understand him. His lips stopped moving. He inhaled; exhaled slowly. He started signing to her, moving his fingers into a question: “What are you doing?”

Glaring angrily, she motioned back: “Nothing… why are you here?”

“I knew you’d be here. You hate this building. Why are you doing this?”

“Because, this is the only option! I’ve watched my father go to jail and my mother drink herself to death, finally deciding to overdose on pills with me in the next room. My aunt and uncles don’t like me and my grandparents are in a home. The house will be sold and I’ll be put into a foster home. There’s nothing else for me to do. I’m not smart, I don’t have anything going for me in school and I’m useless.” She walked back towards the ledge and he lunged for her. He signed rapidly.

“Thalia! Stop being ridiculous! If you died, people would be severely upset. There are hundreds of people that would miss you. Your future husband will never meet you. Your kids won’t even exist. I’ll become a hermit and live in reclusion because I won’t have you to drag me outside of my house. No more Saturday drives to yogurt shops or Friday movie nights. If you do this… you’re affecting other people, too. As well as me…” Throughout his silent speech spoken only with hand motions, he placed himself between her and the ledge.

Thalia looked up at her best friend and quietly wept. She signed: “I’m sorry. I don’t want to hurt you. Everything is just… it’s just a lot to take in and I feel so alone…” She wiped her tears away.

 Blake quietly hugged her. She sobbed louder and sank to the floor, dragging Blake with her. He calmly held her as she released everything she held in. They sat there for a few minutes, Blake consoling Thalia and Thalia breaking down against her best friend.

After a few moments, he tapped her shoulder and she glanced up. He motioned to her, “Let’s go home. We’ll talk about everything later, okay? We’ll fix everything.” He smiled at her and she nodded back. “Good… now let’s get off the roof, the air up here sucks.” She remembered that he hates heights. They stand off and walk arm and arm back to the house.

"How To Grip and Throw a Circle Change-up" by Nick T.

In baseball, there are many different pitches that you can throw. There are many pitches made to be fast, many to be slow, but most of all there are pitches made to have some wicked movement. Essentially, pitchers rely on different grips that are made to work with the seams on a baseball to create the ball to spin and get the movement they want. Movement also relies on arm angle and most of the grips rely on the amount of pressure you apply along the seams. Although you can get more breaking action on a curveball or a slider, (which are harder to throw and over time cause arm problems, usually elbow tendons being torn from throwing these pitches so much), my favorite pitch is the circle change-up. It is a pitch that is used by all pitchers out there. The circle change-up has grown in popularity because you can still get great movement o your pitches and it wont do a thing to your elbow or arm, besides fatigue and getting your arm tired which is normal in players. It is a pitch that I learned to throw when I was 8, and have used it my career in baseball. There are 2 different types of change-ups, the circle change–up and the 3 finger/ straight change-up. For me, I was able to adapt to the circle change-up because it is a lot easier to grip than a 3-finger change-up. Today, I am going to teach you how to grip and throw a circle change-up.

HOW TO GRIP A CIRCLE CHANGE-UP

1. Take your index and thumb fingers and touch the tips of them together, forming a circle.
2. Center the baseball and place it so it sits inside the circle you just made with your fingers.
3. Place your 3 remaining fingers on top over the ball.

HOW TO THROW THE CIRCLE CHANGE-UP

1.     Use the grip explained above, but when throwing the ball, make sure that you can cradle or hold the ball only using the circle created by you fingers. This will take practice to master this grip.

2.     You want the three fingers left over from making the grip to be held loosely to almost barely touching on the ball. These fingers will be used to create the spin on a circle change-up.

3.     To actually throw it, use the same mechanics and same arm speed used to throw a fastball. Doing so will deceive the hitter, making them think you’re throwing a fastball and fools them when you throw a pitch that averages 10 mph slower than a fastball and has a great dropping, spinning motion (change-ups can go from being at your head and drop down to your knees in a fraction of a milliseconds)

4.     To create spin on the pitch, you are going to want to let the ball “ roll” off the three fingers. Having a loose grip on the 3 fingers, but a strong grip on the circle will give you a greater spin. This will cause the ball to go an average of 10 mph less than your fastball, but gives a lot more movement you can get from a fastball.

Most pitches in baseball are what baseball players like to call a “feel pitch”. The change-up being one of those pitches. Some days you will be spot on and have a good feel on the ball, and other days you wont be and wont get a good grip. It usually takes a couple of warm up pitches be fore each game for a pitcher to get a good feel on the ball. It takes a lot of hard work, dedication, and lots of practice to master the circle change-up, but it all pays off when you are on of the best pitchers out there getting batters out like Shakespeare wrote poems and books!

"My Creepy Pasta" by Emilio P.

Clouds darkening, thunder striking nearby houses along with its roars as it shakes the grounds. Rain pouring down creating loud noises from the ceiling. It was December 15th of 2013 at my house by myself after work, night. It was a rough ride driving from work and back to my house. On my way back, I saw a child standing and staring at my house from the sidewalk. I parked my car across my house because she was blocking the garage way to my house. I grabbed an umbrella from the backseat but as I was about to open the door, the child disappeared. I then ignited the car and parked into my garage. Filled with fatigue, I forgot everything about the child except her appearance.  She wore a white dressed noodle strap that covered her body down to her knees.  She seemed to be around the age of seven with a long hair but I did not catch her face. I went straight to bed until the next morning.

December 16, 2013.  Daybreak, sunrise, the storm has passed. Waking up during the sunrise, I felt something ominous as my eyes began to adjust to the morning blur. I began to see a shaded part of my room begin to darken.  The fatigue of the morning wake, I began to see abnormalities, from the corner of my eyes I saw scarlet red eyes that seem to pierce my very being. I began to panic, but to realize I could not move my own body. My body felt as if gravity was pulling me downwards my bed as I couldn’t move a muscle.  The scarlet eyes then began to get closer as I struggle through this bind. Closer and closer, the eyes began to widen on the process of my struggling. A few seconds later, I successfully broke from the bind and rid of the scarlet eyes that had suddenly disappeared. Nothing else abnormal happened throughout the day until sunset. During the sunset, I then saw the child from the corner of my eyes across my window. She was wore the same clothes as the previous night and also stared at my house. She then panned her head towards me with those scarlet red eyes from the window. I then began to feel pressured as she watched me. I walked to my windows only to close the blinds. I began to watch the child from the front door’s peephole until she walked away by midnight. Filled with uneasiness, I began to sleep at my friend’s apartment to calm down.

Two Months later. February 5th, 2014. My friend had kicked me out of his apartment due to some circumstances of my freeloading and he disregarded my story of the child. So I began to pack my bags and headed straight to my house. Nothing felt abnormal at my house but I always felt uneasy knowing of the child. The child only seem to come by during the sunset and leave by midnight. It began to be a routine of mine to watch her closely every sunset. Those piercing red scarlet eyes were always directed straight to my own eyes.

A few days later. February 10th, 2014. I asked around the neighborhood about the child. They all claimed that they do not see her but one claimed of an accident that had in my house and said she might be connected. So I searched for the accident on the computer. Shocked from details of the accident, the source claims of a child that had jumped off the roof of the house. The victim had a white dress with long hair, she was six years old. The doctors claimed that she had a mental disorder, the child always claimed to have a mother and father who had died in a car accident. I was shocked to find this information, or rather regretful to have knowledge of the child. I then came back to check the child through the peephole of my front door, only to see scarlet red.

"Limitless" by Ji Eun S.

A couple days ago marked the one month anniversary of a special event for me. Everything that led up to this life-changing event began on July 16, 2012…

            I was on the bus, secretly nervous, as I headed up to a campsite called Camp Metoche surrounded by five fellow Etiwanda peers and over twenty students from Orange County (ranging from incoming freshmen to incoming seniors) on a school bus. I mean, who wouldn’t be terrified when you’re shy like I am and you’re attending a four-night, five-day camp called “Leadership Development Center”[1]? Who wouldn’t be terrified, knowing that you’d be surrounded by over ninety people you don’t know? Who wouldn’t be terrified, knowing that you’d be sleeping in the same cabin with people you’ve never met before in your entire life? To top it all off, I was already feeling homesick. I was most definitely not ready to break out of my comfort zone. So, once we arrived at the campsite, I trudged on through the week, constantly telling myself that I’d be home soon. However, during the middle of the week, one staffer came up to me to be my partner for a simple activity that was based off of a simple game of tag. This simple act was indescribably heartwarming, and allowed me to enjoy the rest of camp, because what he did truly demonstrated that everyone attending the camp, especially the staffers, are there for each other. However, not only did the staffer’s simple act allow me to enjoy the rest of camp, but it also inspired me to strive for something later on in the year.

            February 2013 rolled around, and the applications to apply for a staffer position for LDC (Leadership Development Center) 2013 came out. I immediately knew that I wanted to apply, hoping to be given the opportunity to staff and be a heartwarming staffer like the one I had encountered. (I must admit, however, that I did require a bit of convincing by my friend to attend the interviews because I was scared to talk.) After sending in my application and having an interview, weeks passed as I nervously checked my e-mail and mail every day, waiting for the results. One day, an e-mail was sent to me, in regards to the results. I can still remember how hard my hand was shaking as I tried to move my mouse in order to open the e-mail. It was shaking to a point where it looked more as if it was vibrating, like the way a phone vibrates. I opened the e-mail. My heart dropped. I reread the e-mail over and over again. My eyes and mouth were opened in complete shock. I had been amongst the eighteen people selected to staff. Joy and I excitedly messaged each other to find out that we had both been accepted. To this day, I still find it unbelievable that I had been selected out of the 60+ people that had applied.

            Training days began on April 6, 2013. From that day onwards, it was expected for me and Joy to drive to the Orange County Red Cross chapter often in order to be trained, and in order to prepare for camp. However, this time period was a crucial time for me; AP tests were right around the corner. I studied hard, day after day, hoping to make myself proud, along with my teachers and parents. But things didn’t go as planned. Summer break had started, and my main focus from that point on was to focus on being the best staffer I could possibly be. But, when camp was approximately three weeks away, the results came out for my AP tests. My heart sank once again, but not in a good way. I couldn’t help but break down. I felt like a huge disappointment. I had no more motivation. It eventually reached a point where I didn’t see a point in working hard anymore. Ever since I moved here from Korea, all I wanted to do was make my parents proud, and show them that the sacrifice they made to move here was well worth it… but I couldn’t even do that much. All the pressure of needing to be the best in school that I put on myself ever since I was little finally reached a point where I couldn’t handle it anymore. Luckily, preparing for camp with the other amazing staffers took my mind off of things.

            LDC 2013 was finally happening. Despite the fact that I still carried a heavy guilt of not doing well on the AP tests, I tried my best to be the staffer I had wanted to become ever since the heartwarming encounter during my delegate year. I embraced every second I was spending at camp, but the end of camp came far too quickly. By the end of the camp, reality began hitting hard again, and I was once again reminded of my AP scores, and started to have negative feelings towards myself. “I couldn’t even do well on the AP tests. How am I going to survive the rest of my life, when I’m clearly incapable of doing well on a test? Why do I feel like I’m doing absolutely nothing right? Do I even matter?” As I was thinking these thoughts, delegates came up to me to tell me that I, out of all the staffers, have made an impact on their life. As I heard these words from multiple delegates, my negativity began to disappear. They made me feel like I mattered, and that my existence was significant. They made me realize that even though school was important, it’s not the most important thing in the world that should be getting me down like the way I was. I learned from them, that despite how insignificant you might feel like you are, that there’s at least one person out in the world that you have made an impact on, and that’s what I now believe matters the most. Everyone should know that no matter how they may be feeling that they’re important, and shouldn’t think otherwise. We should all keep our chins up, because our potentials are limitless.

            July 26, 2013 marked the last day of LDC 2013, and will always hold a special meaning for me. Without this camp, I can’t even begin to imagine where I would be right now. All these events occurred, thanks to a simple act of kindness from the kind staffer from my delegate year in 2012. In addition, all of my burdens were lifted when a fellow staffer told me how proud he was of me on that day camp was over. That particular staffer happened to be the staffer… who greeted me with nothing but kindness, and allowed me to enjoy camp my delegate year.

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[1] LDC is a Leadership Development Center that allows delegates (incoming freshmen to incoming seniors) to grow and develop as both a leader and as a person, make everlasting friendships, and have fun, with the help of selected staffers (youth leaders who have previously attended LDC as a delegate).

"Into the Light" by Sean M

          Darkness was all David awoke to. He had no idea where he was and attempted to stand up, this was the point where David realized that his hands and feet were bound with what felt like rope but not quite. He began to get some of his sight back and he started looking for his wife Jane. David notices her directly to the left of him also attempting to break free of the restraints. There was something not quite right in this place, first of all it smelled awful.  As David’s sight became more and more accustomed to the darkness he began to look about his surroundings. He thought he could see more people in chairs just like the one he was in. Just as Jane screams David comes to the same conclusion that she did, those people in the chairs, are no longer people, they were dead for a long time. Likewise, the restraints around David’s and Jane’s extremities were not made of rope, they were made of decomposing body parts woven together.

                  David looks across the room and sees something moving in the shadows. The object reveals itself as a man in a dark overcoat.  The man moves close to David and whispers, “You-Will-Die Tonight, but don’t worry, I will kill her first” and lets out the most hideous laugh David has ever heard. The tabletop where the man seems to be spending the bulk of his time is obscured from David’s view but not from Jane’s, from the look on her face David can only guess what dreadful things might reside on the table.

David shouts out “Why are you doing this to us?”

                             The man pauses for a moment then says nonchalantly, “Because I can”

                  The man walks towards Jane and not before long David feels something hot and sticky on his skin. He looks over to see Jane’s bloody heat separated from her body, David is amazed how far her blood squirts across the room in every direction. Some of this blood splashes onto David’s face and into his mouth, something inside David clicked at the taste. The Man just stood there with a grin on his face holding the decapitated head, this was the final straw.

                  David chews on the muscle around his arms until he breaks free, the man doesn’t notice. David breaks apart the rest of the restraints, still the man doesn’t notice. David sneaks up behind the man and jumps at him. The man shrinks away in terror, David had no idea why he would run from him until David saw the knife in his hand. He plunged the bloody knife into the man’s heart and rips it out. He turns the heart inside out to look for anything resembling good inside the man, but to him everything looked the same. Sirens blare outside so David runs.

                  To this day the police haven’t caught the “Telltale Heart”. He killed twenty-one people, He ripped the heart out of each one, turned it inside out, and displayed their true nature to the world.

"Rewind to Reality" by Hizkia M.

               If a magical wizard comes up to me at random and gives me options to choose between a rewind button and a pause button I would choose the rewind button because I’ve made a lot of mistakes and if given the opportunity I would change a lot. 

Back in Elementary School, I would always get good grades, get special certificates and get pencils or stickers for every time I was right with an answer. But, as soon as 6^th grade hit, the work became harder and just became a heavy burden on my back, I had multiple homework for different teachers, I would have test on three different subjects on the same day and on top of that, I would get lazy and just procrastinate a lot, because the work was harder to bear. Although, I got by my first year of middle school with A’s and B’s, but by the time 6^th grade was done, I’ve created a plethora of bad, hard to break habits! 

See, if given opportunity I would go back in time, and just change my whole attitude towards my schoolwork. I would also like to change my whole work ethic in general, I want to be able to have passion and hard working in my work ethic, right now I would do all my work with passion, and as a week roll by I would get lazy and just stop. I want to be able to change all of that. I know it’s a cliché, but I know for a fact that if I actually try and put all my mind and energy into something and in this case schoolwork, I would succeed. I want that to be my mindset and attitude towards life! I want to be able to start over and tackle every obstacle that comes in my way with a certain attitude and do all of my work with grace. I would also like to rewind because I have gotten in a lot of trouble in the past! 

Knowing what I know now, and the things to do and not to do, I would to go back and change every single stupid mistake. However, some of the things in the past that I’ve committed can actually be changed in present, it just takes the will to change towards bad habits, because at the end of the day, we are all humans, and no human is perfect so we’re bound to make mistakes. I know its cliché but it’s not about us falling down, but it’s about how we get up and go from there on, it’s about learning from your mistakes and move on from that. 

Thomas Edison only failed thousands of time until finding the perfect solution. Having a rewind button to change every single one of my stupid mistakes would be nice, but in reality without my mistakes I wouldn’t be where I am today. Those mistakes, taught me the right and wrong ways of doing, and without the mistakes I would gain no personal experience.

"The Magical Wishing Goat" by Gerardo M.

     Long ago there once was this magic goat that who ever possess it all their wishes will come true. A lot have heard about this goat and a lot have tried, but all have failed except for this one man that was smarter than the other men. If you wanna find the goat first you go to mystery forest, their in the middle of the forest you will see this door. This door will lead you to this magical mountain. There you will have to climb the mountain, but be warned because on top of the mountain there lies the magic goat, guarded by trolles and sneaky elves which feast on human flesh. Well the tale goes on about this one man named Tom Witherspoon. Mr. Witherspoon decided not to take the goat because he didn't want it falling into the wrong hands.

     His story begins when he was about the age of 25. He wanted an adventure that will be memorable. He heard about this magical goat that grants wishes so he set out to find this goat. So he went into mystery woods where a magical door will be in the middle of the woods. It took him about a day finding this magical door. Once he found he it opened it, finding this gigantic mountain. He stepped inside the door and began his journey climbing this tall mountain. It took about a week before reaching the top. Once he reached the top he found the trolls with armor suits and elves with swords bigger than their bodies. The creatures smelt the human flesh on Mr. Witherspoon and began running toward him. But Mr. Witherspoon was prepared he grabbed this huge chunk of meat, that he ripped of from a dead cow and he threw it of the mountain. Stupid the creatures were and they followed that meat only to find themselves falling to their own death. Proud Mr. Witherspoon was he opened huge doors and inside he found this magic talking got grazing on pure green grass. The goat said " If you solve my riddle you can keep me and I will grant all your wishes." Mr. Witherspoon nodded. The goat said " what is 2+2." He was confuse and thought in his head " why would this goat ask a silly question," but he thought long and hard and his answer was "4". "Correct" said the goat you shall keep me forever. But Mr. Witherspoon said "no, I only wanted and adventure and you my fellow goat are to dangerous to be kept at my house because fallen into the wrong hands this world could go to hell". The goat agreed. Mr. Witherspoon left and went back to his home, relaxing and having a nice cup of coffee. And that's the story of Tom Witherspoon and the magic goat.

A Bear Named "Franklin" by Justin M.

                  “How long have I been asleep?”  From the look of the world it could have been a lifetime.  It’s amazing how much can change in a few months.  Crawling out of his den after a winter of hibernation Franklin felt as if he had a second shot at life.  A chance to start anew; and Franklin knew that chances shouldn’t be wasted.  This time around he would do things differently.  Forget about the same old foraging for food, fishing in streams, taking naps, and doing what bears are famous for doing in the woods.  Now is the time to experience the adventures of life!  Although those adventures will have to wait because four months asleep works up a rather large appetite.  Hunger satisfied Franklin turns his bear brain to more philosophical thoughts pondering the infinite universe of all that is known and unknown staring at the trees whose branches were filling up with new green leaves.  That’s when it crept into his brain; a question.  But not just any question the most profound question of them all.  What happened to the old leaves?  When Franklin had gone into his den to start his winter nap the leaves had all been on the trees. They were orange and red and brown not green but they had filled the branches all the same.  Now these trees were nearly naked covered only by the scant new growth of leaves.  Something had happened to them while he was sleeping.  There was only one explanation.  Without Franklin there to watch the trees someone had stolen all their leaves.  “Treacherous thief!!” he roared.

                  The thief had to be caught.  And to do that Franklin would have to do what no bear had ever done.  He would have to defy the laws of nature.  Resist an age old instinct.  Franklin must stay awake all winter.  It was going to be quite the task.  Franklin had never seen the winter but he knew that he would be risking his life to protect the trees he loved.  And so every day that year he waited watching the trees as their branches filled with green leaves blocking the sun’s light.  As the months went by the leaves traded in their green tint for countless shades of brown and red and orange and yellow and gold.  And Franklin became very hungry.  He should be eating as much as he can but still he sat and watched the trees.  Franklin became very sleepy. He should be crawling into his den for a long winter sleep but still he watched the trees.  And then as he watched something very strange began to happen.  The leaves fell from the trees.  First one then another and another on every tree and as the days passed the ground became a carpet of leaves and when the trees were bare the snow began to fall.  Nobody stole the leaves. The trees gave them up.  Puzzled Franklin slowly walked to his den and lay down.  He had seen what no other bear ever had seen and as he slept the trees watched over him.

Our August authors are almost here!

Hello everyone!
August featured writers are almost up on the blog!  Check back here Friday afternoon for some interesting reading!  Be sure to leave some comments for the authors (comments will not appear until after I've approved them, so don't panic if they don't show up right away).  Comments should be specific to the piece, and full of positive encouragement.

Note:  Comments cannot be anonymous.  Be sure to identify yourself with your first name and last initial.  Anonymous comments will be rejected, and couldn't be given credit anyway (how would I know who you are?)

September writers-   be working on your piece.  September deadline is the 20th!

Welcome Back to School!

Welcome to English!!

If you're looking for handout information, homework due dates, etc., all of that information can be found on School Loop, either on the calendar for this class, or in the class locker.  You should get in the habit of going there often.

This blog is really our class literary magazine.  I'm really looking forward to seeing your work here this year.  Remember, you'll be required to submit one piece of writing by your assigned due date, but I'd LOVE to see other examples of your work here as well.  Do you write poetry?  Songs? Short (flash fiction style short) stories?   Submit them!  As long as they meet the content guidelines (standard for campus), we're good.  Submissions should be sent to thatmonstercanrun@gmail.com!

I'm looking forward to a great year!!