Physical Activity

Author's note: I wanted to see how my gym essay would score on the LA rubric. 

While I take my deep breathes to relax, I see a cloud of air from the cold weather. Jumping a little to keep myself warm, and mentally trying to focus. It may seem like another soccer game but to me it means more than just the game. Sometimes I have moments were I don’t want to be at soccer or ever basketball but I realize how much I am actually benefitting from these activities. Devoting most of my time to physical activity such as soccer or basketball provides me so much more than just the memory of the event or the fun of it.

Mainly basketball and soccer for me is a great way to stay in shape. Which is one of the main reasons I like playing these sports, to stay active. Eating well may be one way to stay healthy but the other half is exercising daily which I get to do by my two favorite sports. Staying in shape and healthy makes me feel better about myself, it makes me actually do something good with my day besides sitting around doing nothing. Usually after I exercise it puts me in a better mood.

Not only does it make me feel better, but I find it enjoyable. I get to exercise while it seems like I am playing just a game for fun with my friends. Which is why I do sports for a fun activity that I get involved with other kids. From playing soccer and basketball I have such great memories like winning close games by a basket or even a goal during the last minute.

Being able to do something that creates wonderful moments is always fun, but when it is with friends it makes it even more fun. Many of my friends play the same sports as me so we usually get on the same team. Since I play sports with my friends it makes it more comfortable. Also we usually talk about the memories we had with these sports from 3 years back.

Overall physical activity provides a lot more for me and others then we all think. I hope to continue playing sports in high school and beyond because it is a great way for me to stay healthy, interact socially with friends and just for the fun of it.

Book vs. Movie

Author’s note: Recently I just saw the movie “Safe Haven” and was a little disappointed because the book was so much better. Therefore I thought I would write an essay analyzing the book verse the movie. 

With a bit of a thrill Nicholas Sparks creates another outstanding love story, named Safe Haven. After reading the book it really made me wonder what the movie was like, especially since Katie had such a thrilling adventure. Therefore once I was finished watching the movie, it was not up to my expectations of what it seemed like it was going to be.  There were many minor changes but there were some clear aspects in the book that you didn’t get from the movie.

One of the main aspects that you miss in the movie is when Katie is planning her escape from her abusive husband, Kevin. The movie begins with Katie fleeing from Kevin; making the escape seem like she actually didn't know what to do.  Although the book made her escape planned out. Without him chasing her right away, she was able to leave and it seemed like it was just another day to him. When he called she answered because the call was forwarded to her pay as you phone that she purchased. This created the readers to think she was a smart woman caught in a dysfunctional relationship.

Not only the escape plan was different but some events in the story created more of a suspense in the book then the movie. For an example once Kevin figured out where Katie was, part of the book was telling his point of view. By exposing all of the thoughts that were going through his head made readers really worry for Katie and the kids. On the other hand when watching the movie we had no idea that he was really thinking of killing her until the final fight. Which is the downfall because in the movie Kevin’s real personality wasn't shown. It seemed like he was just trying to ruin the romance between Alex and Katie.

Similar to not giving Kevin’s thoughts a lot of detail, the film doesn't give Jo Katie’s neighbor, that much of a role either. Which Jo was the major twist in the whole story. The book showed that Jo was Katie’s confidant. Making it actually seem like Jo was a real person and telling Katie her own background that informs some conversations that they had. However the movie seemed to just show the two talking whenever it was convenient. Basically just giving Katie someone to talk to. Wasn’t until the ending we finally figure out who the mysterious women is.

Overall the movie and book were very similar but the movie missed key components.  I recommend watching the movie then reading the book because then you get to understand more in depth about the main events within this story. In conclusion this was a phenomenal story line.

Text Analysis

Author’s note: I was trying to complete my goal to analysis the book Safe Haven to say what the authors point of the story was.

Seeing the sight of his old ripped baseball cap made my heart race. That can’t be him I thought to myself, why would he come all the way to the small town of Southport. Although that is for sure his hat, I remember Kevin standing out on the porch grilling chicken; seems like it was just yesterday. Even though  I haven’t seen Kevin for months. Slowly the man started to turn in my direction, now my heart was beating so fast I felt like it was going to fall out of my chest. Finally able to see the man in the old red baseball cap, I figure out it wasn’t Kevin. Feels like the weights fell off my shoulders. In the book Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks Katie worried and feared seeing her abusive husband, the one she escaped from. By escaping it didn't help the problem it just made her take a vacation from it. In this book I think that the authors message was you can’t just run away from your problems, you have to face them sometime.

Clearly Katie couldn’t put up with her husband anymore and running away was her only option but she never thought about what happened if Kevin were to come for her. As Katie was settling in this small town she meet new people along the way, which she started to care for a lot. Therefore when she started to get closer to a man that she meet at the store Alex and his children she never would intend for them to get hurt. Attempting to keep her distance and her past a secret it didn’t work because later in the book Kevin comes for her.

While she was trying to protect her relationship with Alex, she was still trying to figure out how to end it with Kevin. Eventually Katie and Kevin see each one more night this time while Katie was babysitting Alex’s children. This eventful night finally made Katie face up to Kevin and end things; maybe not the way she thought it would end.  By finishing things off she was now able to continue her life down a new path with Alex.

Many people now in days try to avoid their problems and they try to push it away but it comes right back to them, just like this story. Sometimes running away from problems makes it worse, and you may dig yourself in a deeper hole then you started. This reminds me of many people in society. For an example, many people get bills in the mail but they decide they don’t want to pay it right away and they push it off. Eventually the bill will come back and there will be an overdue fee with it so it will cost more than the original price.

This happens to a lot of people with paying bill but even in other situations too. The only solution is to try to help the problem right away, instead of hiding from it. At least Katie finally ended the abusive relationship that she was in. The best was she was able to move on and start her new love life with Alex. 

Child Labor

Dear Lilly,

Most of the time I feel drained, depressed, and ill. Ever since I left you and our parents my life has been nothing but pure torture. Starring out the window thinking back to the old cheerful memories I had with you is the only sort of happiness I have. I can’t get over how ridiculous it is to have a kid at my age working as long as I do, but I know that our family could use the money. Although for the pain I am put through, I desire a lot more money. It just isn’t fair.

Through all the hard, dangerous work we do we still only get paid one dollar a week. Clearly the money is low to the amount of hours I work. Each day I work for about 16 hours, with machines that adults should be handling. Many kids have pulled the wrong handle, and severely hurt themselves.  Although the boss really doesn’t care.  

Even though they may never pay me as much as I need, they could at least treat us kids better. Scars and bruises are all over my ghostly pale skin. I’ve learned to arrive to work promptly otherwise my injuries would get worse. Almost every day a kid arrives a little late or takes too long of a break, and then the factory is echoing with a loud voice, painful screams, and constant slams. Suddenly my head would start throbbing from the fear I felt when my head was just about to get smashed against the ground.  

Not only did I feel pain from the abuse but I got soar from spinning the cotton. Most the time my work is spinning the cotton gin and it takes up most of my energy. If I am not spinning it fast enough I may get hit. Which makes me more weak, especially since we don’t even get enough food to replenish our bodies. It’s starting to make me really sick, and weary.  Although when I think of coming back home to the family, I start to feel a little liveliness.  

Despite all the stress I got through, I really just can’t wait to get home. I miss all of you guys. Once we are stable with money I will come back. Maybe I will even go to school to advance my skills at reading, writing and math.  Hope to see you before I turn 9 so we can celebrate. I will talk to you soon.

Love always,

Lucy 

Pony Express

Author's note: For this piece I was trying to reach my goal of getting an 8.5 or higher for word choice. 

Staring at his slender smooth face, as his big soft hands reach down to grab his old leather bag filled with thin tissue paper. They were letters from family members going to the men in California.  As he starts approaching the sturdy, fierce full, black horse he turns and takes a glance at me, our eyes meet it felt like I was just watching the stunning sun set for a moment. Our eyes said everything.  Suddenly his eyes drop from mine and I could tell he started to look at the unbreakable silver chain with a heart locket that he gave me.  As the horse draws his attention by kicking and neighing louder than a freight train, he decided to head off. Gently a breezed rolled by and made me notice that the sun was playing hide and seek with the clouds. As they faded in the distance, I decided I should go inside because I felt like a giant ice cube.

It’s been 15 days but feels like a hundred years. Every day I fear that he is going to get attacked by the Native Americans since they said most of the men that worked for the pony express would die from these surprising attacks (1). Even though most of the men were suppose to be 19 years old, John was only 18 years old (3). Typically the rides took 10 days, and the letters were mail from the East going to the West (4).  Supposedly I only had to wait 5 more days but it may take longer. In this time period of not seeing him I wonder if he became just skin and bones. The men that delivered the mail were usually under 120 pounds, and John just made it (3). Hopefully he returns on time and still healthy.

At last I see the black horse quickly trotting into our small village with John on his back. My heart was racing so quick that I felt like it was going to fall out of my chest. As he noticed that I was waiting patiently for him his eyes seemed to brighten. Finally, he hopped off his horse and hugged me. It felt so great to see him and I wanted to know all about his trip. He started off by showing me  the money that he made; the mail was $10 an ounce (2). Then he starting to go off about how he traveled a total of 100 miles but the average riders traveled between 60- 120 miles (5). Riding at an average of 7 miles per hour he was able to give the mail to the families in 10 days (4). Many things had went on when he was traveling but he said that he wouldn’t do it again if he had the choice. Also he stated that they were working on something called the telegram and that it should be completed around October 24, 1861 (1). I was delighted to have him come back safely and hopefully I won’t have to experience this much time away from him again. 

Kids Are Ready for Cell Phones

Author's note: I read over my piece out loud to make sure it made sense. I also added in a semi colon. 

If we were to take a survey on how many kids in Asa Clark Middle School that have cell phones, it would probably be a little more than three fourths. Some parents allow their kids to get cell phones at this age but others say they are too young and have to wait a certain age.  Personally I got my phone in 6^th grade and now it is so much easier to communicate with my friends and family. Although there may be some cons for kids around middle school having cell phones,  I think there are more positives.

There may be a lot of positives, but the most important one is emergency situations.  If a kid were ever to need help but no one was around,  they could call someone to make sure they receive assistance. Another good reason is for parents to keep track of where their children go. Many kids hang out after school, but they usually need permission from their parents. So with their cell phones, it is easy just to call and ask.Cell phones can be used for many other things such as; videos, texting friends, listening to music and many other. Therefore, phones are outstanding technology and nice for communication.

Since cell phones are used in so many ways, kids may get a little addicted to it. This may cause kids to waste their time. Kids will text rather than doing homework. In addition to it getting addicting , it could cause some health problems due to the bacteria on the screen from talking on the phone. It could create skin problems if the bacteria from the phone keeps rubbing against your face. Even the environment can get damaged. Some people don’t recycle their old phones so it will get destroyed and chemicals are released in the air.

There are ways that these cons could be easily taken care of. Therefore, the positives outweigh the negatives. This make kids safer because they can reach anyone if needed. Most kids in Middle School  have cell phones for these reasons, and parents that let their kids have a phone obviously felt that they were important to have.

Changing Point of View

Author’s Note:  I tried to work on my conclusion of just saying my last thoughts and summing it up.

In the song “Someone Like You” by Adele you can hear how confused, and lost she seems to be. The way Adele tells the story is that her and this guy were friends and they started to feel something for each other so they decided to date. Although it seems like it didn’t work out, she pushed him away. Eventually she figured that she missed him so she tried to see how he was doing and then she realized that he is doing just fine without her. The man was married seemed to have everything in place, and that is when she was disappointed. If this song would have been sang from the guys point of view it would have changed the point completely.

From Adele’s point of view she thought that once they would see each other maybe they would start to talk again. Once she arrived to talk to him he was speechless. Wanting to express her feelings about how she never got over him and how she wanted him back didn’t work. After she found out he was over her, she just wanted to tell him that she wished the best for him and hoped she wasn’t forgotten. At that point it was like her heart shattered in a million pieces. Trying to cheer herself up she thinks “I will find someone like you.” Everyone understands Adele’s point of view, but what about the guy that she was talking about what was he thinking?

The moment when I saw her face, my thoughts just seemed to stop. I was speechless I didn’t know why she was coming to my house. The door bell rang and I dropped the towel from my wet shaky hands.  Once I opened the door her face seemed so delighted, I sat there starring as she was saying something to me. I knew I had to tell her that I moved on, and that I was married. She was waiting for me to respond and I told her right away. Suddenly her face seemed to drop, and she seemed to get very sad within just seconds. At this moment I could tell she was the most confused she has ever been and she waited to leave. Before she left she told me not to forget her and sometime maybe we will see each other again.

Changing the point of view makes any song or story different because it shows what someone else is thinking about the situation. Therefore in this song if the man would have been singing it, the lyrics would have the feeling of surprised and shocked. Not slow, and sad like the way she sang it. 

Attitude

Author's Note: This is my themes piece and I tried to work on my AB transitions again this time I watched the lesson on school fusion. 



As the weak people watch the body of a friend get thrown off the train. Tears run down everyone’s faces thinking of how that could be them, and how they were lucky to still be alive on the train. In the book Different Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys families were put on a train then sent to work for only a ratio of food. Treated awfully people still had strong attitudes and knew this wasn’t the end. Within in this novel it really shows that love is never forgotten and when you loss someone it motivates you more to survive through the pain.   

Therefore love was throughout the entire story. Every day she would think of her home and memoirs of her family. Once the war ended she knew she had to get together with her family and Andrius to figure out the rest of their lives Lina loved her family a ton, and once her mother got sick she tried her best to make her feel better. While the mother was fighting through a disease of scurvy, Jonas and Lina would lay on top of the mother to try to heat her cold body up. Love had a huge impact on this story because she wanted to survive because of the love that she had with her family and Andrius. Even though they were put through so much stress of the fear of death Lina knew she had to survive with her family.  

Everyday Lina was thinking of her family but she was also thinking of how she will get out of the camps living. The moment where her mother’s last breathe was taken Lina knew that it was only her and her little brother Jonas. Lina had to become very responsible because she had to take the role of being his mother. As she says to herself “I will survive” after her mother passes away. Survival seemed really hard because the guards would kill anyone and you would have and it was so easy to catch a disease or cold. Although it meant everything to all the people that were put through this.

Survival was important in this book, but it was important to other characters in other books too. For example the book Hunger Games by Suzanna Collins was a great example of these two themes because she volunteered herself instead of her sister going because she knew her little sister wouldn’t make it to the end. Since Katniss’s father died, she had to gain the role of being a responsible, mature teenager like Lina after her mother passed away. To survive and live happily with their family again meant everything to Lina and Katniss. Both of these characters had a strong attitude, they feared that someone was going to kill them every day.   

Katniss was a strong, independent person that is why she survive and the themes of survival and love helped both of the characters throughout the story. These two themes had a big impact on the end of the story because love made her want to survive to with her family. If their wasn’t this connection of love and survival, Lina could have just shut down and been depressed about the situation.

Survival

Author's note: This is my predicting piece, I tried to work on AB transitions. Also I worked more on my body paragraphs like more support.

People quickly try to put their cold blistering hands in to the rock hard soil to dig down dip in the Earth’s ground for a hole 6 feet deep. A young 16 year old girl, Lina taken away from home, put to work with her mother and brother but her father sent to prison. While she is in the cart of a train to depart from her home town she meets a boy Andrius were she started to really like him. This happened in the book Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepety. I believe that in the end of this book Lina will have to work for years  and eventually her family and her will be let free in America and Lina will meet up with Andrius. Her survival will be because of her honor and love of her family.

The only thing that is keeping Lina alive is her family and her determination of surviving and going to live her life normally again. Every day she thinks of her father and tries to find a way to send something to him messaging that she is still alive. Through the drawings she makes of what she sees,  she sends them to the prison trying to let him know they are alright. Her only motivation she tells her self is “I will survive.” Every day would get harder and she would still be thinking of father and how she will see Andrius again.

Both Lina and Andrius loved each other, and right before she had to leave to work somewhere new Andrius gave a book to Lina the same one that she had earlier but ruined because it was used for smoking. Right after she got the book in her hand she had to leave and Andruis said to her “I’ll see you.”  It ran through her head a million times,  she knew she couldn’t wait to see his face.  Therefore she began to read the book even though it was Russian. Some pages Andrius would write things that made her wish she would be with him like “I am thinking of you, are you thinking of me?” Many people have been separated from who they loved and were put through torture like the holocaust and to come through just to fight for their own life.

 A girl, Ellie a little younger then Lina had to go through the holocaust which was just kind of like what Lina had to go through. Ellie liked a boy from school but he wasn’t Jewish so he wasn’t taken away from his home.  Once Ellie had to start to work and was separated from her father and brother she started to think that she had to survive because she wanted to get back with her family and wanted to see her crush again. These two characters remind me of each other because they both had to go through the same thing which was some bossing them around and had the fear of dying. The two girls both had the same attitude which was to survive and live the rest of their life with their family.

Overall I think that since Ellie had to go through almost the same thing and she survived so Lina will survive too. Along with that Lina’s family should survive too because Lina would do almost anything to save them. Also I think that Andrius will find Lina too because they were truly in love and he had access to send her letters and pictures. 

He Didn't Leave

Author's Note: This was my prediction for the story Thank You Ma'am. 

After the woman shut the door on  Rodger, instead of them never seeing each other again, he stayed outside of her house because he didn’t want to go home to his parents yelling at him or being alone. Therefore from then on he started to visit her more often, and they became closer it was like she was his mother. The reason I say this is because it seems like he didn’t have a very good home life, it seemed like his parents were never home but if they were it seemed like they would yell at him for not having a job so he could pay for himself. Also I think that he would hang around Mrs. Jones because she had a big impact on him changing his attitude so he enjoys to be around someone that trusts him. 

Haunted

Author's note: I forgot the people's name in the stories names and couldn't find the story but this is my predicting piece. 

In the story The Buried, I think that in the end the man that took the gold rings will be haunted by the man that died and I think he may scare or kill him. The reason I say this is because the man that passed away told him that he wanted his treasures to be buried with him, but the man just took them. Although he was died his spirit was still on the earth grounds that’s why I think he is able to haunt him. 

Changing Isn't Always a Bad Thing

Author’s note: This piece was about two characters that change within the story, and I tried to make sure that I added transitions in between my paragraphs. 

In the book Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen the character Cole went through an event to change his whole life and personality. Cole had an abusive father which had a huge impact on his personality. He was an angry, unforgiving, uncaring person and he was unwilling to change. Throughout the story Cole changed a lot, even though in the beginning he didn’t want to. 

Therefore one day Cole took his violence to far and he beat up a student named Peter on the school sidewalk. Peter suffered from head trauma, speech problems, and had many nightmares about the beating Cole did to him. Cole was caught from the circle justice and either had the choice to go to jail or had to go to an island to heal his criminal ways. Which he choose the island, in the beginning Cole did not take it seriously and he was not willing to change. Cole attempted to escape the island but he was caught by the rising tide and was not able to escape. Then Cole returns to the island and  came across the touching spirit bear and tried to take his angry out by stabbing the bear with a knife. The bear was unfazed and attacked Cole, he broke his hip and arm as well as knocking Cole out.

However Cole was taking to a nurse to heal from his injuries, and he finds out that his mother now was open to press charges against the father. Cole was now anxious he wanted to start his healing progress again, but the circle justice said to him that he already used his chance. It started to show that Cole was willing to change he wanted to become a better person.  The circle justice decided that they would give him one more chance, and this time Cole knew he had to work harder. When Cole got to the island he had to build his own shelter and he did many actives to release his anger. Once Cole was starting to change and starting to gain forgiveness and starting to think of others not just his self a man named Edwin that is part of the circle justice tells him that Peter is doing worse.  Cole felt bad, he knew that he had to do something to make their relationship better. Therefore Cole invited Peter to the island to let him know what he is doing at the peaceful island, and Peter starting to understand how to forgive Cole.

In addition this book relates to The Haunting by Joan Lowery because both of the characters were selfish in the beginning and then they became to realize it isn’t always about them.  In The Haunting the main character Lia inherited a old, creepy, haunted house in Graymoss. Her parents were always thinking about adopting young children that didn’t have a home or parents and this was the perfect opportunity. Although Lia didn’t want to move away from her best friend so she wanted to prove to her parents that it was haunted. After visiting the Barker Home for Children Lia started to realize why her parents wanted to do this, the kids looked unhappy and unloved.  Now all Lia wanted to do is get the ghost out of the house so that they could live there with the kids, and the night that she went she figured it out and kicked the ghost. These two stories both relate because the characters both tried to push things away and were unwilling to do something different, although at the end both of the characters both ending up doing something for another person which helped both of the characters.

Overall in these two books both of the characters changed throughout the story, and they learned something within their situations. In Cole’s situation he learned that he shouldn’t just be angry at people that innocent and didn’t do anything to him. With Lia situation she learned that she shouldn’t ruin someone else’s dream especially since their dreams are trying to help others. Both of these characters personality changed, and they both helped someone out. Many people that read these books would be able to tell that the characters change in a very good way. 

Founding Fathers

Author’s Note: I tred to add some transitions in between my body paragraphs.

Dear Thomas Jefferson,

I am really glad to say that you are my favorite founding father. I really think that you worked really hard for the rights of our country. It wouldn’t seem right if we were suppose to stay under the order of the king of Great Britain George III, if he were to be abusing the colonists. Since the rights include the ability to live free, to have liberty and to pursue happiness,  you  really proved that by writing the Declaration of Independence.  I think that separating ourselves from the British was a peaceful resolution. Even though the British probably would have been mad about it, the Americans did say that they always would be like brothers with England.

In addition I really appreciate the country that now it became, it was a land of opportunity for many people throughout the world to have a new beginning to their life. Since you wrote the Decoration of Independence that let my ancestries come from Germany and Italy to build a new life. If you wouldn’t have wrote this most people in my world now wouldn’t be a live right now because this had a true impact on our country. People now were able to get land, find a job, and build a house for their family. The decoration of Independence  gave people the opportunity to practice their own religion, and live their life freely not under the command of someone.

Therefore in our current world today, I think if many people had a chance to talk to you or any of the founding fathers they would say that they thank you very much for giving us freedom and rights. If you didn’t create this document our world now would be very different not in a good way. I really am thankful for courage, in the United States and benefit from the educational system that we developed, and the protection by the soldiers that we have now.  

Shouldn't Have Gone to the Mountains

Author's note: This is a piece that is about the cause and effect of the book Pictures of Hollis Woods. I tried to work on the AB transitions and making sure that I don't start my sentences with the same word.

In the book Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff is a story about a girl that is a foster child that normally doesn’t find a house that she likes. Usually she will live with a family and not enjoy being with them so she will run away from the home. Although once she met Steven, Izzy and the old man she knew that this was the family that she should stay with. 

Therefore while Hollis was thinking of living with the perfect family, Steven and her got into a car accident, which was the climax. While they were staying in the summer house Hollis always wanted to go up on the mountains but the old man wouldn't let her because he thought it was dangerous. Which he was right she went up on the mountains and hurt her ankle she wasn't able to call for help because Steven was fishing, and the old man and Izzy went out. Once Steven got back from fishing he couldn't find Hollis, he worried and figured she went to the mountains. Steven quickly drove up the mountain and found her injured. On the way down from the mountain the brakes on the truck weren't working, Steven told Hollis to jump right before the truck ran into the door. Hollis thought it was all her fault and felt really bad that Steven got hurt.

Since Hollis thought the car accident was all her fault she ran away from the family. This really effected the story because if the brakes were to be working when they were going down the hill they would have never got in a car accident. If they weren't to get in to a car accident then the story would have been really different she would have never ran away and she would be living a nice life the old man, Izzy and Steven. Nothing can ever just be perfect, and if it would have Hollis would have never met Josie.

  

Hiding From the Germans

Author's note: I wrote the main conflict and resolution of the book Yellow Star.

In the book Yellow Star by Jennifer  Roy was about a young girl named Syvia  that lived during the holocaust. The main problem of this book was that Syvia had to live in the ghetto with Germans directing her around,  which then she had to start to hide from all them because they sent all the kids to concentration camps. There were many kids in the holocaust that had to go through this too, like Anne Frank she tried to hide from all the Germans. This book really is a group vs a group, because it is the Jewish people vs the Germans but the Germans are mainly over powering in the beginning and middle part of the event. 

Therefore Syvia  hid underground to make sure the Germans wouldn’t find her and the other children.  Right in the middle of the war the Germans got really bad and they killed so many Jewish people, by either shooting them or putting them in gas chambers.  Many innocent  people died throughout the war, but eventually the Russians and the Americans teamed up and defeated the Germans in the war which stopped the holocaust. The end to the war let the Jewish people that were still alive to leave to start a new life, which Syvia and her family decided to go to France. 

Basketball Championship

Author’s Note:  This was a game that I will never forget, and I tried to add some transitions to meet my goal.

Everyone walked on the court very stressed out, both teams knew it was going to be a complicated game. My coach kept saying "Relax girls just play this game like any other." I keep thinking of that when we were warming up, but I still had butterflies in my stomach. We started the game and all I could hear is my coach yelling, which got everyone really nervous but we have played Franklin before so we knew who their best players were. This game meant a lot to me, it proved to me that my coach believes in me.

After playing awhile there were just 5 minutes in the half and we were losing by 3 points, we had a lot of time to catch up. It was our ball and we were running a play for one of my teammates Becca, it was for her because my coach knew she could shoot three pointers. She made her cut which got her open, I passed her the ball and she made it. I heard all the parents clapping, and my coach howled "Great shot Becca! Now let's go into our press." From there the game keep going back and forth we would score then they would score.

Suddenly I heard a voice say "come on ladies let's finish our tournament with a great victory and a perfect record. " My coach said at half time while pushing some people on the court. They were winning by a couple points, we could get those back pretty easily. Although after a few minutes into the second half we were all kind of tired we had 3 games before this one. "Go into twelve defense" Our coach realized we were kind of tired that is why he told us to go into zone defense. We weren't that good at zone defense because we didn't play it that much. Anyways now there was 5 minutes left and we were winning by 7 points then the other teams coach called a timeout. "I think you girls are doing a great job just make sure you don't let them back in the game. Also get more water if you were just in." My coach said while taking a glance at the other team.

As soon as the ref blew his whistle my teammates and I walked on the court like we thought we had this game in the bag; the other team walked on the court playing with their clammy hands. It was the other teams ball, and it seemed like they were doing a play so we tried our best not to let them score, which turned out awful they got a three pointer. Next thing we knew it was a tie game with only one minute left, and it was their ball. We seemed to already know the play that they were running so we stopped them from shooting the three pointer, until number 32 came from nowhere and got an open three which she swooshed it. Now it was our ball left with only 10 seconds left on the clock. “Timeout!” my coach screamed while the veins were popping out of his head and neck. Right away he grabbed his whiteboard and throw it hard against the ground. He picked up the old damaged whiteboard and started to draw out a play for us to make a three pointer, which I was the one that was going to shoot it.

Behind the thick black out of bonds line Becca received the ball from the old grumpy ref and right away she threw it right to my teammate Kenzie. The others players were setting me up, I did my big loop around the other side of the three point arc and I was open. Kenzie passed to me with a lot of force, then I noticed that there were two defenders coming towards me. The only decision I had was to dribble the basketball down more towards the corner but still outside the three point line. I picked up my dribble and had no choice but to shoot there was only 3 seconds left. I struggled to get my hands underneath the ball so I put the ball in my right arm and did a right hand hook shot. The clock buzz real loud. It was going towards the hoop it looked like it was going in! Then it plopped down. Everyone was disappointed I could even hear everyone saying “Why would she shoot it like that?” in a real snotty tone. All a sudden we heard the refs whistle blow and it was a foul that meant 3 free throws, I could tie the game.

Therefore I stepped up to the free throw line sweat dripping down my face, I felt really nervous. I could hear my heart beat rapidly, I could feel everyone’s eyes on me. The ref passed me the ball, and I started to dribble it a couple times then  I shot it. The ball went right in the net so nicely no one could hear it hit the rim. I heard all my teammates cheering then the ref passed me the ball again, I did the same amount of dribbles as usually and I shot it, and it went in. I felt a little more relaxed, everyone was still cheering but I knew this was the last shot to see if we went into overtime. I dribbled it 6 times again, and shot my last shot when the whole gym was as quiet as a mouse. Instantly my whole team ran over to me hugging me and cheering as loud as they could. We all sat down on the bench with huge grins on our faces, but we still haven’t won yet we still had an extra minute of overtime.

In addition Becca jumped as high as she could, and we got the ball off the tip off. Kenzie caught the ball and went in for a lay-up beating everyone up the court, and no one could catch her so we scored. All we had to do is not let them score then we got 1^st place and a perfect record of 15-0. The other team was so in shock of what happened they couldn’t even score, they keep the ball around which was wasting time. Evenatually there was only 10 seconds left and they set up a play to make 32 shoot a three. “Shoot it!” yelled the other teams coach because there was only 3 seconds on the clock. The ball went up in the air but Haylie jumped in front of the shot and blocked it a little. The clocked buzzed real loud, we won! The other teams heads were all real low, and our team could not stop smiling. 

Things May Start Bad Then Become Better

Author's note: This is a retelling piece about the story Where the Heart Is.

Where The Heart Is was a book about a teenage girl that is pregnant and stranded in a city where she knows no one. She creates a goal for her and her daughter to make something out of their life, and she meets people along the way to help her meet her goal.

What's the Point of Life?

Author's note: I wrote this because I am reading a book where a girl has no father and her mother was addicted to drugs, so I thought I should write a story kind of like her life. 

Everyday is a struggle, I go to school trying to hide the pain that I feel.  In the morning I can barely get up because my back hurts so much from being whipped with a belt.  I dread the thought of sitting in school too, because I had 50 slashes from my father’s belt the night before. My mother was so high that she was completely oblivious to the beating my father did to me.  Child abuse is an awful thing so no parent should ever do this to their kid, it really ruins their life.

Everyone at school seems to have their own clicks that explains why I don’t have many friends. I only have one her name is Molly and we usually sit by each other in classes or at lunch. Although she has never came to my house before, or met my parents. If she did meet my parents she will probably stop being friends with me because she would found out that my dad is an alcoholic and my mom is addicted to heroin.  I decided I should probably go get my diary so I could write something to make me actually happy.  I got up but then my father looked at me, I knew he was going to say something mean or blame something on me.

“ Where is the remote control for the television?”  

“ How am I suppose to know, you never let me watch television. Why don’t you look for it yourself?”

“ Are you talking back to me Morgan?”

“ No.” I said then realized I wanted to take it all back....He walked towards me giving me a strange look like he was going to do something horrifying tonight.

I was screaming in pain telling him to stop every time he would push against my body.  He was pushing my hands down and sat on my legs so I couldn’t kick. I knew it had to stop soon, but it was going on for long enough. Finally he let go of me and got out of my bed he zipped up his pants then walked away.  Tears keep running down my face, but he seemed to be back for more.  Now he had his black leather belt behind his back.  I was terrified of what he was going to do next. He grabbed my shirt and ripped it in half so my boney spine was showing.  He repeated to hit me with the belt on my back, but it was the hardest he has ever hit me. It felt like it was going on  forever,  finally he stopped. The rest of the night I cried myself to sleep.

I woke up the next morning and I was still in pain. I decided not go to school and just to stay home alone.  I had no idea where my parents were but I was glad they weren’t home.  I tried to get up to get the phone but once I sat up from bed I know it would be hard to keep my legs stable. I put legs on the ground and took my black and blue hands to push off  the bed but I just couldn’t stand up. After the twentieth try finally I was up. It seemed so difficult to walk I felt like an elderly woman. I got to my outdated kitchen where the phone was, but I thought why even call the school they don’t care about me. I decided to keep the phone in my hand but I walked slowly to the cabinet where my dad’s gun was. I open the old cabinet, and there his brand new sliver pistol was. I got a hold of it and I knew exactly what I was going to use it for but I thought I want someone to know why I would do this to myself. I took a notepad that was under the pistol along with a pen and I started to write. I explained what happened to me, what I actually enjoyed in life and a paragraph to Molly saying how I will  miss her.

I began to cry I was scared if it was going to hurt, but I knew I was going to do it. I dialed 911 and someone picked up instantly. “ You are going to need to get a police officer down on W3467S5703 Kitten Lane there is child killed in the house.” The women started to talk but I wasn’t l listening I dropped the phone and picked up the pistol and I placed it right on my temple. I felt the tears run down my cheekbones  then I pulled the trigger. 

Is She Real or Not?

Author’s note: I have had so many fun times with my cousins extremely my cousin named Kimmy.

My cousin and I were really good friends we used to hang out a lot. Even though she lived in Brookfield so we went to different schools. When we would have family events we would always just talk to each other. I felt like she was the reason why I enjoyed going to those family events. Then she had to move to California, and we don’t talk  that much anymore. Although I did go to California and to visit her, we went to the beach a lot. I thought the it was so fun and California is so beautiful.

    This summer I am really excited because she is coming up to Wisconsin and she is going to stay at my grandparents house, they live in Brookfield. We are thinking about going to the Dells with them which would be a blast, we would go to a lot of outdoor water parks. The other times they came, we have gotten together with other family. It is always a joy to see all of our families members and extremely Kimmy.

Make Sure you Are Strapped in All the way.

Author's note: We choose death as our writing circle topic and I didn't really know how to write about someone dieing that was very close to someone so I made it someone that no one knew. Hope you enjoy!

I am so excited, tomorrow my best friend Lily and I are going to six flags it is going to be the time of our lives. Lily and I have been best friends for about 5 years now and we have done everything together. We live in Brookfield Wisconsin, so it might take awhile for us to get down there so we decided to leave early in the morning, We were going to pick up Lily and her mother. I should go to bed though because it is getting late and we have to get up at the crack of dawn.

    “Alice, you have to get up it is time to get ready.” My mother said in a nice peaceful voice. RIght then I got out of bed and rushed to the kitchen to get my breakfast. I saw that there were 5 huge pancakes just for me. I grabbed the syrup and stacked each pancake on each other. Every bite I took was delicious, I couldn’t stop eating then my mom walked over.
    “What do you wanna wear too Great America? It is probably going to be hot.”
    “Um, well will you get the blue shirt, and my jean shorts?” I said while trying to wipe my face.
    “Sounds good, and make sure you wash your face off your as messy as a pig.” She said while giggling. I did as I was told and ran in the bathroom to wipe my face, and brushed my teeth while I was at it. Right when I finished brushing my teeth I dashed to my room and changed immediately. I got out of my room, and looked around to find my dog, Lucky and she was barking away. I am guessing that she just didn’t want me to leave.
    “What should I bring in the car ride?” I asked my mom while I was petting my dog.
    “Well Lily and you could sleep in the car if you guys are still tired.” she said while putting some food in a bag.
    “Okay, I’ll meet you in the car. “ I said while picking up my green blanket. I sat in the middle seat of the van. I feel like I have been sitting in the car forever then finally my mom walks out with a big bag and cooler of food. She sets the stuff in the trunk, and then walks into the front seat and starts the engine.
    “Are you feeling okay or are you just still tired?” she said while pulling out of the drive way.
    “I feel fine, but like you said I am tired.” I said. We were now on our way to pick Lily up and it only takes about 5 minutes to get to her house.
    Finally we got there and they were waiting outside, it seemed like Lily was tired too well it was 6 o’clock in the morning. Neither of us are used to getting up that early.
    “Hi Lily!” I said while she was taking her seat right next to me.
    “Hey Alice, do you know what we are going to do on the ride there?”
    “Well I am sort of tired so do you want to just take a nap?”
    “Sounds great, I am too.”
The car came to a sudden stop and I realized that I have been sleeping for the whole ride. I turned to look at Lily and she was still sleeping.
    “Wow those cars were going slower than molasses.” Mrs. Shock said while she was opening the car door.
    “Are we there mom?” I asked.
    “Yeah do you want to walk up Lily?” I turned a shook Lily lightly and told her that we were here. Her big green eyes got huge once I told her. I was excited myself too. We walked up to the ticketmaster and surprisingly it wasn’t a long line, there wasn’t a lot of people there. Anyway right away we walk over to the best ride superman. We get up to the line and there was not anyone in line. We had to wait for the other ride to come back, and for some odd reason I felt like something bad was going to happen. The people that were just on came back, and we were allowed to go on the ride then. I sat by Lily, and our mothers were right in front of us. We got all strapped in and I couldn’t turn my head to be allowed to see Lily.
    “I feel like I am not strapped in all the way.” Lily said. Right when she said that I freaked out I didn’t want her to get hurt but then again that is how the ride is supposed to feel like.
    “Will someone check our seats again.” I yelled so they could hear me. The man that was working the ride came over and made sure we both were strapped in and he said that we were fine. I felt relieved once he told us that we were fine. Suddenly the ride started to move and we were on our way. The ride was turning so much that I actually felt like I was flying! Lily and I were screaming the whole time then all a sudden there was no noise out of Lily or the person right next to Lily. I wonder what happened, why would they both become silent. Although it did start to rain and seemed like it was going to have a storm pretty soon. The ride was just about over and I was going to ask right away. We came to a complete stop and we were allowed to get off. I noticed that Lily was crying but at least I know she is safe.

“Lily why are you crying?” I said to her while looking sympathetic.

“I saw the person to me fall out of their seat, I don’t know who they are.” she claimed while looking more scared than ever. I didn’t answer, but our moms asked us what happened and she told them right away. We told the man who was working the ride to tell someone about the dead body laying in the middle of the field. We knew we had to leave because all of us were scared to go on to another ride, and it started to downpour really hard. It was very odd that it started to rain because it was suppose to be sunny the whole day but I guess the weather man isn’t always right. I was then on scared always to go on roller coasters and even though we drove for a long time it didn’t matter.