October 29

Discovering Greatness

Discovering Greatness

By:Sophia Wynn

 

      Being the smart one in class means everyone most likely despises you. I was the smart one in my math class. “Try hard” would not be the words to describe me, because in all honesty, I didn’t try hard. It was the only class that came naturally easy to me, but my classmates didn’t have to know that. In fact, I went out of my way just to make sure they thought I was some kind of math wiz. I would raise my hand for every question to the point where Mrs. Anderson would repeatedly say in an aggravated voice “Can anyone but Sophia answer my question?” Oh how I loved when this would happen. The way everyone gave me dirty looks as Mrs. Anderson questioned their ability to know what they were doing. That’s a feeling I will never forget. 

      The pink sticky note, crinkled and treasured, is always kept in my graphing calculator, so when I open up it up in math everyday it reminds me that I can accomplish anything.  Most people think it’s cocky and stuck up, but I don’t care. To me, it shows my excellence and intelligence.

      After a stressful week of testing and finals, we worked on an easy packet of math individually. The constant whisper was quite annoying for the first ten minutes of class, but I soon tuned it out. After a while it was pretty quiet. I remember not looking up at all because I was so concentrated on doing my math packet. For some odd reason I was writing extremely slow because I wanted it to look very neat. Then when I realised I wasn’t going to finish the whole math packet in class because of my odd, slow writing, I clenched the pencil in my hand as I sped up and started writing faster and faster. I started to get stressed out and you could hear my pencil scribbling unreadable words. Out of nowhere, a sticky note slid onto my desk; I looked up as my teacher walked away. When I looked back down a smile quickly grew on my face. The sticky note read “#1 on final. 96%.” After seeing this, my ego was through the roof. I remember thinking “fuck yes.” This overload of exhilaration made me light-headed and dizzy. My very few friends in the class all looked at me curiously wondering what it said. If you were wondering, the only people that could tolerate me are the people I count as friends, but because of said light-headedness I couldn’t really comprehend what words they were mouthing because it was independent work time and talking was strictly prohibited, so I just ignored them for the rest of the period.


      After class I remember them rushing towards me and asking repeatedly what the sticky note said. Of course I waited for them to stop screaming to speak which took about 5 minutes. Their faces had the “oh my gosh I hate you” look: Funniest thing ever. 

      This moment where some found jealousy I found strength and astonishment. The pink sticky note, crinkled and treasured, a memory of discovering greatness. 

Category: Personal Writing | 2 Comments on Discovering Greatness
October 29

Passing Time

Passing Time

When I was younger I used to have so many stuffed animals that I could fill more than half my staircase with them. I would dump them all down the stairs and then I would jump off the top of the stairs into the giant pile. Whooooooooooosh. I would leap down the stairs and land in the massive pile with a thump. The door opens, and I tumble down; landing upside down in the pile of stuffed animals that have fallen. I look up, or whatever direction should be up. 

“Why do you do this?” A voice asks from above me. An Adult! A family member looks down at me, confused. I laugh as I answered, just saying that it was fun.  They would simply shrug and go back to whatever they had been doing laughing amusedly. I usually would continue to jump for a while, so I had to get the door shut again so the stuffed animals would be piled together. I would try my best to toss the fluffy stuffed animals back up the stairs, so I could close the door and jump again, but would not succeed. I would have to put them back in their totes and drag them back upstairs, only to dump them again so I could jump. This was one of my favorite ways to pass time. I could keep jumping into my heap of all shapes and sized stuffed animals until I heard someone call me or smelled dinner cooking. Cleaning everything up never took long, I could just throw all the stuffed animals in totes and bring them back upstairs, and put them where I wanted them.

 I liked the fact that my room was at the top of the house, it just seemed more fun and more fitting with the slanted ceiling and curvy walls, I liked having a weird shaped room instead of a small square. It felt more creative and fun instead of boxy and cramped. It was where I got all sorts of ideas and never ran out of things to do, like pour my stuffed animals down the stairs to use as a landing zone so I could jump from the top. The room was full of colorful stuffed animals, totes full of all sorts of things, and seemingly endless piles of books. There were 13 wooden stairs, and a huge banister. I loved vaulting over the banister or leaping over the top edge of the stairs into my heap of waiting stuffed animals. 

Category: Personal Writing | LEAVE A COMMENT
January 9

You’re My Shooting Star

CHAPTER THREE -MOCHI-

I woke up to a loud alarm going off repeatedly making me get out of bed to go find out where the ringing sound was coming from. I found out that it was coming from the alarm clock that was sitting on the nightstand on the other side of the bed. I took a deep breath and turned off the alarm clock since the wringing sounds were getting really annoying to listen to. Since I was already out of bed I decided that I should probably get ready for the day. I got dressed in the clothing that I had taken with me then I proceeded to do my morning routines before going downstairs to see if anyone else was up. After I got downstairs I saw that everyone was already awake and ready to start the day.  I felt a little bad about making everyone wait for me for such a long period of time.

“Oh finally your awake. What did I tell you Luka he would sleep the entire day away if he could. Luckily you put that alarm in his room so he would actually get up and not sleep forever.” Jewon said.

“Yah you suggested it so I did. Hopefully we will be on time getting to the church. We don’t want anyone knowing we are there so we don’t get into any trouble.” Luka responded

“Can I atleast get something to eat and drink before we go because I’m starving and I want breakfast.” I said groaning

Luka looked at me and laughed softly as he hugged me from behind and kissed my cheek in a loving way. Jewon gagged a little at the romantic things that Luka and I were doing since Jewon wasn’t into romance and loving another person. Luka let me go and walked into the kitchen to go make me something to eat so I wasn’t starving when we went to the church. Jewon looked at me and rolled his eyes a little as he got up off of the couch and went to go help Luka with breakfast. After a couple of minutes they came back into the dining room and we all sat down at the table and ate together.

“So Luka what are you going to do if our father finds out that your dating Mochi?” Jewon said making me choke on my drink.

“I haven’t thought about that yet and honestly I don’t think I want to think about it right now. All I want right now is to be with Mochi, but when we come up to that bridge I’ll find a way over it.” Luka said and took my hand in his.

“Thats kind of stupid to say.” Jewon said and I looked at him

“Yah and everything that comes out of your mouth is stupid Jewon. Stop being such a stick in the mud and actually be happy for me for once in your life. I know I’m not the best brother at times but you need to stop sitting on sticks.” I said.

Right then I got up from my seat and cleared my place. I sighed softly and took a deep breath as I washed the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen. I could hear Luka and Jewon talking in the dining room but I didn’t bother to listen to anything that they were saying since I wanted to give them some privacy during their conversation. I relaxed a little and headed out of the kitchen and out the door onto the deck. I waited for the others on the deck, after about an hour or two we headed out to the church. I didn’t know why but I had a gut feeling that something was going to happen today and I didnt think that it was going to be good. Luka noticed how uneasy I was and put his arm around me trying to make me feel a little better.

“Hey Mochi are you ok? You seem a bit off?” He said in a calming voice.

“Yah I’m fine. I just have a bad feeling about today. like something is going to happen and I don’t think that it’s a good thing.” I said.

Luka nodded at what I had said, I knew that he didn’t want to press any more questions. I relaxed a little and followed the road to the church. After a long hike to the abandoned building we made sure to look around it to see if there was any entrance to the basement so we could drain the water without having to go inside. I found a small window that had touched the ground and had a clear view into the basement. I kneeled down and removed one of the panels on the window. I looked over at Jewon and he put his backpack down and pulled out a long tube. I grabbed part of the tube and lowered it down into the water till I couldn’t lower it anymore. Jewon made the water come out of the tube and we put it on the ground facing one of the storm drains on the road.

“Ok that should be it we are all set to go inside and figure out if we can find any clues to see what is happening.” I said and all of us nodded.

We headed inside and decided to split up for this task. I headed upstairs into the atic to see what was up there. I pulled a flashlight out of my bag and turned it on to see if i could find anything of use. I fully got into the atic and looked atound, some furniture had cloths over them, there were stacks of books, pappers, news articles, pictures, paintings, and other objects. As I was going through the box’s I landed across a gun. Something about that gun seemed very familiar. After staring at the gun for a while i realized where it was from. The night my mom was murdered at the hands of a human. The last time I had ever stepped foot onto an airship.

 

I was only eight years old. I was holding onto my mothers hand as she brought me to the docs. She had on a white and brown dress with little gears on the bottom of it. She had her black hair tied up in a bun as she smiled down at me.

“Are you ready to come with me on this trip Mochi?” She asked with a sweet smile.

I nodded my head as we stepped onto the Airship. One of the men put our luggage on the ship and brought us to the rooms that we were going to be staying in during out trip. I sat on my bed and played with a action figure that i had gotten from the woodcarver the other day. After a couple minutes of paying my mother came into the room and took my hand leading me out to the deck. We stood there for a minute and waved bye to the people on the docs as we departed from the docs. I watched as the city got father and father away making me a little homesick but I was glad that my mother was there with me.

“Now Mochi it’s getting late so let’s get you to bed. I’ll wake you up tomorrow first thing in the morning!” She said and brought me to my room.

I got changed and put all my things away before getting into bed. My mother came into the room and tucked me into bed and pulled out a book. She smiled at me and sat on the rocking chair and flipped through the pages as she read the stories to me. When the book was finished she put it down on the nightstand and fixed the covers on the bed before kissing my forehead and giving me a little hug. Never once had her smile been brighter then it was then.

“Goodnight my darling son. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. I love you Mochi.” She said in a kind and sweet way she could.

She left my room and turned off the lights and closed the old wooden door. I could hear her footsteps as she walked away from the door slowly fading away to where I could only hear the rumble of the engine on the airship. The song slowly made me fall into a warm embrace of sleep. But that didn’t last long at all. My eyes shot open when I heard a ear piercing scream from above me. A couple more years followed with loud gunfire and boots stomping against the wood above. I got out of bed and grabbed the bear off my nightstand. I could tell something was wrong just by the inanity of the outside world. I ran over to the door and pulled open the door only to see people running down the hallway to get away from the chaos above. I followed after trying to find my mothers room. After I arrived at my destination I saw that the door was open and the lights were out in the room. I stepped inside and looked around to see where my mother was but all there was inside the room was a couple pieces of furnichure and a empty bed. Spinning on my heel I was off again trying to find where my mom had disappeared to. I checked everywhere but one place. On the deck.

I reached the staircase and slowly walked up the steps to the deck. Bodys of people littered the ground around me. Blood staining every piece of clothing that they had on. Tears came to my eyes as I looked for my mother, all I could do was hope that she was ok, hope that she wasn’t amongst the body’s, hope she was safe. But all my hope was for nothing when I saw my mother with a gun to her head she looked over at me then at the man.

“I heard you brought a little boy on board. He would do just fine on my crew.” He said in a raspy voice

“Please don’t hurt him. He’s only a little boy. You can do whatever you want to me just leave my son alone.” She cried.

The man holding the gun let out a low laugh before he smirked at her. There was a loud bang and then the silence was interrupted by the sound of a scream… my scream. The man holding the gun looked over to where I was frozen in fear, gripping the brown bear in my little arms as tight as I possibly could. He walked over to me a kneeled down pushing his hat up so I could see his face perfectly. He gave a sick and gruesome smile, the smell of rum was intoxicating and made me gag a little at the semll.

“Son. Here’s a lesson for you. Love gets you killed.” He said before standing up again.

And that was the last time I ever saw him.

This was the gun he used. The man who had killed my mother in cold blood.

 

__________________________________________________________________________

If you liked the part of this chapter and want to read more of the story please comment so I could send you more of the story. The story is still being worked on so there might me new changes and plot twists further on!

Category: Fiction Writing, Personal Writing | 1 Comment on You’re My Shooting Star
October 30

That One Door

That One Door

by: Gage Stankiewicz

 

If there are hallways in my mind, there must be doors. Doors that hide many things behind there wooden frames. Doors that hide secrets and memories that can be revealed by the twist of an iron knob.

Walking quietly down the one half- light hallway gave a sense of feeling utterly alone. The silence being pierced by my breathing and footsteps as I continued to walk. Looking around I could see different vibrant doors decorated in crazy colors, all marked with signs that were just as bright as the handels they hanged from. As I walked a door with a frosted handel and bright blue wood caught my attention. I decided I wanted to take a look inside the interesting door. I could clearly see a little boy with a mountain of jackets on. His brown hair was covering his face as he gripped the stings of his skates trying desperately to tie the two white laces together. Frustration and anger filled him as he realised he couldn’t tie the losses due to all the coats he was wearing. I couldn’t help but laugh at the scene in front of me. Something about that little boy seemed familiar but I didn’t know why. Then it hit me like a bag of bricks, the boy that I saw was actually me when I was younger.

As I continued to walk I couldn’t help but stop at a door. The door was worn down, chipped and cracked, rust on the broken, dented, and screwless handel. Curiosity washed over me like a tidal wave,I couldn’t stop myself from opening the door not knowing what I might find. Taking a couple steps inside I could clearly see a boy sitting in a dark closet, he was crying his heart out. The tears spilled from his cheeks onto the glass of the picture frame that he clutched in his shaky hands. When he finally put down the picture to dry his cheeks, I could see what the frame heald behind its glass. There sat a picture of my cousin who had passed away at a young age. The memories and feeling hit me like a punch to the gut. I bolted out of the room and slammed the door shut behind me. I hated that memory I could feel my blood boil in my vain. All i wanted to do was forget what I had saw and forget that memory. I had to take a couple deep breaths just to calm myself down, when I finally was calm I continued to walk down the hallway.

At the end of the hallway there sat a door. The wood was painted to look like a transgender flag, the doorknob had a bright rainbow tag hanging off of it bringing a bright and happy feeling to my heart. I couldn’t see the sign on the door because of the large gap between me and the door. I couldn’t help myself and decided that I must see what was behind the bright colored door. Every step I took closer and closer to the door just made me want to look inside. When i finally arrived in front of the mysterious door I grabbed ahold of the shiny door knob and twisted the handel. I opened the door and hoped to get some answers on what would be coming in the futcher, what could I look forward too? I released the breath that was caught in my throat and opened my eyes only to see…

Black.

I was staring into a dark void. There was nothing to be seen there at all, I couldn’t even see two inches in front of my own face. There was no light, no emotion, nothing just complete and utter silence. How was an empty room going to answer anything that I was asking. I was in complete disbelief. I took a step back and closed the door, i realized there was a sign hanging on the door. I turned it over to see if there was any explanation to tell me why there was nothing inside of the room and why all i could see was darkness. There was one sentence that was written on the peace of paper, just reading it made me have hope about my future that was going to come. “When your world changes for good, then and only the, will your second chapter start.” staring at the sentence at first was confusing but as time passed i realize what that sentence means now. That room that i saw wasn’t another memory, it was actually another hallway. But that hallway did not have doors to look in, that was a story to come.

My second chapter.

Category: class writing | 1 Comment on That One Door