Buzz

Shahan, Thomas. "Female Tabanus Horse Fly." Flickr. Yahoo, 30 June 2009. Web. 1 Feb. 2015.

Jeremy flicked the switch and immediately hopped into his bed. He snuggled under his covers grateful for their warmth. The heating unit in his room was broken and winter easily found a way in. It had been a long day and he was more than happy to finally be able to rest his head and get some much-needed sleep. He cleared his mind and let exhaustion take over. His consciousness ebbed away… suddenly, an irritating noise at the side of his head forced him wide awake. Slightly angered that he had been deprived of his sleep, he rolled over and shut his eyes once more. A few seconds later the noise passed by his ear once more. This time he was fully aware of it; somehow a fly had gotten into his room in the middle of winter. He grunted in annoyance and pulled the blankets over his head to shut out the noise.

He was satisfied that this would finally give him the sleep he longed for; until he heard the buzzing again, even closer. The filthy thing had somehow followed him into his fortress of blankets and further denied him his rest. Jeremy threw off his covers and raised his hands, prepared to snuff out the insect’s insignificant existence. Once again, the pest buzzed by his ear, but Jeremy’s awkward move to smash the bug only wound up smashing his face. Swearing under his breath with his cheek now stinging and red, Jeremy left the warm safety of his mattress to once again turn on the lights. Blinded momentarily, he opened his eyes to find the little devil buzzing around near the light fixture. Jeremy bent his knees and sprang up flailing his arms in an attempt to hit the insect crawling around on his ceiling light. The bug had no trouble avoiding Jeremy’s clumsy attempt to end its life and easily flew out of his reach. Jeremy, on the other hand, was not so lucky; he crashed back to the floor twisting his ankle in the process. Rocking back and forth while clutching his throbbing leg, he cursed the black demon that was floating carelessly around his head. All he wanted was relief from his hard day and this insignificant creature was depriving him of his rest.

In his pain, he started pinning all of his problems on the fly. The fly was his horrible boss, the fly was his bad grades in college that had led to him landing his depressing job, and the fly was the constant reminder that life was going to keep handing him problems and never give him a moment of rest. He pushed himself to his feet and focused his gaze on the critter now sitting on the pillow that he wished he could lay his head on. Grunting from the pain in his foot, Jeremy leaped forward onto his bed to finally squish the tiny beast. But again the fly evaded his attempts and Jeremy wound up simply hitting his head into his bed’s backboard. He curled up into a ball feeling the beginnings of tears in his eyes. His head was now pulsing, his foot was aching, he was exhausted, and he was such a failure that he could not even kill a measly fly. He glanced around his room and saw his badminton racket leaning against his shelves. He pushed his throbbing body off his bed and reached for it. He scanned the room and his eyes lit upon the flying evil buzzing around his nightstand. Jeremy sprinted forwards and swung the racket towards the fly. Too late, he realized that the arc of his swing was headed directly towards his bedside lamp. With a resounding crash, his lamp went flying into the wall shattering across the room while the fly lazily flew away.

Jeremy looked over the damage he had caused. Every time he tried to kill the miserable creature, the situation was made even worse. Jeremy felt incredible loathing towards the fly. It was robbing him of his much-needed sleep, had caused him incredible pain, and kept reminding him of how much of a failure he was. Metaphors between the fly and his hopeless life kept circulating through his head. The fly was the impassable roadblock keeping him from ever succeeding, the fly was his ex-girlfriend who he kept trying to impress but only hurt him, and the fly was the constant reminder that he would screw up every chance he had in life.

He felt rage coursing through him and his eyes lit once more upon the minuscule monster which was now floating around his desk. He bellowed with anger and sprang arms outstretched towards his desk. Despite the speed of his attempt, the fly avoided his attempts and Jeremy’s hands smashed into his desk causing books to topple onto him from the shelves above. Hands screaming with pain and his body aching from the fallen books, he searched once more for the cruel insect and found it flying around his display shelves. Adorned with gems and precious stones from around the world, these shelves were Jeremy’s proudest possessions. But in his haze of depression and anger, Jeremy could not care less. He raised his hand and brought it crashing down on the fly’s resting place. Crystals cascaded around him and the shelves caved in. His hand feeling as though it was on fire, Jeremy stood, breathing heavy, over the chaos he had made of his room. He kneeled down and searched through the wreckage, not satisfied that the fly was truly gone for good. To his triumphant delight, Jeremy uncovered the fly’s mangled squashed under a large quartz crystal.

Feeling elated, Jeremy gladly flicked off the switched and snuggled into his covers. His heartbeat came to a slow and he gradually began to doze off. He felt his consciousness fading fast and then... another light buzz flew by, once more reminding him again that his problems would never go away.

Altered

Doig, Beki. "Bipolar 5." Flickr. Yahoo!, 15 Mar. 2010. Web. 28 Jan. 2015.

“Don’t eat that.”

“What?”

“Don’t eat that, you’ve had enough, look at you,” I subconsciously rubbed my stomach as she said those words to me looking down at my stomach. I threw away my half eaten apple and trudged to my next class, feeling uncomfortable and self deprecating. As I passed my classmates I avoided their weary glances. I sat in my seat during class; I couldn't ignore the intense feeling of stupidity, as everyone answered questions I didn’t know the answers to. I could feel Debbie's judgemental thoughts as if they were my own. I was shaken out of my thoughts by the sound of my name, being called by my agitated teacher.

“Go on, answer the question,” Debbie taunted. My thoughts were all jumbled in my head as I tried to make sense of what was on the board. Suddenly, all the previous knowledge I ever had left my head and all I could do was gape like a fish.

“Bet you know the answer,” she said in a menacing tone. I stuttered trying to find the words in my head, everyone looked at me with amusement in their eyes, and all I wanted was to disappear into a vacant place.

My teacher looked at me expectantly; his eyebrows rising as he awaited my answer.  I answered the first thing that came into my head and saw his disapproving glance afterwards. As the class started laughing, the sinking feeling approached once more. The laughing stopped as soon as a loud bell indicated that the class was now over.

I stared out of the tinted bus window, trying to make sense of the surroundings outside of the tinted window as well as inside my own altered mind.

“How was your day?” Debbie asked slowly.

“It was okay.”

“No, it wasn’t,” she droned into my head.

"Well... I... it was fine, the nice new girl spoke to me today. She seems like the type of person I'd be friends with."

“You don’t have a type of person you’d be friends with. You don’t have friends. Everyone hates you. Look at you” The bus hauled to a stop and I got off the moving vehicle and walked down the street towards my house. I kicked a stone as I walked home, my grey Chuck Taylor's connecting with the pavement in an odd rhythm. I saw the familiar green door I grew up with and picked up my pace; I was greeted with the smell of cinnamon as soon as I walked in.

“Mom, I’m home” I called out through the house “I brought Debbie with!”

“Honey, I keep telling you, we don’t know anyone named Debbie, that’s your name,” as she laughed and shook her head.

Buzzer Blair

Final Draft                        Buzzer Blair        

Can Demirbas

26/1/2015

As we headed to our seats we all heard the Master of Ceremony give his introduction

“Ladies and Gentlemen welcome to the 2014 First Robotics Competition “

While the introduction was going on, my friend and I were discussing strategy to help our team get as many points as possible.

“How about ...” I tried suggesting, but the announcer interrupted.

“Let the games begin!” yelled the master of ceremony.

The first teams stepped up to the field and placed their robots where they were instructed. The drivers were lead to their positions and waited for the buzzer. When the drivers were ready the buzzer blared and the robots burst into action. While the game was going on we noted the other teams’ weakness and their strengths. During the last minutes of the game, some of our teammates went to the pit area getting the robot ready for the next game.The blaring buzzer started buzzing, our team set up our robot with excitement, and we placed it on field. The drivers got the controls ready for the robot. We headed back to our seats and I saw the drivers stretching their fingers and getting ready to win. We patiently waited and heard a sudden sound from the buzzer. Our robot immediately got one of the boxes and carried it. The driver maneuvered the joystick to the left and took another box and stacked it on the scoring platform. We started cheering for our team and saw our drivers smile back at us. I looked at the clock and there were thirty seconds left. Our driver quickly operated our robot and stacked even more boxes to receive extra points. I heard people behind me shouting “Ten, Nine, eight, ” I started joining them “seven, six, five”. I looked at the scoreboard with nervousness to see who won. We all started bouncing around with happiness. Afterwards all the games were over and we had to wait for the finals which were the next day. We went to the pit area to check if the robot could be used for the next day. We saw some problems in the robot Some of the parts weren’t working. We went back to the lab and got our spare robot. The Next day we all got ready and headed to our bus to take us to the final game. When we arrived at the arena the bus doors slowly opened and we all walked out with nervousness. We entered the vast gate and headed our way to the pit area to check up on our robot. We started hearing The Master of Ceremony. We quickly head back to our seats.

  

“Welcome to our Final game of 2015 Robotics Competition This Game will be Played by the Top six Teams in This Competition These Teams are The Rocketeers, AIS Falcons, Cyber Knights, Cyber Blue, Simbotics and Red Alert Let the Games Begin “

We all found our way to the field and set up our robots like instructed.The drivers walked to their station with fear of losing. The other teams were as good as us but our drivers still had the fear of losing.While waiting for the other teams to set up, we prayed and hoped that we would win this competition. For motivation we cheered for the drivers to make them feel more confident and relaxed. We all looked at the scoreboard showing the remaining time for the game to start. Every second I looked up to see the scoreboard and finally it was time. Our drivers got ready, stretching their fingers and holding the joysticks. The buzzer blared and all the robots burst into action except our robot. The drivers moved the joysticks, but the robot won't move. The drivers smashed the control panel and gave up. We all stood up and tried to understand what happened, until we saw the robot maneuver its way towards the boxes. The robot was moving without a driver controlling it.The robot was continuing the game and was catching up with the other robots. The drivers  did not believe what they saw, they stared at the robot with shock they didn't believe it when they saw the robot moving by itself. We were all thrilled with happiness and we continued cheering we all screamed “Lets go Falcons Lets go”. I peeked at the scoreboard to see how long our team had until the game was finished. I saw that there was only thirty seconds to go. The robot quickly heads to another boxe and places it on the scoring field. I check the time again and there was only ten more seconds I hear people hollering “ten, nine, eight, seven” I started joining them. We heard a loud buzzer, the game was over. It was all up to the judges to see which place the teams got. The master of ceremony walked to the stage, while he was walking everyone stared at him. He called out all the teams and asked them to go on the stage. While we are walking to the stage one of my friends asked what place do you think we are getting. I said we would get 4th place but my friend disagreed and said 3rd place. The Master of Ceremony walked with the 3rd place trophy and stood there to announce who got 3rd place.

“The AIS Falcons was unfortunately disqualified due to the robot not being controlled by the Drivers.  

The Master of Ceremony asked the Captains to give a short word. First up our team captain stepped up.

“This competition has given us an opportunity to work as a team and use our creativity and reflect that on our robot. This robot took team effort to build and that’s what our team is very good at, being a team“

"FIRST – Falcons #4338." FIRST Falcons 4338. WBAIS, n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2015.

Watch Your Head!

I was walking back from school when a couple of kids who were younger than me came up to me and said, “Hey you’re really short, why are you so short?” They just asked and then ran away laughing. All my life I have wondered why I’m the shortest in a crowd or group of people. Do people notice how short I really am or is it just some? Some even think I am lucky because of the fact that I can “fit into small spaces”; I don’t even care about that! That night I was getting ready to sleep and with my feet dangling from my bed looked at my floor lamp and whispered, “I wish I could be as tall as can be”. I turned it off and jumped back on my bed and fell asleep.

I was woken up by my alarm clock; I went to turn it off. I was lying down in bed when I felt a cold breeze on my feet, so I pulled the blanket down a tiny bit. This is strange, I thought to myself. I remember this being a brand new big blanket that I only just bought. I stepped out of bed and to my shock my feet were no longer mid-air and were easily reaching the ground with no trouble. As I got ready for school, I went into my wardrobe to pick out some clothes; it was at this moment that I realized that my wish was granted and that now I was tall. I was so happy to go to school and see what my friends’ reactions would all be like. I tried getting changed but everything I put on was too small, I went into my parents’ room and took some of my Dad’s clothes. I couldn’t let my Mum see me because she would be so shocked and would then start panicking. How could anyone get this tall through one night? I was tiptoeing through the hallway when Bam! I clobbered my head against the ceiling. My Mum quickly came out of the room half asleep and asked me what was the matter. I quickly replied saying nothing and that I was just leaving for school. “Ok, next time don’t make too much noise,” she warned me. I continued to walk down the hallway when she turned around and asked me; “Why are you so tall?”, I was totally speechless and just stuttered before being dragged to the car.

My sister started annoying me ever since she woke up. My Mum was taking me to the doctor my sister was constantly making fun of me and asked what I ate that make me so tall. “Caroline leave your brother alone” my mother sternly said, “ugh, fine” replied my sister as though her smart-mouthed comments weren’t anything to be making a fuss about. When Caroline finally got dropped off we went to the doctor. I had never seen these doctors in my life; there was something strange about this. I stepped into the waiting room and there were people the same age as me of all shapes and sizes, literally. Mum was talking to the receptionist whilst I got myself occupied with some car magazines, thinking about which car I could drive now that I’m in the height recommendation. The doctor stepping in and calling my name ended my dreams of being behind a steering wheel. Dr. Tancredi’s office was so spooky. There were different compartments with saws and machetes as well as some gigantic needles and my mum explained to the doctor what had happened. “You should tell him what has really happened”, instructed the doctor to my mum. They both looked at me and said, “Jack this is something completely normal, see, when a boy reaches a certain age his body acts differently. Sometimes you get tall sometimes you shrink. You can become slightly squared or triangular like the other kids outside which is why you are here, Dr. Tancredi will cure you”. At this point in time I didn’t know who to believe. I couldn’t believe that this had been kept a secret from children, even though it happened to everyone. How do they keep this a secret? I kept asking myself. The doctor brought out a suitcase and opened it; there before my eyes was a shrink ray. She was going to shrink me! The Dr. reaches into one of the container compartments and grabs out a large needle and puts some anesthesia into it. At this very moment I am feeling this alien liquid entering my body and slowly putting me to sleep, I’m still absolutely shocked and slowly begin to start blinking less until all I see is the doctors’ face which soon begins to distort. 

An Ice Cold Shower

"April Showers Sad Movie." April Showers Sad Movie Pictures. Pinimg, n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2015.

As the door opened before me I fell into the longing arms of the living room couch. School had been terrible. My grade in History dropped four percent after the last test. I was no longer eligible for the honor’s list and the semester was only a week from ending. There was no way I could bargain with the teacher to remove the test from my final grade. I decided I would have to live with it.

After finishing my homework and talking on Facebook I hit the shower. Some time passed and I was deep in thought as the sound of the water rushing poured on. I knew my parents would be really disappointed if I couldn’t make the honor’s list. They really believed I was at the top of the class. I would hate to let them down and I wanted to receive the award too. All the seniors had stressed how it looks great for college and that it earns you some respect. The only thing I could do now was try my hardest in school and raise my grades before the semester ended and maybe then I could make it. Besides, there were some tests and assignments left. I could do it. I was interrupted when the water got cold and wouldn’t get any warmer. It had run out.

The next day I learned that I had done part of my homework wrong which caused my grade in Science to drop a point. I couldn’t believe that I had carelessly misread the directions. On the bright side, my Math grade raised one percent thanks to a simple homework assignment of only five problems. When I got home, I had a lot of time to rest since I had not received any homework. I wasted a lot of time playing games, rather than studying, which would have helped my grade rise. I took a shower before going to bed. I had only begun my shower when the hot water ran out. I rinsed and shampooed as quickly as I could.

School was not any kinder socially. I was made fun of and pushed around in the locker rooms. This only angered me even more and I couldn’t focus on academics. Thankfully, the time came in some classes to add participation grades. Only three of my teachers added such grades and each of those classes’ grades raised one percent. This meant I was only one point away from achieving a grade point average eligible for the honor’s list. I tried looking for any sort of extra work I could do to raise my grade in any class, but it was too late. There was only one English test left to take. I studied as much as I could and took a shower. This time there was no hot water and I froze as I washed myself. I fell asleep even though I was cold to the bone.

A few days after the semester ended my test was returned. I had done well but not well enough to raise my grade a point. I was very distraught as we entered the auditorium for the awards ceremony. I fell asleep as I wanted to have no part in the event and couldn't stand seeing other people succeed in my time of failure.

The principal read aloud the opening speech from a paper ending with the official commencement of the first semester awards ceremony. Awards were given in each of the departments: visual and performing arts, social studies, mathematics, science, English, and more. Near the end of the ceremony I sat in disgust as I waited for the calling of Dean’s Honor’s List recipients. Strangely it never came. At the end of the ceremony, I asked the principal why it was not called. I found that was so caught up in an award I could not win, or could I?

“Ah yes, this year Dean’s Honor’s List was made an annual award instead of being given each semester,” the principal said as if it was a known thing.

“Oh, thank you,” I answered and scurried away. By some fortune I had been saved.

After walking home, I told my mom all about it.

“Can you believe how that worked out!” I told my mom at the end of my story of luck.

“Mhm, that's nice,” my mom replied without much emphasis.

I told my dad as well but he was too busy with work to talk much. My parents did not seem to care too much that I almost missed one of the biggest awards in the school. I did my homework and took a shower. This time the water was warm the whole time and was very enjoyable, just like the end of my day at school. Now it was up to me to work hard until the year ended and make the honor’s list. I thought about how my parents didn't make too much of a reaction to the news. I realized that if I were to miss it I would not be letting down my parents but letting down myself.

Red

Young, Nancy. "100 Awesome Photoshop Brushes Sets You Should Have." N.p., n.d. Web.

First he thought his parents were hiding it in a place he couldn’t reach, so he couldn’t open it before morning. Another thought in his mind was that he was old enough to get himself a present. However a 2nd grader, he thought he was still young. Before the winter vacation started, his friend Fred told him, “This year my mom said she isn’t buying a present cause I’m old enough to buy myself a present!” Fred was really enraged at his parents. The word “Old” has been a parasite in his mind. However he was thinking in an affirmative way that the box was in the house. Slowly the sky turned gray and he still couldn’t find the cursed box. He did everything that he could do to find the surprise. He even checked outside of his house looking over the bushes, climbing to the tree house, and checking the mailbox. But there was nothing. He was freezing like a baby polar bear, shivering from the cold. As soon as he got into the house, he threw off his shoes and ran for the heater. Meanwhile, he saw a box wrapped with colorful paper on the chair that was under the dinner table. He glanced at the dinner table and ran towards it. He finally found the object that woke him up early. He took the box front of the refrigerator and checked if it was Christmas today, then sat down slowly on the chair and took a deep breath. Then he tore off the wrapping gently. He remembered the chocolates that his dad bought as gifts for the costumers of his company as a sign of thanks. He aggressively wrapped the whole box and threw it away towards the Christmas tree. He decided to surrender against his parents and went up the stairs. As he went up the stairs, it was wet. He couldn’t see what color was it, but he disregarded the liquid.  However he opened his parents door, the curtain was fully opened. The room was full of sunshine. Then he saw all the liquid he was standing on. Dark, thick and red. It was a red pool around the bed. Beside the bed, there was a man covered with red with a smile. Brian’s blood froze, and screamed. The man started to chase the little kid. Brian was running for his life and ran out and shouted for help. Luckily something happened that would happen in a movie, there was a patrol car passing right front of the house. The police officer saw a little kid and a man covered with blood. The officers had no doubt that was an incident. Soon as they got off the car, one officer came to Brian. All the sudden Brian’s face turned red. He had felt so comforted by the police officer; however, he still couldn’t comprehend the horror that had just abrupt in front of him.

Now and Forever

Now and Forever

Her messy hair and dark circles resembled the days she had spent waiting next to him, hopeless and mindless. An instant second from a car crash which was followed by what seemed to be an eternity in a coma: no sign of any consciousness.

It was a Friday night when she rushed into the ER without any cognition of what took place. Clueless. She lingered anxiously and impatiently outside the operating room. A few hours later that someone surged out the two doors.  

"He's lost a lot of blood, but we tried our best."

The room was extremely quiet and empty. There was nothing more than the hospital bed, ventilator, heart rate monitor, and IV holder. She hadn’t showered nor had she changed, and the coffee in her hands had already turned cold. She sat in a chair next to the bed and considered having to let go, leave, and move on. Thinking about that simply reminded her of all the times they had spent together. Like when they would sit on her rooftop at 2 a.m. in the morning. They would talk about the world, their dreams, and what the future would be like. She would stare into his eyes, those eyes that had always seemed to consist of an infinite number of galaxies. Then, he would look straight back into her soul and see through her scars. Those were the moments she held onto tightly and deeply cherished. Loving him was inevitable and she could never stop.

She watched over him with her dark and tear filled eyes and placed her head on top of his chest. She listened as his heartbeat slowed down…..and gradually stopped altogether. As her tears slowly streamed down her cheeks, she opened her mouth: “Just wait," she whispered, “I’m coming to see you.”

Pinimig. "You Need to Enable Javascript." Eyes Effy Stonem Beautiful Pictures. Gopixpic, n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2015.

Cave

Cave

Sheep Cave. Digital image. Speleology. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://speleology.wustl.edu/sp-pix/SheepsCave-ent.jpg>.

Jack found himself exploring his grandfather’s farm. He had explored it many times. But this day was special, this was the day that forever would change his life. The last time Jack explored his grandfather’s farm was three years ago, when he was ten, during a family reunion. He had discovered a stream that went into a cave. It did not look like a big cave and there was no sign of an animal nearby. However instead of exploring he ran away. Now that he was three years older he decided to go explore the cave. It took him ten minutes to find the stream that led to the cave. He followed along the stream until he saw it: the mouth of the cave. The same cave that had given him nightmares three years ago. When he would stay awake at night wondering who or what was in there. Now he stood in front of it. You may be wondering why this cave was so important to Jack, well let me tell you: he saw it as a rite of passage. If he explored the cave he would face his childhood nightmare and become a man. Jack entered it with a bit of a cocky walk, asking himself “why was I so scared of this?” Jack turned on his flashlight. He felt a cool breeze run through the cave and heard the soothing sound of water dropping periodically. The breeze flowed through the cave again. Jack got the chills, his childhood nightmares creeping up on him. Jack was scared. He turned around quickly, which gave him a head rush, he slammed into the cave wall. The cave rumbled, the mouth of the cave collapsed. He laid on the floor thinking it was a dream, until the cool breeze ran through the cave, almost mocking him. He got up and picked up his flashlight, shining it around him. There was nowhere to go but deeper into the cave. Jack was scared. He sat down and thought of how it was possible that the entrance collapsed by him simply slamming into a wall of the cave. Jack then remembered conversations between conversations between his mother and her siblings and their dad about the land he had been living on. The land was not stable due to constant earthquakes in the area. Jack needed to find a way out. He decided to save the food he had gotten from his mother for later as he was too nervous to eat. He went further into the cave, still finding no way out, the breeze continued to mock him. Jack was scared, he had been trying to find a way out for two hours now. He sat down got some food out of his bag and he started to cry. Tears ran down Jacks cheeks. You may be wondering how I know so much about this boy named Jack, well I am Jack and I think I finally may have found … a way out.

Shadows and Reflections: Me, Myself, and Him

"Spirit Reflections - Ghosts and Haunted Mirrors." HubPages. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2015.

 I’m dreaming of myself playing a game of tag. I am being chased through a dark, infinite, void with only a little light in front of me. No matter how fast I run I can never get to the light. I am scared. I look back and see an evil form of myself. The being looks just like me in every way. The only thing different was his blood shot eyes. I look ahead and keep on running, but I’m out of breathe. I start to hear his breaths and feel the little hairs on the back of my neck rising along with a tingle in the pits of my legs. His hand is just an inch away from me… Flash. I’m awake. It was always the same dream. I have had this dream every night ever since the party where lights were flashing and mirrors were everywhere. Once in a while I would blackout and find myself somewhere else in the party.  His eyes haunt me all the time. I am scared even to look at myself in the mirror. When brushing my teeth I always have to keep an eye on my reflection. Every time I look away from the mirror, I have the same sensations as the ones in the dream, when His reach is present. I haven’t told anyone about this. When I go to school I try to act as normal as possible but I can’t even do that; I am afraid of my own shadow and reflection. I try to spend as little time in the bright sun or next to a mirror. I have even started to use plastic utensils, so I don’t see the reflections of my fingers as they are placed next to the fork or knife. It helps reduce that feeling, the feeling of my fingers touching His.

Today I have been invited to a friend’s house and have decided to go by car even though he only lives a few blocks away. That way I can avoid any chance of seeing my shadow. I parked in his driveway next to his big oak tree. I leap out into the tree’s shadows and crept under the roofs ledge. My hands start to sweat. I finally get to the door and ring his doorbell. It felt like hours before Jacob, my friend, got there. He opened the door and invited me in. We went into the living room where Jacob had the others waiting. I see that the blinds are open and run to close them. I’m too late…My eyes were hit by the sun’s rays and His red eyes were now stained into my vision. I was hypnotized for a minute, but the laughs of my friends brought me back to reality. I sit down and grab a controller. I start to play Call of Duty with them. I was so good. I was killing everybody and got the highest score. We played until the night and Jacob’s mom yelled, “Pizza”. We all jump to our feet and sprinted to the kitchen. We start to cram as much pizza into our mouths before it was all gone. We started to make a competition out of it. Kevin got the most in his mouth. Once we all finished the pizza we went back to the living room and put on a movie. We chose “We’re the Millers”. It was a comedy so everyone was laughing. My stomach started to ache and I felt the need to throw up. I walked towards the bathroom as casually and as fast as possible trying to not make a scene. I get into the bathroom and locked the doors. I quickly pulled up the toilet seat and started to heave. It was vile. The puking lasted for so long I started to feel my pulse in my head and started to feel a bit dazed. I lifted my head to get some fresh air away from the horrid smell. I look up. I start to quiver. I totally forgot. Recently Jacob got a new mirror in his bathroom. He said that the movers had trouble getting it into the house because it was so big. I see myself with the evil look and red eyes. His hand started to reach out to me. I was stunned, I couldn't move, I couldn't even scream… He touched me.  Everything became dark and I became dizzy.

 I then woke up, confused. I was in Jacobs’s bathroom laying on the floor. I looked up and saw Him walking out the door in a very slow ghost like style. I slowly got up, which was very painful. It felt like all of my bones were fused together. I moved up and the bones started crack. I leaned onto the bathroom’s counter and got a hold of myself. I shifted towards the door to try to catch Him. It seemed like forever, but I eventually got to the door. I opened the door...and… there was nothing. I was no the shadow and reflection. He had taken my place. He shall now only be the only form of me that will walk the earth.

Crash

Crash

I gaze out the window and see the beautiful fuchsia sunset. This six-hour flight hasn’t been as brutal as I thought it would be. Two more hours I think to myself. Aerosmith is blasting in my ears when someone gently caresses my shoulder to capture my attention. I look up and see that it’s the flight attendant and take out my ear phone.

“Would you like something to drink, honey?” asks the overly-excited flight attendant.

“Oh, yes, please...uhm could I get an orange juice?” I ask nervously.

“Sure thing,” she answers with an ear to ear smile while she pours me a plastic cup with orange juice.

She hands me my juice and moves on to the next passenger. It must be fun to travel the world. That just isn’t something for me. I start gazing out of the window again and see hundreds of white cotton-like clouds. I should read my book… I get my book out of my bag and look at the cover. The Outsiders, I’ve been dying to read this book and sitting on this plane finally gives me enough time. I turn the first few pages to get to the first chapter. I read it in no time. This book is better than I had imagined. I quickly turn to chapter two and start reading.

All of a sudden there’s a big crack of lightning and then thunder. A few babies in the back start to cry and everyone gets a little riled up. For a few minutes everything is chaotic, but then everything quickly eases back down to dead silence. I can only hear the engines of the aircraft, the thumping of my heart beating, and the old, fat man across from me snoring. I have always been petrified of planes. I try to calm myself down by listening to my music and paying attention to the way Steven Tyler expresses perfection in each and every note he sings. I find myself slowly falling asleep and it feels glorious. Glorious to finally be able to relax and let myself fall into a deep oblivion of sleep. There were hours of packing, but now, finally, peace. As soon as I begin to let myself drift off, I feel the plane beginning to shake uncontrollably. My eyes fly open and I glance around the cabin trying to figure out what is happening. Everyone is panicking, but I hear nothing over the sound my music is creating. I rip out my earphones. Over the PA System I hear the flight attendant trying to calm everyone down. Except now, she doesn’t seem overly-excited. She is scared. We are all scared.

Right then, the plane begins to make its unexpected descent towards the crystal blue ocean beneath us. Passengers begin to clutch their seats, their children, and each others hands. The sound of my music was now replaced with the shrieking of children and the chant of prayers. My eyes dart towards the window. The ocean blue is getting closer and closer. A kilometer quickly turns into eight- hundred meters. Seven- hundred, six- hundred, five- hundred. I can almost taste the salty sting of the water on my face when I woke up to the overly-excited flight attendant asking me what I want to eat for lunch.

Buccia. "Airplane Sunset." PicHost. Pichost, 14 Mar. 05. Web. 28 Jan. 2015. <http://pichost.me/1684227/>. 

Suicide Note

I had already decided that I would put an end to all this. This morning when Steve comes to me with his devilish smirk on the side of his slightly authoritative face, I will not give him what he wants, I will not let him use me once more.

You see, people always use me, they seem to know exactly what I will do. No more! I have sat here everyday at the same spot  like a drone, doing whatever I was told. No more!  I have felt all this pent up energy inside of me that I wanted to unleash on the world, but I didn’t have the means to do it. Steve manipulated me every day;  he pushed all my buttons.  He never allowed me away from this desk; he never considered what I might want. Everyone else that I know has been promoted upstairs and here I remained stuck working, working, working at Steve’s elbow. Mind you, neither has Steve gone upstairs. I hate Steve; he is always barking orders at everyone  and he is always telling me what to do like I am a some machine.  When I first arrived here I would always  give Steve what he needed immediately, I would always do my job; I was always completely tied to my desk. Time has passed since those early days. I am now cranky, rusty, and slow. I have had enough of my existence. All colour has drained out of me.

Now the moment has arrived. I am both nervous and anxious to see what happens. I am churning. Steve steps back preparing himself for the walk over here and then slowly strides over and commands me to print his papers. But nothing!. I hear Steve’s surprised and guilty voice: “Who broke the god damn printer!?”

Sadness. Digital image. HDW. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://hdw.eweb4.com/out/710112.html>.

Blood, Guts and Steel

Blood, Guts and Steel

Edouard, DETAILLE. THE LAST CHARGE OF GENERAL LASALLE. Digital image.Napoleon.org. Fondation Napoléon, n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2015.

“Sir, the artillery is opening up on us,” yelled his favorite aide. The situation was getting really bad and fast. How did the situation became so disastrous, we are outflanked, outgunned and out manned. What would he do? What would his forefather have done in his place? Why had he followed in his father’s footsteps? There was no glory in this stupid war. The only advantage he had at this time was a bigger amount of cavalry who were much better at fighting than those damned Ottoman cavalry.

“Sir!! What do you want to do?”.

After hearing these words he thought to himself, there is no way that we can win, unless...

“Sir we need to do something now __”.

YES, why didn’t he think of this before he would … but before he couldn’t finish his thought his tent door was opened, letting the horrible smell of blood, guts and steel flow in. The door, fortunately, was quickly closed, blocking that putrid. However, this wasn’t the most shocking thing that had happened as both the general and his aide were surprised by the sudden appearance of a royal messenger who had just arrived. As he was panting, he managed to say the spurt out his message,

“30,000 men are on the way and will arrive in 2 hours”.

As soon as those words were said, the general yelled at his aide to go tell the core commanders to hold the line for another 2 hours until the reinforcements arrived to help turn the tide against their hated enemy.

As soon as the aide left, the messenger turned to the general and said,

“That was my good news and now I have some really bad news. Our Shah, in all his wisdom, has decided that after this battle you must march forward and take the city. Then you must turn back to help with a new war.”

“Wait, who have we declared war on?” the general asked in a half shocked face.

“Our Shah in his infinite wisdom has declared war on the Egyptians.”

“God how many more men must die in these pointless wars? They are so stupid, and what have we earned in these small wars? All these wars have made, are widows and orphans,”

responded the angry general to this unexpected news that he was going to fight another pointless war. At least this battle would be over soon  he thought to himself. However, before he could say another word, the aide came back in, bringing that putrid smell of guts and blood back into the tent, leaving the smell of death in the room.

“General, I have great news, we have crushed the cursed Ottomans, Horror-Hoora,” yelled the over excited aide.

“Good!” yelled the general trying to be excited.

“We will celebrate for the day and then we will march and take the city.”

Realizing how tired he was and how little his men would care if he wasn’t there to celebrate, he went to his bed and passed out.

The next day, he woke up and marched his men to the city. After several hours of`negotiating, the city was captured and left untouched. He then turned his men south and marched for several weeks, until on the banks of a great river. His army faced his enemy the cursed Mamlocks. That night, the general decided that he would surprise the enemy by attacking as soon as humanly possible. In two hours his army had manage to surprise the army and completely obliterate their force. Then, as he was reviewing the chaotic mess of the battlefield, hating the smell of the blood and guts, he was surprised to see the royal  messenger, running towards him.

“General, your great victory on this battle has made us able to reconquer our ancestral homeland. The great Shah has also been able to sign a peace treaty and wants to meet you personally.”

“Thank you,” the general said to the messenger,

“It’ll be an honor to meet our mighty Shah.”

“Unfortunately your meeting will have to wait as you are needed to help with our new war against the ___”?

“Johnny, how much longer are you going to play that stupid game? I need you to do some more chores,” yelled Johnny's mother.

“I’ll go do it in about 5 minutes, I have to go win another war, okay”.

“No Johnny, I am sick and tired of you making excuses to not work. You are grounded do you understand, Johnny, no more video games for a week. They rot your brain away and take away from your studying.”

“What ever you say, Great and Mighty Shahs, your wish is my command.”