Tag Archives: books

Misha and the Wolves (2021)

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January 26

My favorite type of documentary is the ones that have a story that it tells you that is totally unbelievable, but it is true. Previous docs that I loved in this manner included Tickled, The Imposter, Three Identical Strangers, and The Jinx. There is a new doc that shocks you with its twists and turns among this harrowing story of a young girl surviving the Holocaust by living with the wolves.

According to IMDB, “Misha and the Wolves is the dramatic tale of a woman whose holocaust memoir took the world by storm, but a fallout with her publisher – who turned detective – revealed an audacious deception created to hide a darker truth.“

I don’t want to spoil much of this tale, so all I will say is that the story told by Misha in her memoir, which became a huge selling book, is compelling enough, and what happened following its release is even more so.

This doc is well told, with some excellent editing and design. It grabs you with the story immediately and then expertly weaves through what remains for the run time.

There are some questions left at the end which made me want to know more, but the doc is truly surprising.

Misha and the Wolves is available to stream on Netflix.

American Tragedy (2019)

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January 24

When I saw the synopsis for this documentary for the Genre-ary, I anticipated this film being a difficult watch. Strangely enough, this was not the emotional and gut-punch of a doc that I thought it would be.

This film was about one of the kids who participated in the shootings at Columbine. Surely, this would be a devastating film.

I was not prepared for American Tragedy, which I viewed on Amazon Prime, to be quite as dull as it was.

According to IMDB, “April 20, 1999 Columbine High School was under attack by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Sue Klebold, Dylan’s mother, attempts to reconcile how the son she thought she knew, the son she loved could willingly be a school shooter. ‘If love could have stopped Columbine,’ she says, ‘Columbine would never have happened.’ What would real prevention look like? Is it possible? Is America ready?“

The film spoke to Sue Klebold during the film, but I just did not get the expected feelings from her that I expected. Perhaps it was from years of hardening herself from the anger and the unexpected behavior, but a lot of the sections with Sue felt like the story was being told by someone else. I am sure that is not the way she felt, but it does not translate to the screen in this doc.

There were a few moments that stood out, but they were few and far between.

This is a shame that this doc does not connect with the viewer as much as it should have.

Alex is Trying to Find Her Father

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Alex is Trying to Find her Father

Alex is a 14 year old girl trying to find her father that’s been missing for 2 years.

 “Oh my god, I need to find my dad. He’s been gone for two years. I miss him.” 

She looks around her town, but doesn’t find him, and she’s starting to give up, but she keeps going for him. 

After two hours this young boy.

 “Hi my name’s Max, why do you look so stressed?” he asked.

 Alex says, “I’m trying to find my dad and I’m Alex” 

Max says, “I can help you Alex” 

Alex’s eyes light up, “You will!!!” 

Max laughs, “Yea, I will.  Let’s go look” 

Alex says, “Ok!!!” 

They start looking around the town and they walk all day through night talking.

Alex says “I’ll never find him.”

Max says, “Don’t give up. By the way, if you don’t mind,  how’d he go missing?” he asks looking confused

Alex says “I was sleeping and I woke up after I heard a scream. It was my dad and I went out of my room and saw him get dragged out of the house and I tried to help but I wasn’t fast enough since I was in shock and he was already in the trunk of the car.”

Max listens intently, really wanting to know and Alex feels safe around Max even if they only met a day ago. They care deeply about each other; they act like sibilings.

 Three days later

Alex and Max are still looking around. Alex is starting to lose hope. She really wants to find her dad but she doesn’t think she will

Max says, “Don’t worry, we will find him. I know it, just keep your head up.” 

Alex finds a little bit of hope in her heart 

Alex says, “Thanks Max even though we’ve  only known each other a few days, I feel like you’re my best friend.” 

Max smiles and they continue their search.  They search day and night. They don’t stop searching and Alex is determined to find her dad. Max really wants to help her find her dad so he sticks by his side.

Max says “I know we will find him Alex”

Alex hugs him tightly and Max hugs her back just as tight to give her a sense of comfort

Alex says “I’m so glad I found you”

Max says “Im glad too”

They stop hugging and start walking through the town trying to find Alex’s dad they keep going Alex and Max continue searching they aren’t gonna go down without a fight they continue going around the town going in abandoned building, houses, hospitals that kinda thing to see if he was tied up somewhere so they searched and searched but nothing was found 

Alex says, “I quit”

Max says, “No you aren’t; you got this, I believe in you”

Max tells Alex encouraging words to give her a little hope of finding her dad. They don’t stop. They just keep searching

Alex says with a slight smile “Ok I believe you Max.”

Max looks happy that she believes him so they keep walking and they don’t look back.

Alex says, “You are the best Max. I’m happy that you helped me try to find my dad. You’re the best person in my life” 

Max smiles widely at Alex’s words as they keep walking trying to find her dad and eventually they take a break and sit on a bench there legs cramping.

Alex says, “Oh my god my legs hurt so bad right now”

Max says, “Mine too

Alex eventually falls asleep and her head falls onto Max’s shoulder. Max lets her sleep; he falls asleep to his head gently resting on her head in the morning

Max wakes up first and he gently shakes Alex and Alex wakes up. 

Max says, “Good morning sleepyhead.”

Alex’s smiles and says, “Good morning Max”

And then they get up and stretch and then they continue their journey to find Alex dad.

They walk into this certain building that was abandoned 100 years ago and they hear someone breathing and they walk towards the noise and its ALEX’S DAD. 

Alex screams “DADDDDDD” 

Max looks at Alex run to her dad and he walks up to her dad and unties the ropes and takes the gag out 

Alex’s dad says “I’ve missed you so much sweetie,” 

Alex hugs her dad and Max smiles at them 

Alex says “I’ve missed you so much dad”

Two years later

Max and Alex started dating and Alex’s dad is healthy and happy.

The end  

Silo S2 E10

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Spoilers

“Into the Fire”

The ending of Silo season two made me think of the ending of LOST season 3, where Jack said “We have to go back!” That moment was such a mind-f that no one was expecting it. That is how I felt when suddenly, the end of Silo seemed to be in a different time before the silos were built.

It led to us seeing where the Pez dispenser came from. It was such an unexpected twist that it was wild.

Both sides of the storyline this year came together in some great scenes.

  • I was right about Walker and the others setting up Bernard, although, I have to admit, mid way through the episode, I was not sure if I was right. Loved the scene between Walker and Bernard that confirmed the plan.
  • Juliette coming over the hill as the whole of silo 18 was preparing for force their way outside was as dramatic as it could be. It was one of the best moments of the show.
  • Again, it may just be me, but Juliette writing “Not Safe. Don’t come out” and showing it on screen as she did reminded me of “Not Penny’s Boat” by Charlie on LOST. Yeah, I know I have LOST on the brain.
  • The Algorithm is strange. It said that Camille could stay but Sims and his son had to leave. Why? Solo kept saying that his mom did not come back when they went to deal with the Safeguard. Is this tied together?
  • The scene where Juliette let Audrey have it for her treatment of Eater, whom we learn has a named- Hope. This was awesome because I have thought Audrey has had something shoved up her butt since the minute we met her.

Last week I believe I stated that ep. 9 was my favorite of the season. That is no longer accurate as episode 10 was just completely awesome from the beginning to the weird flashback at the end. The fire that seemingly consumed Juliette and Bernard, the rebellion’s ‘end’, and everything else.

Silo has done a tremendous job of providing specific details and answers to mysteries while keeping plenty of them active to keep the audience guessing. Rebecca Ferguson and Tim Robbins were outstanding all season long with a special shout out to Steve Zahn’s Solo who may have been the best character we have met so far. Zahn’s performance was special and his bond with Juliette was incredible.

Season three looks to have a ton of surprises in store, and I cannot wait to see where this sci-fi series takes me. Apple TV + has yet another epic series on its hands.

Ice

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  Ice

                                                  By Sophia  King

       “Mom, stop!“  Hannah said.

           “Not until you tell me what’s wrong,” said mom.

              “Dad till mom to Leave me alone my friends here“  sadi hannah 

           “Honey you need to tell us what is wrong “ said dad

        “ Nothing just leave me alone as she runs out of the room“   

                    “Let’s go Hannah says to Lily “ 

As they put on our boots and gloves and coats. running out of the house. If they go out to the barn where they’re horses are, Lily grabs her horse and Hannah grabs buddy. They start Galloping away and it starts to snow really hard so they say let’s head to the bridge. To get shelter as they are on our way to a bridge a big semi comes and They both have no clue what to do.But the semi can’t Stop it’s too icsy out. Bang the semi hits them the next thing Hannah knows is she sees red flashing lights coming towards her and her parents saying it will all be okay. As they are getting her into the ambulance she looks over and there’s her horse on the ground and her best friend covered up With  black tarp. She starts to cry as she realizes the reality. But  Lily’s horse  Alabama is still standing and that’s the last thing she sees before the ambulance doors close. 

The next time she wakes up she is in the hospital. Her mom and dad are There and they are crying. They start yelling for a nurse.Hannah hugs her mom and dad  and asks what happened to Buddy and her friend Lily. and they tell her they both passed. they were right in the middle. Hannah starts to ball. it’s all my fault and Her parents say no it’s not no one could have stopped it. They say she should get some rest but they want her to ride Lily’s horse Alabama when you get better. The doctors come in why Hannah is sleeping and say she has a broken neck, a broken foot and a sprained ankle.The doctor says she’s lucky to make it out alive it’s a miracle. if a few weeks go by and Hannah gets better and better. Soon she will be released from the hospital. 

The day she is released as they go home and the first thing she does is go out to the barn and sit in the Buddies Pastor. She starts to cry and says how much she misses him and her best friend. she runs back inside to her mom and says where is Alabama.    

Her mom said they had to take him to the horse trainer. He was really shaking up after  the accident. her mom said they’ll go see him tomorrow.

It is the next  day and they are getting Ready to go see Alabama. She is a Little nervous But when I get there they’re walking and see him.he is a Mess she has  one year  his face is all scratched up and he is not acting like himself.he is terrified and the horse trainer comes out and Says you can go in and pet and brush him.She goes in  like it is nothing but then he starts to act up so she gets scared and  back up. The horse trainer goes in and comes down. He’s still really shaken up. So they just work little by little each day.And he slowly starts to get better.
  Eventually she starts riding him. Then they did their first show to get there.And they placed a 3 which is really good and they start winning more and more until the finals and they are both nervous. they go over the first jump and clear it the second one they hit it but don’t knock it the third one they clear it the fourth one thing clear it the last one is a water jump which is really hard start canning up to it and he jumped it and makes it over at 45 seconds they win they win Nationals. Now they go on to win the championship and more competition.The end.

The Misunderstood Pinapple

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The Misunderstood Pineapple

By: Dingle Hopper

Pickle and Penny are best friends but there’s one person they don’t like and his name is Pineapple. Pineapple is the mean guy in the neighborhood. 

“Hey losers what are you guys doing here at the store aren’t you guys like broke or something”, said Pineapple.

Pickle and Penny run away everytime they see him. Pineapple isn’t trying to be mean, it’s just how he decides to live his life.

“You should go talk to Pineapple,” said Pickle.

“No, you should go talk to Pineapple,” said Penny.

They finally decided who should go talk to Pineapple, both of them are going to go talk to Pineapple. They finally went to go talk to Pineapple.

 Pineapple said, “can we be friends please.”

Pickle and Penny said it depends on if you’re going to be nice to us or not. They are now friends with Pineapple. Pickle,Penny,and Pineapple all go to the movies together. Pineapple, Pickle, and Penny’s friend goes from really mean to really nice.

 “Can we have a sleepover?”, said Pineapple. 

Pickle and Penny said yes. All three friends went to the store to get snacks and drinks for the sleepover. The three friends walk to Penny’s house for the sleepover. Penny’s mom says hi to them and lets them in the house. Penny’s mom walks into the living room and asks 

“How did you boys become friends?”, said Penny’s mom. The boys said they went to go talk to Pineapple about him being mean to them at the store in town and then after the talk we started to walk away, that’s when Pineapple decided to follow them home. 

He ran after them and said hey can we be friends I’m so sorry about what I said at the store. I really am. Do you forgive me?”, said Penny and Pickle. After Penny’s mom talked to the boys for a while she went into the kitchen to make the boys dinner and she started to make Penny’s favorite meal which is pasta and sauce. After dinner was made she yelled for the boys to come eat and Penny said yes my favorite meal is pasta and sauce. How was school?”, said Penny’s mom. It was good”, said Pickle. We had a spelling test today”, said Pineapple. After the boys finished their dinner they went into the living room, sat on the couch and turned on a movie. This movie is really good”, said Penny. Where did you find this movie?”, said Pickle. After the movie was over they went upstairs to grab blankets and pillows to sleep downstairs in their blanket fort. The next day, which is a Monday, they get up early so they can have breakfast,get dressed,and leave for school. (They all walk to school together) They are all in 5th grade and in the same class together. After school is over they walk to the park to hang out for about an hour. Penny calls his mom where he is going to be for an hour. She says that’s fine with me. After an hour later Penny arrives home from the park. Penny’s mom said how did school go . It was fine”, said Penny. What did you and your friends do at the park?”, said Penny’s mom. We played on the swings for a while then we went for a walk after the park”, said Penny. The next day Tuesday sport sign ups for baseball. Do you want to sign up for baseball?”, said Penny’s mom. Sure”, said Penny. I’m going to ask my friends if they want to sign up for baseball with me”, said Penny. They arrived at school. Hey guys, do you want to sign up for baseball with me?”, said Penny. Sure”, said Pickle. No sports aren’t really my favorite but I like watching them”, said Pineapple. That’s ok”, said Penny and Pickle. At lunch. What did you guys bring for lunch?”, said Penny. I brought a sandwich”, said Pickle. I brought a sandwich and chips”, said Pineapple. After school at baseball practice. Are you ready for baseball practice?”, said Penny. More than ready”, said Pickle. After baseball practice. How was baseball practice?”, said Penny’s mom. It was good”, said Penny. The next day Wednesday , no school day. Penny’s mom let him sleep in since he didn’t have school that day. Good morning Penny”, said Penny’s mom. Morning”, said Penny. What would you like for breakfast?”, said Penny’s mom. Can I have eggs and toast please”, said Penny. Sure”, said Penny’s mom. Penny and his mom sit down and have breakfast together.                             The End.

Friendship & Volleyball

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Friendship & Volleyball

By: Billie Hale

This is going to be about friendship and volleyball. My friend and I were at volleyball practice and the coach said that we made it to state. We were all so excited. Later that day I went to my friend’s house and we had a party. Half of the school came. We all had a blast. It was so fun. My friend Millie got mad at me because I have a boyfriend. Millie and I have been bestfriends for a long time so she was a little mad and we joked about being married. We are so close that we tell each other everything.

“Let’s go see your boyfriend” said Millie 

“Ok,” I said

So we went and saw Wyatt, who is my boyfriend. On the way we talked about volleyball and food. When we got there I talked to his mom. She is so sweet. Then we played basketball and volleyball. And then we left to go to volleyball practice. Volleyball practice was interesting. We had normal practice and then we did a lot of conditioning. We were so sore after that.  

“Let’s go to McDonalds” said Millie  

“Ok let’s go” I said 

After that she came to my house we layed in my bed and were talking about volleyball. We were prank calling people and eating our McDonalds. The next day we had school and school was fun. We did nothing in most of our classes because we had a lot of celebrations that day. Later we went to Wyatt’s house and Millie’s crush asked her out  and she said yes. We have been planning this for days. It was so hard not to tell her but I made it through.  Later when we went back to my house she couldn’t stop talking about it.

“How could you keep that from me?” Millie said jokingly.  

“It was really hard not to tell you” I said

So a few days later we did a double date and it was so fun. We went to the movies, got some dinner and hung out at my house. The next day we all hung out again and we had a blast. We played basketball and volleyball. A few days later state volleyball came and we did so well. I ended up injuring myself and I was in a brace for a month. It was not fun, but I did like riding the elevator every day. Every night I get a text from Millie saying can I ride with you in the elevator. I texted back saying yes to go inside and to go to our first class. My boyfriend rides with me, not her. A few days later Millie and I went shopping for volleyball. We found one that we liked and bought it. When we got to her house we ate food because we are big backs. 

“What’s your man up to?” Millie asked

“Going to his dads.” I said, “What’s your man up to Millie?” I asked 

So later when Wyatt got to his dads we facetimed and Millie and Wyatt yelled at each other pretty much the whole time.It was so funny. A few days later we had school. School was boring and I had volleyball practice after school. It was normal there was no conditioning, thank goddess. And then Millie betrayed me and was cheating on her boyfriend with my boyfriend. So i called her boyfriend and said Mille is cheating on you with Wyatt so do you want to get together and make them regret it. 

Riet said “ Ok lets do it”

“Ok bet” I said 

So the next day when  we had school Riet and I came to school together. He picked me up in his blue lamborghini. When we got to school he opened the door for me and we held hands while waking in. Right inside the door was Millie and Wyatt, their jaws dropped. 

“What are you guys doing”Millie yelled 

We smiled at each other and just kept walking past. It was finally time for school to start. Riet and I had the first class together and it was Excel. We sat in the same booth and we were talking the whole time. Millie also was in there and she sat and stared at us the whole time. 

It was the end of the day and Riet took me home. My parents are friends with Riets parent so we grew up together. So our parents are very excited we are together. When we got to my house, Riets parents were there talking with my parents and were enjoying it. They saw us walk in holding hands and they were screaming in excitement. They talked to us the rest of the night and told us how happy they were that we are together. 

It was 11 pm and Riets family went home and before Riet left him and his parents gave us hugs. That was the happiest night of my life. 

What She Saw

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What She Saw

    By: John Doe

The forest was dark and quiet, the only noise was the light footsteps of a big buck walking through the woods. They didn’t see the deer at first but they heard the leaves crunching under its hooves. When it came into view they could see it was a ten pointer.

  “Look, it’s a big one.” Emma whispered.

“It’s a ten pointer, get ready to shoot it,” whispered Bob.

Emma aimed right behind the shoulder and was interrupted by another noise so she turned around and saw… she couldn’t see anything, It was dark. She woke up to the voice of her father saying,

“Emma, wake up!”

“What happened?” Emma asked.

“You fell off the tree,” said Andrew, her boyfriend.

They walked back home and Emma sat down on the chair. Bob was about to walk out the door but before he did Emma said,

“What was the noise I heard before I fell?”

“What noise?” Said Andrew.

“The sound of someone walking behind us.” 

“There was no noise Emma.” Bob said

Then Bob walked out the door and went hunting again. Emma and Andrew stayed behind and Emma went to bed. She had a terrible dream where she was hunting again and heard that noise again. She turned around and saw… Then she felt herself falling again. She woke up the next morning and couldn’t remember what she had dreamed about. She walked upstairs and her dad was up there.

“How do you feel this morning?” He asked.

“Fine.” She said.

“Do you want to go hunting again today?” Said Bob.

“No, I don’t think I will at all this year.”

“Alright.”

Bob left to go hunting and Emma sat there trying to remember what her dream was, but she couldn’t. Andrew came over and asked her how she was and then made her some breakfast. She started to eat and then she remembered something about her dream. She remembered turning around and seeing something but she couldn’t remember what it was. Then she remembered falling and hitting the ground. 

“Did you hear that noise yesterday?” Emma asked.

“No. What do you think you heard?” Andrew said.

“I don’t know but I definitely heard something.”

“What did it sound like?”

“It kind of sounded like someone or something walking behind us.”

“Are you sure you weren’t just hearing things?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

That was that so they continued eating quietly. Emma kept thinking about her dream and kept trying to remember what she saw when she turned around. She just couldn’t remember. All she could remember was falling off of the tree. Her dad came back in and she said,

“When can I go hunting again?” 

“I don’t know, probably tomorrow,” said Bob.

“Ok.” said Emma.

She spent that whole day trying to remember what she saw right before she fell out of the tree. She couldn’t remember what she saw. That night as she started to drift off to sleep. She felt like she was falling and she was. She was back in the dream so she turned around to see what was over there and she saw… She woke up and couldn’t remember again. She got dressed and ready to go hunting again. She walked upstairs and her and her dad Bob walked out the door and got to the tree stand and stopped. 

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Bob asked.

“Yup.”

They climbed up the ladder and sat in the tree stand. Emma kept looking behind them to see if anything was there. She didn’t see anything or hear anything  until they were about to leave. She heard the crunching of leaves like someone was walking towards them. She ran back there to see what it was but there was nothing there. 

“Emma, what are you doing?” her father asked.

“I heard it again! That crunching noise!” she said.

“What  noise Emma, there was  no noise.” Bob said.

“Yes there was, it was like someone was walking towards us and before you say anything there was a noise I heard it the other day and again today.” 

“I think it’s time to go home,” said Bob.

So they went home and Emma went straight to her room, she knew she heard something and she needed to know what it was. So when everyone was sleeping she snuck out and went to find out what it was. She walked down to the tree stand and went to look around behind the tree stand and she saw something hiding in the grass. It was a baby deer with a cute button nose and white on the tip of its ear. She couldn’t help but smile, she had been worried so much about such a little thing. A little and cute thing. She walked back home and woke up the next morning happy and she remembered what she had seen last night.

Stranded

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Stranded 

 By: Lavender Brown

Errrrt! 

It was the fourth quarter of my basketball game, and we were ahead by two baskets. Our game started at 10:00 am and it was currently 10:45. There were eight minutes left in our game and the quarter just started. It was our ball. We took it down the court and they stole it. Time to get payback. I ran as fast as I could and blocked her layup. 

      Fifteen seconds left in the game. They were up by one basket and it was our ball. My best friend was also on the team and she was the point guard. She dribbled down the court and passed it to me. There were now only five seconds left. I went out to the three point line and shot it. 

Swish!

 Errrrt! 

I made the 3! 

We won!!! 

It was now 11:30 and we are going out for lunch. My mom said that I could choose where we went. So I picked Chick-fil-a. My mom ordered our stuff.

“Can I get two eight piece chicken nuggets with ranch cheese sauce and a Dr. Pepper?”

That was my favorite thing to get from Chick-fil-a. After we got our food, my best friend Scarlett called me. She had been my best friend since preschool because our names rhyme. My name is Charlotte. 

“Hello.”

“Hey Charlotte, I was wondering if you wanted to go hunting with me in my timber” 

“Sure, let me ask my mom quickly. Mom, can I go hunting with Scarlett?” 

“Yes,” said my mom.

“We will be leaving at 3 o’clock to go.” 

“Okay see you then!”  

My mom and I got done eating and we went to Theisens to get myself a deer tag to go hunting with Scarlett. It was packed. There were 15 other people getting deer tags. 

We have been waiting in line for 30 minutes and I finally got to the desk. The guy asked us all of the questions and told us the price. It was $33 dollars plus tax. Now it was time to go to Scarlett’s house!

We got there and she was already waiting outside. I got out of the car and Scarlett started running towards me. 

“CHARLOTTE! I’m so happy to see you!”

“I am so excited to go hunting!” 

“Oh my gosh, same!”

We walked into her house and put on some orange.

“I have two orange vests and two orange hats.”

“Okay let’s put it on.” 

We put on the orange and grabbed the guns. It was currently 3:00 so we started heading back towards the tree stand. It was pretty far back so it took us 10 minutes to get there. We got to the stand and realized three nails had fallen out of the ladder.

“It will be fine. We just have to be careful,” said Scarlett.

“Okay, I’m kinda scared.” 

“We will be fine, just be very careful.”

Scarlett climbed up first and it started creaking. I was really scared to climb up. I started climbing up, and it started creaking again. I made it up the ladder and we sat there. We had to sit there until 30 minutes after sunset. Sunset was at 4:32 so that meant we could leave at 5:02. 

An hour had passed and it was very windy. The ladder was making very weird noises. 

“Umm, was that supposed to happen,” I said.

“No, I think it was because of the wind.”

“Should we be concerned?” 

“No, it will be fine.”  

“Right after she said fine the ladder fell.”   

“OMG we are STRANDED!” I said. 

“We have no service! What are we going to do?”

“We are gonna have to call for help.”

“Do you mean to yell? No one is going to hear us.” 

“Yes it is worth the try right? I mean what else are we going to do?”

We started yelling and no one heard us. We were going to have to stay the night in the timber, stranded in the tree. I knew something was going to happen as soon as we got to the  tree stand. We couldn’t sleep. The raccoons kept squeaking all night. We finally fell asleep, but we only got two hours of sleep because it was bright out by 6:00 am. At 6:30 we heard a strange noise. There was something stomping in the leaves. 

“What was that noise?” I asked.

“I don’t know, maybe it is a deer.”

“Let’s wait and see till it comes over here.”

“Okay!”

It came a little closer and we realized it was bigfoot. 

Scarlett screamed,”AAAAHHHHHH”

“We should ask him to help us!”

“Are you sure?” 

“Yes, then we might be saved!” 

“Okay here we go”

I asked bigfoot if he could help us.

“Bigfoot, can you help us get down from the tree?”

“Ummmm sure!” 

“OMG thank you!!!” 

He helped us down and told us not to tell anyone about him. We said okay and walked home. We were starving so we ran home. When we got back to Scarlett’s house, her parents were crying. They didn’t realize we were home yet. 

“Mom, Dad, where are you?”

“Scarlett! I can’t believe you are home! I was so worried,” said Scarlett’s mom.

“I’m so happy to see you too!”

“Charlotte, let’s get you home to your parents.”

“Okay!”

My house was five minutes away from Scarlett’s house. On the way to my house Scarlett’s mom called my mom. She told her that we were safe and I just heard my mom say thank goodness. We got to my house and my mom was waiting outside. I got out of the car and ran to my mom. I gave her a big hug.

“I missed you so much Mom!”

“I missed you too! Let’s go inside and have some steak!”

“That sounds like a great idea!”

Scarlett’s mom left. We went inside and ate some steak and she told me the whole time we ate how much she missed me. I told her that we got stuck in a tree. She asked how we got down and I said, “I guess you’ll never know!”

Gone Before the Game

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Gone Before The Game 

                                               By: DingleHopper The OpperBopper

“Cleo, are you excited for my birthday party?” Violet asked. 

“Yea I am, but who all is going to the party?”  I said.

“Sarah, Keara, Tova, you, and I. But my twin brother Asaiah is also having a sleepover with his friends. I’ll make him and his friends leave us alone.”                           

Ding ding ding

 “Well I have to go to class but have a good day.”

“Ya you too.” said Violet.

I went to my 7th period class of the day, it was different because I got my schedule changed. I just hope my class is not with Anna. Anna and I were friends in third grade but after sixth grade my and she started getting farther apart and stopped talking to each other after she made rumors about me. She made a rumor about me saying I had a crush on a kid Kyle. Because we were really good friends at the time and our parents were friends, we had a lot of classes together. We had a lot of classes together because we were able to choose our classes and me and her chose the same classes. 

I got to my class and it was a study period and I was happy about that, and I saw my friend Keara there. 

“Hi Keara.” I said. 

“Heyyy Cleo. I thought you had literacy in the first period? “said Keara.”

“ I got my classes switched.” 

“Oh ok”

Ring ring ring 

“That’s the announcement guys be quiet so we can hear it.” Mrs. Smith said 

“Whoever wants to go out for basketball please go to the gym” the voice over the intercom said.

“Cleo, are you going out for basketball?” said Keara

“Ya you?” I asked.

“Ya I am. Wanna walk together?” 

“Sure, I just hope Asaiah, Sarah, Keara, Tova, you, and I All get on the same team.”

“Ya me too.”

I got down to the gym with my friend Keara. When I went inside the gym I saw Anna was talking to my crush Asaiah. Maybe they’re just friends? Oh no Anna is walking over here.

“Yo Cleo, did you hear?” asked Anna

          “Here what?” I asked 

  “Asaiah and I are dating.”  Anna smirks.

“Ok????” 

“Why so defensive? Do you like him or something?”

“Noo that’s Violet’s twin brother!”  Omg I can’t stand her, why won’t she leave me alone.. You may be wondering why Anna and I split ways. In 6th grade I had a best friend, her name was Bridget. She moved in 5th to my school, I got called down to the office to help her and show her to her classes. After that we started to hang out and we became best friends. Then one day I introduced her to Anna. Then they became best friends and stopped including me in things. Eventually they stopped including me in everything. So in classes I ignored them. Eventually Bridget moved away to her old school. Anna came and tried to talk to me and ask to go to my house. But I ended up just ignoring her because I knew that she would ditch me again for someone different. Then she told me that she doesn’t want to be friends anymore, I knew that it was going to end up happening in the end. And that’s why we are not friends anymore. 

“Hey Cleo, what time are you coming to my party?” Violet asked.

“Probably around 5pm because I have travel ball and I have to ride the bus home today.” I said

“Ok sounds good.”

Ding ding ding

“Ok you guys can head to your 8th period now. If you have travel basketball, head to the girls locker room and get ready for the game. ” Coach said.
“Are you in travel basketball Violet?” I asked.

“Ya I am. I hope we’re on the same team.” Violet said. 

“Ya me too. Let’s gooo.” While we were on the way to the locker room I got tripped by Anna. I couldn’t move my leg! “VIOLET I CAN’T FEEL MY LEG!”

“Ok just uh um stay right there i’ll get the nurse.”“Is the nurse here?!” Violet asked.

“No, she’s not here at the moment. Is there anything I could do for you?” Mrs. Collins, one of the secretaries asked.

“Yes, call an ambulance please!”

“First I need to know what happened.”

“CLE -CLE -CLEO GOT TRIPPED BY ANNA AND SHE CAN’T FEEL HER LEG!” Violet stuttered.

“Ok Mrs. Williams will call an ambulance. Where is Cleo at?”  Mrs. Collins asked.

“She is by the girls locker room.” Violet said. 

“Ok why don’t you stay here and Mrs. Williams will give you her locker number and code. Once you get into her locker get her stuff and bring it down here ok.” 

“Ok” 

“Violet’s  locker number  is 412 and her combo is 13-30-08” Mrs. Williams said.

“Ok, got it.” Violet said. 13 30 08, 13 30 08, 13 30 08. Come on open COME ON OPEN ALREADY. 

“Violet, why are you running?” Mr. Smith asked

 “Can’t talk right now. Ok I got her stuff.” Violet said. 

“Ok thank you Violet, Why don’t you sit down for now. Mrs.Williams said. 

“Ok” 

Ring ring ring

“Hello this is 911. What’s your emergency?” the 911 operator said.

“A kid tripped and can’t feel her leg.” Mrs. Williams said. 

“Ok where are you located? 

“Brookside Middle School.”

“Ok we have an ambulance on the way.” 

“I have to tell the mom so I was wondering if I could let you go because she is stable and an ambulance is on the way?”

“Yes, that’s ok as long as she is stable.”

“Ok.”

Ring ring ring

“Hello this is Mrs. Williams, am I speaking to Cleo Smith’s mom?” Mrs. Williams asked.

Yes this is she. How can I help you?” Cleo’s mom asked. 

“Your daughter fell down and she can’t feel her leg.” 

“Well is she okay?” 

We don’t know but there is an ambulance rushing her to the hospital.” 

“Ok I’m on my way.” Cleo’s mom said.

1 hour later…

“Hello, are you Cleo Smith’s mom?” one of the doctor’s asked. 

“Yes I am.” Cleo’s mom said

“Why don’t you sit down.”

“Ok what happened ?”

“Cleo went into cardiac arrest. And she did not make it.” 

“What no,  she was fine this morning.”

Five Olympic Rings: One Cross Country Team

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Five Olympic Rings One Cross Country Team     

By: Tater Tot The Smart Goober

Sarah Konalie was a 5 ‘8 , sixteen year old girl who had deep blue eyes, curly brown hair and skin that stayed tan all year around. Sarah was a very talented cross country runner who was ranked number one in  her conference. Sarah Konalia was born in Boston Massachusetts, but at the age of four, she moved to a small town in Iowa. The same year Sarah moved she started running to help take off some of the stress of joining a new school and having to make new friends. Sarah went undefeated last cross country season even going on to win state.

 Just when Sarah thought her season was over she got a call from the Olympic Cross Country team head coach Bertha Johanson. 

“Sarah I am so glad I was able to get a hold of you, you accomplished great last season, and I am excited to inform you that a spot on our Olympic team has opened up, and I would like to personally invite you to come to the meet where we will choose who our next member will be,” said Bertha

 Sarah said, “Thank you so much for this opportunity! This is a dream come true, I can’t wait!”

Bertha Johanson sighed over the phone and then said, “Sarah, I am happy to know you are excited, but you will be going against people that are almost double your age, and have been training for this their whole life. Now that being said, you do have the best time out of all of these people, but you still need to train hard and keep improving.”

“I completely understand, and, if you don’t mind me asking, who has the next best time behind me?” Sarah said.

“That is a great question and it is actually someone that is your age, and you have gone against often this past season,” Bertha said. 

“Oh, do I know them personally?” Sarah asked.

“Umm yeah you actually know them very well. It is your teammate Karen Shoop.” Bertha said.

“Oh, Karen, as in the one that in our last meet I only beat by a couple seconds?” Sarah said in a worried tone.

Betha Johanson then said, “Yes, I thought it would be a great competition, and motivation to challenge the both of you. I was talking to your coach and she said the two of you really pushed each other during the season.”

Sarah was too stunned to speak but then got the words out, “Uhh yeah something like that.”

Coach Bertha then said, “This isn’t a problem for you is it?”

“No, not at all!” Sarah quickly said.

“All right, good, I look forward to seeing you two weeks from now on Saturday.” Bertha Johanson said.

“See you in two weeks,” said sarah. “Oh and thank you so much for this opportunity!”

After the phone call ended Sarah couldn’t help but worry about Karen being at the race. Although Sarah had always beaten Karen, recently Karen had been getting closer and closer to beating Sarah. Even to the point of Sarah only winning by two seconds at their last meet.

That was not the only problem Sarah had with Karen. Although they would always treat each other with respect, in the second grade, Sarah’s boyfriend at the time, Mike who she had been dating since kindergarten, was playing at recess with Karen, and did not come over by Sarah when she walked outside. This was something he did everyday, so when he did not it really hurt Sarah’s feelings. After that day Sarah and Mike broke up and shortly after he started dating Karen. 

Sarah knew she needed to start training immediately to improve her time, as well as give her body some time to heal. The race was only two weeks away which is not a lot of time for her to improve her time as well as give her body the amount of rest it will need to perform at it’s best of abilities. There was no way Sarah was going to let that boyfriend stealing witch get in the way of her making the Olympic team. 

Sarah decided to make a schedule for her training. On Mondays she would run four miles at her race pace, eat a good meal, and then do arms at the gym. On Tuesdays she would do five easy miles, and then go straight to the gym where she will do legs. On Wednesday Sarah would go for a walk, and then go to a yoga class. On Thursday Sarah was going to do integrals, sprint half a mile, walk a fourth a mile, sprint a mile, walk a half mile. Sarah would do that a total of three times. On Friday Sarah is going to go on a seven mile long run, then go to the pool to relax. On Saturday Sarah will go to the gym and do a full body workout followed by yoga afterwards. On Sunday Sarah will clean, and do stuff around the house, but no workout.

Now that Sarah had already created her schedule for training, she started right away wasting no time at all. It was Saturday so that meant Sarah needed to go to the gym and do a full body workout accompanied by some yoga after words.

Sarah got dressed in her workout clothes and headed out the door to the gym. When Sarah arrived she stretched, and proceeded to grab the 20 pound weights to start with arms. Sarah did 10 shoulder presses, rest, 10 bicep curls, rest, for a total of three rounds.  

After arms, Sarah did abs because as a runner it was super important for Sarah to have a strong core. Sarah did 10 crunches, 10 sit ups, rest for 30 seconds, one minute plank, rest for 30 seconds, 15 leg raises, and repeated three times.

All that was left for Sarah to do at the gym was legs. Sarah did 10 squats, 10 left leg split squats, 10 right leg split squats, and repeated it for three rounds.

After the gym Sarah was a little sore so she was excited to go to yoga and stretch. 

When Sarah arrived at yoga she grabbed one of the mats and started stretching before the teacher arrived. When the teacher walked into the dimly lit, lavender-scented yoga room they all started to stretch together. Throughout the yoga class they proceeded to stretch, and hold poses that helped work on flexibility. Sarah loved yoga because it helped her get longer strides, and made her body feel refreshed.

After yoga, Sarah went home and prepared a steak, with potatoes, and five cut up strawberries. While Sarah was going to sit down to eat, she got a call, a very unexpected call, from Karen. Sarah answered the phone with a sweet, welcoming tone, “Hi Karen it has been so long since I have talked to you! How have you been?”

“I am doing great, I actually wanted to call and tell you that I got a call from the Olympic head coach, Bertha Johanson saying that she wants me to go to the Olympic Cross Country team tryouts, and that I have a really good chance of making the team. There is only one person with better times than me. Can you believe it? This is a dream come true!” Karen said with an excited but also arrogant tone.

“Oh, that’s great Karen, I am so happy for you!” Sarah said with excitement, even though in her head she was annoyed with the fact that Karen had called her to brag about her accomplishment.

“Oh I am glad you feel that way because I was actually calling you to ask for your help. I was wondering if you know who the person that has a better time than me could be? Coach Bertha told me that they were my age but I was too scared to ask her who,” Karen said.

Sarah smiled over the phone, barely able to keep in her excitement about how Karen was going to react when Sarah told her that the person with better times is actually her. Sarah took a deep breath and then said, “I actually do know who you are talking about, and I know them very well.”

“Oh really, that’s great Sarah! I am so happy we are able to put our past behind us, and you are willing to help me out.” Karen said excitedly. 

“Yeah no problem at all, and you actually know them too. In fact you are speaking to them over the phone right now.” Sarah said smugly. 

Karen, after being too stunned to speak, finally managed to say, “Oh that is great, I am so happy for you.”

“Yeah I am happy for you too, well I have to let you go and get back to training, and I am sure you have to do the same. So see you in two weeks!” Sarah said

“See you in two weeks.” Karen said still in shock from finding out that Sarah was going to be at the Olympic tryouts too.

After the phone call with Karen, Sarah worked hard for the next two weeks of training. During the two weeks of training there was only one problem Sarah encountered. She kept replaying the race that Karen was so close to beating her over and over in her head. Sarah would replay this moment and then get in her head and not focus on her breathing and strides. 

This problem caused Sarah to only improve her time by five seconds, opposed to the ten seconds she was planning. Although five seconds is a really good improvement in cross country, the ten seconds would have given Sarah more reassurance to be able to beat Karen.

The day of the race quickly occurred. and it was time to see if all of Sarah’s hard work was going to pay off. Before the race started Sarah stretched and then went on a slow one mile run to get her body moving. After the run Sarah stretched again and took her box at the starting line where she did stride outs.

With only one minute till the race would start. Sarah walked to her box and got ready to start. Just as the starting guy was walking to the stand, he shot his fake pistol from to signal the take off of the runners, Sarah looked to her far right and saw Karen Shoop. 

This was not good. Sarah started thinking about the race that they were neck and neck, and could not help feeling that this time it was going to be different. Before Sarah could replay that moment in her head for a second time she got interrupted by the starting guy counting down. 

“On your marks! Get set Go!” The pistol went off and so did the runners. 

Sarah was off to a great start. She was feeling the wind in her face, and she had a great adrenaline rush. Sarah had a pretty decent gap in between her and the group of people behind her, but when she looked back to double check she noticed that there was a person getting closer to her. That person was Karen. 

This time instead of letting Karen get in her head Sarah embraced the freeing feeling she got when she ran and ignored Karen behind her.

Sarah had just finished mile one of the race and her time clocked in at five minutes to be exact. This was good, but for mile two Sarah has to pick up the pace a little and try for a four minutes and fifty five seconds mile.

Sarah focussed on her breathing and strides for mile two. When Sarah finished mile two she was still feeling good and was able to run that mile at a four minute and forty five second mile pace. At the two mile marker Sarah looked behind her to see Karen holding her pace and only a few feet behind.

Sarah knew that for mile three she would have to give it all that she had left. Sarah slowly started picking her pace up and widened the gap between her and Karen. Sarah was feeling good about herself and started to focus on the trail ahead. 

After a minute Sarah looked behind her to see that Karen had gotten really close, maybe five feet behind her. Sarah knew that with only three quarters of a mile to go she would have to widen the gap before the final stretch. Karen was a great sprinter so when it came down to the final stretch between the two, Karen would have been able to sprint right past Sarah to win. 

Sarah picked up her pace even more, and with only a half mile left Karen was still behind her so close that Sarah could hear her breathing.

That’s when Sarah decided to pick up the pace. Sarah started to practically sprint; she was bound and determined to beat Karen. Sarah practically sprinted for a fourth of a mile and that gave a huge gap between her and Karen, there was at least fifteen feet between the two of them. Since Sarah was practically sprinting, she used a lot of her energy, and now she had to hold a good steady fast pace while also leaving energy for when she sprinted at the end.

Sarah was able to see the finish line now. There was still a good ten feet gap between Sarah and Karen, but Sarah knew she had to pick up the pace because when Karen started sprinting that gap would shorten drastically. Sarah took off and now there was only fifteen feet between her and the finish line, but there was also only ten feet between Sarah and Karen.

Even though Sarah was in pain she sprinted as fast as she could and that’s when she heard people cheering. They were cheering for her. Sarah had done it! She had made the Olympic Cross Country team! A dream she had since she was just a little girl. Sarah had run the best race of her life. Her old personal record was 15:55, and she ran a 15:30! 

Sarah was happy she made the Olympic team and not only that, she was happy to have learned a new lesson that she has never forgotten, and used it for the rest of her running career and everyday in her life since. Sarah learned that no one can stop you from reaching your goals except for you, and your own mindset. Not even a boyfriend-snatching, evil, backstabbing, witch!

Goosebumps: The Vanishing S1 E1, E2

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Spoilers

“Stay Out of the Basement Part I”

“Stay Out of the Basement Part II”

I was not that interested in the new Goosebumps series on Disney +. I had watched the previous one a couple of years ago, and I liked it enough, but it did not blow me away. It was clear that this was going to be a new cast in what appeared to be an anthology type show starring David Schwimmer of friends fame. I had a moment to watch episode one Sunday night so I gave it a shot.

Holy cow! I was knocked over with the show. I was able to watch episode two tonight and things only got creepier as the show seemed to go full Audrey II.

I loved these first two episodes. I was completely invested with the new characters and the new scary story.

It kicked off with a flashback to a group of kids who disappeared and were assumed to be dead years before. One of those kids turned out to be the brother of David Schwimmer’s character, Anthony. It is a family mystery that is still very relevant for them.

Anthony’s twin children, Devin and Cece, came to visit him for the summer, kicking off plenty of weirdness and wild encounters. Devin has had several issues immediately, trying to impress an old friend/flame, Frankie. She was dating Trey, a real jerk of a guy who lived across the street from Anthony’s place and kept parking his car in his driveway. It was a deal he had made with Anthony’s mom while she was there. Unfortunately, she has been taken to a home with dementia.

The family element was stronger than I expected with the actors involved playing things deeper than a show like this would normal have. Schwimmer was excellent with the sadness and the confusion on how to deal with the problems he is facing.

Anthony is a botanist and that leads him to find a spore (or so he thought) on his brother’s clothes, which had just now been released by the police. That spore turned out to be an animal and a carnivore. So Anthony did his best Seymour Krelborn imitation and started feeding it dead mice from the pet store. Guess what… it started growing. Feed Me Seymour.

Trey gets eaten too… or transformed… or something.

All of the episodes are currently on Disney +, but I do not have the time to binge the rest. Maybe some time in the next week I will get to the remainder of this show, and I am excited because I really liked the first couple.

Have You Seen Andy? (2007)

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January 14

Today’s documentary in the 2025 Genre-ary was a tough one to watch.

According to IMDB, “”Have You Seen Andy?” is the personal story of a childhood friendship abruptly ended by the tragic abduction of a young boy. On a hot summer day in August 1976, ten year-old Andy Puglisi was playing along with dozens of other children at the Higgins Memorial Pool in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Then suddenly, he disappeared. Twenty-two years later, filmmaker Melanie Perkins, Andy’s childhood friend, begins her search for answers in this feature-length documentary.”

For someone who has spent most of his adult life working with kids, this doc about the missing 10-year old boy dealt with the possibility that he was taken by and killed by a pedophile who had been stalking kids for some time. Using a story of needing help finding his missing dog, Wayne Chapman would be the predator that the doc’s filmmaker, Melanie Perkins believed was at fault.

Shocking events that seemed to occur all helped prevent this case to be solved. The story of a bloody sock that was found in Chapman’s car that matched the sock that Andy had been wearing were taken for evidence and lost. There is no knowledge of where the sock went. There are unbelievable moments such as this that are littered through the doc.

There were also leads that turned into disappointments that piled up with this case. All the while being made all the worse with some of the beautiful pictures and home movies of Andy and his happy life.

Honestly, this doc was a labor of love from a friend looking for closure. Sadly, it has never come. Chapman died in 2021, after being released from prison.

I have a pit in my gut after watching this film. It was a painful story that is just too common in our world.

The X-Files S7 E14

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“Theef”

There were a lot of controversial themes hidden in this X-Files episode. Okay, maybe not that hidden, but when the story swings on the choice of a doctor to end the suffering of a patient who could not be saved, it can create a lot of intrigue.

Picket Fences dealt with the concept of Euthanasia several times, but one would not expect it to appear on an X-Files episode.

The episode also featured “hexing” which seemed to be a backwoods form of voodoo, including the voodoo doll, called a poppet which was how the episode villain was using this pwoer.

The villain, Orell Peattie, was played by Billy Drago, and he was excessively creepy. He played the father of the girl who had been given the excess morphine by the doctor, Robert Wieder, played by James Morrison. Both of these actors did a great job in the episode.

The only issue could see was making Orell Peattie apparently not very highly educated, making the whole character a stereotype. The misspelling of the word “thief” being the title of the episode and something written after his victims.

I do not remember watching this episode when it first aired in 2000, but I did enjoy this one now. As I said, there were several themes in this episode that could be looked at deeper yet including not only Euthanasia but also modern medicine vs. practical magic.

Scully keeping Mulder on his toes is a fun moment in this overall creepy entry.

Silo S2 E9

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“The Safeguard”

Wow. This was an intense episode of Silo. It was easily my favorite episode of season two so far. Everything is coming together into major events setting up for the season finale next week.

If I am being honest, some of this season has not caught my attention. I have always been in on everything Juliette is doing, but a lot of the political stuff from the original silo has gone over my head. However, as things ratchet up, every scenes has grown in intensity.

Silo had a LOST moment too as Juliette comes across the Others. Okay, that is not their names, but she found this handful of young adults as she was searching for Solo. The inclusion of these characters brought a anxiety level that ramped things up. Rick and Audrey are angry and spiteful… at least Audrey is. She is very much like kill first and figure it out later. We see how she was behind a lot of the missteps that happened to Juliette earlier in the series (another LOST like trope that saw the same scene from different POV).

Juliette tried to figure out the combination to the vault for Rick and Audrey. Audrey had told her that she would kill Solo when her baby cried again because the baby was hungry. This all led to the reveal of Solo’s backstory and the tragic events that led up to him being stuck in that vault on his own. The whole scene of Juliette trying to convince Solo to give her the combination was effective and suspenseful.

Lukas winding up in front of the giant AI was amazing too. What is the Safeguard? I don’t know, but I think it is safe to assume that it is a way to protect the secrets by destroying the silo. We know there are 51 other silos out there and, according to the AI, only three other people had ever gotten the instructions it was going to give to Lukas.

What side is Sims and his wife going to end up on? I don’t know but all I know is that Bernard needs to face some justice. He is such a horrible character at this point, just concerned with his own power. Unless, that is, there is something that the show has not shown us yet, which is absolutely possible. I think Bernard is going to get his because of Knox. I think Know knows that Walker is the “traitor” and that he was setting up Bernard with a fake story. Maybe I am wrong about that, but the way he spoke to Walker about the possible traitor, it really seemed as if he had figured out the truth.

The finale looks to be a huge episode. This one was easily my favorite of the year so far as every story grasped my attention and made me anxious.