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☆Make ‘em Proud☆

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☆Make ‘em Proud☆

Made By

 Jane Sawyer

The referee’s whistle blows. The crowd goes silent, all Eyes on me. It’s a one point game and we need that  last point. It took me a bit but I finally threw the ball into the air and hit a deep corner. Everyone’s quiet, the line guard looks at the referee, and nods his head. It’s all up to him . He looks like he’s standing on a throne, kinda like he has all the power. He puts his arms out and blows the whistle. I got the winning point. I look in the crowd and see my sister, the one I’m playing for.

    “This is for you” I mouth to her

      “Thank you” she mouths 

I smile slightly, still sad she’s going back to the hospital tomorrow. My whole team is cheering me on and saying “ Oswald high school forever!”

 I smile at them as they crowd around me. It’s making me very claustrophobic if I do say so myself, but it doesn’t matter since I got the point for her. My sister has had Astrocytomas (brain cancer) since she was 9 years old. She’s been living with it for 2 years now and it has brought our family to Chaos. Mom started her old habit of smoking, and dad is just. Dad’s just not doing as well as he used to be before she developed cancer. But it was just how it always is, them fighting over small things. Stupid small things.

“Why did you make JayLynn walk to school yesterday?”

“Its 70* out Martha, She’s fine. She’s still alive isn’t she?”

“How dare you speak to me like that david!”

“Well sorry you can’t drive your own kid to school!”

Like I said, “Stupid small things” but it doesn’t matter right now. All that matters is that Maddie’s getting better. She got diagnosed on 5/07/2020 it was 1 month after her birthday. She passed out at school at 10 in the morning and no one could wake her up. Not even the teacher could get her up. I was still in the school at the time so they called me down immediately to try and get her awake. The police, hospital,and my parents were called. The paramedics arrived first and then my parents after, the police arrived 15 minutes after the secretary made the call. 

I swore when I saw her lying at her desk and I held her hand. It felt Cold. When the paramedics got there I wouldn’t let them take her away from me, so they had to wait until the police came to restrain me. A 14 year old girl in a private school made a fool of herself in front of her parents. I was so disrespectful to them and everyone else. I was in the fight,  flight or freeze mode and it chose to fight. The police took me to my parents, flailing my arms trying to get out of their grip so I could see my sister.

 I looked over my moms shoulder since she’s so short and I saw my sister being put into the back of an ambulance. I cried harder than I’ve ever cried before. It was about 5 hours later that she got an MRI when she finally woke up right then and there in the front of the hospital my dad finally couldn’t hold back anymore ,and brokedown. I couldn’t tell what it was from . If it was from the bleach on the floor which was his least favorite smell,or the fact his youngest daughter got diagnosed with cancer.

It’s the next day now and my snapchat is filled with snaps from my friends and VB team. Everyones congratulates  me for the serve I made and then I smell the air just to smell pancakes, the best smell in the world.So I get out of bed and get dressed into a fluffy pair of pants and a big sweatshirt. I brush my hair and that’s when my father calls from downstairs. I stop brushing my hair and say to myself “it looks good enough” before I go downstairs and eat the delicious pancakes.

I get downstairs to see Maddie there and I ask her“How did you get here so fast?”I asked smiling

“You’re too old to run fast anymore!” She replied, making me laugh. 

I go over to the table and sit down. My father asks me “why is your hair such a mess Lynn?”

I look at him with a puzzled look and ask  “What do you mean?” 

He laughs and points to the bathroom”Go get a good look at yourself!” 

he says in a playful tone. So I got up and went to the bathroom and shut the door behind me. 

My strawberry blonde hair and light green eyes staring back at me from the mirror.  My bruises from past volleyball games on my arms, and legs basically all over my body. I look at my wavy hair all the way down to the middle of my back and notice how frizzy it is. I use my brush to comb it out, and get it straightened out. After I do that I head out to see the most delicious pancakes in the whole world. They had chocolate syrup, strawberries,and little bites of banana on them too.

I sat down to eat and get a big whiff of this amazing smell. Then those beautiful pancakes sat down right infront of me. I swear I was drooling but they looked delicious. How could I help myself? After my dad passes them around he sits down and we all dig into the exquisite food. My dad only makes this type of food for maddie never me, Whenever she isn’t here i usually just have a slice of toast, or a small bowl of cereal.

After breakfast I clean up the food by taking them to the sink and rinsing them off, so there’s nothing on them. I put them carefully down in the sink and go back to the table. “So Maddie has something to share with us?” 

My father says smiling and anticipatingly. Maddie then stands up like she’s going to make a huge announcement. 

“The doctors  said they can cure me with Mitotic and topoisomerase inhibitors or whatever they call it. They said it would be around 20,000 dollars but I knew you guys had enough money, so I signed your names on the sheet to cure me!”  The room went so silent you could hear mom and dads worry in their heads.

“What’s wrong guys? I can be normal again!”Mom and Dad exchange worried glances. “Of course honey!” Mom has such a worried tone, and Dad has his head in his hands. All of a sudden dad stands up, shoves his chair in and walks upstairs at a quick pace and slams his door to his bedroom.”David.” 

My mom says and goes  after him. I’m just in the dining room with Maddie. She looks at me confused. “Did I do something wrong?”

She asks in a meaningful voice (for once). I didn’t know what to say. If she was being sincere or not.

My mom finally came out of her room “JaeLynn go to your room, im taking Maddie back to the hospital. I’m going to have a little chat with her on the way there.”

 she said. And at that moment, I knew Maddie wasn’t just getting a “Little chat”. So I did as she said, and went up to my room and shut the door behind me. Immediately after I do that, mom starts calling out Maddie. I can barely hear anything, everything is muffled

I look around in my room. The same baby blue walls with green paint splatter on them. I see my white desk,made out of wood with the same green paint splatters. Then there’s my trophies. From my newest one all the way to my first one I got when I was Seven. Such a memorable moment. It was when I got to state for my outstanding performance. I was playing with kids that were Eight and Nine! I felt like such an outcast in that group. 

I was practicing with my team in our personal gym and I was in fourth spot and my friend Maggie did a perfect set for me while she was in second spot and I put that ball in the best deep corner. I think that was the best one my coach had ever seen, especially from a 7 year old.  She was so impressed by me she got me a little statue of a girl spiking the ball over the net and the wording on it said “#1 spiker”, and she gave maddie one that said “#1 setter”. That’s how we became best friends.

She goes to the same highschool as me and she’s on my volleyball team. We’ve been friends for about nine years, soon to be ten. She’s a year older than me, but she got held back for ripping out a kid’s hair in 2nd grade so me and her got in a class together. She scared me at first, and even the teacher was scared of her, but I was her only friend and it was like that forever. We’re in 9th grade together now and I’m 15 and she’s 16.

I get dressed into a pair of pjs and scroll on my phone. I look at the snaps from this morning. Some of them are congratulating me, others are just streaks. I continue to scroll on my phone until my bestie texts me. It’s always bad when she texts first. Bc that means she isn’t tired and we’re going to stay up the whole night talking.Im already tired so i don’t answer her, just for both of us to sleep well tonight. She texts me 

“Nice corner you hit today. I’ve been telling you for months you need to teach me how to do that 😭 😭 😭“, I laughed at her remark, tempted to write back.I smiled at her text then put my phone on my night stand i looked at my easel and i went to clean it off.

After i got my easel cleaned off i looked at my cats food bowl noticing it’s empty. I look around the room and notice I can’t find her. I shrug it off and go in my closet for some cat food. I get the cat food and pour it in her bowl. She always stays in my room.Everyone knows not to let her outside into the wild. Ecsp-ecialy from the Tuna incident. When I was about 10 I got a cat named tuna. He was the best cat I could ever ask for. 

One day Tuna got out of my room.  I don’t know how it happened but he got out. My sister was about 3 at the time and Tuna was scratching at the door to go outside. My sister could actually reach the door handle to let him outside. So she did and shut the door after he went out. My mom was driving me to school at the time and my dad was working in his office since he is a work at home dad. 

He didn’t even notice the door open. It was about 7 hours before I came home from school. We live in the country so it takes longer to get there. When I got home I went to my room and called for Tuna. But he didn’t answer. I particularly thought he was sleeping under my bed, so I didn’t think much about it. 

I filled up his bowl since he always came running to the food bowl once he heard the food against the metal bowl. This time he didn’t come so I looked everywhere in my room. I went downstairs to ask my dad if he had seen him.

 “Dad, did tuna come out of my room today?” He just shooed me out of the room. I guess he was on a business call or something. About an hour later mom finally pulled into the driveway. I ran out in tears.”What’s wrong JaeLynn?”

she asked in such a calm tone “Tunas missing” By this point I was sobbing. She hugged me. 

“He’s probably just in your room somewhere sweetie”

“No mom, he’s not in there, I checked everywhere!”

“Its ok let me rest then we can go look for him” 

“Mama you don’t understand!”

She ignored me and went inside. I followed after her looking everywhere in the house. Looking in the kitchen, dining room, maddies room, and even my dads work area. My dad wasn’t thrilled when he came back to see his room messed up and everything disorganized. Maddie kept following me around the house and saying stuff like “Tutu” , what  she called Tuna.”Kitty”, and  “out out” non understanding what she meant by that but she always said that when she was waiting by the door.

I looked everywhere and I tore up the house. Me and my family came  to an agreement that  Tuna got out, and that my parents wouldn’t be able to trust me with a cat for a while. It wasn’t until a year later when maddie finally fessed up and told us that she let tuna outside, and that she didn’t feel bad about it since she never liked that cat anyway. 

I got so furious at her I yelled at her for days, and she was only 7. I got so angry at her while we were in this quarrel when she teased me about “Not being able to function my emotions”, or something stupid like that. I punched her in her side, and she still has a little scar from me to this day.Lets just say she never came into my room and never touched my cat again. The only time she did is when we got Cookie, my new cat. We got her last year after me and my parents had enough money.

Cookie is a Main coon ragdoll moggy. She has a light brown fur color with little black circles all on her fur. Her fur is super soft, and relaxing to pet on stressful days. I got her 1 year ago when she was still a kitten. She’s always been in my room, and she’s never left my room once. Cookie gets home sick when I leave for school, so she’s always happy when I come home. She would always meow at me, rub against my legs, and bats at her food bowl. Somehow she never got fat. I feed her so much that sometimes I think she will explode!

I hear my mom get back and slam the door.

“David, get out here now.”

“Yes matha?”

“That brat actually signed both of our names on the paper, and now we can’t get them off.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Does my face look like it’s kidding?”

“No martha it doesn’t”

“I’m shocked you’re not even angry. She is your favorite after all”

My dad just stormes back into his room furious. I don’t hear any arguing after that so I think it’s safe to come out of my room. I  open my door and shut it quietly, so then they don’t hear it shut. I slowly make my way down to the kitchen noticing no one is there. I go to the cabinets and pull out some cereal. I pour it into a bowl, and go to get some milk from the fridge. I open the fridge door and notice there isn’t any milk, but i can just eat my cereal without any milk

I take my bowl of dry cereal up to my room to eat it. I don’t have a spoon or anything but cereal is cereal with or without the spoon. I sit on my bed and eat my cereal just scrolling through my youtube feed. I finish my cereal about 10 minutes later, but when i finish it i put down my phone and head back downstairs. I go to the kitchen and hear my dad working in his office with his door shut. I don’t know where my mom is, but I suspect that she’s probably in her room watching a new show or something like that.

I rinse out my bowl and head back upstairs to go snuggle with Cookie. I get to my room and sit on the bean bag chair in front of my bed and turn on the tv right in front of me. I watch a movie and Cookie lays on my lap petting her. She’s purring so loud I feel like the whole room is shaking. Her purr only lasts a few seconds before she jumps off my lap, and jumps on my bed. I look at my clock on my wall and see that its 11:00 p.m. I turn off my tv, and get dressed into a silky shirt and a pair of matching silky shorts. I brush out my hair, and get into my bed. I turn to my right side, and fall asleep.

Worst Car Crash in NASCAR

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Worst Car Crash in NASCAR 

By Trisha Payless

I saw the crowd roar in joy. I smile getting into my car. I look at my opponent. I heard a gunshot and the race was off. I was three laps in and I saw two cars on my side. I see them getting closer. 

BOOM!

I was in the air. I saw the sky and then the ground over and over. The ground upside down. People yelling.

“MICK! MICK! SOMEBODY  HELP.” Ben yelled. Ben was my brother.

I heard the ambulance there, but I couldn’t see it. The race was stopped. They tried and tried to get me out, but they noticed I had a broken neck, arm, and leg. They did the Jaws of Life on the car to get me out. It took 40 – 50 seconds to get me out. They put a neck brace on my neck and put me on a bodyboard. They put me in the ambulance and took me to the hospital with my brother. Twenty minutes later my brother and I made it to the hospital. 

They performed emergency surgeries. Six hours after I got done with my surgery, I was in a hospital bed with my wife by my side and my daughter on my other side.  Ben was standing at the end of my bed. 

“Dad?” said Angel. She is his daughter.

“Yeah”

“ Are you going to be healed for my wedding?”

“ I don’t know but I hope I am.”

The next day I had to go do another surgery. I went in and my wife and Angel stayed in the room.  My wife was praying when I went in. Five hours later I got out and I was in my room asleep. My wife was holding my hand. Angel had her head on my shoulder. 

Two weeks later I got out of the hospital. My wife was driving Angel and me home from the hospital. When we got home the TV was on and President Trump was speaking. I sat on the couch with my wife. It got later and my wife started to make dinner. I was sitting on the couch watching her cook.

 “What are you making?” said Mick.

“Chicken tacos.”

“Okay.”

After dinner, my wife and I are sitting in bed. My wife is setting up an appointment for me. I fell asleep with her. The next day my neighbors were over and their little girl was coloring my cast on my arm. I smiled down at her remembering my daughter when she was little. I knew at that moment I was going to walk my daughter down the aisle.

Six weeks later I was in physical therapy and I was doing well. I was working really hard to get healed for my daughter’s wedding.  I worked every day. My arm was healed. I was still having trouble walking. I kept pushing through and never gave up. I had too much that I still wanted to do in my career, and I knew my daughter wanted me to keep going. 

  After my therapy session, I was sitting in the car waiting for my wife. When she got in the car we went to Taco Bell to get lunch. We got our food and went home. When we got home, she helped me in my wheelchair to the house. After I finished my food. I moved to the living room and sat on the couch turning on the TV.  My wife sat down with me. I put my arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to me. I was thankful to have her.

Three weeks before my daughter’s wedding, my wife went dress shopping today and I stayed at home with Ben and my daughter’s fiance. We were watching football. Five hours laters the girls came back from dress shopping.  I pulled my daughter into the other room.

“Princess I don’t think I can walk at your wedding I am so sorry”

  “It is okay Dad, I understand.” she said, looking at the ground.

The wedding day came, and everyone was getting ready. My wife was by my side. I was shaking in my wheelchair. Everyone started to fill the seats. I sat there listening to the birds sing thinking how beautiful this day was. I waited at the end of the aisle. As my daughter approached, she knelt down to me.  

“Do you want Uncle Ben to push you?”  she whispered.

I grabbed the arms of the wheelchair and slowly stood up.

“No I got it” I looked at her and smiled. “Let’s go,” I said softly. 

 With tears streaming down both of our faces, I walked my daughter down the aisle.

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!”

Where Were You?

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Where Were You

By Sam Gas

     The crowd was yelling and hollering “Lil-y Lil-y Lil-y!!!” and I could hear my mom cheering for me. I had won and then I saw her. My sister’s name is Lola and my moms name is Suzie. My dads name was Allan, I was about 10 years old when my sister went missing. It was about four years ago. 

When my sister got kidnapped, my dad left because he was so sad about it. My mom hadn’t been around the house much so I went to school.  After school I have my swim team, and swim practice is over at about 5:30. I usually babysit my neighbor’s kid on Thursdays and Sundays until 6-11, but they usually get home earlier because they dont want me up too late. I get about 30$-40$ a day, and I’ve been saving up my money in case Lola ever comes back or is found. We could go to the movies or go shopping together or basically just do girly/sister things together.

I’ve always wondered if my sister came home, what my dad would do. Sometimes I wonder what she looks like,what she’s doing,what she’s wearing, if she’s even still alive… but I say hi to her friends all the time. They’re always asking how I’m doing. Lola was into volleyball,she was also sweet, nice, and caring. She also had dark purple hair and she was always so pretty with or without makeup.

I have to swim at 4:00pm today but I think I’m going to go to the pool at 2 so I can get some more practice because in 2 weeks I have a swim meet that I HAVE TO win. I was walking to the bus stop and there’s this billboard of missing kids and I don’t see my sister there. I know she was up there before because I stapled it extra so the wind wouldn’t take it because it’s happened before. I’m just confused who took it down. Could she be in this town and the kidnapper took it down?  What happened to my sister’s missing photo?

 The bus finally came andI was frustrated about my sister’s photo being gone. I’m looking out of the bus window onto the trashed streets and the color of everything just looks dull, like if my town had the colors washed out or just they all faded. I see trash blowing with the wind down the empty streets with no cars but there’s random tweakers down them. I see stray cats jumping out of dumpsters or chasing birds.  You ever feel bad for them, because I do. I wonder where the cats’ owner or mom is at or if any of these cats ever had an owner to show them love or if they have ever felt someone’s touch because the tweakers ain’t good for them. 

I finally made it to the pool 

“Isn’t it a bit early, Lilly?  Swim team practice doesn’t start for another hour or two,” said the lifeguard.

 “You know you have to get extra practice to win right?” I said back to him.

 He just chuckled and walked away. I start walking into the locker room to shower and change before I get into the pool and that’s when I started to feel lightheaded. I took the old people’s shower because it has a chair for you to sit on and I was just gonna sit down and get changed and showered and ready for my swim. I started to hear my sister and for a second I thought she was in this locker room with me, but I knew it was just because I was lightheaded so I just stayed in the shower a little bit longer. I finally am getting into the clear water but it looks blue because of the paint. The water feels  warm at first but then when I got more into the water it was near freezing at first and then I went underneath the water and when I came back up it wasnt cold anymore. 

I like swimming because it keeps my mind off of things especially home things and how my sister still isn’t back and keeps my mind away from thoughts that are like “is Lola even still alive?” or the thoughts of imagining what Lola is going through right now I don’t know just everything has felt so odd, when she went missing she was at a volleyball game and after. Well after she never came home, my parents and I just thought she was at a friend’s place because she always did on Fridays. I just miss my sister.

It was a Saturday morning. My mom and I were waiting for my swim number to come around for me to swim my laps.  I had a headache so I went to the locker room to get away from all of the noise, when I heard my number get called. I ran out and grabbed my goggles and swim cap and went over to the diving block. My timer lady asked if I was ready and I said yes, I got up there and got into my starting position and then BEEP. I dived off into the water. I felt free but pressured. I gave three dolphin kicks and then made it to the surface. I was swimming faster than ever before. I can hear my movements underwater and I feel the water moving with me. I was turning my head to the side and lifting it out of the water to breathe after every 10 strokes. Every time I go to breathe I look at my mom. She seems so proud so I’m guessing I’m winning. Then suddenly I look over to  hear my name being chanted and it’s my sister’s whole friend group going “Lil-y Lil-y Lil-y” that made me go faster. I touch the wall and get up and out to breath and I look at my competitors and they’re barely half way done so I am so proud of myself. So I’m walking over to my mom and suddenly a girl walks over to her and my mom starts to cry and calls me over.  I start running towards her and the girl turns around and looks at me. 

I know those eyes. I know that smile. That is my sister’s hair. I am more than happy. I am crying, I have my sister back and I’m so so happy, I gave her a hug and then asked 

“How? What? Where were you?”

“I’m sorry sis. I know it’s been awhile but I tried escaping and it never worked until now.  I heard about you joining the swim team. I’m so proud and I’ve been in a dude’s basement for some time but I’m here now, but can we please go home”

I started running over to my swim members to tell them this exciting news and that I was leaving and then I slipped and it went blurry and sounds were muffled and then it turned black.   

Grief-Stricken

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Grief-Stricken

By: Sofie Mintz

I love gymnastics! There’s nothing quite like the feeling of the wind rushing through my ears as I run through my routine. We have a competition coming up in a month, and we practice every day. I am especially good at the bars, but I’m also skilled at the balance beam.

My name is Ellieanna Ericson, but I prefer to go by Ellie. Although I am an only child, I consider my teammates my sisters. Right now, I’m in school, sitting in my favorite class, social studies. My teacher is discussing George Washington and how he became the first president.

Suddenly, the intercom buzzes, and Principal Jenson’s voice comes on:  

“Ellieanna Ericson, please come to the office. Ellieanna Ericson to the office.”  

I stared at my teacher, who motioned for me to come to the front.  

“Go down to the office,” Mrs. Heart, my teacher, said. “You won’t miss anything.”  I nodded and left the room, wondering if I was in trouble. I hurried down the stairs and to Principal Jenson’s office. When I arrived, Principal Jenson was standing outside her door as if she had been waiting for me.

“Come in, my dear,” Principal Jenson said, waving me into her office. I sat down in the chair across from her as she settled into her seat at the desk. “I have some troubling news for you. Your mother had to go to the hospital this morning.”

“What!?” I exclaimed, shocked. When I left for school that morning, Mom had seemed perfectly fine. “Why?”

“She was having brunch with your neighbor when she started choking. Your neighbor tried to help her, but they couldn’t dislodge the food, so she called an ambulance, and they took your mother to the hospital.”

“Will Mom be alright?” I asked anxiously.

“Yes, they’ve connected her to a breathing tube,” Principal Jenson assured me. If you’d like, I can call your father to come and pick you up to see your mother.”

“I would appreciate that,” I said, feeling relieved that Principal Jenson wouldn’t make me return to class. Principal Jenson called my father, hung up, and said, “Your father is on his way. You can get your backpack. I will inform your teacher that you won’t return today.”

“Thank you, Principal Jenson,” I said, feeling grateful. I left the office and went to my locker to grab my stuff. Dad was waiting for me when I returned to Principal Jenson’s office. He hugged me, thanked Principal Jenson, and we went outside to our car.

On the way to the hospital, I asked tentatively, “Have you seen Mom yet?”  

“No, I was going to, but something came up that I had to work on.”  

“Do you think she’ll die?” I asked.  

“No, I don’t think she will die,” Dad responded.  

For the rest of the drive to the hospital, Dad and I remained silent. When we arrived at the hospital, I was feeling very nervous. Dad noticed because he stopped, turned around, and said, “Hey, I know you’re feeling nervous, but it’s going to be alright. Mom might look a little different with all of the tubes, but inside, she is the same Mom. She still loves you.”

I took a deep breath and we walked inside. Dad talked to the lady at the front desk, and she told us to go to room 437 on the third floor. Dad opened the door when we arrived at Mom’s room, and I followed him inside. Mom was lying on her bed, and Dad was right; Mom did have a lot of tubes, but she didn’t look that different. She still had the same loving and beautiful face, but she looked weak. I went around to her side of the bed, and she smiled at me. I smiled back and brushed the back of my hand across her cheek. Mom reached up, took my hand, and pressed it to herself.

“Honey,” Mom said softly, “I love you, always remember that. I will get better, and I will be home soon.”

“I love you too, Mom,” I said, and then I broke down. I curled up beside Mom on her bed and cried. After Principal Jenson had told me that Mom was at the hospital, I felt the tears coming, but I had forced myself not to cry. Now that I had seen Mom and was at the hospital, I started crying. Mom rubbed my back as I lay there crying on her shoulder. After a while, I stopped crying, but I lay still on the bed, and Dad kept standing where he was.

Soon, Dad said, “I think it’s time to let your mother rest, Ellie. Anyway, it’s almost dinner time.” I nodded, hugged Mom one more time, and then followed Dad out, like a sad puppy. When we got home, I went to my room to practice for our competition. Four years ago, when I decided I wanted to start gymnastics, Mom and Dad bought a balance beam and a set of uneven bars. I started my routine on bars, but I kept messing up. Finally, I got up, threw myself on my bed, and started crying.

“Ellie,” Dad called upstairs, “time for dinner.” I wiped my eyes on my sleeve and went downstairs for dinner. Dad probably noticed that I had been crying, but he didn’t say anything. That’s one thing I love about Dad—he respects my space and my emotions. 

The next day was Saturday, so as soon as I finished getting ready and ate breakfast, I ran upstairs to practice my routine a couple of times before I needed to leave for gymnastics practice. I messed up a few times, but unlike last night, I didn’t break down in tears. I just kept going.

Ten minutes later, I was getting out of Dad’s car when I heard someone yell my name. I waved to Dad as he drove off, then turned around just in time to see one of my best friends run up to me and give me a big bear hug. 

“I missed you so much!” Alyssa exclaimed excitedly. 

  “I missed you too!” I replied with just as much enthusiasm. “How was your vacation?” 

  “it was awesome!” Alyssa chattered about her trip to Hawaii as we got ready for practice and headed out to the mats. We had been best friends since kindergarten. 

  “Alright, girls,” Coach Lilly called, motioning for us to gather around her. “We have a big competition coming up, and we need to practice. Are any of you doing bars?” 

  I raised my hand along with a few other girls. 

  “Okay, you can go and start working on your routines, but remember, we only have two sets, so you’ll have to take turns.” 

I nodded and followed the other girls to the two sets of bars. While waiting for my turn, I put chalk on my hands. When it was my turn, I started my routine, but halfway through, I fell, landing on my hand. I clenched my teeth against the pain and started again. You might wonder, why didn’t I wait until my turn again? Coach Lilly has a rule: if you fall during your routine, you have to keep practicing it until you don’t fall. 

  Unfortunately, I fell again at the same spot. I tried over and over, but I kept falling at that same point in my routine. Eventually, I gave up and sat down on the side of one of the mats. I watched the other girls run through their routines; only a few of them fell, and if they did, it was only a couple of times, unlike my six falls.

  Eventually, Coach Lilly noticed that I wasn’t practicing and came over to see what was wrong. 

  “Hey, Ellie,” she said. “What’s wrong?” 

  “I keep messing up,” I muttered. 

  “Everyone messes up,” Coach Lilly tried to reassure me. 

   “Yeah, but I messed up at the same spot every single time.” 

“That just means you need to practice more,” Coach Lilly said. “Why don’t you go try it again?” 

“Okay,” I agreed. I got back in line and put more chalk on my hands. When it was my turn, I took a deep breath and started my routine again. This time, I didn’t fall at the same spot as before, but I did fall just over halfway through. I kept practicing my routines until it was time to leave. I hopped into the car just as Dad asked, 

“How was practice?”

“It was good,” I said, “I kept falling off the bars.”

“I’m sorry, did you keep trying?”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t until I gave up, sat out a while, and tried again that I finally did better. The last time I ran through my routine before you picked me up, I had performed perfectly,” I exclaimed happily.

“Good for you!” Dad said, smiling at me. I smiled back at him. We got back home and I ran upstairs to read one of my favorite books. I lay on my stomach on my bed and started reading for, like, the fourth time.

I finished the book and sighed. I wish there were a second book, I thought. I took a drink from my water bottle that I kept in my room and put chalk on my hands. I took a deep breath and started my routine. I didn’t fall, but I messed up a couple of times. I kept practicing until Dad called me downstairs for lunch. I walked downstairs to the smell of my favorite lunch; pulled pork and green beans. Mom and Dad have always switched which days they cooked for as long as I can remember, if Mom cooked on Monday, Dad would cook on Tuesday, and they would switch off every other day.

The next morning, I was up and ready for gymnastics practice long before Dad was up. I chalked up my hands and started on my bars. I fell several times, but I didn’t let that get to me. I needed all of my enthusiasm and happiness for practice, and letting myself think about how bad I was doing was going to take that away. After I had run through my routine a couple of times, I started a new book until Dad was ready to drop me off at practice.

“Hey, where are we going?” I asked, realizing that we weren’t going toward the gymnastics studio.

“I thought we could pay a visit to your mother,” Dad said without looking up from the road. “If that’s alright with you.”

“Of course,” I said, surprised that he would think that I wouldn’t want to see my mother. “I’d love to see Mom.” We pulled into the hospital parking lot, got out, and went outside. Dad talked to the lady at the front desk, and she waved us to the hallway. Dad and I found our way to room 437, where I opened the door and went over to Mom’s side.

“Hi Mom,” I said, smiling at her.

“Hi sweetie,” Mom said weakly, but she smiled back at me. She squeezed my hand. “Are you excited for your competition? Do you think you are ready?”

“Yeah, I’m excited,” I said, adding, “I think I will be ready if I practice more.”

Dad and I stayed in Mom’s room talking to Mom until it was time for us to leave for gymnastics. I waved to Mom as we left her room, and I saw her wave back. We drove to the studio, and as I got out, I was nearly tackled to the ground. As Dad left, I wrestled myself away from Alyssa and walked with her into the studio. Coach Lilly talked to us about the competition and then she dismissed us to go work on our routines. As I waited for my turn I chalked up my hands and when it was my turn I started my routine off perfectly but then fell from the highest bar and landed on my hand. Pain shot up my fingers, up my wrist, and into my arm. I curled up into a ball and as much as I wanted to not cry, the tears flowed down my face anyway. My teammates surrounded me but they backed up when Coach Lilly told them to. She helped me stand up and walk over to the bench near the bars. When the other girls noticed that I would be alright they started practicing their routines again.

“Are you okay Ellie?” Coach Lilly asked concern filling her face.

“I will be,” I mumbled wincing in pain. “Eventually.” The tears kept flowing down my face.

“Does it hurt that bad?” Coach Lilly asked. I shook my head, took a few deep breaths, and started speaking.

“A couple of days ago my Mom went to the hospital because she was having a lot of trouble breathing. I’ve visited her twice once the day she was admitted to the hospital and then this morning. I’m scared that she won’t live long enough to go to my competition.”

“Ellie,” Coach Lilly scooted closer to me and hugged me. We stayed there until she pulled away and wiped my tears away. “Your mom is a strong and loving mother. I’m sure she will be fine, and even if she doesn’t make it, she will be in your heart.” 

I nodded and stopped crying but I still felt horrible.

“Can I see your wrist?”

I nodded and Coach Lilly gently lifted my wrist and rubbed it. I winced but stayed still.

“I’ll be back,” Coach Lilly left but was soon back with adhesive tape. She sat down next to me and wrapped my wrist with the tape. When she was done my wrist instantly felt better, but it was still sore when I rotated my wrist. “Do you think you can practice?”

I hesitated then nodded. I stood up and got back in line. While I waited my turn, I chalked up my hands. When it was my turn I took a deep breath, jumped up to the bar, and started my routine. It was perfect! I kept working on it until Dad picked me up. At home, I ran upstairs, threw myself on my bed, and started reading.

The day of the competition I was very nervous but I remembered what Coach Lilly had said a couple of weeks ago. That morning as Dad drove me to the competition he said, “I have a surprise for you, but you won’t find out until it is your turn.” I was very confused but we have a rule in our house to not guess the surprise before you find out.

When it was my turn I smiled at Coach Lilly, took a deep breath, and completed a perfect routine on the bars. I was so happy, and then I noticed a familiar face in the crowd; Mom.  I gasped and ran to hug her. I was so happy that she was out of the hospital. That night I found out that I had won the competition!

The Thunder Storm

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The Thunder Storm

By Billy Bob Joe

One day Mom, Dad, Slimmy and Kimmy were sitting on the couch watching sports games.  

When Kimmy was feeling hungry she said “ Hey Mom, I’m feeling hungry so I’m going to grab a snack really quick.”

 “ Okay, honey but be quick though.” Mom said. So Kimmy checked the pantry and it was very empty. Kimmy wanted some Takis and a Bubbler or two.

So she asked her mom and she said “Yes, in 5 minutes, let me finish watching this tennis match and then we can go.” 

“Okay.” said Kimmy. 

While the tennis match was finishing it started to sprinkle and then it progressively got harder. When the tennis match ended Kimmy came back and said, “ Mom can we go now?”

“Yes honey, we can go  .” said Mom

So they went outside and it was pouring down hard “ Let’s wait out the rain first and then we can go ok Kimmy?” said Mom

“ Ok “ said Kimmy 

So Mom and Kimmy sat down on the couch again and then Mom, Dad, Slimmy and Kimmy turned on the news channel and it said that there were going to be thunderstorms and possible tornadoes. Everyone got an emergency alert and it said TORNADO WATCH.

So after the alert everyone got up from the couch and started grabbing their emergency bags. They put them downstairs in their Bulkhead doors( Tornado shelter). Just in case there was a tornado they would be prepared. So then they went back inside. A couple minutes later Slimmy says, “ Mom it looks really dark outside.”

“ Yes it does look very, very, very dark outside.” said Mom

 After a couple of minutes Kimmy says, “ Mom, when can we go to the gas station?” 

“ I don’t know Kimmy.” said Mom

A few minutes after that everyone gets an emergency alert

 TORNADO WARNING EVERYONE TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.

 So Mom, Dad, Slimmy and Kimmy went to grab a blanket and went to their Bulkhead doors( Tornado shelter). Soon after they all went to the Bulkhead doors( tornado shelter) Dad heard the town’s sirens go off and he knew it was now very serious because he knew the town sirens only went  off when a big tornado was coming straight for the town.

 “Are we going to die Dad?” said Slimmy 

“ No, of course not honey,” said Dad.

There was a very big thunder and it shook the Bulkhead doors( tornado shelter) and Kimmy started crying because she was scared and then they all got an Emergency alert saying EF5 TORNADO COMING STRAIGHT FOR FLORALVILL EVERYONE EVACUATE! So dad went outside and he saw a tornado forming and he knew that it was too late to evacuate.

“ EVERYONE GET IN THE CORNER NOW!” he said.

Everyone got in the corner and then even more sirens started going off so they knew something bad was coming. Dad turned on his phone and checked the news. 

“ IF YOU LIVE IN ANY OF THE FOLLOWING AREAS BE PREPARED FOR WHATS COMING AND WE PRAY FOR YOU.” “ FLORAVILL, HOPEVILLE, DELICAVILL AND BLUEELA.” said the news 

So Mom was getting very worried and she thought that the house might be going down but she wasn’t sure so she didn’t say anything. 

Kimmy was crying but then she remembered that she still hadn’t gotten her Takis and Bubbler so she said “ MOM WHEN CAN I GET MY TAKIS AND BUBBLER I’M GETTING MAD!”

“ WERE GETTING A TORNADO COMING STRAIGHT FOR THE TOWN! BE QUIET AND SIT DOWN NOW!”

So Mom was very angry at this point and Kimmy was getting more and more upset and there was a big “BOOM!” Dad had to go outside and check what was going on so he looked out really quick because he knew it wasn’t safe but when he looked outside the power line was on FIRE! Dad got really worried but it was pouring down and the fire was across the bridge.

Mom saw the horrified look on Dads face and pulled him over “ What did you see i know that look on your face,” said Mom

“ There’s a fire outside.” said Dad,

“ WHAT!” said Mom loudly ,

“SHHH.”  said Dad ,

“ What’s going on Dad?” said Slimmy,

“ Nothing.” said Dad.

There started to be a lot more thunder and the tornado went through the whole town destroying every house in its way including  Robert’s house, Slimmy and Kimmy’s neighbor’s house.

So after the tornado was done Kimmy remembered about the gas station. “ Hey Mom, could we possibly go to the gas station?” said Kimmy 

“ Yes let’s go now.” said Mom 

So they went to the gas station and it was destroyed so they went home, picked up Slimmy and Dad and went to a family’s house and watched a football game and the rest of sports games that day.

Bates Motel S4 E6

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Spoilers

“The Vault”

The storyline between Norma and Chick came to a dramatic conclusion (or at least seems to have) as things came to a head. Chick had pressured Norma into telling him where Caleb was. Norma did not know, but she was able to find out. She met Chick on a bridge one rainy night, bringing out her gun. She had planned on shooting him, but she realized that she couldn’t do it. She screamed that she did not want Caleb hurt, but she could not kill him so Chick should just do what he was going to do… which was tell Alex the truth about Norma and Caleb as children.

This was a tremendous episode for Vera Farmiga, facing down Chick on the bridge and then ripping him a new one when he brought the window to her house. She ripped him a new one in front of Alex, which shocked him. He asked what was going on, and Norma told him the truth. All of it, about her teenage years and her brother. She expected Alex to leave her.

She told him to go pack his bag.

Alex said okay…. adding, “Where are we going?”

Such an amazing moment between these two broken characters, two people who found each other and have formed an amazing relationship. It was one that was unexpected, but they are truly in love. I have said it before, but this relationship between Norma and Alex is maybe my favorite relationship in all of TV. Maybe Penny and Desmond from LOST matches it, but nothing else in my head comes close.

Norma’s kids are going to be causing more issues soon. Norman, in his DID personality of Mother, is threatening Dr. Edwards in therapy sessions. Norman, as Mother, recounted a horrific memory of Norman’s father raping Norma. Norma has clearly had a terrible life, which makes the happiness she has found with Alex all the more special.

Dylan found the letter left with Norma by Emma’s mother and it has tweaked his curiosity. Bad tidings will be coming for this too.

I know there is not much more time left for Norma and every second of her time with Alex is precious, and will make the loss only all the more tragic.

Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

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This morning for the EYG Genre-ary DailyView, I went to Prime and found yet another long, but classic musical, one with several well known songs, including one that I happen to have on my phone.

Fiddler on the Roof is a well known musical written by Joseph Stein. It was turned into a movie in 1971. It tells the story of a family of Jewish people living in a pre-revolutionary Russian village. Tevye (Topol) is a poor milkman who lives with his family in a Ukrainian village of Anatevka. He went about his life, following traditions and hoping to find matches for his five daughters. 

Tevye struggled with the changing world and his daughters’ choices that went against his long standing beliefs. 

Tevye spoke to the camera, being his own narrator through much of the movie. 

There are plenty of classic songs in the film including “If I Were a Rich Man,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker,” and “Sunrise, Sunset.” 

The cast included Paul Michael Glaser (from Starsky & Hutch), Leonard Frey (who received an Academy Award nomination), Norma Crane, Rosalind Harris, Michele Marsh, Neva Small, Paul Mann, and Molly Picon.

There is not a clear throughline of a plot, focusing basically on Tevye’s family. There are a lot of Jewish culture and traditions shown in the film and it was fascinating to see how a different group of people live their lives.