Oct 2011

Proficient Personal

Narratives Turning watermelon stories into seed stories

Mrs. Clayton’s Rockin’ Writers

Singapore American School – Grade 5

Andrew

October 19, 2011

Riding Space Mountain at Disneyland Hong Kong

The dark light enveloped us as we got into line. As I saw

the long line of people, I knew I had a made a good choice. I

saw the stylish carts rushing in and out of the absolute

darkness. I thought to myself, this will be one of my best

experiences in Disneyland.

I was very nervous as I got to the front of the line, I felt

as if my body was falling into ten billion pieces. I was

frightened when I took my seat in the cart. As my first time

riding a rollercoaster, I never thought of what I would expect.

As the ride started the special effects were all around

us. They showed planets, stars and more space related stuff.

It was really dark but the special effects gave me enough light

to see what was going on.

The cart gained lightning speed as it descended. The

scary part was that you couldn’t see the tracks. You never

knew what would be coming next. Because of that, I

regretted that I chose to ride this rollercoaster. And I was

right.

The cart went unbelievably fast as it sped across the

rollercoaster track. At some points it ascended really high,

and at some points it descended really low. Sharp turns made

the people scream like crazy. Special effects that made the

people say, ‘Ooh!’

Even though I thought the ride was scary, I really liked

the speed of the rollercoaster ride. The cool wind was

blowing on my face as the cart went around.

I was having fun riding it when the camera showed up. I saw

a ladder beside it and I was afraid that my head was going to

bump into it. So to avoid getting my head hurt, I ducked

under the ladder.

The ride ended and we went out the exit to see our

pictures. I was as dizzy as if I was spinning 100 times nonstop.

The ride made me feel nauseous.

I

I was looking on the screen for our picture and when I

saw it I wasn’t a single bit happy about it. It turns out that my

face completely ducked away from the camera. Then my dad

told me,” You shouldn’t have ducked under the ladder. It was

very high up so you wouldn’t have hit the ladder with your

head even if you were sitting normally in your seat.”

However, besides from the photo incident, the

rollercoaster was definitely one of my favorites and I loved

the special effects. It was one of my best experiences in

Disneyland.

And yet today, when I ride the rollercoaster I still duck

from that ladder because I’m getting taller and taller.

If the people who read this seed wonder when this

happened, this happened in the summer of 2007 in Hong

Kong, when I was still 6 years old.

The Chase!

By: Anya

In 2007, Africa was 100 degrees Fahrenheit like the

Sahara desert. With the dry plants, burning hot sand, humid

weather and dry scenery. The bottom of my feet was exploding

with steam even though I had flip flops on!

My family and I were going on a safari to see wild animals.

We got to ride on an open jeep that was being driven by a

friendly female ranger. Despite her soft smile, I was really

scared to go on the safari because I thought that an animal

would jump out of nowhere and hurt me. So basically, I was not

looking forward to the safari.

Suddenly I heard big steps crashing into the ground. I

turned around and saw a gigantic elephant standing right

behind the jeep. I quickly turned back hoping the elephant

would go away. That’s when I saw a huge herd of elephants

right in front of the jeep. I felt as if I were trapped. Just to tell

you that was not a good feeling! I tried to tell my mom, but it

was no use because she was already frozen with shock and she

was really freaked out.

Then the ranger whispered, “Calm down and everybody

stay still.” My heart was starting to pound so fast, my hands

were clutching and un-clutching, my feet were shivering and

despite the humid weather my body was ice-cold. I felt like I

was in Beijing during winter.

From the corner of my eye, I saw the ranger reach out for

her black gun that was strapped on the dashboard of the jeep. I

was really scared, because there was an actual real gun in front

of me! I thought I was dreaming, but then I pinched myself and I

realized that this was reality.

After that moment when I looked at the herd of elephants,

I noticed that the herd was starting to clear up. Five minutes

later, the herd had vanished. I finally felt free! I was so happy

and in Anya’s world the clouds were clearing up, but then I

remembered that there was still an elephant behind us. I think

the tour guide had noticed the same thing so she started to

move ahead.

While the ranger was driving like our lives depended on it,

the elephant started to follow us step by step. The elephant’s

footsteps were so hard it made the jeep nearly fly up in the air.

My sister and I were clinging onto our seats for our dear lives

like a bat hangs on to a branch while they are sleeping. That

much! Because we absolutely did not want to fall off and get left

alone in the wild.

The ranger decided to stop and the elephant inch by inch

got closer. Until the elephant was standing right next to a side

of the jeep. To make things even worse the side that the

elephant was standing on was the side where I was sitting! If

you were in my shoes you would be screaming your head off,

literally! Unfortunately I had to stay calm but in my brain I was

about to explode.

I could hardly breathe. I was so horrified and I was

sweating so much that it made me feel like I was having a

shower in my own sweat (yuck!)My mom was trying to comfort

me because she knew that I was really freaked out. What kind

of mother would not be when there was an actual real life

elephant standing next to their kid.

Every time my mom’s courage meter went up, and she felt

determined to move and talk to me in front of the elephant, it

went back down again because she knew that the ranger told

her not to move in front of the elephant. She was in a tough

situation as she really wanted to comfort me, but could not. Not

if we wanted to return to our hotel alive.

Suddenly the weirdest thing happened. The elephant went

to the bush right next door to me and he used the bathroom!! It

stunk so much that it felt like a gazillion skunks were using the

bathroom at the same time! I am just exaggerating a little bit,

maybe only ten skunks, but you get it.

My sister, Riya and I were laughing so loud that we cried.

However the tears were tears of joy. My stomach hurt from

laughing, but I was relieved that the elephant did not kill us. I

also could not wait till our next family vacation. I hope that it

will be just like this one.

I also had to admit that I had a really good time on the

safari. I am also pretty happy that my parents encouraged me to

go on the safari. Or else my day would have just been boring.

More importantly, my memories of Africa would not have been

as spectacular as they really are.

GOLF CART

By: Benjamin King

And I thought my brother loved me.

My bother and I race down the steps. I quickly look

out the window, and instead of cars just golf carts, not

on the golf course but on the main road. As soon as we

get outside our grandmothers vacation house we race

to the garage to uncover…

My brother starts the engine of the golf cart

“Rummm!” I was getting on the golf cart when I hear

“Click”. He presses the go pedal and speeds up the

road faster than the speed of light, with me barely

hanging on to the seat.

He speeds around the loop faster than the golf

cart has ever gone before. He comes to a corner. All I

heard was a screech, as he went around the turn with

his foot on the Stop pedal.

I slammed into the front seat. Luckily I had my

hands out in front of me and that prevented me from

breaking my nose. I felt like I was being tossed and

turned it was like ridding the wildest roller coaster in

the world. I was thinking “Did he do that on purpose?

Was he trying to kill me? Who knows?”

I kicked my brother off the golf cart and just

cruised around like a pro. With the hot Florida sun

raging up in the air and the feint taste of salt water in

my mouth.

I drove home and there my family was, standing in

front of the main gate. My mom and my dad were

standing with my brother, and he definitely didn’t have

a smile on his face. My stomach did a complete

backwards somersault and I took one deep breath.

I got off the golf cart slowly shaking in my pants.

“What had my brother, told them?” “What was his side

of the truth?” I asked myself.

My parents looked at me and then my brother.

Then my Dad finally said. “You guys work it out.”

My mom and dad went back into the house.

Before my Mom closed the door she said, with a smile

“Park the fast golf cart, you can only use the slow one

from now on.”

How did she know? How did my parents know we

were going fast? How do parents know?

The Neighbor Rivalry

Proudly Presented To You By: Cade

“Bring it on!”

I was born in a small town called El Dorado, which is in

Arkansas and is somewhere you would probably not go to without

a reason. In El Dorado (L-door-ray-dough), I had the best

neighbors in the world but there was just one tiny problem. They

were Florida Gator fans. So one day the hogs (my favorite team)

were going to play the gators the next day. So we had a family

meeting held in our living room. My whole family attended

which is my sister, my dad, my mom and me. My mom came up

with this super awesome plan to decorate our neighbor’s yard in

Arkansas Razorback stuff. “Great!,” I agreed. “Are you sure it

will work?,” questioned my sister. “Great plan Momma,” my dad

exclaimed. This would work fabulously perfect since they were

going they were going to be out of town picking up their son and

daughter in law at the airport and they wouldn’t be home until

around 2 a.m.

So that afternoon we got all the stuff we could that was

razorback themed. It was pretty easy because my whole room

was decorated in razorback stuff. However due to me having to

go to bed I didn’t get to go with my parents to decorate the

O’Briens yard. I went to bed excited and disappointed. I was

disappointed because I didn’t get to go help decorate our

neighbor’s yard, but I was excited however to see the O’Brien’s

faces in the morning.

The next morning I went to get the newspaper and mail as

usual and admired the decorating job my parents had done across

the street. I picked up the newspaper but when I went to get the

mail my mouth fell open and what I saw made me freeze in shock.

I nearly dropped the newspaper I was holding. My mailbox was

decorated in gator wallpaper. It took a few seconds for me to

realize what the O’Brien’s had done. Then I burst into fits of

laughter when I noticed the O’Briens had decorated our yard in

gator stuff.

If you don’t believe me and you want proof that this

happened, as far as I know, the house the O’Briens used to live in

still has a razorback sticker on the mailbox. We all still laugh

about that day. We would have tons more neighbor rivalies but

this is the most hilarious rivalry. This is a memory I will always

treasure and carry with me in my heart.

The O’Brien’s VS. The Stiles

A Feast

By: Christine C.

Dad! Quickly choose something to eat! I’m

starving!” he replied right back as he picked up

the menu in his hands calmly.

“Christine, you should learn to have some

more patience!” I was quite annoyed and my

feet started to stomp on the ground like an

elephant stomping its feet on the floor and I

sulked my head down on the cold table. Just

before we arrived at this restaurant, we were

searching all over a small city in Jeonju, South

Korea.

When we finally reached at our destination,

I had to wait again for my dad to read the menu

and choose something to eat. Waiting is the

worst thing for me in life.

After a rough decision, my dad ordered

something from the waiter. We waited and

waited…

Then suddenly, a smell caught my nose. I

lifted my head up in curiosity. It was such a

sweet smell! But then when the waiter placed

the tray down with the food, I thought, this is

not what I had expected. A bowl of salad and

another small bowl with this red liquid

contained inside had landed on the table. I was

mostly curious about the red liquid.

After the waiter placed the food down, she

started explaining what the red liquid was.

“This red liquid is called a bok-bun-ja. It is

made out of squeezed raspberries. It can be

used to put on top a salad to brighten up the

taste. There is also a drink that is mixed with

alcohol and bok-bun-ja for adults. A belief that

people usually say is that if you drink a lot of

bok-bun-ja, you’ll get stronger muscles.”

We went ahead and poured some of the

bok-bun-ja on the salad and ate. After we were

finished, with the remaining liquid we went

around the table and drank a sip from it. I

smacked my lips after I had some. Sweet! We

also ate other kinds of delicious foods, the

original Korean dishes such as the rice, Korean

kimchi pancakes and so on. In the sight of all of

those foods, my saliva almost drooled down my

mouth.

After the delicious feast, I mentioned

something to my dad.”Dad, Thanks for the

meal!”

“You’re welcome. But Christine, do you

think you fixed a habit of yours?”When I replied,

I was thinking of Mrs. Taylor saying, “Don’t

judge a person by its looks!” and when I

answered back with a smile on my face, I said,

“I surely did learn something, Dad.”

Scary Night By: Christine N.

I was at my friend, Aadhiya’s house with my two other friends

Neha and Medhya. It was getting dark and really late. Are we ever

going to sleep? I asked myself even though I still wanted to stay up.

Aadhiya’s bedroom door creaked open. Aadhiya’s dad poked is

head through the door. “It’s time to go to sleep” he called. I finished

the last sentence of the book I was reading got up, and I put it back

on Aadhiya’s big, white book shelf. Aadhiya’s dad turned off the

lights and got onto the big mattress on the floor.

We were slowly falling to sleep, and then a strange beeping

noise came. BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!!! I froze. It felt really spooky. I think I

had goose bumps. THUMP, THUMP, THUMP. My heart was pounding.

“What was that?” I asked my friends nervously.

“Isn’t that your watch?” my friends asked.

“No, my watch can’t even do that.” I whisper back.

“Do you think we should tell your dad?” I hushed to Aadhiya. “No we

shouldn’t bother him” she answered back.

Five minutes later the mysterious loud beeping noise came again. BEEP,

BEEP, BEEP!!! I froze. “Okay I think we should tell your dad now.” said Neha.

“Yeah” agreed Medhya.

We all groaned as we got up and turned on the lights. We quietly tiptoed

into her dad’s room.

“Dad?” whispered Aadhiya. “There is a strange beeping noise that comes

about every five minutes.” He slowly got up.

He walked into our room. He looked at some of Aadhiya’s watches.

“Which one do you think made the beeping noise?” he asked Aadhiya.

She shrugged, “I don’t know.” she told him. He turned off some of Aadhiya’s

watches. As he left the room he kept on the lights.

We settled down and then… BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!!! We all got up and look

at Aadhiya watches. BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!!! Oh why can’t the beeping noise just

stop? I asked myself.

“Oh, so that’s what’s making the noise.” said Medhya. Aadhiya picked up the

watch and took it out side of her room to the bench. She went back inside and

we pulled up the covers and went into bed. We happily went back to sleep.

That was one spooky night!

SLIP SLIPPERY CRASH

By: Elizabeth

The ice was cold, just shaved, and I was on the ice,

skating.

Me and my friend Sophia were on an outing and we decided we are going ice-skating. It was a hot hot day and we needed to go somewhere cool or else we would die of hotness .

Sophia and I felt a little nervous as we hopped out of the car. I knew she felt the same way as I did when I saw her eyes widen in worries and her legs shake as we started to walk towards the rink. We were not the best skaters in town. We had to admit. Sophia and I had to use the practice bars because like I said we were not good skaters.

” Hey Sophia,” I said “ I feel pretty confident with my skating. I don’t think I need this practice bar anymore. I’m going to let go of the bar and try by myself.”

“I’m going to do that too,” said Sophia nervously

Sophia and I both set aside our practice bars and started to skate on our own. We were a bit wobbly at first but then we kind of got the hang of it.

Sophia somehow tripped and fell. She was just getting up when I slipped and was heading right for her. I was screaming,

“Watch out Sophia get out of the way I’m going to crash into you!”

But, too late. We crashed and I toppled over her and her skates were twisted and we were laughing so hard.

When we got up and looked at each other we couldn’t hold our laughs in.

We were both goofs and we couldn’t hide it.

We just had a super funny moment with each other that will always keep in my heart because we are friends, friends forever and this was definitely a good story and memory to save.

Low Tide By: Elysia

 

 

 

   “Hot, hot, hot!” I screamed as I ran across the sand.

It was such a hot day in fact the hottest day ever

in Maine. If I didn’t drink any water I would have

gotten the most severe nosebleed in five minutes. I told

myself I should have worn some slippers as I started

sprinting across the sand making it fly around like

dust.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The seagulls were circling around the people like

they were the hunters and we were the prey. The sand

was a warm, golden, brown colour. The water was so

clear it was irresistible and since I kept running it

felt like I was in a never- ending picture.

 

 

 

Please somebody, kill me! I said to myself as I

looked at my feet which looked like two big cherries

because of the sun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a while of pain and suffering I got so tired

of looking down at the burning, boiling sand.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I tilted my head upward and looked at the

seagulls hanging around in the sky; they looked like

they would drop dead any second. I turned my head

towards the sea, now almost half the people on the

beach were in the water, and the water, it was shining

in the sunlight and the tide was so low I had to jump

in. I could already feel the coolness of the sea and

could picture myself boogie boarding out.

Suddenly I remembered that I had to meet my

friends, I checked my watch, about time I said to

myself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I turned my head the other direction and found

myself staring at people applying sun block every

one minute. They looked like they would die of the

heat any second. Wow I said as I looked at my skin

in amazement, I already looked like a shiny red apple.

The sand was beginning to sizzle now and if

you cracked an egg it would be fried in five seconds.

Sweat began to roll down my face and drip onto

me like a waterfall. I wiped them of with my sleeve.

My face looked like a strawberry smoothie and every

part of my body was aching from the heavy basket I

was carrying.

Suddenly I heard the laughter of people and an

umbrella stand swaying in the distant looking very

colourful like a rainbow in the distant. I increased

my speed and there, my friends all sat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They stared at me in amazement like I just ran a

200-mile race. Then my sister asked me why it took

me so long to get here.

I looked her hard in the eye before answering, “I

took the front entrance.”

My sister laughed and said, “You could have

taken the back exit that’s how we got here so fast! I

laid on my back and sighed, thinking how come I

never thought of that before.

THE WAVE POOL

By: Ethan

My 7th Birthday, a Disaster

By, Isha

The thunder roared and the lighting crashed. I was in the gym of the Honor Roll

School and was playing tag with my friends. It was my birthday, and I was so excited for my

mom to come and bring in cupcakes. I couldn’t wait till the end of recess which was very

unusual for me.

I got off base which was the long, blue, medal bench. I ran as fast as I

could. Megan was the tagger and boy could she run fast! She was one of the

fastest girls in the class! Megan was behind me, gaining on me and falling

behind too.

“Please slow down!” I yelled “You’re so fast!” “Come on Isha you can do

it!” shouted Nikita and Shruti who were my other friends. Why on earth did I

get off of base? I thought.

The base I thought I need to get to the base, but how? Around the gym I

went in loops and circles I lead Megan back to the base. I was so sure, 100%

sure that Megan would tag me. There is no way I am going to make it back to

base.

“Need water,” I said “You can get water after your It,” Megan said sounding tired. I

could hear all the other people in the back round screaming. They’re not having as fun as I

am, I thought.

People came crashing into me because everybody was running around. Almost

reaching the base, but suddenly I felt somebody touch my leg, I tripped it wasn’t such a

good trip either.

I fell to my knees sliding to the big medal bench... Smack! Tears were running down

my eyes sharp pain hurt in my nose. Blood was running my nose down. I put my hand over

my nose to prevent it from spilling on the floor. I was running to the teacher, Mrs.

Honeycutt.

She took me to the front desk because unfortunately the nurse wasn’t there that

day. Waiting for my mom I thought it wasn’t going to be such a good day in the hospital.

Finally after two hours of pain and tears my mom came. I rushed to her and gave her a big

hug. She took me into the car and we got to the hospital. I walked in the emergency room

scared.

I went into a dark room two nurses came and put a gadget thingy around my waist.

Scary! I thought. I faced a camera in front of me confused. CHING! A bright flash went on.

Oh, there’re taking an x-ray, silly me I should have known. I said to myself.

“Do I need a surgery?” I asked scared. “Probably not,” replied my mom. That word.

That word probably, scared me, pulled me out of myself. I have never had a surgery, and

was definitely not going to get one on my birthday.

The doctor came and said that I wouldn’t need a surgery. I was so relieved. He also

said that is was fractured. Big deal I thought. It is just fractured. The doctor wasn’t done yet.

He also said that I can’t run or skip or jump and stuff like that. What! I thought almost saying

it aloud. No tag! Why did I have to break my nose?

I went home after a not so good day. I sat at the kitchen table. I was the hungriest

person on earth. My mom came and put cupcakes on the table. My sister and my dad also

came. They all started singing happy birthday for me. We ate the cupcakes and boy were

they yummy. I learned that just because something bad happened that day doesn’t mean

it’s a bad day.

Justin The Funniest Ride Ever!

“Here we are,” I said out loud. “At the Universal Studios, Madagascar Crate Adventure!” “Are you sure it will be fun?” Bo Seong asked nervously. “Yeah, sure. Trust me.” I said. We climbed into the ride as the previous passengers went off. We buckled our seat belts and waited for the ride to begin. We both were excited, but suddenly I was stuck with a great idea, and I was way more excited. “Don’t worry, Bo Seong. The ride only goes upside down two or three times!” I said to Bo seong. I was holding up my arm to cover up my devilish grin. “Wait, what? I thought- but you told me- but how come- no!” Bo Seong said. “I need to get off this ride!” I smiled. “Sorry but …” The ride slowly creaked and groaned but in a few seconds the ride started moving. “… The ride has already started!” Bo Seong finished for me. I grinned and tried to stop my self from laughing as I saw Bo seong’s face grow white in fear.

The ride slowly lead us into a dark chamber as Bo Seong started shaking and clutch onto the handlebars. A few moving robot statues moved around and did silly stuff as Bo Seong’s face turned from scared to confused. Some minutes later Bo Seong seemed more relaxed and stopped shaking. But the fun wasn’t over yet: A few seconds later a fake sign said: “WARNING. DROP AHEAD.”I glanced over at Bo Seong and he glared at me with a: “I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!” face, as I tried hiding my smile. I already rode that ride, and I knew what the drop was like.

We felt the wind direction change as we started descending… one meter down. After the meter ended we were back on a flat track. The drop was only one meter down. I looked and snickered at Bo seong as he opened his eyes, and stared around in confusion. “What? But – but how?” He stuttered. “Hahahahaha!” I laughed. And I laughed the whole rest of the ride! As we climbed off the ride, Bo Seong whispered to me, “You know I’m going to get you back, right?” “Yeah, I figured.” I said casually. But whatever he did, would come close to what I did.

Launi, Launi, Launi

By: Katy

© 2011

Neha

October 10th

2011

The Terrifying Egyptian Mummy Ride

Maybe this will be fun! I thought to myself. Besides, even if this is a joke it can’t

be too bad because Mom and Dad are here! We were in Universal Studios, Singapore

and we were standing in line for the Egyptian Mummy Ride.

“When is it our turn?” I grumbled, we had been standing in line practically

forever. Then suddenly, WOOOSH!!!!! My hair started flying all over the place, and the

coaster was coming!

“Wait a minute,” I said. I looked at my sister doubtfully.

“You told me this ride was slow, not very fast!” I said panicking.

“Yes, yes I did and that was only to get you to go on the ride. I knew that if I told

you that it was going this fast you wouldn’t even have dared to step into the line,” she

said. I could tell from her tone that she was scared that I would tell my parents that I

didn’t want to go on the ride. Then we would go on another ride and we probably

wouldn’t come across this particular one again.

My mom clutched onto me and tried to make me feel less scared by saying

“Don’t worry you can sit next to me and your father.”

Although I was screaming inside my body I managed to say: “Ok.” I answered

back.

“EVERYBODY FROM LINES SEVEN AND EIGHT CHOOSE A CART AND

SIT!”, one of the girls who worked there shouted. People started rushing and pushing

their way through like they were about to miss a plane.

We walked onto the platform and into the cart, my legs feeling like spaghetti. Looking

at my sister’s face I just knew that she wanted to scare me so bad, so I tightened my

seatbelt extra tight. I could hear a button getting pushed, and then the ride started moving

really slowly. Then I thought to myself, maybe this isn’t so bad after all! I heard the

young children complain saying, “Why isn’t this going fast?!”, and I heard the teenagers

loosing their tempers and telling the children to be quiet.

Then all of a sudden the ride started going faster and faster, and after about

twenty seconds the ride got so bad that I could hardly breathe!

The supply of high-speed air would just not stop. “How many minutes is this going to

end in?!” I asked in an alarmed fearful voice. “Four.” My sister answered.

FOUR MINUTES! HOW AM I GOING TO SURVIVE FOUR MINUTES! I thought. All

of a sudden when I was already scared enough, the door to another hallway wasn’t

opening! Oh no! What will happen to us? Can this be part of the ride because usually the

door leading to another hallway does open! I thought wearily. I could feel the gushing

wind right on my hands and the screams getting louder and louder. We were about three

inches away from the door now, I covered my eyes because I couldn’t bear to look.

Oh no! We are going to crash! Will we survive? I thought to myself. After we

were about two inches away from the door, it opened! The ride kept going and people

started screaming more and more, and finally the coaster stopped and we got out!

Finally we were walking on the street and my parents busy looking at the map, I

practically kissed the ground.

“Did you like the ride?” My sister said in a teasing voice. Then all of a sudden I

started screaming at her saying “How could you do this to me? Did you know I

practically almost couldn’t breathe? I almost had a heart attack, did you know that? Why

didn’t you tell me? Was this a joke to you or what?!” Then she burst out laughing.

“That was SO amusing!” “NOT!” I screamed. “Yell at her!!” I ordered my dad. “I was

just having a little fun, sheesh!” My sister said in an innocent voice.

“Well did you know about how petrified I was?!!” I started to screech at my sister.

“That was the whole point! You REALLY need to learn how to grow-up!”

“Dad!” I screamed.

“That’s enough girls.” My mom said.

“How about we go on a ride which Neha wants to go on?”

“That way it will be even,” my dad suggested.

“Ok!” Everyone agreed. I’m so going to get her back! I thought.

By: Olivia

I certainly could not do that. I tried to calm my scared and queasy nerves.

I had to do this. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out. I gingerly

stepped into the short line that was getting even shorter by the minute. Be the

daredevil, I thought. I took another step up the line, be brave, I took another

step. I looked at the freefall slide again and shuddered.

“Just do it!” my dad said playfully as he nudged me up the line. I gulped.

Stay calm. I constantly wiggled my toes and stared at my hands as I worried

about what was going to happen when I slid down that slide

Within seconds, I was watching the life guard call “Next!”to the girl in front of

me. She walked up to the platform and the moment she sat down, her body

slipped from my view.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!” her scream was deafening, but it was soon muted

when she plopped into the pool beneath us. I froze with fear. I was losing my

marbles! How could I do that! I glared at the slide, why did it have to be so big?

“Next!” The life guard yelled. I was so scared that I felt like jumping out

of my skin and running away. But of course I couldn’t, my whole body was

paralyzed from that fear that was pumping through my blood. I stood as still as

a statue

“Are you going to go?” The life guard asked. After hearing that scream, no way!

I swallowed hard and looked behind me, the people were glaring impatiently

at the lifeguard. I turned back around and looked straight at the slide. You will

not be an obstacle for me! I declared in my mind.

“Yes, she is going, she is just a bit scared.” My dad nudged me again. I

stood frozen on spot, I was barely breathing. I closed my eyes, come on Olivia!

It’s just a slide! But my body didn’t seem to cooperate, I was stuck in mud. The

stares of other people burned deep into my skin. A push from behind woke me

from my trance. I blindly walked towards the platform and sat down on the

slide.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh” I screamed. I felt a small push. After that, things

were a blur but soon I fell into the pool below me. I clambered out of the pool,

and breathed the fresh air…I did it. I was proud, and, I was not going to do that

again.

A Great

Environmentally

Friendly

Discussion By: Prakrit

“Hi, I greeted, shivering,” “ I had a decent cold water shower this

morning.” I told Mom, boasting. I’m quite sure I had one for the

first time in my life. My cold water shower was a freezing one and

I took quite a short shower because I felt like I had to get out of

there. But really I just forgot to put the geyser on. “I’ve had a cold water shower for a year now,” Dad

interrupted. I don’t know what he was thinking, but it felt like he

was trying to get some fun out of it, even though I didn’t like it.

“At least I do it for the environment,” I tried to point out as I

tried to win something that could really go on forever; hopefully it

won’t. “You don’t.” I just guessed that; I was not going the other

way. The problem is he sometimes gives silly answers and with

that he can pull me to his train track.

“Yes I do,” he argued. But that gave me the feeling that he

wasn’t going to do that. That gave me the feeling that he thought

that this was serious. That gave me the feeling that he was willing

to fight.

“Well at least I’m more environmentally friendly than you

are,” I said as I fought for I, and I only. I was good and he was bad.

Or he was good and I was bad. But we both thought we were good.

Mom never said anything; she knew Dad was wasting time with me; and all of the time was going away talking. She was there in the kitchen, making lunch. The good thing was she wasn’t there to support Dad. The bad news was she wasn’t there to support me; it was more to my side than his, though, because I’m quite sure, if she was to support anyone, the support would go to Dad, not me.

“Who puts the geyser on all the time?” Dad said, as he was not

willing to give up, and not that I’ve seen him give up before. But

now I saw some things. I saw that he was giving it a fight; I saw

that he was serious.

From now on I won’t,” inferring at some time I will. And of

course that water was too cold, and if I were to take showers like

that, it’s not even a shower cause you don’t clean yourself if you’re

going to come out of there really quickly.

Dad fought again. “Who plays video games every weekend?”

he questioned, knowing the answer.

My mom was still as silent as a quiet sky, and she was still in

the kitchen. She was just making lunch, at 10:45. I never thought

of her though, only this argument was what was in my mind. Dad

might’ve wanted to look to her for help, but that wasn’t an option.

“I do,” I agreed. “But that’s definitely not all.” It is now common

for me to forget to play video games, and when I do, I realize that I

have forgot for such a long period of time that the batteries are

out.

I was frustrated, but I knew I had to think of something

‘outside of the box.’ I had to ‘take control of him.’ So I put up

questions that might’ve been a little silly, but surely worked.

“Who uses the fan all the time; even in the bathroom?” I

asked him in determination to win this irrelevant argument. But

at that moment, it wasn’t an irrelevant argument; it was an

argument that I had thought I had to win.

“Well, that’s why you’re sweaty,” he challenged. Dad’s a

person who would always like to be clean and tidy, organized, and,

most of all, he loves showers. But he is also very annoyed by small

things such as someone touching his hair.

“Who cares?” I replied in a jiffy. “I like being sweaty. For me

it’s healthy.” I said with my fingers acting as bunny ears. I really

don’t like sweating but I loved doing something where one of the

consequences is to sweat.

“Who has their own computer- well actually 2– that is used and is turned on almost all of

the time?” I felt like I was forced to mention everything now, and my mouth was getting full of

saliva.

“That’s cause (-)” Dad was interrupted. But Dad’s mouth probably wasn’t full of saliva.

He was saying three words at a time, keeping it steady and that cannot build up as much saliva

as I do.

BY ME.

“No excuses. Your computers are on most of the time and that uses electricity too, you

know.” I was building up so much energy that I could have thrown a tantrum. Luckily, not

everything came out.

“Who has their own computer- well actually 2– that is used

and is turned on almost all of the time?” I felt like I was forced to

mention everything now, and my mouth was getting full of saliva.

“That’s cause (-)” Dad was interrupted. But Dad’s mouth

probably wasn’t full of saliva. He was saying three words at a time,

keeping it steady and that cannot build up as much saliva as I do.

BY ME.

“No excuses. Your computers are on most of the time and

that uses electricity too, you know.” I was building up so much

energy that I could have thrown a tantrum. Luckily, not

everything came out.

“Who has a longer shower; who uses more water?” I said,

going back on topic.

“That’s why (-)” He got interrupted again.

BY ME.

“No ‘that’s why’ or ‘that’s because’ or anything that is

synonymic.” I almost had to shout to make it clear.

And Dad finally gave up, or maybe he just realized he was

wasting time with me; maybe he realized I was late for a class he

had to drop me for; maybe he was frustrated; or maybe he

thought I was getting too silly. But either way he gave up. And I

can’t believe it because he gave up.

I had a great feeling I won, but I knew I had cheated and I

also knew that I had really lost.

By: Sam

The Football Game

The first play of my first football game my heart was pounding so hard that I could hear

my pads rumbling. I looked in the crowd. At first it looked like there was 1 million people

in the stands but there was only about 200. My hands were so numb.

I was in the opening play for the Rams just waiting for the Gators to come out on the field.

The crowd was cheering for different teams and it sort of messed with my brain. The Gators

were chanting on the sideline for their team while they ran on the field.

The Gators kicked the ball. It was coming straight to me. Then it curved and one of my

other teammates caught it. He kept running and running until the biggest player in the league

come up and crushed him.

“ Ouch.” The crowd said to the person beside them. After the kick return we were on the

49 yard line.

The first play on Offense the ball was going to come to me. The quarterback said “Hike.”

He handed the ball off to me. I kept running and running 35, 30, 25, 20, 15, 10, 5,

TOUCHDOWN!!!!! All of my teammates crowded around me and gave me high five's and

shoulder bumps. Then I didn't feel nervous at all. All I felt was I did my job.

I will never forget this moment and it will always be in my heart.

Battle Field By: Solina Kim

“No! Never, ever, ever!” cried Nicole, “I

am NOT going on Cylon Battle Star

Galactica! Look at that! It even turns

upside down!! Are you crazy to go on

that?!!”

I stopped wrestling with Nicole with my

friends, Hee Ju and Elizabeth, and glanced

at Cylons. It seemed higher than the last

time I saw it and it made me nervous. But

on the contrary, that vision also gave me a

hint of determination which I accepted

thankfully. Then, mind made up, I led the

way to CYLONS.

* * * *

I threw my flip flops onto the other

side of the shiny, steel platform and

hurried to my seat with my friends in the

back row of the electric blue rollercoaster.

I sat down, lowering the heavy seatbelt,

arms straining.

A crackling speaker came on and

announced, “Our battle is about to start

with the HUMANS. Please hold on

tight.....” The moment that was announced,

nervousness filled my head with a loud

buzz, blocking me from hearing anything

else. I felt like 1000 rocks were being

thrown on my heart as I struggled to

breath. I wanted to get off right then and

there, but it was too late. For with a

whoosh...my adventure had begun.

Fresh air hit my face as we shot across the

sky, upwards.

Suddenly...it...slowed...down...and...I.........

could...hear...every...tick...of...the...tracks.

Though I wasn’t sure whether it was my

heart or the tracks that was ticking. I

looked down and saw everything,

everybody below me. Oh no!

“ARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH” We

dipped down and curved strongly to the

left. I could see the lake below me and I

imagined myself falling, falling, falling

into the deep, blue lake. I was jolted out of

my thoughts with a sudden soar up to the

sky. Barely getting time to recover, we

dove down again and I could feel the

strong, knife like wind tearing my face.

With a whirr of the machinery I found

myself facing the sky; we had turned

upside down! Panicking, I clutched my

seatbelt even tighter. My mind drew up

crazy stories: seatbelt slipping off and me

making the front page of the newspaper

with a crazy story about a 10 year old girl

falling off a roller coaster, a tall tree

branch hooking me up by my shirt... But

before my mind could draw up more crazy

possibilities, we swung back around with a

jolt.

Suddenly, I was blinded. Blinded with

mist, cold mist. The mist swept through

my sweaty hands. As my vision cleared

out, I could see sunlight. Bursting out from

the mist like lava from a volcano. I was

totally covered in sunlight as I heard a loud

cheer and the electric blue rollercoaster

halted to a stop.

We were filled with excited chatter

about the hair messing, breath taking, and

mind refreshing ride and we all tried to

talk over each other.

“That was so-” I started, the breath

taken out of me.

“Great!!” My friends finished for me.

My friends and I stumbled off the roller

coaster and hi-fived. Then, thinking the

exactly same thing, we all ran to the back

of the line.

As Nicole muttered, “I can’t believe I

didn’t want to go on that!” I heard a

whoosh and then a scream….a new

adventure for a different person had begun.

A Very Special Day

By: Toto

Screech! I heard my bus driver hit

the break. OOF! My head flung

forward and almost hit the seat in

front of me, “I almost hit my head!” I

whispered to myself. I hopped off the

bus. It was the first day of

kindergarten.

I was shaking on the inside and on

the outside. My legs were trembling

with fear. My head felt like it was

going to fall off. I kept asking myself,

What’s my teacher Ms.Poland going

to be like? I felt so nervous and sick, I

had a stomachache and I wanted to

throw up.

I want to go home now! I screamed

in my head.

Way on the other end of the

primary entrance I saw the big bright

orange door that led to my classroom,

I gulped and said, You can do this!

One part of my mind was telling

me Go Toto you will have a great

time! But at the same time another

part of me was saying No Toto don’t

go you are going to be so nervous you

won’t do anything! I tried to leave the

negative thought behind. I was feeling

so excited, and happy, but also

nervous.

Will I make any friends? I asked

myself. Crazy thoughts and questions

started roaming around my head.

I started walking towards the

classroom. There was another girl was

following me. I think she is new. I

told myself

.

I kept walking forward, I passed

the office, then the playground. There

it was again the big bright orange

door, but this time right in front of

me!

I slowly started putting my hand

on the handle. My hand was

trembling. Then I pulled the door

open! I walked in at the same time as

the girl I didn’t know. Ms. Poland

started walking up to us. I started

looking around wanting to leave at

that moment, but I knew I couldn’t

run away from my teacher.

“Hi kids,” She said. Then she

asked, “Are you two sisters?” We

looked at each other and thought Who

is that person? I was also thinking I

don’t even know her!

“No we aren’t” We both said. We

looked at each other again, but this

time in a different way a way that

said, Want to be friends? “Hi I’m

Nicole.” She said. Yes! I finally know

her name! I said quietly to myself.

“Hi Nicole.” I said shyly “I’m Toto.”

After that small conversation, we

became friends. We walked with each

other to our cubbies, put our bags

down and found an empty seat next to

each other.

“Wow!” I told her when we got

ready for the rest of the day. “I will

never forget this day, even if you

move, I promise!” I said. “Me too.”

She answered. We squished our

pinkies together and gave each other a

tight hug. The hug was so tight I

couldn’t even breathe.

Until today we still remember this

day, we both kept our promises.