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.
Recommended