The Message

Author's Note: This story was a group prompt for the beginning sentence and then we filled in the rest. I left it hanging at the end,and I left it open for the readers to fill in the rest of the story, make it your own. Put yourself into the story and if you add onto it then you should leave it to me in a comment so that I can read it.

I go home and check my messages on my phone just like I do every day after I get home from school. When I get to the third one I freeze......... My mom just sent me a message saying that my little brother and my step dad died in a car crash. My step dad, who was more like a dad to me than my real dad ever was. As I listen to this I'm sitting on my bed, not crying yet because number one: I don't believe that it's true, and number two: because I am in shock that anything has happened to them. I call my mom and start yelling all she can make out of my words is: Mommy, what's wrong! ARE YOU SERIOUS! NO MOMMY! THEY CAN'T BE GONE! I DON'T BELIEVE YOU! STOP LYING, MOMMY, IT'S NOT NICE! While she is responding I don't even focus on her words, because she is sobbing and I know that there is no way she could be kidding; she would never lie about something like this.

Space

Author's Note: This is written in acrostic poem form, but is used in a paragraph.

Super crazy outer land that which we are trying to discover.
People think that it is an amazing place, but if we only know little information, how can they know that it is amazing?
Almost scary that there might be other life forms living out there,
Changing our theories about everything if they do
Exist.

Life

Author's Note: This piece is about what a great privilege life is, and how even though some people may take it for granted, I will always remember that even if something is bad, I will get through it and everything will turn out okay.

I think that life is the best thing to happen to anyone the best thing that anyone could ever ask for. Without life there would be no people. And if there were no people than there would be no one on Earth, and then we would not be here today. Without the gift of life, which is a gift, because some people or even babies, don’t get to experience life because of illnesses or injuries. I think that we as people should be grateful for the life that we have and that we don’t have to spend it in a hospital. Some people take life for granted and that is what makes us so greedy, when even the best of us don’t realize how bad life really could be.

Food

Author's Note: This piece is written as a variation of a writing warm-up we call a word train. Basically you just pick a starting word and then write the next word that comes into your head.

When I think of food, I automatically think of being hungry. When I think of being hungry it reminds me of eating lunch. When I think of eating lunch I think of being with friends. When I think of being with friends I think of being loud. Loudness reminds me of one of my friends who’s name is Mada. She reminds me of playing one of my favorite sports which is volleyball. Volleyball reminds me of my birthday because my number is 4 which is the day that my birthday is. My birthday reminds me of presents; Presents remind me of Christmas. Christmas is a reminder of happiness. Happiness reminds me of food because when I think of food I am happy because it makes me feel good.

Winter

Author's Note: This piece is was written as my informative opinion on winter.

When I think of winter, I think of snow, and cold and holidays. Some people hate winter, mostly adults, because they look past the fact that basically it is the happiest time of the year for most people. I think that the adults need to take a look at it through a kids eye and see how exciting it really can be. Families are all together, and you get to put up decorations, and just celebrate, even if you are not going to celebrate a holiday there’s no excuse not to get together with your family. All you have to do is worry about being with your family, not shoveling, or scraping ice off of your car in the morning. It is a time of happiness and joy. And I have to say I feel sorry for those people who hate winter.

Valentine's Day

Author's Note: This poem is written about traditional Valentine's Day gifts, but how they are when they aren't playing a part in the lovey dovey role of Valentine's Day. It is a modified format of a traditional Diamante poem (Diamond Poem)

Flowers that bloom in the summer, spring, fall, and even sometimes winter.
These plants can be colorful and beautiful, sometimes exotic and rare,
When I think of flowers I think of dark green stems, so tall and full of leaves,
Sometimes chocolate we think of as sweet; sometimes we think of it as bitter.
Chocolate, only shared on Valentines’ day, when we should be sharing it every day, if you’ve had a bad day pick up some chocolate.
Flowers and chocolates the perfect valentine’s day gift.

Darkness

 

Author's Note: This piece is written about a book called Shadowland, a girl, Ever, ends up finding herself falling,falling, falling into the blackest black that you could ever think of. Ever, is trying to find a way out of this blackness and back to her soul mate Damen.

    

Shadowland, the land Ever had never heard of until that fateful day of visiting it herself. There was no way to get around it; she was going to go there if she ever died. Never see any of her friends, so the only solution was to never die. Shadowland, by Alyson Noel, helps readers, young or old to understand some of the difficulties average people face in life.

When I read this book I never realized anyone’s life could be so difficult. That one person could ever have so many problems. It helped me to understand that anything can be difficult; you just have to make the best of it. It also helped me to understand that just because some authors make their message clear, others want you to read between the lines, which are exactly what Alyson Noel did in this book. So, while these things are difficult in her life, there are other books that have similar problems. Bella, from the famous Twilight series, faces the problems that no one could ever think of, because she is dealing with vampires and werewolves. Complications happen every day to anyone, people in Cuba, Haiti, and other third world countries all over the globe.

           
While I was reading this book all that I could think about was the Twilight series, by Stephanie Meyer, because there are immortals, secrets, and soul mates. While Ever is so in love with Damen, he wants her to try and see Jude for who he really is because over their history he has always stole her away from him, and they have fallen madly in love. The same story with Edward and Bella, where Edward he always steals her away from Jacob. Only both Ever and Bella want to be with Damen and Edward and they refuse because they think that they are dangerous to the girls.

Readers will learn how to deal with their problems in this eventful tale, even though the author doesn’t say exactly how to help with solving the complications everyone has in life. Alyson Noel does a great job with understanding people in everyday life when she is writing the third book of the immortal series, Shadowland. It really helped me to understand the complications average everyday people have that you don’t see on the outside. Now, when I see someone who looks so normal, I used to think that they were the most normal people around. Yet, until I read this book, I never truly understood how important it is to never judge a book by its cover.

Are you proud of your country??

Author's note: This is written as an informative piece on the people who fight for our country every day.

There are people in this world that complain about where they live, what they eat or anything else that everyone always has an opinion about. Well, what I think when I hear people complain like that is ‘how could you be so selfish?’ I understand that people have family problems or something happened that may seem like the end of the world, I myself complain daily, but at least I have a house, food, clothes, and everything else that I am so blessed to have.

I don’t need half of the things that I have they are wants not needs. We are so lucky to live in a country that is free. In other countries the people of who are living in that country aren’t allowed to pick their rulers or where they want to live, not even what they eat. If it weren’t for the great men and women that fight every day for our country all over the world; I can tell you that we would have a rough life on our hands. While you now think about your life, what you complain about every day, while others are suffering for us all around the world, I hope you realize that we are living in one of the greatest countries on this earth, because we are free to choose almost everything that we may possibly want to have or do. Maybe the next time you feel like complaining that your food tastes horrible, or that your parents are fighting or something that is a big deal to you, you may want to think twice before opening your mouth and will remember the soldiers who are eating whatever they are given or nothing at all because they are too busy fighting for us and don’t have time to eat; and are only allowed to see their families a few times a year, all so that we may be able to live a free life.

I think that the real heroes of our country are the soldiers all over the globe, not the scientists who discover medicine or uncover dinosaur bones because even though, those  are pretty great discoveries aren't helping with our freedom.

How can anyone be so selfish, to complain about all of the things that we want when what everyone really should be thinking about is all of the things that those people have. I feel that everyone, including myself should think twice before complaining about the bad food and parents fighting. I am so proud to live in this great country.           

Hippopotamus Essay

Author's Note: This piece is written to persuade the reader to learn more about hippopotamus. To engage and change your opinion about these majestic creatures all together.




What is your favorite animal? A lot of people feel that the hippopotamus is the best animal in the world and are beloved by many. Anyone who has studied them mostly agrees that they are vicious creatures, but that is because they don’t fully understand them the way that I feel that I do. Others feel that the hippopotamus are just mean to humans because they are mad that we terrorize them with our motorboats, fishing trips and pictures that people take when they are on a safari. These hippos are the greatest animals on both land and in the water.
The hippo is just a  big softie on the inside, who are mad all the time because of the humans. Even though they are the world’s third-largest living animals, they are hunted and their habitats are very fragile. There are only two species of this animal and one of them, the pygmy hippopotamus is very rare because we as humans have destroyed their habitats and are still destroying them even after they are protected because they are endangered. The other kind of hippo is the large hippo and they on the other hand are not endangered and have a program set to keep them in a safe habitat too. While you are thinking about the land side of these majestic animals, don’t forget to think about the other characteristics like the underwater side of them.

The hippopotamus, or river horse as their name means in Greek, are able to hold their breath underwater for 6 minutes when they are adults, but only half of a minute when the hippos are babies. Hippopotamus eat for 5 hours on end so while they are in the water they just stick their heads the bank and then they start to eat the grass. They have to stay in the controlled areas that are designated for them because they are hunted for their ivory tusks just like the elephant. So while we as humans think that they are a danger to us, we are just as much of a danger to them.

Some of these animals can live up to about what is the midlife of humans. They usually live to about 50 years old to 60 years old, but more likely younger, as in 50 years old. They spend most of their days in the water, but in the morning they like to bask in the sun similar to what a house cat would do.

The best animals are the hippopotamus. How do you feel about this animal now?