Treachery of the Unknowns

Here's a piece I did- as you can kinda tell, I left an open ending. If you comment, please include what you think happened or should happen. :)

The wind whispered through the land, leaving a voiceless and agonizing echo in one's heart. It was the year of 3004. The air chilled to the very bone, core and soul. The chill of the air emanated from the Unknowns. The "Unknowns" was a place none dared to tread, none dared to dream, and none wished to see. However, there was one hard- headed girl who only believed in what she saw. And as far as any living creature knew- for her, the stories and history of the "Unknowns" were all lies. Everyone knew this girl as Josephina: the orphan, the wild-girl, the unfortunate one. One and all grieved for her in their prayers, yet they all thought her to be foolish and a nuisance. And soon enough, her foolishness and her annoyance would be proven. Proven so hard and painfully, none would be able to compare her pain she was soon to feel.

"Devils and death! Witches and warlocks! Satan and saints! Clear you paths, young Josie is coming your way! " cried Josephina. She had given herself a nickname and most people followed her by this too.

Since she did not know of what else she was called, she happily skipped through the streets smiling at all passers-by. Laughter erupted from the children as she made silly faces, and giggles burst from the mouths of gossiping young ladies. Still, Josie didn't mind. She had decided her life was only her life, and she would live by her rules and only her rules. As you can tell already, she had an unbreakable view of life.

Life was valued quite a bit in 3004. Researchers had discovered immortality about a few hundred years previously. When the researchers made everyone immortal, they didn't realize that everyone's souls had to still leave the body when the time came. However, because the bodies had yet to be buried and rest in peace, the souls started to wander. After years or wandering in despair and misery, they each slowly secluded themselves into the Forest of Lost Souls. Soon the souls all turned against their owners. Since souls can't really harm any living creature, they started the revolution. They were able to control parts of the weather, some feelings, and sometimes even the state of the senses. But, since Josie refused to believe any of this, she was left unaffected.

A few days later, when Josie was skipping about, frolicking here and there a group of children ran up to her. They snatched a piece of wooden jewelry out of her hair and ran. She chased after them, frowning and shouting. Straight into the fields they ran. Through the tall grass into the green pastures, and from there a young boy threw the jewelry right into the Forest of Lost Souls. A distant howl came out from the dark mystifying death-trap. Every child fearing the froze or stumbled backwards cowardly. Yet, Josie stood her ground. "Come on guys, let's go get it!" she excitedly requested. Almost every kid made an excuse to go home. There were only a few kids left, she insisted that in was there fault she was even here and tried to pull them into the forest with her but they also all ran off, all except an obnoxious girl: Bethany. Bethany never turned down an adventure or a challenge; there wasn't even the slightest chance she could turn this down. So she was the girl who accepted to help find the ball with Josie and the girl who changed her not only her fate but all the others too.

Fate, at the moment, was a forgotten variable. So, with only half of an idea or plan, they tread into the forest not knowing what they would find. Just black surrounded them. Footsteps scuffled in the dark and animals skittered across the ground. A steady dripping sound surrounded the two girls. Bethany tripped. Falling over forward on a suspected tree root, she let out a shriek. Bats and other flying creatures that are too horrid to describe, swooped down and into the girls’ hair. A freakish bug flew down and stuck itself into Bethany's hair. Her eyes started to glow a ghastly fluorescent green. Her eyes became two lanterns, revealing all the gory sights around them. The tree branch that Bethany had tripped over really had been an arm. Only an arm. Rotting flesh, bugs, mice, and a foul stench were the only things to be seen of the arm. At this point, Josie realized what she had done; not only did she put herself in danger, she had put Bethany in danger too.

The ground rumbled under their feet. Bethany, oh that poor girl, she shook harder than the earth. Josie's breath was stolen as Bethany's last breath was taken. A groan of agony escaped her lips as time caught up to her. She fell to her knees. Her body became no more than wrinkles and ash, blood seeped through her skin, her eyes glowed like the light of death, she grew old and her immortality was stolen. And there stood Josie, stricken with pure fear and terror. What she had seen cannot be described by the average.

A glowing black figure had appeared in mist and had run through the limp and lifeless body of Bethany splayed on the ground. Then, the figure had risen out of the blood drenched ground running itself through Josie. Every time contact was made a heartbeat was stolen and Josie got a second closer to death. From the continues impacts Josie's stomach spilled open inside of her, and slowly her body started to digest her from where it hurt the most: the inside. She realized that life was not a game. It had never been. There had been rules made by everyone, but she had turned a blind eye to them and had only focused on her own. However, Josie's challenge was not over yet.

A bottle rolled to her, and with a quaking body and unsteady hand, she picked it up. "The Elixir of Life" read the engraving in the small glass bottle that had an unnerving glow to it. Being in the forest, she knew that there was no reason to trust this bottle. But, what other choice of survival did she have? In the forest anything could happen, there was no telling what would happen next. She promised herself that if she drank the bottle and survived, she would leave the forest as fast as she could and live by rules that would help her live forever. But, if she died from the liquid, she would hopefully die instantly before she devoured herself. No matter what, there would be a bitter-sweet ending to both ways. So she picked up the bottle, and pulled the cork from its neck. Swishing the liquid slightly in her hands, she heard a gentle and calming swishing sound. A sweet aroma flooded from the bottle, a yearning for the taste overcame her. Between tears she lifted the bottle to her lips and slowly let the fluid run through her lips, into her dry mouth, and down her parched throat. Calmness overcame her as she started feeling a little light headed. Josie's breathing steadied and her stomach calmed down as did the rest of her. She took a few deep breaths. Once again she lifted the little vial and gave it a tip. Down poured the rest of the liquid. As soon as the last drop would be drunk an outcome would come into view. And that time had come.

The last drop slowly dripped into her mouth and slid down her throat. The last drop was drunk and destiny and fate altered their paths. A prophecy was fulfilled and life as all knew it, was changed.

Halloween Reflection

Celebration Reflection

By Fariha Momin

From the laughs and chatters to the mess and yells, the party I had was amazing! No doubt that there were some things that were a bit unorganized, yet everything worked out pretty well. There were much more good things than what, well, wasn't too good for sure. Nonetheless, even with the difficulties and the eases, the party had to go on!

The best part of the party was definitely the "Scared Stiff" game. I was surprised that almost half of the class didn't know how to play. But still, that wasn't much of a problem after explaining. When I noticed that not that many people were doing too much and were just sitting in their seats, I decided they needed a little enlightening. So that's exactly what I did. The lights went out and the lighting glow-sticks came in. The majority of the class participated after that. Things worked out a bit better after everything that. Another highlight was the food items and supplies. There were no problems with the items. The items were organized properly and luckily everyone was able to bring in their assigned items. I think that this was actually a pretty good party compared to what could have gone wrong.

Speaking about going wrong, there were also a few things that didn't work out too well. But, you can't really blame me that much; I'm only 13! Truth be told, there weren't too many things but the biggest problem was the organization. I think it was a little hard at the beginning of class. I wasn't completely positive of what I was supposed to say. Along with that, I wasn't sure of what I should have been doing through the time that everyone else was playing games. However, with the setting up taking up a lot of time, I found that I did have things to do. Also, I think it was a bit difficult knowing what I should tell the class. I had to continuously go to my locker to get everything. I was able to do this, but I guess it slipped my mind for a minute or two that I was the one directing everything. I'm not really used to being in charge of everything; and if I ever was in charge before, it was only when I had a back-up or partner. I think a little more careful planning could have solved these problems.

The planning took a while. I had to make sure that I knew all the needed materials for a proper party. I had to make a list of items that would make the celebration worthwhile. After that, I had to get volunteers to bring in party items. This was a bit difficult; I didn't want to tell anyone to bring something what they couldn't. But, good enough, I was able to get enough volunteers and only had a few remaining items I had to bring in. I became a little nervous because I had to depend on a lot of people; there really was no problem for party items, though. I did have to make a few announcements to keep the class up to date. Some announcements were sent by email, and had to be read prior to the party. On the day of the party, I had to get as many items as I could from everyone. My classmates brought their items in the morning of the celebration and I had to get a storage area for them right away. Thankfully, I had planned ahead, and that wasn't a problem. The only planning problem I did have was probably all the worrying about when someone would be able to bring in their assigned item. I guess next time when I throw a party; this should be one thing to keep in mind.

From this party I learned a lot of things. I also was able to find some points to keep in mind for other celebrations I host. I should probably keep in mind that too much sugar can have people bouncing of walls, and that chocolate runs out fast! I think that I may be able to host other parties for my other classes. By the end of the year, I may be a professional and will most likely be comparing my successes to all of my stupid mistakes from my first party hosting. Other mental notes I should consider are the preferences of games. I should find some games that everyone likes. Some activities should also be noted. After this party, I had an idea for throwing a contest for the best dressing according to the theme. To have people participate in this, I could try getting prizes for the winner. If these things work out well, then I really will believe that practice can and will make perfect!

It was definitely a fun party, I'm sure that everyone enjoyed some part of it. I know I did. True there was hard work involved, but everything flew nicely with a little push or pull. Besides, if everything was easy, life wouldn't be so fun and neither would have the party have been! It is as the old saying goes: "All's well that ends well." Shakespeare

A Life Not Yours To Take

Hey, this is a persuasive piece did. If you'd like to comment please do so, I'm looking for opinions- if you agree with me or not. Also, do you think someone would avoid abortion after reading this? Keep in mind that abortion hurts the baby's bearer, so I think I gave some harmful outcomes to the mother. Gracias! :D

 

Every new life begins at conception. This is an unquestionable fact of biology and science. This fact applies to humans, to animals, and to every other creature on our planet. When this fact is considered with the law of biogenesis (that every species can only reproduce after its own kind), we can all agree on a single statement: No matter what the circumstances are, no matter how far along in the pregnancy is, abortion always ends the life of an individual human being. Every respectable abortion advocate somehow understands this simple fact.

When we look back at life, we see love, hate, pain, happiness, and even death. We can recall the madmen in our pasts. But even some of those men were sane enough to see that abortion is wrong.

 Adolph Hitler was the most famous, anti-abortionist of all time.  He was the ultimate no choice advocate. He was an outspoken and violent opponent of abortion rights for women. Joseph Stalin, the Russian dictator from 1929 to 1953, had over 700,000,000 people punished for abortion. Saddam Hussein, the infamous dictator of Iraq from 1979 until 2003, refused to grant women the right of abortion during his time. Ayatollah Khomeini, the Iranian dictator from 1979 to 1989, said, "if a woman is blessed by god, with a child; she has no right or rule to decline this gift…" Still today, in Iran, this law is practiced.

And who else? Well, there's also Newt Gingrich, Former President Clinton, James McGreevey, Bob Livingston, Oliver North, Charles Keating, Jimmy Swaggart, Nicolae Ceausescu, All of the Brazilian Government, Richard Nixon, The Hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church, Kim Jong- il, Karl Rove, George Bush Jr., and so many more. Even children agree that abortion is wrong: teenage pop-star singing sensation, Justin Bieber states "Abortion… well, it's bad as killing a live breathing baby. Like killing me."

Still, there are people saying that it doesn't harm anyone or anything. But look again, it does. As soon as an egg is fertilized, it takes only two days for the embryo to begin development. After that, it takes only 10 days for a heart to begin formation. Within 18 days, that heart will begin to function. And, in less than 20 days, that little heart begins to beat. That very second, a new life begins. A woman usually learns about her pregnancy about four to six weeks after the baby begins development. This gives no one an excuse to state that they destroyed something without a life.

No one likes it when they get hurt. Pain is nothing some one wishes to feel. Nobody, no one, and nothing wants pain. This applies to everything, including an unborn child. A baby's brain begins developing at four weeks. As we do, the baby starts understanding as soon as its brain begins functioning at five weeks. As soon as the embryo is seven weeks old, the sensations of feelings begin. At seven weeks, a baby can feel pain. And, to think that it has only been a week since a woman learned about her pregnancy, really gives no right to claim innocence of a murder.

Not only does abortion hurt the unborn child, but also the child bearer. Abortions lead to medical difficulties. The risk of ectopic pregnancies doubles and the chance of miscarriage and pelvic inflammatory disease increases. Also, a woman's  risk of getting breast cancer goes up by 160%. There are people out there willing to risk all of this just to avoid childbirth. Compared to all of these statistics, childbirth is 75% safer than abortion. If someone truly doesn't want a baby, there are safer ways to handle this situation.

There are many other alternatives that are available to the public to control childbirth other than abortion. There are over 2,050 different birth control pills that can be used to avoid pregnancy. If birth control pills are too much of a hassle, a woman has many other options of contraception. If the avoidance of fertilization was not possible, there is proper medical care for that woman who faces these circumstances. If none of this seems worthwhile, there always is the simple option of adoption. Over 1.5 million families want to adopt a child of any age; therefore one can't say that there is such a thing as an unwanted child. If a woman really thinks that this bay is unwanted, she is wrong. If this baby was meant to never be born, this baby would not have beaten every other egg to fertilization. There is a reason that a baby is being made, and there is no one that can disagree to that.

Abortion is just another form of murder. You harm an innocent, you cause pain, you bring blood-shed, and sometimes you ruin your name. How would it seem to you if you were killed, no say, no crime, only punishment? Not only is abortion crimes against humanity, the methods of abortion are too. There are three types of abortion: Below, Lifted, and Drugged. In all three of these, the baby is somehow harmed. One in 30 babies is born alive after attempted abortion. This begins a completely new situation.

When a baby is born alive, after attempted abortion, it is officially "alive." This is just like a normal baby being born. The hospital has to markdown what time this baby was born, and normal procedures will be taken. However, when the baby is born,  after surviving an abortion attempt, it usually is blind or doesn't have a properly functioning body. But, when a baby survives after attempted abortion, if this is allowed in that state, the baby is place into a bucket of freezing ice water and is smothered with placenta. Still, in states that this is illegal, this action is still taken. It is only 30% of the time that this action is discovered and the person who had done this is convicted for alleged murder. Think for a moment that if this is really necessary. Just because a woman doesn't want her baby, she will still go through childbirth, only to release a baby's corpse. The only explanation for this is not that she doesn't want to give birth, but that she wants to kill the baby.

Abortion is spreading faster than any disease. Abortion is a disease that doesn't hurt…..but kills. It spreads faster than malaria. It is carried by every female and male. The clock is ticking. One baby is aborted every 24 seconds. 147 babies are aborted every hour. 3,542 babies are aborted every day. 24,865 babies are aborted every week. 107,750 babies are aborted every month. And every year, about 42 million abortions are done. And 20 million of those are done illegally and unsafely. It is averaged that a woman attempts abortion at least once in her life. Forty- two million abortions are equivalent to 200-250 years of Iraq casualties. But, the difference between Iraq casualties and abortion is that abortion is done by a mother whose love is told to be greater than heaven itself. Now, is that what you were told about abortion?

Abortion is wrong; millions of babies are murdered every year. At bottom line, that's all abortion is: The deliberate murder of an innocent baby. That is what abortion is ever going to be. There is a reason a life began, and there is no reason it should be ended without a guilty charge. A baby's life is a life that is not yours to take. "It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish." Mother Teresa

The Outsiders: The meaning

Author's Note: I guess this doesn't bring the concept over very well, but you kind of have to think about what I meant. Also,if you find any of the conventions interesting, just give a post. By the way, does someone understand the picture?

"The Outsiders." A compelling title for a compelling story. The characters in this story show many feelings. They show love, they show hate, and sometimes they show nothing. The "outsiders," I think, refer to some of the characters that are greasers. The greasers are a close band of kids that are poor, but rich at heart. They almost always know what they are doing, what they live by, and what their life is. However, sometimes, there is a little mistake or a little confusion and these "greasers" soon become "total outsiders." No longer are the poor and no longer are they rich. They really have no idea what they are doing anymore. This happens often to Ponyboy. He really doesn't know what he is doing, he doesn't want to go hardcore like Dally yet he doesn't want to be all "live and love" like his brother, Sodapop. Throughout the story, every character experiences this at least once. And every time they do, they become "The Outsiders."

Death of Innocence

Author's Note: Does anyone know I love writing poems? Well, I DO! So, anyways here a little poem wrote up for The Outsiders. I guess I'm trying to show the loss of innocence. I even kind- of tell what I'm trying to prove. So, anyways,if anyone has any comment about this or can realize the purpose of this poem (without the authors note), PLEASE POST! :)

Quiet and sweet child walking by

Innocent, calm nothing to hide

There behind, a surprise unknown

Shadowing every path that is untold

A silent attack, bitter and sad

The child no longer happy but sour and mad

Calm they were in a perfect loving life

When hate sprung up and brought on strife

Now everything they see is made of hate

They have passed out of the innocence gate

No longer is everything so perfect and sweet

After, all they see is pain, sorrow and greed

Describing A Topic

Author's Note: This really doesn't follow any format ( oops :) ) I think this really is just a whole bunch of thoughts, but it does describe a topic so yea.....

Every pound, every step and every momentum of energy propelled through me leads to another burst of energy. This continues cycle brings me to the place I love: My active heaven.

Every stride of every step brings me to my run.

Some of the time my legs feel heavy when I run. Other times they feel light.

On the best days my legs have nice "bounce" each step feels like a spring. On good days it seems like my feet are not on the ground for long and my feet feel like they are moving in smooth circles just bumping off the ground for a bit at the bottom of the circles.

On bad days the foot lands: THUWMP the shock shivers up my leg right to the teeth and the lift for the next leg (GNGH!) and then the next foot lands THUWMP *shock* ... *shiver*  (GNGH!) I look at the sidewalk and wonder why it's not cracking.

When I'm in the moment, though, and well into a long run, my legs feel strong, yet buoyant.  I've felt  that "running on air" feeling. There is never a time I don't feel pretty amazing after I tackle uphill effortlessly.

Today, during my 2-mile run, my legs felt pretty heavy and cumbersome.  Sort of like the Tyrannosaurus Rex in Jurassic Park.  There were probably some terrified children cowering in a nearby SUV and watching vibration ripples in a cup of water on the dashboard. 

The Outsiders- Cause & Effect

Author's Note: I don't really mention the killing, you really just need to already have read the book or this part of the book.

Johnny kills Bob:

Johnny, just laying there in the grass, staring into space. All he was doing was dreaming along of who knows what, when Pony ran up to him. Pony had just encountered a heated fight with his eldest brother Darry. The situation had come up because Pony had come home late. He had come home late only because he had fallen asleep in the lot along side Johnny. Johnny and Pony were at the movies when they met the socialite Cherry. Cherry was going to have a ride home with Johnny and Pony when the socials spot them. From there on, that moment brought murder forward, brought in hate, love, and heroism. Just maybe if that night Pony had not decided t go to the movies, maybe if he was grounded, maybe if he was sick, none of this would ever had happen. Just maybe.

SODAPOP!!!

Sodapop-

• Has gold "tuff" hair, good-looking
• 16 going onto 17
• He is greaser
• Dropout
• Pony and Darry's brother
• Reckless but still thoughtful at the same because "he likes action- and a contest" p. 133 but thoughtful at the same time
• Nice to everyone especially to Pony
• Gentle- so he is misjudged by a lot of people because people think he is a mean hardcore greaser
• Horses are his passion- gentle around them
• Kind- unlike most greasers
• Other greasers don't have passions so that's what make special

Sodapop, you can say, is almost a special type of greaser. He isn't someone who would go jump socialites for fun like Dally, but he's not like Johnny either who, is silent and really won't do much. Sodapop, he really is a barrier between fights of his brothers- Pony and Darry. If it wasn't for Sodapop, the whole story would have been different. He really is misjudged by everyone. The socs think he is a hard-core greaser, while the greasers think he is a slight softie. Really he is an adventurous and kind greaser.