The World

The clouds gather,
The sky rumbles.
The earth shatters,
The rain tumbles.

The sky is crying;
The world is dying.
There's chaos everywhere;
There's not a drop of water to spare.

When happiness is not a factor;
Where do you go?
When there is no happily ever after;
Can you still grow?

Time is really precious;
Live life audaciously.
When the world is at a standstill;
What's left to fulfill?
Don't stop, keep going;
Because there's still a lot worth knowing.

Series of Misunderstandings and Truths

"Oh baby!!! Right there! I'm gonna-"

Guy 1: "Come on!!!!"
Guy2: "What's wrong?"
Guy 1: "I'm watching the basketball game and I swear these guys are playing ball but they don't have any-"

Instructor: "Balls!"
Random Student 1: "What did she say?"
Random Student 2: "She said that in order to become a better dancer, we have to dance on the balls of our feet."
Random Student 1: "Oh, all I heard was balls."
Random Student 2: "Really, of course you would; you have such a dirty mind because you're such a-"

Angry Dude: "Dick!!!! What a dick"
Random Guy: "What's wrong, who's a dick?"
Angry Dude: "Muhammad Ali"
Random Guy: "Why is he a dick. What did he do?"
Angry Dude: "Well, get this. He was banned from boxing because of some technicalities."
Random Guy: "What technicalities?"
Angry Dude: "He refused to fight and get drafted in the Vietnam War because it went against his new found religious Islamic beliefs."
Random Guy: "So, why does that make him a dick?"
Angry Dude: "It doesn't, let me finish my story!!!"
Random Guy: "Ok, Ok; go ahead and finish your story."
Angry Dude: "Well, in order to get his boxing title back, another boxer Joe Frazier went to the president himself, President Nixon at the time, to help Ali become a boxer again."
Random Guy: "Well, that was really nice of him."
Angry Dude: "You see that's what I said, but you haven't heard the whole story yet. Anyways, thanks to Frazier, Ali was able to get his boxing title back. But, then Ali and Frazier were supposed to have a match against each other. Now there were three different boxing matches in which they competed against each other. In one of the matches Joe won and in another Ali won. Before the last match took place, Ali had been trash talking about Joe to the news and in public."
Random Guy: "What do you mean by trash talking?"
Angry Dude: "Well, let me finish; anyways when I say he was trash talking I mean he was insulting Joe, even after Joe had worked so hard to help Ali get his boxing title back. He was saying that Joe resembled a gorilla and that he wasn't very intelligent. Then he called him the worst insult of all, worse than saying the n-word."
Random Guy: "Worse than the n-word! Like what?!!!"
Angry Dude: "He called him an Uncle Tom; which basically means that he caters to crackers or as I'd like to call it crackerjacks."
Random Guy: "You do realize that you're being racist against yourself by saying cracker, right? I mean you are white too."
Angry Dude: "Yeah, I know; but you don't get the point. Ali basically called Joe a slave!!!"
Random Guy: "Man that is harsh, even after all that Joe did for Ali!!!"
Angry Dude: "My point exactly! But it gets worse, you see the third match was their final match and it was the bloodiest most brutal of all boxing matches. It's a pretty famous fight too, and it was so epic."
Random Guy: "So they're boxers, it's gonna get brutal sooner or later."
Angry Dude: "I know that, but in the last battle Joe was basically blind and Ali was also not holding up well; Joe's manager said that they should throw in the towel and call off the fight, but Joe didn't want to he wanted to keep going. On the other side, Ali was ready to give up and throw in the towel. He told his manager that he wanted to quit. But before Ali's manager could call the fight off, Joe's manager beat him to it, and the fight automatically went in Ali's favor."
Random Guy: "What?!!!! That's so unfair, Joe's the one that wanted to keep going not Ali!"
Angry Dude: "Exactly!!! Now, you can see why I'm so angry; but now Ali has Parkinson's Disease. Which he totally deserves, it's called Karma bitch!!!"
Random Guy: "Isn't that a little harsh, and where did you learn all of this?"
Angry Dude: "I was watching a documentary about it on tv just now."
Random Guy: "Damn, learn something new everyday don't you?"
Angry Dude: "Yeah, what an ass."

Notoriety for the Nefarious Neal

INT. The PROFESSOR’S Room

The PROFESSOR is handing out the tests.

PROFESSOR

I am passing out the tests now so everyone be quiet; you all are familiar with the drill.

NEAL

Psst... Pass this note to Nina.

Random Kid

Okay, Psst... Nina this is from your “boyfriend”

NINA

Thanks

The note read: Good Luck on the test, see you after class.

Nina begins to pass a note in response back to Neal.

PROFESSOR

You are you passing notes during a test. You are in trouble for cheating little missy

NINA

No sir, I was just. . .

PROFESSOR

I don’t want to hear your petty excuses; out of my classroom now!

NEAL

Sir, I can explain. . .

PROFESSOR

No need to make excuses up for her Neal.

A couple of hours later after class. . . with Nina and all of Neal’s afore mentioned friends

NINA

Thanks, a lot Neal. Now my parents are going to be so mad at me. This is your fault. I am going to be officially grounded by my parents.

NEAL

I know your right, this is my fault but if everyone is up for it, I have an idea.

Nina leaves and Neal tells his idea to his friends (Yash, Daniel, Nathaniel, SURAJ, and NATASHA)

SURAJ

Gee Neal, I’m not so sure this is a good idea, besides, we could get in a lot of trouble, not to mention the fact that Nina never told you to do this for her.

NEAL

Nonsense, what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.

Later on that night...outside the Professor’s residence

NEAL

All right, let’s go, you all know the drill. There should be no evidence that we came here and no room for mistakes.

YASH

Got it! Now let’s do this.

They enter the Professor’s house, noting that his car isn’t outside so they can sneak in.

Int. Professor’s room

NEAL

Let’s hurry up and find Nina’s test paper and the Professor’s test answers.

The friends are all rummaging through the cupboards and drawers searching for the papers. The wind can be heard rustling outside as there is a figure outside climbing up a bush at the side of the house towards the window. The figure comes unnoticed.

NEAL

Found it! Now all I have to do is copy it quickly before the Professor comes back.

Wait! Who’s that outside of the window?

NINA

(Tapping on the window outside) Guys! What do you think you’re doing? Get out of there now!

NEAL

Nina, you weren’t supposed to be here.

NINA

I heard about your plan to lie and cheat on my test for me. You’ve lost your mind Neal and I don’t want to take any part in your dirty scheme.

NEAL

You’re going to have to be our lookout in case the Professor comes back.

Yash had been rummaging through the papers when he found an object in one of the drawers.

NEAL

Guys we’ll be done shortly.

Fear erupts on Yash’s face. Suddenly... SlAM!!!

NINA

That was the door! Oh no! The Professor’s back and he is inside the house.

YASH

Neal, there’s something I need to tell you.

NEAL

Not now Yash, we’re already in as much trouble as it is.

The Professor’s footsteps can be heard on the steps, as he gets closer to the room.

PROFESSOR

What are you kids doing in my house! Are those the answers to the test I gave you earlier today?

NEAL

We can explain.

Yash can feel the fear well up inside of him as he panics...

YASH

Hold it right there! (Holds up the gun now understood to be the object found in the drawer.) Don’t move or I’ll shoot!

NEAL

(Shocked) Where did you get the gun from?

PROFESSOR

What are you doing son, just give me the gun and all of you will be free to go.

YASH

Stop or I’ll...I’ll sh-sh-shoot!

NEAL

Don’t do this Yash; you’ll regret it. Please, please don’t do this.

PROFESSOR

Listen to your friend; you have your whole life ahead of you. You don’t have to do this.

YASH

Shut up! Shut up! I need you to stop talking!

Without thinking Yash pulls the trigger. Neal jumps in front of the Professor and the bullet and gets shot in the leg.

Neal

Ow! Damn you Yash, I told you not to pull the trigger!

YASH

Oh no! What have I done! I’m so sorry!

NEAL

Whatever, its okay, I’ll be okay.

YASH

What are you crazy! You’ve been shot! Of course you’re not going to be okay!

PROFESSOR

Well, it looks like you’re all in trouble. I knew that I shouldn’t have started teaching some dumb punk kids such as all of you.

YASH

What do you mean?

PROFESSOR

I mean that I could have been anything a doctor a lawyer even an engineer; but NOOO... I decided to become a teacher. Man what was I thinking? But now that all of you are here, I can’t just let you leave!

Neal, thinking quickly, grabs onto the Professor’s leg (while still bleeding on the floor) and pulls him down which knocks him out.

NEAL

What are you guys waiting for! Run!

YASH

But, what about you!

NEAL

Go on without me. . .

YASH

Okay! See Ya!

NEAL

What! You all are actually going to leave without me.

YASH

But, you just said it was okay.

NEAL

And, you believed me! It’s just a figure of speech. I mean, I’m bleeding to death because of you, and you actually planned on leaving me here!

YASH

Would you quit arguing and get up already! I swear sometimes you are just being a drama queen.

Neal gets up, while everyone else runs downstairs and out the door and Nina gets away from the window and goes to her bike. Natasha tries to help Neal when Neal opens a door which he believes to be the front door. They open a closet door to reveal a skeleton.

NATASHA

Is that what I think it is...

NEAL

Yeah, that’s the Professor’s wife! The rumors were, I mean are true, he did kill his wife. Talk about having skeletons hidden in the closet!

NATASHA

Let’s get out of here; I don’t want to find out about anymore of the Professor’s hidden secrets.

Rhetorical Letter

I decided to write a rhetorical letter for my blog post this week. I was inspired by these rhetorical letters written by an Urdu short story writer, Saadat Hasan Manto. I read a few of his short stories and didn't like them because they were kind of erotic and violent. I looked him up and came across someone's blog about the author. I read the few "letters" written by the author that have been translated and I thought they were quite witty and they changed my opinion of the author entirely. I was having a really bad day, so those letters definitely raised my spirits. So here's my own version of a "letter" based off of actual events. I want to see if anyone can figure them out they should be quite obvious. I am going to post the link to the blog I found after I write the letter; but I ask that you please refrain from reading that blog until you've read mine because that will ruin the whole blog. I want you to keep in mind that I am writing these letters as a person from a different country altogether.

Dear Uncle,

I heard about the twins and I'm deeply sorry for your loss. Events like that really have a way of bringing people closer together; for when one dies a part of everyone dies with it. I'm sure you have already heard of what happened here. What happened on 7/11 was being compared to the same event that took place for you. I watched the news and I was devastated by the impact and how reckless people seem to be becoming now a days. I heard that some people are planning on building a mosque and the controversy that's going on about it. I think it's ridiculous that people are having such an argument about it. There really shouldn't be such discrimination and prejudice directed towards one ethnicity because not all Muslims are terrorists. I hope my regards and prayers reach you safely and I hope in time that some day people will be more accepting of others and less judgmental.

Your niece


I'm pretty sure that letter was obvious enough as to what I was talking about. If you didn't understand the reference of 7/11 you can try to look it up. Just type in Bombay 7/11 and you'll understand.

Here's the link to the blog about those rhetorical letters written by that author mentioned in the beginning.

http://www.lehigh.edu/~amsp/2006/07/saadat-hasan-mantos-letters-to-uncle.html

Addictions and books

I would say that everyone's addicted to something whether it's something as harmless as technology or as serious as drugs. Though, I would say I've never been addicted to anything serious like that. I've been addicted to mainly technology like watching tv or going on the internet. I finally got a Facebook this week; my friend insisted that I get one because everyone has one. But that's the whole reason I didn't want one in the first place. I like to do my own thing and not mindlessly follow a crowd. It's better to stand out than to blend in; I liked the idea of being different from everyone else. I think it's just a matter of time before I start to get addicted to Facebook as well.

Over the years I've gotten addicted to reading fanfiction and for those of you who don't know what fanfic is, it's basically a site where people write using ready made characters. For instance, some people write their own stories using the characters from Harry Potter or tv shows or other characters from different forms of entertainment. You can use characters from books and even games and movies. My friend told me about the site when I was a sophomore and I became obsessed with it, but I limited myself to only reading fanfic during the summer. I've always loved to read, but most fanfic is usually really shitty writing. The writers that are good are usually writing romance shit that always seems overdone. The fanfic I read is usually writers that are better than Stephanie Meyer, her books are basically the shittiest fanfic like writing ever to hit the face of the earth. I looked her up and found out that she had never even written a short story before writing her precious Twilight series. Everyone knows that before you can actually embark on writing a novel, you have to at least write shitty short stories before you can jump in to writing something so time consuming and long.

What I want to know is what happened to people reading the classic novels that sparked more interest. The books I read in high school had more literary merit and they were really good novels. The books that I fell in love with in high school include: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, Lord of the Flies by William Golding and How to kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I know not a lot of people would agree with me on these specific choices especially since most people I know have always said that they didn't like Lord of the Flies mainly because it was just one big metaphor and about savagery. When I was in middle school I used to get tutoring at Sylvan learning center; one of my tutors turned out to be an author and her pen name is C.S. Friedman. She said that judging by my personality I would probably really like that book and she was totally right. I've never actually read her books, but I hope to one day see if I can. I tried looking for her books at the library and couldn't find it. I'm not sure if any of you have ever read her books, but since she was right about my taste in books I'm probably going to enjoy reading hers as soon as I find it. I also know that most people prefer not to read nonfiction books and The Devil in the White City is a nonfiction book, but it's about a serial killer named H.H. Holmes and it talks about how he grew up and how he killed his victims. That story's really quite interesting and even though it's a little long about four hundred pages or so, it's still pretty amazing.

Past Halloween Memories

Since it's almost time for Halloween, I thought I would talk about how I spent my past years during Halloween. Of course as a child I would trick or treat, but I haven't done that since I was thirteen; that year I trick or treated with my cousins and we were supposed to be zombie soccer players. Basically we had used make-up to draw scars on our faces and I borrowed my cousin's soccer jersey. After that I spent the years watching some of my favorite movies; when I was younger my sister, my cousins and I watched the movie "Hocus Pocus" and I loved it. So whenever that comes on TV around Halloween I watch it out of habit. I also watch "Halloween: Resurrection" which is one of my favorite Halloween movies of all time. I remember that was the movie I watched on the day I should have been studying for my chem exam that I would be having the next day after Halloween, back when I was a sophomore in high school. Teachers should never assign exams when they know that it's more or less a 'holiday', even though Halloween isn't exactly considered a holiday, it should be. Last year I watched "Halloween: Resurrection" again and a movie that was coming on MTV called "My Super Psycho Sweet Sixteen".

I know everyone that went to my high school would always go to Markoff's Haunted Forest whenever Halloween rolled around. It's located in Maryland and I only went there once with my sister and my cousins, back when I was a junior. It's basically a tour through these 'woods' where a bunch of scary stuff comes at you, they even have people dressed up as trees to fool you and scar you when you least expect it. We went on a really chilly night and one of my older cousins was trying to scar all of us girls, luckily I was closer to the front so I was never one of the targeted people he was trying to scar. At one point he was sitting directly underneath a mock spotlight, with his shirt over his head and we kept telling him that wouldn't work because he was right underneath the light, it was pretty obvious what he was trying to do. While his head was under his shirt he didn't notice one of the 'trees' headed towards him. Instead of scaring the girls he ended up getting scared himself by one of the mock 'trees'. It gets scarier towards the end when a guy with a fake, very loud 'chainsaw' comes at you. The drive there wasn't very long, but the drive back was; my sister was driving and she was scared by how small and narrow the paths were. She kept saying talking about how because no one really lives down there it would be really easy for someone to bury a body or kill someone and no one would find out. Basically what makes Markoff's Haunted Forest so awesome is because it's in the middle of nowhere which essentially makes it that much more appealing and scary at the same time.

Since I am talking about Halloween I might as well divulge in the story of how the name Sarah was always a curse to me. In the past, back when I was still in elementary school there were three girls, by the name of Sarah, that always posed problems for me. The first was Sarah K., she was always a bitch to me, she was never good at pronunciation or she was illiterate or something because she always called me Dukie, I can't tell you how many times I told her that the e in Duke is silent. Two of my oldest cousins went to Duke University so I owned a lot of shirts and a sweatshirt with that logo. I think she just had a personal vendetta against me, but I honestly don't know why; that was back in third grade. Then in fifth grade it was Sarah H., she loved making fun of my last name; she was the biggest slut at our high school and pretty popular, but she stopped posing problems for me. Then there's the last Sarah; Sarah J., the whole reason I brought this up and why this has to do with my Halloween memories. It was sixth grade and Sarah J. was disrespecting other people's stuff; we were in another class room for English. So I told Sarah to stop messing with the stuff in the desks because they didn't belong to her, but she didn't listen. Then, for no reason at all, she started kicking me; we were starting a new book that day, something about someone named Stella. There were some Spanish phrases thrown in there as well; anyway, the teacher was calling on specific students to read. It was the first chapter and unfortunately because I have such bad luck, she called on me to read. While I was reading Sarah kept kicking me, everyone now and then I would pause for a little too long because of the pain; I think my teacher assumed it was because I couldn't pronounce the words, but that obviously wasn't the case. That teacher must have been oblivious as fuck, because that whole entire time she didn't notice me wincing in pain as I read. Finally, I finished the first chapter and I didn't retain any of the information about the story at all. I looked at Sarah and the only thing on my mind was revenge, so I kicked her once and I could see the fear in her eyes afterward; I was only planning on kicking her once, but she put her legs on the side of the chair so I couldn't kick her again. However, since I have such bad luck, the teacher noticed me kick Sarah. The only thing I could think about when she told us both to come to the back of the class to talk to us was, why did it take her so long to notice and how come she only noticed when I kicked Sarah and not when she kicked me. Now, here's the kicker (mind the pun), that all took place on a Friday the day of Halloween. So we all received candy and a lecture for kicking each other. Sarah J. started being more civil to me though; which is good because she actually lived in the same neighborhood as me. Actually she only lived one house away from mine, so basically all of the popular kids knew where I lived. She also had a couple cats, and I hate cats; one of her cats would always manage to come into my yard and it would always annoy the shit out of me.

Ever since those three Sarahs, I haven't had any more problems with the people named Sarah. I was actually friends with a couple of Sarahs after elementary school. So luckily there will never be a problem with the people named Sarah again. I used to tense up automatically each time I heard that name being uttered. Especially since Sarah K. almost got me suspended or a warning from the vice principal about suspension for passing notes. That and Sarah K. loved bullying me throughout that year. I don't know what I'll be doing this year for Halloween, hopefully it will be something interesting. I've always wanted to know what it would be like to go to the cemetery at night on Halloween. Though I love horror movies, I don't believe in ghosts, ghouls, vampires, werewolves or anything else that has to do with Halloween monsters or associated with Halloween. Too bad no ones allowed in the cemetery after dark which really sucks balls.

Personal History

When I was nine I was sent to my elementary school's clinic because my lip was bleeding. While I was trying to clean up my lip, I passed out; luckily the school nurse caught me before I fell to the ground. I'm pretty sure I passed out at the sight of my own blood while I had been trying to clean it up. I assumed that my mom had freaked out about it and that's why a couple weeks later we went to see a doctor that does EEG tests which basically study your brain waves. The doctor asked me simple questions like my name and what I like such as my favorite color and stuff like that. All I could think about that whole entire time was how badly I wanted to wash my hair because the shit he put on my head felt so gross. As a child I hated washing my hair because the shampoo would always get in my eyes and in my mouth.

I asked my mom why she had sent me to that doctor when I really didn't need to go to that doctor. The only reason I had passed out in the first place was because of the blood. She told me that the school nurse had told her it would be a good idea to get me checked out just in case by a qualified doctor to find out if anything specific was wrong. Which I guess in hindsight was a good idea, no matter how stupid I thought it was at the time. I really thought my mom had sent me to the doctor because she had freaked out about it; but either way, my mom spending money to get me sent to the doctor is reason enough for me to understand how much she truly cares about me and my health. Honestly, that was the single most humiliating moment in my life because of how weird it felt to be questioned by a random doctor. Having those wires stuck to my head so that he could study my brain waves was just embarrassing. It was like adding insult to injury, as if passing out in front of some of my peers wasn't humiliating enough; I get sent to a doctor, usually when people get sent to doctors like that, it's because they have something that's wrong with their mental health.

The Favor

I'm back home for the weekend and I'm really happy about that. On the car ride over here, my dad was lecturing me about following the teacher's instructions and not getting into an argument with my teacher or anyone else. He told me a story about when he corrected one of his teachers and the teacher started hating him. My dad told me he had to go to the Headmaster or in other words the Principal and explain to him that the teacher wasn't treating him very fairly. I find it funny, how many people have told me that one of their teachers hated them. I can't say I've ever gone through a teacher disliking me; most of my teachers were always civil to me probably because they always knew I was trying my best and doing the shit they assigned. My dad told me to listen to my teachers no matter what even if they tell you to do something wrong. So that got me to thinking: what if a teacher told you to do something really bad or even morally wrong; what would you do? So I decided to write a story about just that.

The young man was in a hurry; this would be the first time he was running late. Dressed smartly in a suit with his jet black hair combed to perfection. His glasses making him look even classier and staring at his watch with his over the shoulder computer bag weighing him down. Who is this young man and why is he in such a hurry? Meet Roger, straight A student, president of the student council and what most people liked to call a teacher's pet or total kiss-up. Roger goes to a boarding school so dressing nicely is required, not that he minds dressing up in a suit. He was born to tie a tie and wear a suit. So being late was usually never an issue, but his alarm didn't go off and yet he still took the time to get dressed nicely. His motto was always "dress to impress" not to mention the fact that he needs to dress nicely for school.

"You're late Mr. Anderson! I never thought I would see the day where my best student came late," said Professor Thames with a shake of his head. "Sorry sir, it won't happen again," Roger stated apologetically; everyone's eyes were on him with surprise, no one could believe that the teacher's pet was late. "Good, I'll see to it that you aren't late again. See me after class," the professor said with finality. Roger nodded; he waited nervously hoping that the class wouldn't end so soon. He was dreading what the professor would say to him about being late. The end of the class finally came and everyone filed out except for Roger. "Mr. Anderson, we need to talk," said the professor. "Am I in trouble sir?" Roger asked. "Yes and no; you've never been late to my class before so I'm going to try to go easy on you," the professor started to say. "What do you mean sir?" Roger asked again with uncertainty. "I mean, I need you to do me a favor; but it's not going to be easy,"the professor stated. "Wha- what is it?" Roger asked with a hint of fear. "There's someone in my life I need you to get rid of," said the professor. "Who?" Roger asked hesitantly. "You know Mr. Jackson," the professor said. "Stuart, the guy in my class?" Roger asked. "Yes, Mr. Jackson is creating a problem for me. He never does his work like you Mr. Anderson, he's not as diligent. His dad was in jail and he's threatening to kill me if I don't pass his so called precious son," the professor explained. "If his father was in jail, how can he afford to have his son go here?" Roger asked skeptically. "That's a good question Mr. Anderson. He can't, he's far behind the school's dues. Mr. Jackson's mom used to pay the dues, but she left her husband and son," the professor said. "I'm sorry to hear that sir," said Roger. "I know you are, I need you to kill Mr. Jackson's father," the professor said. "What?!?! I can't do that sir! I could go to jail and my chances at going to college would be over. Not to mention my father would kill me if I did something that horrendous!" Roger exclaimed. "Look, I'm your teacher; so you either kill the senior Mr. Jackson or you fail my class. What do you cherish more saving one guy's life or getting good grades?" the professor said.

Professor Thames told Roger to think it over and get back to him in a few days' time. Roger contemplated the proposition; he was perplexed about the entire situation. How could anyone ask someone to do something so heinous and atrocious? He decided that he needed a second opinion so he asked his roommate what he should do. "Blake, can I ask you something?" Roger said. "Sure, what's up?" Blake replied. So Roger told Blake in a few words what Blake would do if someone asked him to kill someone else? "I could never kill anyone! Why would anyone ask me to do something so crazy?" Blake asked with surprise. "I don't know, forget I asked," Roger said. He decided to tell the professor that he couldn't possibly take someone else's life. "Sorry sir, but I can't do what you asked from me. I'd rather risk bad grades than a juvenile record," Roger said. "Very well than Mr. Anderson. I guess you've made you're choice," Professor Thames stated.

Roger didn't fail Professor Thames class, because the professor ended up being sent to jail. Roger had reported what the professor had asked of him to the authorities and they found out it was true. The professor had asked another student for the same crazy favor. That student had reported the same incident and the professor was arrested for trying to hire a hit man when neither of the students were willing to do what he had asked of them. Roger ended up going to a good college because his SAT scores were phenomenal. Stuart Jackson (the kid whose father the professor was trying to kill) ended up doing better in school and ended up being accepted at a good college as well.

Simile Poem

This is a poem that I wrote while reminiscing about the moments I used to jog with my dad and sometimes with my family as a whole. I'm in the Def Poets Society club with my friend and we were told to write simile poems. I know what you're probably thinking, that club is just a rip off of the movie the "Dead Poets Society"; but whatever I don't care because I actually like poetry.

It was like running on air,
It was like going through a bouquet of red roses,
It was like nothing in this world,
It was like a strong chemical bond that can't be broken,
It was like a strange sense of calm and peace,
It was as if nothing could ruin the moment or rush of adrenalin coursing through my veins,
It was as if I could fly and nothing could bring me down.
It was running through 'The Jungle'* and nothing not even fear could touch me,
It was a moment I would never forget,
It was love and family bonding time,
It was what it was and nothing can change it.

*'The Jungle' comment refers to someone's house which was in the path of where my family and I would run. This specific house never cut there shrubs and it looked like a jungle so that's what we called it. My family (which consists of my parents and older sister) would never be willing to run through it only I would run through it. My mom would always freak out and tell me that I would get kidnapped or something even though it would take me only about a few seconds to run through it. My family would avoid it by running onto the road; I would always think they were just being a bunch of babies, but whatever.

In Defense of the Environment

I'm tired of people not caring enough about our environment. Recycling is important for the Earth and people need to start taking global warming seriously. If everyone just did their part in saving the environment then we would all be living in a better world. There are a ton of greenhouse gases that are fucking up our ozone layer and interfering with mother nature. There are a ton of little things people can do, like instead of buying regular light bulbs you can buy CFL's. Sure CFL's cost a lot more than the regular light bulbs, but what's more important saving the world for the generations to come or saving just a little more money? Hell! My mom is so stingy and only buys stuff if its on sale and even we buy CFL bulbs! However, I'm ashamed to say that I accidentally broke one of them.

Did you know that a thirteen watt CFL is equal to a sixty watt incandescent? Burning one CFL for four hours per day for one year keeps a hundred and thirty seven pounds of Carbon Dioxide from going into the atmosphere. One hundred million CFL bulbs saves thirteen point seven billion pounds of Carbon Dioxide is equivalent to taking one point three million cars off the road! It saves enough electricity to power more than six hundred thousand homes for a year or a city with a population of one point five million people! I bet your wondering how I know this, well believe it or not those were my chemistry notes. My teacher spent a couple of days talking about the environment and I have to say it was really interesting! Usually that class is humdrum and boring as hell! Honestly, there are days where I feel like I'm going to fall asleep in his class! Did I mention that it's one of those big lecture hall classes. So if I did fall asleep no one would even remotely give a damn.

After that class, my friend and I had a discussion about how important we both think it is to recycle and actually care about the environment. Apparently my friend's family doesn't recycle which really shocked me! She has told her parents to recycle, but apparently they don't seem to listen and her mom doesn't like the look of CFL's. My parents do recycle which I am grateful for; I was also in a recycling club in high school. The club was called Students' Against Global Abuse or SAGA. I know some people don't even believe that global warming is even real which is complete bullshit if you ask me. I don't know about anyone else, but I actually care about the penguins and polar bears. I mean how can you not? They are so cute and adorable, you'd have to be completely insane not to care! If you don't care than I strongly suggest you watch the documentary "March of the Penguins" and tell me that you don't find those animals adorable. I dare you to watch and not feel some sort of sympathy and compassion for how global warming is ruining their chances at survival.

The Dark and Stormy Night

I stood there underneath the blazing sun mowing Mrs. Stan's lawn. I heard that there would be a storm coming, rumors were that it would be a hurricane. By the looks of the sky, it seemed highly unlikely. My name is Dominic Razz, but everyone including my teachers and family calls me Razzle-dazzle apparently it contains pizazz that brings my name to life. However, just because that's my nickname doesn't mean that I own any glitter, wear a fedora with a plume or parade around in pink. I don't wear Hawaiian shirts either; no I refuse to be labeled as a fag* based off of the name. I'm just a normal kid, that gets paid to mow my neighbors' lawns.

After I finished mowing, I headed back to my house and I decided to waste yet another day of freedom to play some video games. After killing a few hours with mindless games; the power went out. I had heard the rumbles of thunder and seen the flashes of lightning in the distance; but I didn't think there was anything to worry about. My parents had fled off to paradise away from me for their own "vacation". Why I didn't take advantage of the opportunity, I don't know. So, now I'm left alone in the dark, groping desperately for a flashlight all because I didn't heed the hurricane warning.

The flashes of lightning were helping me find my way through the empty and desolate house. I finally found a flashlight, the beam of light helped a lot than the lightning. I should have set up candles with matches and I should have gathered all of the flashlights in the house ahead of time just in case; the way my parents had always taught me to do during thunderstorms like this one. It took what felt like hours 'til the storm died down, but the lights were still out. I felt like I was being kept in the dark on purpose; forever isolated from civilization itself. When all of a sudden came a knocking at the door. A stranger, who was in desperate need of help. "I'm Stacey," she said, without hesitation and even before I asked her. I was wondering, how out of all the houses in the neighborhood, she showed up on my doorstep. Maybe I was the only idiot foolish enough to open my door to a stranger. It became painfully obvious from the look on her face that she was hurt. "What's wrong?" I asked her. "I injured my ankle, and I have no where to stay tonight," she said. I could see the pleading in her eyes. Her hair was still wet and matted down on her face from the rain, even though the rain had stopped a couple of hours ago.

I decided to let her in, after all she was in a time of need. "Come in," I said; "what about your parents?" she asked. "What about them?" I asked; "aren't you going to ask them first?" she said. There was a few seconds of awkward silence that passed between us until she said, "wait, your parents aren't here... Are they?" She looked at me with her hand place firmly on her hips and one eyebrow cocked. I quickly thought on my feet, I deepened my voice and said, "why would they be? I'm an adult, I can make my own decisions now." "You're kidding right? You don't look any older than sixteen or seventeen," she arrogantly retorted. "So much for being a hot looking chick," I thought to myself. "You're a teen that's been left alone and you didn't throw a party or even invite a girl! I'm impressed! Unless you're gay; you're not gay, right?" She said. "No, I'm not gay," I said through gritted teeth. She had only been here a few minutes and she had already managed to insult me and piss me off. What, do I have the letters F-A- G or G-A-Y written on my forehead for people to just assume that I 'swing the other way'. "You look like you're about seventeen as well!" I said. "I am," she replied. "Yeah, so am I" I said.

"You never told me your name," she said. "I don't talk to strangers," I replied; "that's strange, you let strangers into your house, but you don't talk to them, even though you're talking to me right now," she said with a smile. She made a good point, but why should I have to tell her my name. She'd probably just turn up her nose and scoff at me. Why don't I just give her a phony name, it's not like she would have any proof of what my real name is anyway. For all I know probably didn't even give me her real name. "My name's Shane," I said with much more suave confidence. She seemed to buy it, then I said "we need to get you out of those wet clothes before you get a cold," I said. "It's nice to know that you're a caring person," she said with sincerity. I'm not gonna lie, even I was impressed and surprised by what I said.

"I'm sorry, I'm an only child, so the only girls' clothes in this house are my mom's clothes and you're probably not going to fit into those. But I can offer you some of my old clothes." "I'll make do with your clothes," she replied. "Suit yourself," I said and showed her my old clothes, which were still conveniently in my room and I directed her towards the bathroom. "I'll just change in here, if you don't mind," she said. "No, not at all, be my guest," I said as I kept standing there like a complete idiot. "Ahem! A little privacy please!" She said pointing towards the door. "Oh, sorry. I forgot, you meant you wanted to change by yourself without my help. However, I don't mind giving a helping hand," I said suggestively with a smirk. "In your dreams! Like I'd really let a jerk like you undress me and 'help me' change," she replied with a laugh, letting me know that she was only teasing. With that I left the room and waited for her outside in the hallway; until I heard her yelping in pain from her twisted ankle.

She couldn't change her pants, so she called me in for help. "Look who needs my help now," I said teasingly; "shut up and help me," she replied. "What's the magic word?" I asked; "please," she said. "Okay," I replied as I started helping her; I got a good flash of her enticing pink Victoria Secret panties as I told her to lay down on the bed so that I could take her pants off and put the dry ones on. I started slowly pulling the pants on her and my hands reached up to her torso as they were finally on. She was closing them and my hands were still right there on her ass. I finally pulled my hands off and noticed that most of her hair was dry now and a beautiful shade of blonde. I also noticed her beautiful brown eyes; then she looked up at me and said "you know, you're pretty cute, I like your green eyes. So much nicer than my boring brown ones and nice brown hair that signifies you're intelligent." "Now just because you're a blonde doesn't mean you're dumb, you shouldn't fall for those ridiculous stereotypes and I heard that blondes have more fun," I replied with a smile. "Now whose falling for stereotypes; though I guess you're right, I shouldn't fall for stereotypes," she replied. "You know, you're witty comments show that you're not dumb, so you shouldn't sell yourself short." "Okay! I get it, I'm not dumb!" She exclaimed with a smile. "Well good, just as long as you don't forget that about yourself," I replied.

"Look, I'm sorry I was acting like such a bitch before. But you know it's been such a long day and under the circumstances and weather...You understand the reason for my behavior, right?" She asked with regret. "You don't have to say anymore, of course I understand," I replied. "Thanks," she said. I can't believe that I had gone from liking her- to hating her and then back to liking her again that fast. I guess I shouldn't have judged her when I met her. "And, I'm sorry I acted like such a jerk," I said. "Don't think twice about that, besides you were right we're strangers you have a right to act like a jerk since this is you're house!" She exclaimed with a genuine smile. "That still doesn't justify my behavior," I replied with sincerity.

So we talked for the rest of the night by candle light while we waited for the power to come back. The lights didn't come back until the next morning. Somewhere during our talk, I had fallen asleep and by the time I had woken up, she was gone. She probably left at daybreak and managed to get away without waking me up or saying a goodbye. I never did see her again, she hadn't even left a note, so I went back to my sad and dreary life.

* Sorry if the fag comment offends anyone, that's just the character's blunt personality. I don't mean to be offensive towards anyone. If anyone has a problem with it please let me know.

The Dream Dude and Dudette

"What do you look for in a girl Jason?" asked Dawson. "I want the type of girl with shoulder length brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. The type of girl with a lip piercing and an nose piercing perhaps even a tattoo. A girl who's not afraid to voice her opinions and get caught in the rain. The girl who has one of those childish smiles, the girl who jumps into the puddles and doesn't mind getting wet and I'm not just talking about getting wet from the rain," replied Jason with a devious smile. "Wow, dude that's too much information," said Dawson wincing at the double entendre of his words. "Well, I'm not done listing out the things yet. I also want her to be the type of girl who wears a t-shirt with a band name on it like The Ramones, The Beatles or even modern band names like Kings of Leon. A pair of jeans or short shorts and a pair of comfortable sneakers like Converses or something," Jason replied.

Meanwhile... "What do you look for in a guy Cindy?" asked Sabrina. "I want a guy with messy black hair and mysterious dark eyes. The kind of guy that wears a leather jacket and rides a motorcycle with a helmet of course. A bad boy that I could tame, who smokes cigarettes and looks sexy as hell while doing it. However he also has a sweet side that he rarely shows and a good sense of humor too," Cindy replied with a dreamy look on her face. "Wow, that's sounds totally hot! Too bad all of the hot guys are taken! Very rarely can you even find a guy that's sweet anymore!" exclaimed Sabrina.

While each of the pair of friends had their conversation they all rounded the corner. "I just wish I could find him/her," Jason and Cindy both said at the same time as they collided while rounding the corner. "Hey! Watch where you're going! Look what you did!" yelled Cindy. She had been holding a hot cup of coffee from Starbucks in her hand that was now all over her t-shirt. "Woops," Jason replied. "The least you could do is apologize for spilling hot coffee on me!" said Cindy tapping her foot impatiently. "Whatever," said Jason. "Oh, forget it!" Cindy exclaimed as she walked away with her friend trailing behind. "Jeez, can you believe that bitch!" said Jason. "Well dude, she kind of looked like the girl you were describing as your dream girl," said Dawson. "Her! That girls obviously way too uptight for me!"Jason replied. "Well you could have at least said that you were sorry," said Dawson. "Damn, you're right, I kind of did come off as a complete jerk. It's my fault she spilled coffee on her shirt," said Jason. "She was wearing a shirt with a band name too!" said Dawson. "Really! I guess I wasn't paying any attention. Maybe if I walk fast enough I could catch up to her and apologize," said Jason. "Okay, well I'll talk to you later than Jason," replied Dawson. "Yeah, later," Jason replied as he took off to find the girl.

"Can you believe that asshole! He spilled coffee on me and didn't even have the decency to apologize! He ruined my favorite shirt!" exclaimed Cindy with exasperation. She looked down sadly at her shirt with the band The Doors written on it as well as the band members. "I know, but he looked exactly like the guy you were describing earlier," replied Sabrina. "Him! He didn't even look like he possessed any qualities of being a sweet and sensitive kind of guy," replied Cindy. "No, but he definitely possessed that bad boy quality and the looks," gushed Sabrina. It started to rain and Cindy looked up at the sky. "Don't you just love the rain!" exclaimed Cindy, completely forgetting about her encounter with the jerk and her ruined shirt. She closed her eyes and looked up towards the sky as she began to twirl around in circles enjoying the wet rain drops falling upon her smooth skin. "Oh, Cindy, do you always have to be so childish when it rains!" exclaimed Sabrina with a small smile. "I love the rain! you should join in," said Cindy.

Jason finally rounded the corner and saw her. She had a smile playing upon her lips and she was facing towards the sky with her eyes closed and spinning around without a care in the world. "She looks so cute!" thought Jason as he realized that she was the dream girl he had been waiting for. As Cindy slowly opened her eyes she noticed Jason watching her with a sexy smile on his lips. His messy hair was matted down on his face as it started raining harder. "Wow, he is my type after all," thought Cindy as she saw that not only did he have the same appearance as her dream man, but also wore the same worn looking leather jacket that she had always adored in her fantasies.

"Sorry," Jason said sheepishly, suddenly very shy about talking to such a hot girl. "She looks so hot with wet hair! I just want to rip her clothes off right now," thought Jason. "It's okay. I know that you didn't mean to spill coffee on me, you and I were just at the wrong place at the wrong time," said Cindy. "Or the right place at the right time" thought Jason. "I couldn't help, but notice that I ruined your shirt. I love The Doors as well and I don't mind replacing your shirt," said Jason. "You don't have to really, but if you like them then I'm guessing you like all sorts of rock bands right?" said Cindy. "Yes, I also like modern rock bands, why do you ask?" asked Jason. "Well it just so happens that I have tickets to a rock concert, the bands name is Kings of Leon. I was wondering if you would be interested in going with me?" asked Cindy. "So is that like a date? Since we just met, so don't you think that's a little soon?" asked Jason. "I guess, but I have no one to go with since none of my friends are really big fans of the band," said Cindy. "Well, in that case why don't we go on a few dates before the concert to get to know each other better and then we can go to the concert," said Jason. "That's sounds really good. I guess I'll see you then. Here's my number," said Cindy as she grabbed Jason's hand and wrote down her number. "Hey! It's raining, the water is going to erase the number!" exclaimed Jason. "Well, in that case you better get the number down fast," said Cindy mischievously. "I'm just kidding, I have my cell phone so you can just give me your number and I'll call you," replied Cindy. "Sounds good, but you better not be lying about calling me!" Jason said. "I'm not," replied Cindy and with that he gave her his number.

They both went to the concert after their first few official dates and had a blast. Now very few people believe in soul mates, but it was quite obvious that the two were inseparable and a few years later they got married and had kids. Now I would say they lived happily ever after, but no one knows the future, so it's not like they didn't have their fare share of ups and downs.

The Decision

"You know it's not going to matter what you do?"
"I know, I just wish I knew what that right thing is exactly."
"There is no right and wrong or good and bad in this world. You can only do what's right for you. If anyone has a problem with that, then they can just go and fuck themselves!"
"But, it's a big decision for my future!"
"Yes, but you can't placate everyone's feelings with your decision."
"I know, but my dad really wants me to go to Yale."
"Harvard has always been your dream; you should follow your dream not your fathers! You got into Harvard so you should go."
"If only it were that easy;dad graduated from Yale. He expects me to follow in his footsteps."
"Your dad has barely been in your life as it is. He divorced your mom and didn't give a fuck about you or even try to get custody of you! Why should you care about what he wants? Your mom says that it's a miracle he even paid for the child support."
"Sure my dad hasn't been around that often, but everyone deserves a second chance. I want to feel closer to my father for once."
"A second chance, he doesn't fucking deserve a second chance! The guy makes tons of money as a lawyer and never gave you the time of day while you were growing up. Fuck him and his money! It's time to face the truth dude, he dumped you and your mom for a family of his own."
"That's not true!"
"Really! Well as I recall he has another son, your older stepbrother, what's his name..."
"Brock! His name is Brock."
"Yeah, what kind of a dumb stupid fucking name is that anyway? He replaced you for a more athletic son. You know what your problem is A, you're too fucking nice and forgiving. You need to stop letting people screw you over. First, it was Melanie, what a bitch. She cheated on you with Allen, your so called friend!"
"Ex-friend, thank you very much; well to be fair, Allen liked her before I started dating her."
"There you go again, with the same nice guy shtick that you have. We've been friends for years A, and you need to stop being so god damn nice all the time!"
"Look G, I know we've been friends for a long time, but I don't have it in me to be a mean person."
"I know, but I'm not done with the list of people who've fucked with you. Where was I? Oh right, second you let that Sydney girl use you while trying to get your stepbrother jealous."
"Hey! Sydney told me upfront that she was going to use me and I don't mind being used for casual sex. Besides she was hot, what guy wouldn't want to bang her brains out."
"Yeah, she was really hot, but you don't have to use a cliche when you're talking about having sex with her. And casual sex! What are you kidding me? That wasn't casual, it was planned and you and I both know that!"
"Look it doesn't matter anymore, it's in the past."
"Yeah a past, that you can never escape. It's time you stop doing shit for other people and focus on yourself."
"I know, you're right, but I don't know if I'll ever be able to do that."
"Yeah, I don't think you'll ever be able to do that either. You've always been that caring type of person. But you could start by going to Harvard."
"Fine, but I'm not breaking the news to dad."
"Well, than I'll do it for you. If that motherfucker still doesn't understand, I'll make him understand."
"Don't do anything too harsh!"'
"I won't, but wait I never finished the list of people who screwed you over."
"Fuck it, we both know listing it out will take a lifetime!"
"Yeah, you're right."

Escape

I dream of a better place,
A place where I can escape.
But I'm stuck here,
Where everything is unclear.
Darkness, doom and despair swarm around me.

Why must I live with this depression?
Is this supposed to teach me a lesson?
Everyone walks on a path of roses,
While I walk on a path of thorns.

Each day is a brand new one;
I walk in the shadows,
Everyone else walks in the golden rays of the sun.
I can see happiness around me,
But why don't I feel happiness as well.
A dark cloud looms over me.

Why do I love the rain?
Why do I yearn for pain?
I welcome the bitter taste of tears that never shed;
I fear to leave the sanctuary of my bed.

I'm tired of waking up everyday,
Pretending that everything's going to be okay.
A fake smile plays upon my lips,
I hope no one can see through it.

I look in the mirror,
And all I see,
Is a stranger staring back at me.
Where is the person that I once knew?
An innocence that I outgrew.

I'm left all alone,
Stripped away of everything I own.
I'm consumed by my depressing thoughts,
And the last thing heard is the sound of a gunshot.

Speech

To be honest, I've never had a favorite speech. I don't want to be cliche and say that I like a speech that everyone knows. For instance, who doesn't like the "I have a dream" speech, by Martin Luther King jr. I also reread the "Give me liberty or give me death" speech, by Patrick Henry and I liked that as well. I've never had a favorite speech because the speeches I've heard always sound so boring and I don't listen to political speeches. I tried desperately to find a speech that I could like, but all of the famous speeches are historical and boring. I know that all of the historical speeches are all important and have made huge impact on society as a whole. I guess I could lie about a favorite speech but I'm not going to do that.

I've heard inspiring speeches from people who came to my high school over the years, but I don't remember any of their names. Those were the speeches I liked because they were motivational. One speech was given to us from a guy who had gotten into a car accident, he had gotten into the car with his friend who was driving while intoxicated. The guy was left paralyzed and in a wheelchair and I thought that was a really good speech in fact I actually think I was on the verge of tears. Another time two homosexual guys gave speeches about how they had grown up with abuse from their parent/guardians. One of the guys came out to his parents and they kicked him out, but his neighbor helped him by letting him stay at his place. Unfortunately the neighbor sexually abused the guy and he was only about eleven or twelve at the time. Both of the guys' lives sounded so fucked up and horrible, I felt so bad for them and I find it hard to believe how negative and narrow minded people can be.

Acceptance

He stumbled through the streets taking his flask out and realizing it was all gone. "You need to stop drinking so much Jared!" Randall yelled with disgust. "Shut the fuck up and give me a cig dude!" Jared yelled back. "Drinking isn't going to erase what happened and neither is smoking," Randall replied, complying with Jared by handing him a cig and lighting it for him. "Look, let's not talk about this right now," Jared replied more calmly with the cig between his teeth.

Jared still recalled the day everything had happened; he had killed a man in cold-blood and nothing he did could change that. The man wasn't supposed to be there and he still couldn't remember how he had gotten a gun in the first place. Jared vaguely remembered finding a gun earlier that day or was it the day before? The days meshed together on account of the drugs he had been abusing. He pulled the trigger without realizing it and killed the man in his intoxicated and incoherent state of mind.

He replayed the incident over and over in his mind with more guilt and depression hitting him in waves. Jared had never been the type of man who did the right things. He had been abusing drugs for years and never cared about his life or anything for that matter. He had lost his parents at a young age to a car accident which had rendered him as an orphan. He virtually had no family and worried that the man he had killed may have had a family of his own.

"I think I'm going to find out about that man's family,"Jared said to Randall. "What! His family would be furious, and besides that you don't even know the man's name and it's been a full year!" yelled Randall with surprise. "Actually, I did some research on the guy after he died and found his name. I just don't know about his family...yet,"said Jared. "Fine, do what you want, but don't say I didn't warn you about how the family would most likely react,"said Randall.

So Jared set out, determined to find the man's family and confront them with the truth. After a long few months of research, Jared finally located the family which consisted of two kids a boy and a girl as well as the guy's wife. The wife name was Denise and the names of the children were Jordan and Cynthia. He came to the house and the wife opened the door. "H-h-hi, my name is J-J-Jared, and I have something very important to tell you about your husband," Jared stammered. "Okay, come on in, I'm sure you must already know that it's been a year since my husband's passing," said Denise with sincerity and a hint of sadness. "Yes, that's actually what I needed to talk to you about," Jared said. As he walked into the living room he saw the children looking up expectantly at him.

He notice a picture-perfect looking family portrait hanging up on the wall above the fireplace; the picture was obviously taken before Jared had killed the patriarch of the family. The man was smiling with his wife and kids and they all looked so happy. The depression hit Jared again as he realized just how much of their lives he had ruined. The family that stood before him now, looked broken and incomplete. Jared had been living with the secret for too long; the family didn't know who had killed their father, until now. He expected the family to get upset and call the cops as he relayed the story to them about what happened that night. However, they forgave him for what happened as he explained that it had been an accident and he had never meant for it to happen.

Jared ended up sharing his own family story about how his parents had died and he had been left alone to fend for himself at an early age. He soon became apart of their family as somewhat of an older brother. He gave up the alcohol and drugs and he was no longer depressed. He felt as if a huge burden had been lifted off of his shoulders and he still couldn't believe they had forgiven him so easily. They said it was the grace of God that he had shown up on their doorstep and told them the truth. God forgives all, so it wasn't hard for them to forgive him as soon as it happened because they realized it had been an accident all along.