I won’t tell you that, but I’ll tell you the worst thing that ever happened to me…the most dreadful thing…

The air was eerily warm and damp, and seemed to suffocate me as I returned home from school as the sun set on a fall day. Exhausted and hungry, I decided to walk a different route home, hoping to get there faster. The houses bordering the sidewalk were painted a vast array of jewel tones…all except for one, that is. After following that house-lined path for quite some time, I almost didn’t notice the dilapidated, soot-colored house that slouched among its fairly mundane counterparts. It would be an understatement to say that I was intrigued by it. I stopped and stared into its windows, wondering if anyone lived in the house. At first, the windows appeared to be a black void, but as I approached one of them, the black void seemed to be made of shadows that were indistinguishable from one another. Suddenly, I felt the burning gazes of hidden, innumerable eyes, as a frigid gust of wind whipped my hair in front of my face. The house moaned, almost as if it had been awakened from a deep sleep. Overcome by a feeling of foreboding, and awash with an urgency to leave this house, I turned to face the paved sidewalk. I stumbled forward, tripping on an invisible tree root, determined to reach the vanishing speck of sunlight. The farther I ran, the colder the air became. I froze as an arctic zephyr slowly crept up my back and around my neck. It seemed to whisper, “I am your shadow but not your soul. Fear not what I am, but what I will take.” I choked for the air to scream, but no sound escaped me. All was quiet, and the sun dissolved in a green flash.

———

Again, it isn’t great, but it’s my attempt at a scary mini-story!

It was a frigid May morning at the end of a freak cold snap that killed the daffodils on the lawns of the churches in Avonlea. Stifled by a frozen sheath, tree branches were a dull mahogany. No one dared venture outside, for the bitter, dry air would wrap its fingers around heat and extinguish it.

Past the churches and down the road stood a row of five houses, illuminated by the weak sun crawling higher and higher into the strangely azure sky.

Pale robin egg blue with cream-colored shingles and a red brick chimney, the first house was a modest dwelling. In the house lived a young couple who had suffered the recent, tragic death of their five year old daughter. Her eyes were a deep green and her face a pale ivory, framed by thick, glossy black hair, so they named her Jade.

Jade had just turned five, and her present, her parents decided to take her down to the river. Enchanted by its beauty, Jade slowly stepped into the river with her bare foot. As she lowered her other foot into the water, she slipped on a pebble and fell in. Having never swum before, Jade screamed in terror. Her parents, who were watching her from afar, ran furiously to the water’s edge. Unfortunately, neither of them knew how to swim. They both yelled out her name, hoping that she might somehow swim back to shore, but it was too late; the river’s current had swept her away.

It took months for the couple to recover from Jade’s death, at least enough to lead their lives without bursting into tears when they thought of her. They even decided to adopt a child, perhaps to take their minds off of Jade.

She was named Sini, and her baby head was covered in thin blonde hair which made her big blue eyes seem even bluer the day they adopted her. The couple raised her like their own, but as time wore on, and Sini’s first, second, third, and fourth birthday passed, the couple became increasingly distraught. The night before Sini’s fifth birthday, they told her to sleep as much as she wanted to into the morning.

“You deserve it,” they said, and Sini happily complied.

That morning, before the sun rose, the couple went to Sini’s room. As they silently approached her bed, Sini turned onto her side, let out a deep breath, and smiled seraphically. The couple gradually dressed her in multiple layers of clothing, lifted her off the bed, and carried her to the same river that they had taken Jade to on her fifth birthday. The sky’s pinkish hue was reflected by the river’s water, giving it a violet tinge as the couple approached its bank. Wrapping a cloth around Sini’s mouth, they gently placed her into the icy water. She suddenly awoke, but choked as she wheezed for air, and sunk to the bottom of the river with the weight of her clothing. All the while the couple remained, hot tears streaming down their faces and into the cold waters of the river.

As they returned to their pale robin egg blue house, the daffodils lay limp on the frozen path beside them, the wilted flowers a lifeless ecru.

Today was Jade’s birthday.

———

I’m taking an english class on short fiction, and we have journals that we will use to write our own short stories in. This is my first one! Mr. Berry (my teacher) gives us the first sentence (minus the last word, in this case), and we write the rest of the story.

I apologize for any typos, I wrote this by hand for english class. (I also apologize for any grammatical errors. This is a first draft.) Anyway, I definitely need to cut the excessive amount of to-be verbs and increase my sentence variation…but I tried my best! I hope you enjoyed reading my short story (despite its flaws). I welcome constructive criticism (specifically on making up a different title and fixing the ending). Creative ideas regarding the plot, etc. are also welcome!

Credits to Stephanie Hao and Kristi Sun for inspiring me! (It isn’t exactly what we talked about, but it’s close!)

Nowadays, people attempting to get a job/internship, or even trying to get into college must (usually) have previous experience “demonstrating leadership”. And me? Well, I observe the leaders in my life in order to get an idea of how I might become a leader someday.  There are four people that I consider to be natural (and awesome) leaders. Two of them are fictional, and the other two are real people. Granted, these aren’t the only leaders in my life, but they are definitely the most memorable.

Leader #1

Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Portrayed by Sir Patrick Stewart in Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Picard is a very intelligent character and he never makes a decision without out receiving advice from his colleagues first. He always seeks to become fully informed about the issues he deals with.

Leader #2

Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Portrayed by Mark Harmon in NCIS)

Gibbs is the kind of “no nonsense” guy. He is a “man of few words.” But despite that, he is a father figure to many of the characters in his team, such as Ziva and Abby. And he In the words of Ziva from NCIS, “Gibbs never does anything without reason.”

Leader #3

George Washington

When my college counselor learned that George Washington was my favourite historical figure, he was surprised. I guess he expected me to say Ataturk (since I’m Turkish). Ataturk was indeed a successful leader, and I suppose the reason I chose George Washington was because we read an article about him in my US history class. I shall research Ataturk further in the future. Anyway, back to George Washington, much like Jean Luc Picard, he never made a decision without first consulting his cabinet members. In addition, he erred on the side of neutrality when he made his decisions. I won’t go into details, but George Washington had many accomplishments and was splendid leader.

Leader #4

Coach Dave

Well I can’t put a picture of him on my blog, but my swim coach, Dave, is a leader in my life. Coaching a large group of teenagers is no small feat, but Dave manages to perform it flawlessly. He’s humorous and encouraging, but he isn’t a doormat. He doesn’t let us teenagers pretend we are better than him or above him, and he doesn’t let us abuse practice (AKA cut sets, sit on the wall and watch everyone else swim). Like many other swim coaches, he used to swim, but what makes him different is that he relates to us swimmers very well. He understands what we are going through from a swimmer’s standpoint, but not only that, being a father of three daughters, he can relate to us from a parent’s standpoint as well. Dave understands when I come late because I was busy with the rest of my life, because he’s been there. While swimming is very important to me, it isn’t the only thing I do, and he gets that. His empathy is what makes him a great leader, and I’m SO happy he is my coach.

Being the health nut (pun!) that I am, I was quite offended by one of the scenes in the movie, Ice Age 3. Sid offers the dinosaur babies a piece of broccoli, but rather than accept it, they instead opt for the tasty meat that their momma-dinosaur offers. Later, when Buck discovers the discarded piece of broccoli, the disgusted reaction he has to it only bolsters the supposedly “foul” taste of broccoli.

It’s movies like these that estrange children from eating broccoli. Sure, broccoli can taste bad at times. But perhaps if it were cooked in an alternate fashion, it wouldn’t taste quite as bitter or unpalatable. I personally like my broccoli steamed until it is very soft (and crumbly), and sprinkled with lemon juice, oil, and salt. Steaming it as much as I do does depletes its nutrients, but I eat it so often that the balance is preserved.

If media and society would perhaps open their minds to the prospect of eating potentially flavorful and delicious vegetables, children (and adults) would no longer dread the peas, green beans, or broccoli that lie on their plates.

Something to keep in mind as we catapult into 2011. Resolution: Find my why.

This a Japanese New Year’s Card that I made for my host family in Japan. This year is the year of the rabbit, so it is customary to hand draw a rabbit on the card. It says Happy New Year in the big characters on the right side, and in smaller characters, the sentence reads: Thank you for taking care of my this past year. Although my host family didn’t take care of me for the whole year, there are only set phrases that you can use on Japanese New Year’s cards, and this was the one closest in context to my situation. To the left of that is the year: 23rd year of the Heisei Era. On the left of that is my name. And for any of you that read manga or watch anime, Momiji from Fruits Basket was the inspiration for my cartoon rabbit. Off to the post office to send it!

Friends. And I mean the true kind. They are amazing. Only recently did I discover how grateful I am for the friends that I have at school and outside of school. I don’t know what happened, but something just clicked. If I imagine living life without my friends, and I just can’t imagine being happy. Maybe it was my recent vent session with Bridget, my Skype with Emily, my gmail chat with Kristi, or my daily lunches with Steph, but I have never been happier with the people that I spend time with. This year, I have discovered what happiness is because of my friends. I have learned not to take them for granted. Ever. And most of all, I’m so glad I have the friends I do, because I know that it’s you guys accept me for who I truly am. I trust all of you, I believe in all of you, and I won’t ever forget any of you.

Dedicated to Emily, Kristi, Bridget, Steph, Alexandra, Max, and all the other friends that have ever made my days (believe me, there are many of you)….even if we don’t live close to each other, see each other each day, or talk to each other everyday, you guys will continue to rock my world…forever.