Chapter Seven

Author's Note: This is the seventh chapter of Escape. For the beginning chapters, scroll down. This is not te last chapter, there will be more!

Escape

I was laying in bed for about five minutes after the nurse left the room when I started hearing voices. Not like the voices inside my head telling me I did the wrong thing or something, but real, live voices that were coming from outside the door. They weren't smooth, gentle voices like Ariana's, but a manly voice that was talking, to who I assumed was a receptionist, across the hall. I got dreadfully scared and started to panic. My mind was racing so fast I jumped off my bed and sprinted the five steps it took to get to the bathroom. Arms flailing, I reached for the door. As I was slamming it shut I caught a glimpse of the confused doctor walking into my room. He didn't see me though, he was looking at the bed.

Oh! And did I mention it was the same doctor who treated my cancer? I guess I wasn't going to be leaving that bathroom for awhile. That was my first thought at least.

My head swiveled around as I looked at my surroundings; a mirror, a toilet, a shower, a sink, and they were all in shades of white. The next thing I saw brought me ore happiness than I could ever imagine, on the wall opposite the mirror there was a small window. Luckily, it was big enough for me to fit through. I peered out the window and saw that I wasn't that high from the ground, but it was too high to jump from way up here. I would definitely break something. For some reason though, I kept getting lucky because about two floors down, there was a balcony I could land on and then jump down to the ground from there!  I would have to keep getting lucky though and hope that no one was going to be in the room when I jumped down; and hope no one would see me passing by.

Pressing my ear against the door, I could hear the doctor. It sounded like he was waiting for me to come out to talk to him, but I refused. Just seeing my name he probably already knew who I was, but that is all I am ever going to allow him to know about me. Next, I heard some rustling and some footsteps and that's when it went silent. Assuming that he left wasn't exactly something I could do so easily and the thought in my mind that he was still there was definitely back there, but it didn’t matter because I had to leave anyways. 

Shaking, my hands managed to push open the window. Now that I look at it a little closer, it was going to be kind of a tight fit, but no matter what I was going to make myself squeeze through. I knew that I was on a tight time budget, so I had to go fairly fast; not that I could control my speed falling out of a window. Anyways, I stepped my bare feet up onto the cold toilet seat; praying that I wouldn't fall in. The window was across from the seat, so I was lucky that it was a small bathroom. My tiny fingers gripped the window so hard that they were white. I threw my body across the room and my feet were now firmly against the wall. I climbed up and looked out.

I couldn't believe I was doing this.

That one thought wasn't going to stop me though. I was now positioned to jump. To make my fall shorter, I flipped myself outside and swung my legs down. Then, I let go.

Chapter Six

Author's Note: This is the sixth chapter of Escape. For the beginning chapters scroll down. This is not the last chapter and there will be more chapters! 

Escape 

My eyes immediately clicked shut and my body pretended I was asleep. I didn't want the nurse to give me shots or something and I was hoping if she thought I was asleep she would go away.

Of course that didn't happen.

"I know you're awake," said the nurse. Her voice was soothing and almost sounded like she was singing a nice, sweet, melody and not saying something that crushed my dreams of sneaking out without anyone knowing. "You waited a little to long to close your eyes and usually when people are asleep they don't lick their lips. Nice try though."

Then, my eyes opened, expecting to see some old lady with a stethoscope around her neck, but instead, I saw something beautiful. She was a young girl, around 25, and she was short with gorgeous brown hair that went down to her lower back while it was up in a high pony tail. A small smile crept on her face and her blue eyes were perfect. Almost to perfect. A tiny white nurse outfit framed her tiny body and the name tag on it read Ariana. It was the perfect name for her. When I was little, my mom would always read me this book that was about this girl named Ariana. Since I was always so curious, I would always ask my mom what that name meant and she never new. One day though, she finally looked it up and it meant "like a beautiful melody." And that is exactly what the nurse is. 

"Would you like something to drink or eat," she questioned? "We are the most popular hospital in the world on the scale of food."

What was I supposed to say? I knew that they had amazing food there and I was absolutely starving, but I didn't want to give away any information about myself. I know it sounds silly that it would matter what kind of foods I like, but maybe they would track it all the way back to when I was a kid and they might say, "wow, years ago there was a young girl named Layla who liked the exact same food as you. And, she happens to look exactly like you. What is your name exactly?"  Yes I can almost guarantee that that won't happen, but you never know and I'd rather be safe than sorry.

"Um, no thank you," I managed.

"Okay, well you're really missing out. I don't even bring a lunch anymore because I just buy the food from here. Anyways, do you know why you're here?"

I shook my head no and stared at her beautiful smile that went with her glistening white teeth.

"Well, I am going to tell you then," she spoke the words and they kept repeating over and over again in my mind. It made me think of all the things that could've happened. I could've gotten caught and while I was in a fistfight with the Falaguard, he punched me in the head and knocked me out. I could've been running and then gotten hit by a car or just fell and hit my head. No matter what happened though, it made my lose all consciousness. "What happened was one of our Falaguards was out on his night shift duty when he heard strange noises coming from underneath someone's house. Since this isn't usual because all animals are kept in wildlife centers, he called a Falacat while he went inside to ask the owners of the house if they knew about anything that would be making the noise. When he went inside the people were completely confused and when he went to go outside, since they didn't know anything, he saw his Falacat running towards someone who turned out to be you. And if you didn't already know this, Falacats can only be stopped by their Falaguards, but it was to late to stop it from causing no damage whatsoever, so the Falacat charged you and after he knocked you out by the impact and was beginning to rip off your arm, the Guard finally stopped it and found you laying there unconscious."

Beginning to rip off your arm, laying there unconscious I knew something bad happened, but not that bad. I'm probably now going to have to stay here for days and it's almost guaranteed that by the end of this, they are going to know exactly who I am. The words I said next, even surprised me. "Is this the kind of world we live in? Where we get mauled by robotic creatures for doing absolutely nothing?"  

"I'm sorry, what," the nurse stumbled out?

Responding to that was really hard. I didn't even know why I said that. Was I trying to get myself caught quicker? Doing anything was pretty much impossible so I did the only thing I could think of, I threw up all over the nurse. Hoping that later I could use me saying something horrific as a excuse for me being sick.

"Oh my goodness! We need to get you a doctor and I need to go get some new clothes!"

 Next, I started to panic. That was about the worst idea I could think of because now she is going to go get the doctor and then more people are going to see my face and- oh no. If the doctor is the same one that treated my cancer the he will for sure recognize me. After all, I was the longest patient he ever had to treat; at least back then, but everyone in this province is kept so healthy I doubt anyone broke my record. Honestly, I doubt anyone ever will.

As the nurse left the room, I looked at my surroundings. Obviously everything was white except for the solitary spot on the floor coated with my upchuck; not talking about the color though, the room was pretty plain. I was on the bed, there was a chair in the corner with fake white roses on the diminutive table next to it, a book lie on the floor that was titled "Where No One Loves",  there was a door that went out into the hospital, there was another door which I assumed led to the bathroom, and there was no windows. Which as of now, was my only chance of escape.

Change

Author's Note: This is an essay I wrote about how the character Bernice changes throughout the story "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Change

Change. It is something a lot of people don't want to go through in life, while others love change and no matter what change it is, it helps them love life. Change can be a good thing like a change in your relationship status when you go from single, to in a relationship. Change can be a bad thing like losing a family member who you were always close to. All in all though, change is something we all need to go through to experience life the way it is supposed to be experienced, even though it may sometimes disappoint you.

In the story "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the main character Bernice changes unexpectedly. At the beginning of the story, she is a girl that no one really wants to be around and pretty much no one cuts in on her unless they are bribed to. Boring is a pretty spot on word to describe her. Marjorie, Bernice's cousin, had a friend named Warren who she would always bribe him into dancing with Bernice and this is what he thought of her, she was no fun on a party. Every Saturday night he danced a long arduous duty dance with her to please Marjorie, but he had never been anything but bored in her company. Even Marjorie didn't have nice things to say, "Well," said Marjorie, "no girl can permanently bolster up a lame-duck visitor, because these days it's every girl for herself. I've even tried to drop her hints about clothes and things, and she's been furious--given me the funniest looks. She's sensitive enough to know she's not getting away with much, but I'll bet she consoles herself by thinking that she's very virtuous and that I'm too gay and fickle and will come to a bad end. All unpopular girls think that way. Sour grapes! Sarah Hopkins refers to Genevieve and Roberta and me as gardenia girls! I'll bet she'd give ten years of her life and her European education to be a gardenia girl and have three or four men in love with her and be cut in on every few feet at dances." At the end of the book though, you barely think that Bernice is the same person.

With the help of her cousin Marjorie, Bernice is the most popular girl in town, even though she doesn't actually live there. Everything changes about her; her attitude, her personality, her everything. All the boys want her. While she used to have no one cutting in on her, now even the best of the boys, G. Reece Stoddard, is cutting in and having a swell time. This is how popular she truly is, the man relieved proved to be none other than G. Reece Stoddard himself. And G. Reece seemed not at all jubilant at being relieved. Next time Bernice danced near, Warren regarded her intently. Yes, she was pretty, distinctly pretty; and to-night her face seemed really vivacious. She had that look that no woman, however histrionically proficient, can successfully counterfeit--she looked as if she were having a good time.

Change has really been helping her, it turned her from a boring person to the most wanted girl in town. All the change is getting her so much attention, she decides to change one last thing; her hair. She goes right down to the barber shop and says she wants to get it bobbed, the barber is partially confused, but he bobs it anyways. This change though, wasn't a good change. None of the boys wanted her anymore and even her own aunt didn't want to be with her. She didn't even want to be with her anymore and this is what she thought, Her hair was not curly, and now it lay in lank lifeless blocks on both sides of her suddenly pale face. It was ugly as sin--she had known it would be ugly as sin. Her face's chief charm had been a Madonna-like simplicity. Now that was gone and she was--well, frightfully mediocre--not stagy; only ridiculous, like a Greenwich Villager who had left her spectacles at home.

Throughout the story she didn't just change her looks, she also changed her confidence. At the beginning she was a wimpy, little, helpless girl, who didn't have her own opinion on anything. At the end of the story though, she is confident and only makes her own decision and doesn't really listen to anyone else. She decides that she needs to get her revenge so this is what she does to Marjorie,

She acted swiftly. Bending over she found one of the braids of Marjorie's hair, followed it up with her hand to the point nearest the head, and then holding it a little slack so that the sleeper would feel no pull, she reached down with the shears and severed it. With the pigtail in her hand she held her breath. Marjorie had muttered something in her sleep. Bernice deftly amputated the other braid, paused for an instant, and then flitted swiftly and silently back to her own room. With the new Bernice though she doesn't stop there, as she is walking down the street she passes Warren's house where she was swinging the braids like pieces of rope and flung them at the wooden porch where they landed with a thud. I would say from the beginning to the end, her confidence is the thing that changed the most.  

So, although change is a thing that can bring you popularity, friends, attention, and boys, change can also bring you sadness, people bullying you, bad attention, and people talking about you behind your back. People who have a strong heart though, always will love change.

Prediction

Author's Note: This is my prediction piece for the story "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The beginning is a creative piece for how i thought the story was going to end and the end is an essay for my reasoning. 

Bernice Bobs Her Hair

Walking  into the barbershop she sat herself down in the chair. She didn't ask, she didn't say anything, she just sat down and expected to be waited on.

"May I hel-"

"I want my hair bobbed," she announced to the confused barber while also announcing it to everyone else in the shop.

"Are you sure about that," the barber questioned? "I've never done something on such a young women and I think you might be making a mist-"

"That's enough. I want my hair bobbed and I want it now," she clearly stated so he would finally understand.

"Okay, let me just go get you a cape and we'll get started on your bob."

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Bernice stared into the eyes of Marjorie. She could tell she was jealous. Ever since yesterday when she got her hair bobbed, all the guys wanted her. Now, her hair is full of volume and each slightly curled in strand lies perfectly against her head. Each luxurious lock of hair has made her the most popular girl in town; so why would she ever want to go back home?

"I know you aren't going to agree with this decision, but I'm doing it anyway," stated Bernice in a very snotty tone. "This town loves me and you know it. I am already more popular then you and it's your fault. You thought this new hairdo was going to ruin me, but it came back and bit you in the behind."

"This isn't my fault. I never actually wanted you to do it. I was in fact thinking about doing it myself," Marjorie shot back.

"Now you're just lying straight to my beautifully, perfect face. You are the one who made me like this and now you are going to have plenty of time to think of your revenge because I am staying and living with you. Since you seem to love me so much.

"You can't," Marjorie wept. "Mother and Father will never let you."

"They already agreed to let me stay. And even better, you’re my new roommate."

Marjorie repeated these words over and over again in her mind. Roommate? She couldn't bear the though of it so she just walked away. The thing was though, she didn't stop walking, she walked straight out of her house and down the street, she didn't know where she was walking, she wasn't going to stop though. She was just going to continue walking and go all the way into the sunset.

Predictions are something that can sometimes be based on the beginning of the story or movie, or they can just be random. For this prediction though, I definitely based it on the beginning.

For some reason I just knew that Bernice was going to bob her hair. Obviously the title states that she bobs it, but it kind of seemed like the story was going somewhere else. In my mind though, I just knew. I think I knew because Bernice was trying to be the most noticed and the most popular girl in town. A good way to get noticed is to do something that almost no one has done before; such as getting your hair bobbed. The other part of my prediction may seem random, but it does have reasoning.

If your cousin comes into town and is no threat to anyone, you wouldn't care. Right? Then all of a sudden she becomes way more popular then you and you are suddenly downgraded on the popularity chart. You would be furious. Next you try to downgrade her by getting her hair bobbed and then that backfires on you by making her even more popular. Now you're mad, but not to extremes because she is going to leave in a week or to anyways, right? Wrong. She is now the most popular girl in this town so why would she ever go back to somewhere where you're not popular and no one really likes you? You wouldn't. You would stay right there where you are now loved by everyone. Where you would be wanted by every boy and have tons of friends!

It's now all good for Bernice, but now Marjorie is not nearly as popular and mad as ever, then her terrible cousin is going to move in! No way. She can't stay for it so she leaves. The thing is, she leaves so quickly without thinking she doesn't know where she's going, she just needs to escape. So yes, some predictions can be way off even if they are based on the beginning of the story, but they are still much more accurate then if you just guess and use no knowledge at all.  

Chapter Five

Author's Note: This is the fifth chapter of Escape. For the first four chapters, scroll down! This is not the last chapter, there will be more chapters coming soon!

Escape

White lights burned against my eyes that hadn't been open for at least a day. Everything around me was white; that's all I could tell about my surrounding though.

The room I was in was very small and since everything, everywhere except one place falls in the color category of poop brown or barf beige, I knew I was in the hospital. For normal people the hospital is probably the scariest place in the world, but in the land of Falafia, it's a place where everyone dreams of going.

Food is usually something that comes to us in small quantities and has about as much taste as chalk, but in the hospital we all eat like kings and queens. We can get food whenever we want and all we have to do is put our order in. We can get anything made for us even if it isn't on the menu. We can get desserts, and snacks, and drinks, and anything else our heart desires. The food here doesn't taste like chalk and is filled with the richest flavors anyone can imagine. You can simply order mac n cheese and you might think they messed up your order because it will taste so good.

Now off the topic of food there; everything else is magnificent. The floors are sparkling, on the top floor the roof is made of glass, there's a balcony connected to every room, you just have to ring a bell and immediately someone will be at your service to help. I mean come on, this place is amazing.

The thing was, I didn't actually know I was here. At first I was a little scared that they did something to my family or something happened to them, but then I realized that I was the one strapped down. Although I've never actually been to a hospital, I know that the visitors don't get their arms and legs knotted down to a table; a very uncomfortable table may I add.

All I remember is that there was a Falaguard and a Falacat involved. I just can't put my finger on how they were involved. Then, a chill was sent up my spine. It was like a had been pricked and the sensation went all the way up my little spine and then flowed through my neck. I hated it.

Anything that makes my spine feel weird kills me because all it does is remind me of my terrible childhood. At the age of six I was diagnosed with cancer. I never actually went to the hospital because generally unless we work, we aren't supposed to leave our house at all. So our yearly doctors checkups happened at our house. It was a cold October day and I was confident that I was healthier than I had ever been and it would be the quickest checkup ever to happen on the face of the earth. It wasn't.

The doctor went to put the stethoscope on my back to listen to me breathe and when he lifted up my shirt, he found a large bump. That bump ended up being a tumor. The tumor was growing on my spine and it held a very rare kind of cancer. Everyday for a long time a experienced doctor had to come to my house and take the biggest needle I had ever seen, and stick it up my back. You would think I would've gotten used to it, but it would just hurt more each time as they started using stronger medicine. After one year, seven months, and 16 days, I was finally cancer free! I was so happy that I could finally live my life again! Not that I could do much more living then what  I was already doing.

I was still happy though because every morning I didn't have to live with the thought that that could have been the last time I would ever wake up. Most people don't ever have to live with that terrible thought every morning and absolutely no one should have to.

After thinking about this for several minute I came back to reality. I don't have cancer anymore and I really shouldn't keep thinking about it. Why bother worrying myself when I am healthy as can be? There is no reason to except if I want to make myself sad. Which I really don't want to.

I sat there a little while longer and started to hear footsteps. Obviously they were nurse footsteps because their shoes have soft padding on the bottom which gives them a very distinct sound. A sound anyone on this planet could hear and know exactly what it is. A sound I have been dreading to hear.

Hemingway

"A Clean Well-Lighted Place"

Books and movies. They are pretty much opposites. Sometimes though, if you making a movie out of a book, it can turn out very similar. However, with the book and movie called "A Clean Well-Lighted Place," they really weren't that similar at all. Some of the most important parts of the book, in my opinion, were sadly left out of the movie.

In the very beginning of the movie, it starts off with an old man sitting in a booth with no windows around him. It probably sounds like no big deal that there was no windows around him, but in the book, it symbolizes something huge. There was a tree outside the window the man was sitting next to and the tree left shadows of the leaves on the old man. That symbolized darkness and almost like how he was trying to escape from it and he wasn't totally covered in darkness. It was probably the most important part of the book.

Now, not so much on the importance level, but on just what I was picturing level, the cafe. I pictured it being very small and kind of rustic looking. I pictured the tables to be little circular ones and the walls to be covered in old paintings. Instead, the tables were big and they pretty much looked like desks. The cafe was very modern and even had a TV on the wall. Not what I pictured at all.

So yes, books and movies can be very similar, or they can barely be recognized as the same thing. I think that they should have done a much better job portraying light and dark and they should have made it much more old looking a not so modern. It would have made the movie, much better.  

Hemingway

Light and Dark

Light and dark. It is one of the key components of the story A Clean Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway. There are light people and there are dark people. Light people are happy and good spirited. They see the glass half full and they always think of the most positive things in a situation. On the other hand, there's dark people who see the glass half empty and don't always hope for the best. Dark people think of all the bad things that could happen while light people just hope all goes well and if t doesn't, well that's too bad! An example is someone deciding if they want to go on a roller coaster; light people will just think that it will be fun and they will have a blast! Dark people might think of all the things that could go wrong, they could get stuck, they might drop something, they might fall out, the list goes on. Reality is though, people don't commonly just fall out of roller coasters!

Chapter Four

Author's  Note: This is the third chapter of Escape and if you want to start from the beginning  just scroll down to chapter one! Also this is not the final chapter of Escape so don't worry, this is not how it ends and there will be more chapters!

p.s. This is a very short chapter and the rest of them are much longer.

Escape

I refuse to die now though. Even though I haven't been fighting for that long, I refuse to die. If I give up now I might as well have never left in the first place. 

As the Falacat came closer I started to hear noises coming from the house; the noises were someone trying to leave. Then I realized that until I come up with an amazing idea, I only had two options. My options were either to run and get killed my the ferocious beast that they refer to as a cat, or to stand still and get caught by the Falaguard who will probably end up with me getting executed. There is a good part of all of this though; I get to choose how I die!

Retelling

Red is for Remembrance

               Death. It's a thing Stacey Brown knows a lot about.  In the third book of the "Blue is for Nightmares" series, her boyfriend died.  However, she just has this gut feeling that he's still alive and will never stop searching until someone finds his dead body. Then she meets a girl who she thinks is the answer to all of her problems. Will she find the one she loves, or will she end up in the dust? 

Chapter Three

Author's Note: This is the third chapter of this story. For the first two chapters, scroll down. This is not the ending of the book and there will be more chapters. This is not the book's ending!

Escape

The sun was blazing down and as the first drops of sweat started to drip down my face and neck, it was getting harder and harder to concentrate on escaping. My mind was roaming and finding thoughts such as; I'm hot, I'm hungry, I'm thirsty, I want to go home, and the one that came up most often; why exactly are you doing this? I was trying so hard to concentrate, but it was almost impossible with my mind running wild like that. 

Besides my mind racing with random thoughts, it was also trying to come up with ideas on how to get away from the Falaguard. One of the ideas was to casually walk around the house and when I would get caught, I would just act like I was lost. I knew that idea wasn't a keeper though because if I pretended I was lost, I would get in trouble for leaving my house and then my parents would get in trouble too. Another bad thing with that idea is I would never get to be free and would have to live in my trapped, barely big enough for a family, house. I couldn't let that happen.

So my plan ended up to be that I would just start running. I wouldn't look back. I would just start run as fast as I could and would hope to get away. Like I said though; hope.

My plan was about to become a reality, when I saw something. Way out in the distance, emerging from the forest. At first it looked like some sort of small animal, like a bunny of some sort. But as it became clearer, I knew it wasn't just some  bunny. It was a Falacat.

A Falacat isn't what you think it is. It's not just a rare breed of cat. In fact, it's not really a cat at all.

Since weapons aren't easy to come by, considering they are banned for anyone to use, the Falafails knew they had to get some kind of protection for the Falaguards. So they came up with the Falacats. The Falacats are pretty much robotic animals that the Falafails let loose into the wild. Each Falacat has a microchip in it and each Falaguard has a band around their wrist with a button on it. All the bracelets each control one Falacat and to get the Falacat to come all the guard has to do is press the button on their bracelet. The thing is, Falacats only come out of the forest when a guard presses his button. Which means that this Falacat is going to get someone. And anyone who goes up against it; doesn't stand a chance. 

The way I was going to run so I could go to town, was towards the forest, but if the Falacat is coming towards me, he's out to attack. That means any sudden movements will set him off into attack mode. And then I will die.

Chapter Two

Author's Note: This is the second chapter of the book. If you want the first chapter, scroll down my blog. There isn't an ending because there will be more chapters!

Escape

When I got outside the world was still dark around me. The wind was slightly blowing and thankfully  there was no Falaguards in sight. I was still standing on the front porch because the alarm on the  front mat would go off when I stepped on it. The reason being, everyone is still supposed to be sleeping  in our beds and technically were not allowed out of our house unless you are at work like my parents.

My parents.

I immediately shut that thought out of my head knowing that if I think about them I might start to cry again. So, I blocked the thought out, and continued on my mission. Since the mat's alarm was still turned on, I had to hop over the porch railing and landed in a big pile of soil. That was a very good thing, because that means that the gardeners shift was over and they wouldn't be out again until 11:00. One less group of people to see me.

Now I just had to make my way to town.

I crept behind the trees of my neighbors who I've never even met. I crept over hills. I crept under bushes. I crept everywhere knowing that if I get caught, I would probably be dead by tomorrow. Once I finally got to the end of my street, I turned the corner and standing with his back facing towards me, about ten yards away, stood the tallest and strongest Falaguard I've ever seen. With that I quickly bolted back around the house and leaped over the porch, making sure not to set the alarm off, before I sprinted back around the house and ducked under the back porch.

I could hear the Falaguard's footsteps as he walked around the house and came closer. His feet were now in my view so I sucked in my stomach and held my breath so I wouldn't make any noise at all. Stomping noises flowed through my ears and filled my whole body as the Falaguard walked around the deck. I know he heard me running and since now he was suspicious I thought that I will never get to get to live the life that I am supposed to live.

If he doesn't leave or if he sends the person on the next shift to this spot, I'm not going to be able to sneak out. No matter what my parents will have the Falaguards look for me since I'm missing, and if I was still under the deck I'm easily going to be found. I couldn't think about it though. I have to tell myself I will get out because if I don't tell myself; there's no way I could succeed. Eventually the stomping went away, but the Falaguards feet were still visible, but were more like 30 yards away now. And that was the perfect distance for me to escape.

I slid across the sharp rocks and twigs and scraped my back against the worn out wood trying to get to the place where I entered the deck. After about a minute of scraping and grinding, I finally reached the opening.

From being under the deck so long, I hadn't realized that the sun is finally starting to come up. The colors of the morning skies screamed against my eyes, that since I've woken up, have only seen darkness. Even though the colors were so beautiful and made me happy, it also meant I was getting closer to being caught. So, I squiggled out from under the deck and finally felt alive again and gained back my chance for freedom.

I started around the house and with one look back to make sure that the Falaguard wasn't watching, I realized the Falaguard wasn't there. I never saw him leave though, so he must've left in the time I was trying to get out from under the prison I put myself in. That means he couldn't have gone far, but he was nowhere in sight.

There were only three possible places he could be; in the house, around the house, or under the deck. And I think we all know he isn't under there. 

Chapter One

Author's note: This is the first chapter of the book, so that's why it doesn't really have an ending. There will be more chapters!

Escape

The wind wafted across the warm summer air and brought the delightful smell  of cherry blossoms and  lavender to my nose. I took in everything. The smell, the view, the grass, the sky, everything. I couldn't  believe after all the years I've lived in a world where you never knew if there was going to be a  tomorrow, I'd finally found the one and only place where  could feel happy. It was almost as if I was a  princess.

That was until I looked down and saw my brown and white, tattered clothes that I'd been wearing for at  least a month without being washed. I never wanted to go back to my homeland, my province called  Falafia. Falafia was a terrible place where our rulers, which we call Falafails, controlled everything we  did. No one had ever broken the rules, knowing there are serious consequences like torture and death,  until I came along. I just couldn't take it anymore. Living everyday wishing  I could just be free. Now I am  though and I don't regret it at all, and I'm going to tell you exactly how I got here.

I sprinted down the cold, hard, rocky gravel road with nothing but skin on my feet. Though how my day  was going, I didn't know if there was going to be skin by the end of the day. Actually I didn't know if  there even is going to be a me. The Falagaurds have been chasing me for at least three miles now and I  didn't know if they were ever going to stop. It was almost as if they were robots. Keeping a consistent  pace the whole time and never running out of breath, doesn't seem right to me.

I turned around and saw them gaining on me knowing that I couldn't keep it up much longer and I kept  going back to how I got into this situation in the first place. It all started a couple days ago when I woke up at  crack of dawn and grabbed everything I needed to run away; food, water, a first-aid kit, some coins that  my great grandmother gave to me when I was six, and last, but definitely not least, the locket my  parents gave to me on my first birthday. I packed everything into the backpack I found in my parent's  closet and went to the kitchen write a note to my parents. I grabbed the dark black pen off the counter  and found a white napkin to write on in the kitchen.

I brushed my dirty blonde hair out of my face and started writing:

Dear Mom and Dad,

I'm sorry. I'm sorry for leaving you after everything you've given and done for me. It's just…. I can't  take it anymore. I can't take living life with no control over anything. I can't take living with no  control over anything. I can't live the life that I know I'm not supposed to be living. I just can't. This  is the first decision I've ever made in my life, but I know it's the right one. I'm going to miss you  more than anything else in the world, but I know I have to go. So, goodbye Mom. I'm going to miss  your smile and the way you could always make me laugh no matter what happened. Goodbye Dad.  I'm going to miss you piggybacking me around the house when I get a bruise on my leg and when  you play board games with me when I'm sick. I am saying goodbye to the best parents in the world,  so don't let yourself think it was something you did. Nothing you ever did to me has to do with any  of this. I love you.

Love,

    Layla

I crisply folded the napkin into a perfect little square and set it in the exact center of my kitchen table.  Then I realized that my hiking boot was untied, so I leaned over and tied it. Right at that moment I really  figured out what I was doing. I wasn't just running away, I was leaving everything I'd ever known. I was  leaving my family, the only people I'd ever loved and pretty much the only people I'd ever known  besides the Falafails and the people who lived right next door to us. That's when I started to cry, so I  rolled up onto a tiny little ball on the floor. I cried and cried in the exact same spot on the floor for about  an hour or so. That's when I realized that there was no way I could continue crying.

I had to leave, and I had to leave now. Sitting on the floor crying was the biggest mistake I'd ever made.  By now the Falagaurds were all up and starting the first part of their shift and my parents would be home in about an hour. I had to be really sneaky and swift with what I do now. I got up off the cold floor and pulled myself together. I looked around my house one more time, knowing I would   never see it again. After I finished memorizing every nook and cranny of my house, and walked out my front door, slowly shutting it behind me making sure not to cause a ruckus. 

Point of View

Author's Note: This is my point of view, creative piece, for language arts.

Blue is for Nightmares

Losing someone close. It's one of the hardest things to do in life. It brings sadness, but it also brings hope for a new beginning. In the story "Blue is for Nightmares," by Laurie Faria Stolarz, someone dies, but no one ever gets to hear the people who are close to her's point of view. So that's exactly what I'm going to do.  

I stared outside at the cold earth lit only by the dim moon light. The whole world was still except for the slight swaying of the trees in the wind. I got up and brushed the white powder donut crumbs off my navy blue uniform shirt. Well, more so I jumped up because the police alarm blared off right when I went to get up. I sprinted across the room and went to look at the message that came in with the screaming noise. I couldn't believe it.

I read the bold message over and over again, but my mind refused to comprehend what it meant. The message clearly stated that Veronica Leeman has been murdered in her boarding school French room and it was our job to investigate the crime scene and ask questions to the people who found her body. I see these things all the time and it wouldn't have been that big of a deal if my name wasn't Clifford T. Leeman; and if Veronica weren't my daughter.

I was still standing there ten minutes later when the chief walked in the room. He didn't ask me anything like, "why aren't you at the crime scene," or "what are you doing here." All he did was walk across the room and sit down on the chair I recently got up from. After a couple more minutes of dead silence, Chief Brennenberg finally spoke.

"I'm sorry," he silently whispered to me. "I know it's not my fault, but I'm sorry. I know what it feels like to lose someone close. When I was just fourteen I lost my eight year old sister. We got hit by a drunk driver and while I came out with only a couple of cuts and bruises, she never came out at all. The point of my story is just to let you know that you shouldn't let it take over your life. You should live on your life  the way it would normally be. I guarantee Veronica would want you to."

"Okay," I said. "I'm going to go now."

"Good, he replied. "You deserve to have the night off. Just go home and be with your wife and family."

"No , I'm not going home," I stated. "I'm going to the crime scene."

"Are you sure abou-"

"Yes, she would want me to be there." With that I grabbed my coat and slammed the door as I left the building. For some reason I didn't feel sad, but in fact anger filled my body. I sped down the road that lead straight to campus. You couldn't miss the spot where the murder happened because of all the flashing lights, people crying, and the sirens going off.

When I arrived and got out into the chaos, people who I knew immediately surrounded me. Questions filled the air so fast it made me sick. I don't know why people are questioning me, I didn't do anything and I knew nothing about this until the message came in. I was so infuriated now that I pushed innocent people over to go see my now dead daughter. When I did see her though it wasn't what I expected.

I knew it was going to be heart crushed by the sight of her limp body, but it was more than that. It made me sick to my stomach and after a couple minutes of staring at her, everything started to go black. Then I heard people screaming for help and then everything went black.

Missing

I roamed the dark forest. Searching for the one and only thing that mattered in my life. The world was almost completely silent. Quiet sounds came from everywhere though. Birds chirping as they made there way around the hot air, chipmunks and squirrels scratched against the tree trunks as they made there way up to their family. It was the animals first time to roam since the frosty snow finally melted. It was my first time to feel the warm, fresh air on my face. But none of that mattered. I was on a mission.

My brother was missing. Both my parents bailed out and are laying in bed crying at home. That is just like them though. To drop out of life when things started to get tough after living a perfect life for years. To leave me alone without anyone to comfort me when I lose my best friend. He was more than just a brother; he was loyal, kind, and he always stuck up for me no matter what I've ever done to him. And then just to lose him right out of my grasp. It seemed almost impossible.

I turned again. Following the way the wind takes me. Awhile back I lost my shoes so it was just me and my bare feet with a thin layer of sock over them. The  branches snapped under my feet and every single one thought it would be a good idea to pinch open my sores. My feet were bleeding, my head was throbbing, and my heart was crying. Nothing could keep me from stopping though.

Pounding against my back as I ran, was the bag I brought full of supplies I needed if I found Lucas, my brother. It consisted of food, water, band-aids, Neosporin, ice packs,  gauze, and some of his clothes. Everything I could possibly need to help him. That is if I ever found him.

I have been searching for exactly 2 weeks, 1 day, 4 hours, 42 minutes, and ten, eleven, twelve, you know how it goes, seconds. That time was the time when I found out he had gone missing; possibly the worst time of my entire life. It was cold that day which wasn't unusual for it being winter in Colorado. I put on my coat and boots and walked out to my car to meet some friends at the local coffee shop. When I got in I went to set my purse down on the passenger seat where I saw a crisply folded note. I opened it up and read it.

Here's what it said;

Dear Caitlyn,

You may have noticed by now that your older brother Lucas has returned home from his trip to the grocery store because his car is in the driveway. I know you didn't see him come inside though because he didn't. In fact, he never got to leave the driveway. That is by himself. I thought I would let you know that I took him. I took him and if you don't find him in three weeks I am going to take you too. You will get a total of seven clues. One every three days. To find your first one, flip to the second page. Your three weeks begin now.

Of course I flipped the page over and saw a drawing. I couldn't tell exactly what it was, but I thought it was a picture of one single blade of grass, which didn't narrow it down since grass was literally everywhere. It didn't seem like it would help. But after I got the next couple clues it all started to fit together. The second clue came three days later and I was still confused. Inside the envelope that I found in my mailbox was a compass with the S for south circled in sharpie. The next clue though, was the one that really helped.

Crashing was the noise I made when I found the third clue. I opened up my locker at school and there was a note with the word Silver Saddle inside. Silver Saddle is the name of a subdivision and a forest. I dropped everything when I saw it and that's what made the crashing sound as my books and pencils slid out of my arms and landed on the cold, hollow floor.

Since I already received the blade of grass picture, I knew it was the Silver Saddle forest that he was in. Also since the compass "S" was circled, I know that he is in the south forest. Three days later after checking the south forest with no luck because it is so big, I unsurprisingly received another clue. That time it was a maple leaf. It probably means he is in, or next to a maple tree. When I got the maple leaf, I immediately searched near the inner perimeter of the forest because I knew that’s where the trees grew the best. Still with know luck.

Now we're back to today. Earlier this morning I received a red tie that I assumed was the fifth clue I was supposed to receive. Now I was walking through the forest still with no shoes looking for a maple tree with a red tie around it. I sniffed the musty, damp air and knew I had to act quick because it was about to rain. That's when I saw the red tie. It was the exact one that I was holding in my backpack with the rest of the clues and not a surprise, it was on a maple tree.

I darted across the crunchy forest ground like if I didn't run my fastest, I would literally die. I grabbed hold of the lowest branch and tried swinging my legs around the scratchy tree but I just couldn't manage to. When I finally got my legs to stay, I felt a piercing pain in my back.

I jumped off the tree and swung around as fast as I could, feeling the blood drizzling down and staining my shirt. When I turned around though, I saw something I never thought I would see. My brother.

When I turned around I saw my brother standing there smiling at me with the bloody knife gripped so hard in his hands that his knuckles were turning white. My body wouldn't move or speak. It was as if time stopped. The whole world seemed to be still as Lucas stared at me with his evil grin. Until he moved.

He sprung at me and I had no time to think or move. It still felt as if I couldn't. The next thing I felt was the, still bloody, sharp knife scraping open my skin and ripping open my lungs. I then knew I was going to die. My eyes were slowly shutting, but before they closed forever I saw something; I saw Lucas pull a gun out of his pocket and point it at his head. At that moment I closed my eyes. I couldn't stop me hearing the gun go off and a loud thump which I knew was his body hitting the cold earth. It then started to rain and that is when I blacked out. Forever.

What I See In a Picture

Author's Note: I wrote this poem talking about what I think happened after 9/11

Sunlight

Sunlight.

It shone over the park.

It made the world seem happy.

We all knew it wasn't.

We spent our days mourning.

There was no reason not.

We lost family and friends.

We lost innocent people.

It was almost as if the sun was lying.

Telling us it was a good time.

It should know the truth though.

After the terrorist attack,

Nothing seems like it will ever be good again.

We cried and cried until we couldn't cry anymore.

The weeks went by.

Finally one day something changed.

"Why is everyone so sad?"

A brave young man asked.

"The people who passed would like us to be like the sun,"

"They would want us to shine and stay strong."

"They would like us to enjoy our lives and get to live them happily."

"They don't want us to cry over the past."

"They want us to live our lives."

"They now know that our lives can be taken away any second."

From then on,

We all lived our lives like there was no tomorrow.

We lived like the sun.

We shone and made people happy.

We did everything we could to keep the light into our future shining.