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.

The Snow

The snow.

The snow that came in the night always lies perfectly on the non visible grass.

The snow is like a white blanket covering the earth.

The snow is usually untouched except for a few animal tracks.

The snow.

The snow is what causes 3 second burns when your glove and your coat don't meet.

The snow can hurt when the neighborhood kids decide to start a snowball fight.

The snow, when bumpy, can throw little toddlers off their brand new sleds.

The snow.

The snow creates laughter that people can hear inside while enjoying their morning coffee.

The snow fills houses with screams of delight as kids run down the stairs and see the first snow of the year spread out across the cold earth.

The snow makes children cry when they get hit too hard with a snowball.

The snow.

The snow lets you smell the warmth of hot chocolate when you walk in the house after a long day playing in it.

The snow makes the winter air smell cold and more bitter then usual.

The snow breathes into the air making it smell like a cold white cloud.

The snow.

The snow freezes your throat so you have to go inside for hot chocolate.

The snow is fluffy on the ground and melts away into the warmth of your mouth, tasting of rain water and fluffiness.

The snow freezes your lips when you fall into the snow and when you try to lick them warm, your tongue gets filled with bitterness. 

Theme Analysis

Author's Note: This story talks about the theme of strong love and how it shows in the book Maximum Ride by James Patterson and The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.

                                                                                 Strong Love

Holding your little brother's hand as you cross the street. Going to the mall with your older sister. That happens when the love between siblings is strong. Very strong. In the book Maximum Ride by James Patterson,  the six mutant bird kids have a love relationship so strong, that no one and nothing can break it -- no matter how much anyone tries.

One example of strong love is when Angel, the youngest of the Flock(all six of the mutant bird kids), gets kidnapped. They don't call the police or sit and wait around until they know she isn't coming back. They attack the situation right away and try to get her back. All of them love her too much to leave her. They will never let any one of them go unless they completely turn evil and are out to eat the rest of them.

Later in a different book in the series, the Flock gets split into two groups. One with the boys, and one with the girls. The whole time that they're apart, all they want to do is be with each other and all they can think about is if the other group is okay and if they are even still alive. Their love is so strong it hurts to be apart.

Without having a mom or dad, none of them  had anyone to care about except each other.  Another book where kids don't have parents to watch out for them and care about them is the Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Even though Lily has a dad, he doesn't care about her at all. That's why when she meets the Calendar Sisters, she gets so easily attached and she never wants to let them go because the only one she has ever felt loved by before is Rosaleen. Just like Maximum in Maximum Ride, when she meets Dr. Martinez, she never wants to let go because the only people she has ever been loved by is the Flock.

Anyone who gets mad at their parents or siblings, just remember, no matter what they say or do, they will always love you strongly if you return the love to them. You should always show it if you love them, because some people out there, don't have anyone loving them and you should appreciate what you have and who you have in your life, even if they don't always show that they love you back.