SnowStruck
I’m tired. I'm so tired. I’ve been walking for hours and hours and hours. With no sign of my home. I feel constantly as if I am being watched. By wolves and bears. Just to lie down. To have a sweet relief from this persisting cold and fear.
Sleeping in the snow is a bad idea. A terrible idea. An enticing idea. A convincing idea.
Just to put my head down for a second… For one second…
I’m dying.
The cold closes in around my stiff body and I exhale. The water droplets in my breath crystallized around me in a shower of small icicles. All I can see is the thick sheet of ice surrounding my petrified body and pressing it to the ground.
This is where I die.
“Aurora!”
The voice is muffled by the layer of ice and I want to answer but the cold is suffocating.
“I’m here.” My voice is near nothing and a shiver rocks my body as the heat of my breath leaves my body.
“Aurora! Aurora!”
Suddenly, the ice cracks around me. The sharp end of an ice pick protrudes through the hole, narrowly missing my left ear.
The light from the outside streams in through the hole and immediately my face begins to sting.
“Aurora. She’s here! Everybody! She’s over here, help!”
The world is muffled. Ice has frozen in my ears, making it impossible to hear anyone.
“Aurora.” The voice was calm now. And faintly familiar. “Can you move your finger? Can you show us you’re alive?”
A hand reaches through the hole in the ice and taps my arm.
The touch sends ripples of pain through my entire body. Like small firework lighting from my bicep to my ankles but I flinch ever so slightly.
“She’s alive! Everyone, help me get her out here.”
A second pick joins the first, then a third as together they pick away at the frozen cage. For a terrifying few seconds sharp blades of freezing metal pick at me from every side, one scraping a hole in my thigh. I can feel the blood coming.
Then they break through.
I fall out onto the frozen ground, feel the impact of my body hitting the ground like a distant thunderclap. See a ribbon of crimson blood dripping out onto the snow.
Then I blackout.
I can feel myself being lifted out of reality then thrown into the tossing, turning sea of pain. Surreal, terrible pain.
No, no, no…
Pain. And then… Then I feel relieved. Wave after wave of sweet, dreamless sleep falls over me and now… and now…
I die.
Written by: Me
Sleeping in the snow is a bad idea. A terrible idea. An enticing idea. A convincing idea.
Just to put my head down for a second… For one second…
I’m dying.
The cold closes in around my stiff body and I exhale. The water droplets in my breath crystallized around me in a shower of small icicles. All I can see is the thick sheet of ice surrounding my petrified body and pressing it to the ground.
This is where I die.
“Aurora!”
The voice is muffled by the layer of ice and I want to answer but the cold is suffocating.
“I’m here.” My voice is near nothing and a shiver rocks my body as the heat of my breath leaves my body.
“Aurora! Aurora!”
Suddenly, the ice cracks around me. The sharp end of an ice pick protrudes through the hole, narrowly missing my left ear.
The light from the outside streams in through the hole and immediately my face begins to sting.
“Aurora. She’s here! Everybody! She’s over here, help!”
The world is muffled. Ice has frozen in my ears, making it impossible to hear anyone.
“Aurora.” The voice was calm now. And faintly familiar. “Can you move your finger? Can you show us you’re alive?”
A hand reaches through the hole in the ice and taps my arm.
The touch sends ripples of pain through my entire body. Like small firework lighting from my bicep to my ankles but I flinch ever so slightly.
“She’s alive! Everyone, help me get her out here.”
A second pick joins the first, then a third as together they pick away at the frozen cage. For a terrifying few seconds sharp blades of freezing metal pick at me from every side, one scraping a hole in my thigh. I can feel the blood coming.
Then they break through.
I fall out onto the frozen ground, feel the impact of my body hitting the ground like a distant thunderclap. See a ribbon of crimson blood dripping out onto the snow.
Then I blackout.
I can feel myself being lifted out of reality then thrown into the tossing, turning sea of pain. Surreal, terrible pain.
No, no, no…
Pain. And then… Then I feel relieved. Wave after wave of sweet, dreamless sleep falls over me and now… and now…
I die.
Written by: Me
A Journey for Trade
At the dead of night my mother’s yelling awakes me. Straining my ears to hear what it was, I realize my parents were in the middle of a serious conversation.
“Because of our finance problems, we won’t be able to purchase food!” my mother yells, “You have to find a job, Timin! Or we won’t be able to live!”
“Shhh… quiet down, Akilah will awake to your yelling.” my father whispers, “I’ve tried to find a job many times, all of them are taken.”
Earlier, after serious thinking before I settled to sleep, I finally decided to go along with my plan to fix my parents’s problems.
The night was calm and a small breeze blew against my face, smelling of the fresh spring air. I sneak out of my window, looking back at my room and thinking about the objects I must search for along my journey. I need to travel along the Silk Road, to find products I could buy and sell for much more money. I drop down on the ground with a loud thud and curse at myself for making a loud noise. I must not let my parents know I have left. They will try to stop me, I start to think. I set off along the Silk Road, checking my map of the Road. According to my calculations, it’ll take a week to reach Baghdad, Iraq from here, Aleppo, Syria. I have all the food for the week’s journey. After for walking for about 10 hours, I stop to take a rest near a farm. I take in my surroundings, the sky was cloudy and it was around 50 degrees fahrenheit. Fortunately, I brought a blanket for cold temperatures. The area around me was fairly 𝐃𝐑𝐘 and there were many crops around, assuming they were wheat crops. I decide I need to sleep, so I lie my head down on the flood and pull up my blanket.
I jerk awake. “Marhaba!” (“𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕠” in Syrian), a rough voice said from behind me, “Why is such a fine young woman like you traveling on the Silk Road?” I get up off the ground smooth out my clothing and turn my head and to take a good look at the fellow. The trader was around 40 years old and wore a musty colored kaftan & head wrap. The sky was getting bright from the rising of the sun , it was a little after the break of dawn.
“Marhaba,” I replied, “I’m searching for things which I shall trade for.”
The man made a sour face, “What do you have to trade?” I showed the man a bottle of baharat, a spice from home and in return, he gave me a nod with his head. “I don’t have the recipe to make that spice and I used to always have it in my food as a child,” he smiled, remembering his childhood, “Would you like to trade that for specially made loaves of bread?”
“Sure, why not?” I replied, with a smile too. I gave him the bottle, he fetched two loaves of bread for me from his home and gave them to me.
I began to walk away when he enthusiastically shouts, “Wait! Please stop by on your way back to trade again!”
“Mashy!” (“𝕠𝕜𝕒𝕪” in Syrian) I reply, then continued on my way to Baghdad.
After around 3 days of my travels along the Silk Road, I arrive at Al-Qa’im, a city in Iraq. I travel through the city, looking for decent items to trade for. There were large crowds around different stands, many of the people at the stands were men and I instantly felt different from everyone here. I spot a young man trading silk and diamonds and jog up to him.
“Marhaba, sir,” I say, “May I trade for a roll of silk and two diamonds?”
“What do you have to trade for these precious items, little girl?” the bloke asks.
“I have a variety of bottles containing spices from Syria.” I respond.
“Why would a girl like you be traveling along the Silk Road and wanting these items? Why don’t you have your brother or father travel for your family?” he asks, more questions needing to be answered.
“My family needs the money and they don’t know I’m here,” I reply, clearly irritated.
“Fine, three bottles of some spices for the items you would like,” he says. I open my bag looking at the spices I have, and grab three of my finest. I hand them to the trader, placing them in his dirty hand. In return, he gives me a roll of silk, with a sling for the shoulder on it and two clear, blingy diamonds. I said goodbye to the man and went to sit on a stone bench to rest. I should travel back to my hometown now, I already have what I need, I decided.
I was walking at a normal pace along the Silk Road, having just left Al-Qa’im an hour ago. Suddenly, the sound of galloping filled my ears. Knowing there were bandits along the Road, I quickly started to run, as fast as I could. The sound got louder and louder until two dun colored horses cut in front of me. Two masked men rode the horses and they both had a gleaming look in their eyes.
“Hand us your bag and run off,” said the man on the right, he had a cracky voice like he was going through the age of voice change. I started to run again, the man on the left got off his horse, ran and grabbed my bag.
“No! Please don’t, my family needs those!” I cried out.
“Aw, little girl’s gonna cry now ain’t she. Waa, waa,” the man on the left mocked, his voice was deeper, like a grown man’s. I started to run,and didn’t stop until the men were a little speck I could barely see. I begin to cry, tears streaming down my face, eyes swelling. I needed those supplies to give to my parents to sell, I shouldn’t have let them take it, no, no, no, what should I do?, I think. What should I do?
By: Jasmine Hollingsworth
Everything .
“NO STOP! NOO” I yelped “WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?”...wait a minute let me bring you back. Hi, my name is Sunny and I’ve always dreamt of being an artist. I mean ever since I could remember I was digging my hands in paint or drawing something on the walls, but lately it's been kind of hard for me. I’m 5’1, have hazel eyes, and short bright brown hair. My mom always told me that I would end up doing something to do with art in the future because of how much I loved it..but recently things have taken a turn for the worse.
It all started yesterday when I was about to go to art class, I had this beautiful painting that I had drawn of my grandma, I had spent so much time on it because she meant a lot to me...once I found out she died I was devastated, she was my pride, she was my soul, she was...everything to me. Since then I’ve done my best to keep it safe with me all the time. But that morning was when everything would change for me, when I would truly be filled with anger.
“Good Morning Class” my teacher yelled across the room, “Today we will be working on nature paintings, with this plant as reference.” Nature paintings weren't my best but they were okay I guess. Once I sat down in my seat I immediately started working on the nature painting, yellow, white, yellow, green, white, green and done.
“Miss I’m done, what should I do?” I asked.
“Just work on something else while you wait.” she said.
“Ok” I replied.
Since I was already there I decided that I would work some more on my painting of grandma, so I grabbed some water colors and got to work..but when my teacher said to stop working I didn't hear her.
“Ms. Dai, do you have something you want to show the class or are you simply IGNORING ME!'' screamed my teacher .
“N-No I don't, sorry I didn't hear you.”
“WELL LISTEN, YOU KNOW WHAT IF YOU WANNA MAKE EXCUSES THEN GO AHEAD BUT DO NOT DISREGARD MY WORK THAT I ASSIGNED,” she shouted. Then right before I knew it she grabbed my painting of grandma and destroyed it.
“NO STOP! NOO...WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?” I yelled while crying.
Once she had realized what she had done she was trying to cover it up but I couldn't resist crying, the tears were just flowing down my face.
How could she do this to me? I stormed out of the room and just ran to call my mother. *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* “Mom I don't know what to do she just *Hiccup* was there and then *Hiccup* she- she- she-” I whimpered.
“It’s ok. Just breathe, Sunny, everything will be ok. I just need you to calm down so I can know what is happening.”
“O-ok s-so I was i-in *Hiccup* a-art and then M-Ms.Morris j-just ripped m-my painting of g-grandma b-because I d-didn't hear h-her and she t-thought I was i-ignoring h-her,” I cried.
“Oh my goodness, ok honey I’m on my way. Just hang tight” my mom said in a comforting manner.
I sat there crying, waiting for my mom to come when I saw that evil witch, Miss Morris, she was there just yelling at me saying I was overreacting and that I should of been paying attention when..boom, my mom bursts in, SCREAMING at Ms. Morris, telling her how disrespectful it was for her to do that.
I knew that at that moment Ms. Morris would be shut down because she would realize what she had just done to a child. Regret was what I wanted her to feel, regret was the only thing I wanted her to understand, regret.
I ran to my mom and hugged her as hard as I could. She wrapped her hands around me, comforting me in a way where I felt...at home. Ms. Morris was trying to apologize but my mom just took my things and left. That was the last time I ever saw my old art teacher. Until Now…
“S-s-sunny? Is that you?” said a mysterious voice.
“H-Hello? Who is there?!”
Then there I saw her, Ms. Morris. “Long time no see. Last time I saw you, you were so small” she said.
“M-Ms. Morris?” I stuttered, “Why are you so surprised to see me?” she said in a questioning voice.
“L- uh- I-”
“Oh come on, I didn't know you were still so sensitive,” she said.
“W-well I-”
“You- You- You what? Huh? Are you still hung up on the stupid painting thing? That was in the past. Sunny, get over it!”
“NO. SHE MEANT EVERYTHING TO ME! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE,” I screamed as I ran away.
I was on Lincoln and 27th when this happened...I guess I never really got over that painting. Half of me saying I overreacted and the other half telling me that I was right...who should I believe...I guess either way I'm still abandoning part of myself.
-Mya Menjivar
“NO STOP! NOO” I yelped “WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?”...wait a minute let me bring you back. Hi, my name is Sunny and I’ve always dreamt of being an artist. I mean ever since I could remember I was digging my hands in paint or drawing something on the walls, but lately it's been kind of hard for me. I’m 5’1, have hazel eyes, and short bright brown hair. My mom always told me that I would end up doing something to do with art in the future because of how much I loved it..but recently things have taken a turn for the worse.
It all started yesterday when I was about to go to art class, I had this beautiful painting that I had drawn of my grandma, I had spent so much time on it because she meant a lot to me...once I found out she died I was devastated, she was my pride, she was my soul, she was...everything to me. Since then I’ve done my best to keep it safe with me all the time. But that morning was when everything would change for me, when I would truly be filled with anger.
“Good Morning Class” my teacher yelled across the room, “Today we will be working on nature paintings, with this plant as reference.” Nature paintings weren't my best but they were okay I guess. Once I sat down in my seat I immediately started working on the nature painting, yellow, white, yellow, green, white, green and done.
“Miss I’m done, what should I do?” I asked.
“Just work on something else while you wait.” she said.
“Ok” I replied.
Since I was already there I decided that I would work some more on my painting of grandma, so I grabbed some water colors and got to work..but when my teacher said to stop working I didn't hear her.
“Ms. Dai, do you have something you want to show the class or are you simply IGNORING ME!'' screamed my teacher .
“N-No I don't, sorry I didn't hear you.”
“WELL LISTEN, YOU KNOW WHAT IF YOU WANNA MAKE EXCUSES THEN GO AHEAD BUT DO NOT DISREGARD MY WORK THAT I ASSIGNED,” she shouted. Then right before I knew it she grabbed my painting of grandma and destroyed it.
“NO STOP! NOO...WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?” I yelled while crying.
Once she had realized what she had done she was trying to cover it up but I couldn't resist crying, the tears were just flowing down my face.
How could she do this to me? I stormed out of the room and just ran to call my mother. *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* “Mom I don't know what to do she just *Hiccup* was there and then *Hiccup* she- she- she-” I whimpered.
“It’s ok. Just breathe, Sunny, everything will be ok. I just need you to calm down so I can know what is happening.”
“O-ok s-so I was i-in *Hiccup* a-art and then M-Ms.Morris j-just ripped m-my painting of g-grandma b-because I d-didn't hear h-her and she t-thought I was i-ignoring h-her,” I cried.
“Oh my goodness, ok honey I’m on my way. Just hang tight” my mom said in a comforting manner.
I sat there crying, waiting for my mom to come when I saw that evil witch, Miss Morris, she was there just yelling at me saying I was overreacting and that I should of been paying attention when..boom, my mom bursts in, SCREAMING at Ms. Morris, telling her how disrespectful it was for her to do that.
I knew that at that moment Ms. Morris would be shut down because she would realize what she had just done to a child. Regret was what I wanted her to feel, regret was the only thing I wanted her to understand, regret.
I ran to my mom and hugged her as hard as I could. She wrapped her hands around me, comforting me in a way where I felt...at home. Ms. Morris was trying to apologize but my mom just took my things and left. That was the last time I ever saw my old art teacher. Until Now…
“S-s-sunny? Is that you?” said a mysterious voice.
“H-Hello? Who is there?!”
Then there I saw her, Ms. Morris. “Long time no see. Last time I saw you, you were so small” she said.
“M-Ms. Morris?” I stuttered, “Why are you so surprised to see me?” she said in a questioning voice.
“L- uh- I-”
“Oh come on, I didn't know you were still so sensitive,” she said.
“W-well I-”
“You- You- You what? Huh? Are you still hung up on the stupid painting thing? That was in the past. Sunny, get over it!”
“NO. SHE MEANT EVERYTHING TO ME! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE,” I screamed as I ran away.
I was on Lincoln and 27th when this happened...I guess I never really got over that painting. Half of me saying I overreacted and the other half telling me that I was right...who should I believe...I guess either way I'm still abandoning part of myself.
-Mya Menjivar
THE NEW OUTSIDERS
It was a not exactly sunny day on the city streets of oklahoma, but im used to it, with all the factories moving here. I was walking along the sidewalk with Dally and Ponyboy. Dally, was from New York, a big tough and tuff guy. Compared to all the greasers in our group, he was one of the best fighters. Ponyboy, is my best friend. We understand each other without saying a word. His parents are dead and he lives with his brothers, Sodapop and Darry. My name is Johnny, im 16 years old, my parents treat me like crap, and im a greaser.
“So guys,” Dally said breaking the silence, “wanna go to the drive in?”
I was surprised by this, Dally never wanted to go to the drive ins, unless there was something there he wanted.
“Uh,ok,” Ponyboy responded excitedly, he loves movies, but none of his brothers do.
“Yeah ok,”I said. I know I would somewhat become a third wheel because, Dally would go after girls and girls went after Pony but no one went away from or went to me. It was ok, I was used to it. Suddenly, something got me out of my thoughts. A blue mustang convertible was driving next to us. Ugh Socs. I thought, my heart beating faster thinking of every time they have jumped us.
“Hey greasers!” One of them said in a mockingly tone, clearly drunk.
“What do you want?” Dally replied clearly annoyed.
The socs got out of the car and were about to throw a punch at Ponyboy but Dally stopped him and punched him.
“No one, and I mean no one, hurts Pony. Partly because Darry will kill me,” I heard Dally mumble.
Soon, me and Ponyboy started to fight back as well, treating them the same way they treated us. Soon we got them away from us driving off into the East while Dally, Ponyboy, and I started walking to the west towards the Drive in.
At the drive in, because Ponyboy, Dally and I walked, we sat in the back watching the movie. You could tell just by looking at Ponyboy that he blocked everything else out of his mind while watching the movie. Dally started talking to some girls in front of us that looked like socs. I didn’t really want to talk to people because when people other than Pony, Dally, or Two-Bit talk I freeze up. They tried talking to Pony but he was so invested in the movie he didn’t hear them. Dally got so frustrated about the girls he got up out the cold plastic chair and left Pony and I alone.
“Hey!” the bright red haired girl said to me with a cheery smile on her face.
I was so scared I ran away and didn’t comeback. During this whole thing, Pony still had his eyes fixed on the big screen not caring about what happened around him. But when he saw me run away, he ran after me not being aware of the situation around him.
“Johnny, why’d you leave? That ain’t nice they were trying to make conversation and be nice,” Ponyboy said, clearly upset.
“I was scared Pony, i ain’t never talked to a girl before. I just freeze up when I’m near ‘em,” I said, sad that I disappointed my best friend.
“Aw Johnny, no need to be sad, the movie ended anyway, lets go home.” Pony said.
“Ok Pony, but can you hangout with me at the lot?” I asked, hoping to get a yes out of him.
“Sure, just I need to be home by 12, it isn’t a school night,” He replied, happy that I wasn’t sad anymore.
We got to the lot and we hung out, had a few smokes, talked, and relaxed. Ponyboy and I fell asleep, I heard him wake up and leave, so I stayed, not like I had anything to go home to anyway. Something bad must’ve happened because I saw pony running and crying like he saw somebody die.
“We are leaving,” he said with red puffy wet eyes covered in tears.
“Ok,” I said calmly, not sure what was going to happen next.
We ran to the park escaping whatever we were running from.
“Are you going to tell me what happened?” I asked, hoping for him to answer so I don’t feel like I’m missing something.
“Fine,” Ponyboy said exhausted from the run, “Darry got mad at me, he yelled, then he, he,”
“He what?” I interrupted hoping to move the story along.
“He h-hit me,” he stammered.
I stood there in shock not knowing what to say when all of a sudden I heard something.
I heard a vrroom of a motor and I thought to myself What on earth are they doing out of their place? I saw a blue mustang I was scared out of my mind, remembering when i nearly died from when they jumped me.
“Hey there greasers,” one of them said, obviously still drunk, “We saw you with our girls at the drive in.”
“What are you doing on our terf” I asked, stepping up to one of them, then I saw the rings, the same rings that left a scar on my face a year ago.
“Yeah,” Ponyboy shouted still crying a little bit, “Go away”
Two of the buffoons grabbed Ponyboy and brought him over to the fountain, they started drowning him. I didn’t know what to do, I grabbed my switchblade, looking from Ponyboy to the switchblade and then to the boys drowning Ponyboy. I ran over to them and killed the boy with the rings leaving the fountain water colored red from the blood. The rest of them ran away to the car and I grabbed Ponyboy out of the fountain hoping he would wake up.
Several minutes went by and I was waiting for Ponyboy to wake up I was few feet away from him. I was really cold with a leather jacket on, I could only imagine how cold Ponyboy must be.
“Hey johnny,” Ponyboy said shivering.
“I killed him,” I said crying a little bit.
“Who did you kill?” Ponyboy asked calmly.
“The ringed guy. They was drowning you pony, I couldn’t help you at all so I killed him.” I was scared out of my mind like something bad was gonna happen.
“Thank you Johnny.” He said. He sounded really grateful, like I was a hero but I didn’t feel like one at all. “Lets go to Dally’s place,” he said as I nodded Dally would know what to do.
We went to Dally’s place and some guy came to the door
“Hi we are here to see Dally,” I said, nervous what he would say next.
“No,” he said simply about to close the door.
“Tell him its Pony and Johnny, he will come,” Ponyboy said, with courage.
“Fine,” the man said. He closed the door but a few seconds later Dally came out.
“Whats up kiddos?” He asked.
“We need your help, can we come inside?” I asked and Dally nodded wondering what was going on.
We walked up the stairs to his room and Dally asked what happened.
“Well to start off, Darry hit ponyboy, then we ran to the park. Some socs came up to us and then they started to drown pony. I killed one of the socs scaring the others off. It took a few minutes for ponyboy to wake up and then we came here,” I explained hoping he understood.
At first, he nodded then he realized what happened.
“WHAT DID DARRY DO?!” He asked surprised.
“AND YOU DID WHAT JOHNNY?!” He asked still in shock.
“Yeah so anyways we’re cold and don’t know where to go,” I replied simply.
“Ok well, there is an old abandoned church in Poteau go there, the cops are probably going to put your name in the paper, it might take a week or so for the story to clear up. There is a weeks supply of food and running water in the back. Pony here take this shirt to keep warm. There is a train that will go to Poteau in around 30 minutes. It should take you about 15 minutes to get there. Good luck kiddos and safe travels.” he said seriously. We thanked him then ran to the train station.
We made it to Poteau, it was really pretty there. Pony went to ask where the church is as I went to get some food from the grocery store. I came back to Ponyboy and he told me where the church is. We walked up the hill to the church and I could tell Ponyboy was getting tired. We settled in and relaxed playing cards, which is what we mostly did, then we started to change what we looked like so the police couldn’t find us. I cut and bleached Ponyboy’s hair, then pony cut my hair ‘cause im to dark skinned to be a blonde.
“Aight there you go pony,” I said, proud of my work.
“Thanks Johnny!”Ponyboy said excitedly.
We went outside one day to watch the sunset, when ponyboy told me a poem he said,
“Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.”
“What was that?” I asked.
“A poem by Robert frost. I thought it added something to the moment.” he replied looking at the sunset.
“It was good,” I said walking away.
We mostly played cards and read Gone With the Wind, my new favorite book.
Soon a week had past and Dally came to get us. He caught us up on what was happening with the crew. Apparently Two-Bit went to Texas to find us which I felt bad about. We went to Dairy Queen and got shakes and burgers.
“So yeah thats all that happened in the past week,” Dally said, after one hour of explaining.
“Wow, thats a lot, I feel kinda bad,” Ponyboy said, in a sad tone.
We drove back to the church and noticed a fire on the church, and their was a school bus parked in front. All I could think of was that it was our falt. Ponyboy quickly went in saving the kids. I came in shortly after. We got all the kids out and I left quickly, I got hit on my arm by some fire but it wasn’t too bad. Unlike what happened to Pony. He was hit by a flaming block of wood on the back. It scared me and Dally out of our minds.
We went to the hospital and my arm got taken care of. Darry and Sodapop came to see pony. I told them what happened. Darry was mad at first but when he went to see pony, he was all teary eyed, so was Soda. I have never seen them like this, even at their parents funeral, I guess it was because he is their kid brother.
Just watching them cry made me cry, again. Two-bit came as soon as he heard what happened and got sad just by looking at pony. Would they all be crying if that was me on the bed? I know Pony and two-bit will but what about Darry and Soda? Or Dally? I started to cry at the thought, mainly because i thought of Pony dieing.
I went to the lobby and I saw my mom. Two-Bit was out their with me and he knew what to do. He grabbed my un-broken arm and dragged me out of the lobby. My mom saw and she said,
“Johnny where have you been? COme on lets go home, your father and I need to give you a spanking,” my mom said angrily.
“No,” Two-bit said firmly. And we started running away.
After a bit we made it to pony’s house. The door was always unlocked so the boys could come when they needed a place to crash for the night, or nights, basically however long they wanted to stay.
The next morning I went to the hospital to visit Ponyboy. I read him some Gone with the wind then he fell asleep. It was like that every time I visited, he liked it. But one time when I visited, something not so good happened.
“Johnny, I don’t think ill make it,” Ponyboy said sadly. I was in shock. I didn’t know what to say.
“Ponyboy i belive that you can make it, you might be if you believe,” I said hopefully.
“Johnny,” Ponyboy started, “Life isn’t like a movie or a book, not everything comes out good.” he said sadly.
“No no no no no” I kept repeating until he cut me off.
“Stay golden Johnny,” were Ponyboy’s last words. I saw no more of his chest puffing up, i started to cry.
When i left the room I found Darry, Dally, Sodapop, and Two-Bit coming in.
“Guys,” I said sadly, not knowing how to tell them the news.
“Yeah johnny? Whats up,” Two-bit said then he noticed me start to cry. I’ve never cried in front of them before, but there is a first to everything.
“Hes gone,” I whispered just loud enough for them to hear. Darry stormed out of the room while Sodapop ran after him. Two-bit started to cry and pulled me into a hug. Dally stood there in shock.
Its been a few months since Ponyboy’s death and his funeral already came, I guess thats the life of a runaway greaser.
-Keira Mountain
It was a not exactly sunny day on the city streets of oklahoma, but im used to it, with all the factories moving here. I was walking along the sidewalk with Dally and Ponyboy. Dally, was from New York, a big tough and tuff guy. Compared to all the greasers in our group, he was one of the best fighters. Ponyboy, is my best friend. We understand each other without saying a word. His parents are dead and he lives with his brothers, Sodapop and Darry. My name is Johnny, im 16 years old, my parents treat me like crap, and im a greaser.
“So guys,” Dally said breaking the silence, “wanna go to the drive in?”
I was surprised by this, Dally never wanted to go to the drive ins, unless there was something there he wanted.
“Uh,ok,” Ponyboy responded excitedly, he loves movies, but none of his brothers do.
“Yeah ok,”I said. I know I would somewhat become a third wheel because, Dally would go after girls and girls went after Pony but no one went away from or went to me. It was ok, I was used to it. Suddenly, something got me out of my thoughts. A blue mustang convertible was driving next to us. Ugh Socs. I thought, my heart beating faster thinking of every time they have jumped us.
“Hey greasers!” One of them said in a mockingly tone, clearly drunk.
“What do you want?” Dally replied clearly annoyed.
The socs got out of the car and were about to throw a punch at Ponyboy but Dally stopped him and punched him.
“No one, and I mean no one, hurts Pony. Partly because Darry will kill me,” I heard Dally mumble.
Soon, me and Ponyboy started to fight back as well, treating them the same way they treated us. Soon we got them away from us driving off into the East while Dally, Ponyboy, and I started walking to the west towards the Drive in.
At the drive in, because Ponyboy, Dally and I walked, we sat in the back watching the movie. You could tell just by looking at Ponyboy that he blocked everything else out of his mind while watching the movie. Dally started talking to some girls in front of us that looked like socs. I didn’t really want to talk to people because when people other than Pony, Dally, or Two-Bit talk I freeze up. They tried talking to Pony but he was so invested in the movie he didn’t hear them. Dally got so frustrated about the girls he got up out the cold plastic chair and left Pony and I alone.
“Hey!” the bright red haired girl said to me with a cheery smile on her face.
I was so scared I ran away and didn’t comeback. During this whole thing, Pony still had his eyes fixed on the big screen not caring about what happened around him. But when he saw me run away, he ran after me not being aware of the situation around him.
“Johnny, why’d you leave? That ain’t nice they were trying to make conversation and be nice,” Ponyboy said, clearly upset.
“I was scared Pony, i ain’t never talked to a girl before. I just freeze up when I’m near ‘em,” I said, sad that I disappointed my best friend.
“Aw Johnny, no need to be sad, the movie ended anyway, lets go home.” Pony said.
“Ok Pony, but can you hangout with me at the lot?” I asked, hoping to get a yes out of him.
“Sure, just I need to be home by 12, it isn’t a school night,” He replied, happy that I wasn’t sad anymore.
We got to the lot and we hung out, had a few smokes, talked, and relaxed. Ponyboy and I fell asleep, I heard him wake up and leave, so I stayed, not like I had anything to go home to anyway. Something bad must’ve happened because I saw pony running and crying like he saw somebody die.
“We are leaving,” he said with red puffy wet eyes covered in tears.
“Ok,” I said calmly, not sure what was going to happen next.
We ran to the park escaping whatever we were running from.
“Are you going to tell me what happened?” I asked, hoping for him to answer so I don’t feel like I’m missing something.
“Fine,” Ponyboy said exhausted from the run, “Darry got mad at me, he yelled, then he, he,”
“He what?” I interrupted hoping to move the story along.
“He h-hit me,” he stammered.
I stood there in shock not knowing what to say when all of a sudden I heard something.
I heard a vrroom of a motor and I thought to myself What on earth are they doing out of their place? I saw a blue mustang I was scared out of my mind, remembering when i nearly died from when they jumped me.
“Hey there greasers,” one of them said, obviously still drunk, “We saw you with our girls at the drive in.”
“What are you doing on our terf” I asked, stepping up to one of them, then I saw the rings, the same rings that left a scar on my face a year ago.
“Yeah,” Ponyboy shouted still crying a little bit, “Go away”
Two of the buffoons grabbed Ponyboy and brought him over to the fountain, they started drowning him. I didn’t know what to do, I grabbed my switchblade, looking from Ponyboy to the switchblade and then to the boys drowning Ponyboy. I ran over to them and killed the boy with the rings leaving the fountain water colored red from the blood. The rest of them ran away to the car and I grabbed Ponyboy out of the fountain hoping he would wake up.
Several minutes went by and I was waiting for Ponyboy to wake up I was few feet away from him. I was really cold with a leather jacket on, I could only imagine how cold Ponyboy must be.
“Hey johnny,” Ponyboy said shivering.
“I killed him,” I said crying a little bit.
“Who did you kill?” Ponyboy asked calmly.
“The ringed guy. They was drowning you pony, I couldn’t help you at all so I killed him.” I was scared out of my mind like something bad was gonna happen.
“Thank you Johnny.” He said. He sounded really grateful, like I was a hero but I didn’t feel like one at all. “Lets go to Dally’s place,” he said as I nodded Dally would know what to do.
We went to Dally’s place and some guy came to the door
“Hi we are here to see Dally,” I said, nervous what he would say next.
“No,” he said simply about to close the door.
“Tell him its Pony and Johnny, he will come,” Ponyboy said, with courage.
“Fine,” the man said. He closed the door but a few seconds later Dally came out.
“Whats up kiddos?” He asked.
“We need your help, can we come inside?” I asked and Dally nodded wondering what was going on.
We walked up the stairs to his room and Dally asked what happened.
“Well to start off, Darry hit ponyboy, then we ran to the park. Some socs came up to us and then they started to drown pony. I killed one of the socs scaring the others off. It took a few minutes for ponyboy to wake up and then we came here,” I explained hoping he understood.
At first, he nodded then he realized what happened.
“WHAT DID DARRY DO?!” He asked surprised.
“AND YOU DID WHAT JOHNNY?!” He asked still in shock.
“Yeah so anyways we’re cold and don’t know where to go,” I replied simply.
“Ok well, there is an old abandoned church in Poteau go there, the cops are probably going to put your name in the paper, it might take a week or so for the story to clear up. There is a weeks supply of food and running water in the back. Pony here take this shirt to keep warm. There is a train that will go to Poteau in around 30 minutes. It should take you about 15 minutes to get there. Good luck kiddos and safe travels.” he said seriously. We thanked him then ran to the train station.
We made it to Poteau, it was really pretty there. Pony went to ask where the church is as I went to get some food from the grocery store. I came back to Ponyboy and he told me where the church is. We walked up the hill to the church and I could tell Ponyboy was getting tired. We settled in and relaxed playing cards, which is what we mostly did, then we started to change what we looked like so the police couldn’t find us. I cut and bleached Ponyboy’s hair, then pony cut my hair ‘cause im to dark skinned to be a blonde.
“Aight there you go pony,” I said, proud of my work.
“Thanks Johnny!”Ponyboy said excitedly.
We went outside one day to watch the sunset, when ponyboy told me a poem he said,
“Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.”
“What was that?” I asked.
“A poem by Robert frost. I thought it added something to the moment.” he replied looking at the sunset.
“It was good,” I said walking away.
We mostly played cards and read Gone With the Wind, my new favorite book.
Soon a week had past and Dally came to get us. He caught us up on what was happening with the crew. Apparently Two-Bit went to Texas to find us which I felt bad about. We went to Dairy Queen and got shakes and burgers.
“So yeah thats all that happened in the past week,” Dally said, after one hour of explaining.
“Wow, thats a lot, I feel kinda bad,” Ponyboy said, in a sad tone.
We drove back to the church and noticed a fire on the church, and their was a school bus parked in front. All I could think of was that it was our falt. Ponyboy quickly went in saving the kids. I came in shortly after. We got all the kids out and I left quickly, I got hit on my arm by some fire but it wasn’t too bad. Unlike what happened to Pony. He was hit by a flaming block of wood on the back. It scared me and Dally out of our minds.
We went to the hospital and my arm got taken care of. Darry and Sodapop came to see pony. I told them what happened. Darry was mad at first but when he went to see pony, he was all teary eyed, so was Soda. I have never seen them like this, even at their parents funeral, I guess it was because he is their kid brother.
Just watching them cry made me cry, again. Two-bit came as soon as he heard what happened and got sad just by looking at pony. Would they all be crying if that was me on the bed? I know Pony and two-bit will but what about Darry and Soda? Or Dally? I started to cry at the thought, mainly because i thought of Pony dieing.
I went to the lobby and I saw my mom. Two-Bit was out their with me and he knew what to do. He grabbed my un-broken arm and dragged me out of the lobby. My mom saw and she said,
“Johnny where have you been? COme on lets go home, your father and I need to give you a spanking,” my mom said angrily.
“No,” Two-bit said firmly. And we started running away.
After a bit we made it to pony’s house. The door was always unlocked so the boys could come when they needed a place to crash for the night, or nights, basically however long they wanted to stay.
The next morning I went to the hospital to visit Ponyboy. I read him some Gone with the wind then he fell asleep. It was like that every time I visited, he liked it. But one time when I visited, something not so good happened.
“Johnny, I don’t think ill make it,” Ponyboy said sadly. I was in shock. I didn’t know what to say.
“Ponyboy i belive that you can make it, you might be if you believe,” I said hopefully.
“Johnny,” Ponyboy started, “Life isn’t like a movie or a book, not everything comes out good.” he said sadly.
“No no no no no” I kept repeating until he cut me off.
“Stay golden Johnny,” were Ponyboy’s last words. I saw no more of his chest puffing up, i started to cry.
When i left the room I found Darry, Dally, Sodapop, and Two-Bit coming in.
“Guys,” I said sadly, not knowing how to tell them the news.
“Yeah johnny? Whats up,” Two-bit said then he noticed me start to cry. I’ve never cried in front of them before, but there is a first to everything.
“Hes gone,” I whispered just loud enough for them to hear. Darry stormed out of the room while Sodapop ran after him. Two-bit started to cry and pulled me into a hug. Dally stood there in shock.
Its been a few months since Ponyboy’s death and his funeral already came, I guess thats the life of a runaway greaser.
-Keira Mountain
SAS: Flying in style.
“Just 3 hours to go.” I thought to myself, I was about to embark on a huge trip all the way to Copenhagen, Denmark!
Right now it is 3:00 in the afternoon and I’m with my family in an uber taking us to the airport. I am VERY excited about this trip. The flight’s going to be 10 hours and 53 minutes long!! Can you believe that?! As we approached the airport I thought to myself about previous trips to Europe and I started thinking about Ireland and how it might be similar.
We got out and I was paralyzed by how big the airport was. I snapped out of it and walked with my baggage. I felt like I was carrying 150 pounds on my back. We checked our bags and started walking towards security and realized that the line would take us so long that we would miss our flight!
“Oh my gosh, The line is huge!” My mom said, Then I mentioned that this security lane was for passengers going somewhere other than where we were going. Eventually, we were walking to the right security line.
After security, I ran around like a wild lion looking at all the big airplanes! Finally, we got to our gate. And as soon as I saw that plane I was in love. It was an A340! A large 4 engine aircraft!
We got our boarding call and as soon as we boarded the plane the pilot asked if I would like to see the cockpit and I was in shock. “I have never been in the cockpit before” The pilot chuckled and responded, “It’s pretty awesome, come take a look”. It was amazing. All of the buttons and controls were amazing. The sound of the buttons and the smell of the cockpit felt like I was being pulled into the cockpit. I looked out the window of the cockpit and saw the sunset coming down like a shooting star. I could imagine myself being a pilot being in the very same cockpit.
As I sat down I was amazed that the seat was very comfortable. It felt like a cloud. All throughout the flight I watched movies, played games, and listened to music. Then came dinner, as soon as it came out I was very hungry. The food was excellent. And dessert which was chocolate! I was stuffed!
Soon my dad told me to go to sleep. I tried and tried for 45 minutes. Until I gave up internally. And waited stealthily until my dad went to bed. “Ok, What should I do?” I spoke softly to myself. I looked at the map on my tv. We were over Canada. 8 hours to go. Then I watched the new Guardians of the galaxy. Soon after the movie, I fell asleep to the loud jet engines.
I woke up to the smell of breakfast. I looked out the window and realized we were over the UK. Breakfast was delicious. For the remainder of the flight, I watched movies, and finally, we landed in Copenhagen. As we walked through the airport I thought about what a great trip it was. Copenhagen was so fun!
-Oliver Sempere
“Just 3 hours to go.” I thought to myself, I was about to embark on a huge trip all the way to Copenhagen, Denmark!
Right now it is 3:00 in the afternoon and I’m with my family in an uber taking us to the airport. I am VERY excited about this trip. The flight’s going to be 10 hours and 53 minutes long!! Can you believe that?! As we approached the airport I thought to myself about previous trips to Europe and I started thinking about Ireland and how it might be similar.
We got out and I was paralyzed by how big the airport was. I snapped out of it and walked with my baggage. I felt like I was carrying 150 pounds on my back. We checked our bags and started walking towards security and realized that the line would take us so long that we would miss our flight!
“Oh my gosh, The line is huge!” My mom said, Then I mentioned that this security lane was for passengers going somewhere other than where we were going. Eventually, we were walking to the right security line.
After security, I ran around like a wild lion looking at all the big airplanes! Finally, we got to our gate. And as soon as I saw that plane I was in love. It was an A340! A large 4 engine aircraft!
We got our boarding call and as soon as we boarded the plane the pilot asked if I would like to see the cockpit and I was in shock. “I have never been in the cockpit before” The pilot chuckled and responded, “It’s pretty awesome, come take a look”. It was amazing. All of the buttons and controls were amazing. The sound of the buttons and the smell of the cockpit felt like I was being pulled into the cockpit. I looked out the window of the cockpit and saw the sunset coming down like a shooting star. I could imagine myself being a pilot being in the very same cockpit.
As I sat down I was amazed that the seat was very comfortable. It felt like a cloud. All throughout the flight I watched movies, played games, and listened to music. Then came dinner, as soon as it came out I was very hungry. The food was excellent. And dessert which was chocolate! I was stuffed!
Soon my dad told me to go to sleep. I tried and tried for 45 minutes. Until I gave up internally. And waited stealthily until my dad went to bed. “Ok, What should I do?” I spoke softly to myself. I looked at the map on my tv. We were over Canada. 8 hours to go. Then I watched the new Guardians of the galaxy. Soon after the movie, I fell asleep to the loud jet engines.
I woke up to the smell of breakfast. I looked out the window and realized we were over the UK. Breakfast was delicious. For the remainder of the flight, I watched movies, and finally, we landed in Copenhagen. As we walked through the airport I thought about what a great trip it was. Copenhagen was so fun!
-Oliver Sempere
New Year's Lanterns by Ben Collins
Remember When by Annabelle Byrd
Remember when we all sat together enjoying our ice cream in the warm sun
When we would race to the table where we sat and ate our lunch
Now we sit in our bedrooms all day saying to ourselves “i wish i wasn't so lonely”
We fail our tests and the teacher wonders why?
Because we don't learn anything, laying in our beds while words scramble through our heads, coming from a device that we have to listen to 5 hours a day. The parents let their children become depressed from all of the time they spend alone, they tell us “ come out of your room, you've been in there all day” but when they do they act surprised and taunt us saying “ oh look the troll has come out of the bridge” they scream at you saying “your grades are so low! I am disappointed.” do they ever stop to think maybe its because they are in their rooms crying of loneliness instead of doing their work? I wish i wasn't so lonely, we say, i wish i wasn't so lonely.
When we would race to the table where we sat and ate our lunch
Now we sit in our bedrooms all day saying to ourselves “i wish i wasn't so lonely”
We fail our tests and the teacher wonders why?
Because we don't learn anything, laying in our beds while words scramble through our heads, coming from a device that we have to listen to 5 hours a day. The parents let their children become depressed from all of the time they spend alone, they tell us “ come out of your room, you've been in there all day” but when they do they act surprised and taunt us saying “ oh look the troll has come out of the bridge” they scream at you saying “your grades are so low! I am disappointed.” do they ever stop to think maybe its because they are in their rooms crying of loneliness instead of doing their work? I wish i wasn't so lonely, we say, i wish i wasn't so lonely.