Author’s Note: Allison gave me this idea to write a poem when I was finished with the words I emailed it to my support group. The responded all cam back asking what was with the numbers I replied that it was the syllable count and that I would delete it after editing. Natalie offered an idea that the numbers should stand for seconds. I took that idea and created the 25 seconds, all of the numbers represent a time that this persons is going through horror.

25 Seconds

My legs feel weak and my head throbs   25

I see the end of the hall   24

My breathing picks up pace   23

Something waits for me   22

At the end of   21

The hallway   20

Waiting.   19

I tried to scream as I saw   18

What was waiting for me   17

The crazy white mist formed   16

A tall figure   15

That looked like   14

Him.   13

My long legs give out as I try   12

To get away from my big fear   11

I fall to the hard ground   10

And all I see is the   9

Face of my dead   8

Brother.   7

He has come back like he said   6

I close my eyes as I   5

Know that I never   4

Will open them   3

Again now   2

I am   1

Dead!   0

Open Mind

AUTHORS NOTE: I listening to a song that was talking about shooting stars and then I thought of one of my all time favorite quotes (Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." James Dean) and transvered that into a poem. I think that most people dream about the future and should focus on making their dream come true and go out and do something with their life.

I---

have a wish.

I---

have a dream.

I---

have a life.

Wish---

   on a star

That---

   soars at night

Dream---

   about future

But---

   don't get caught

In---

    fantasy

And---

    live your life

To---

   potential.

Animal Farm Remix

AUTHORS NOTE: My group (Natalie, Erin, Allison, and I) decided to do a music video for our language arts creative project after we finished Animal Farm. We all adopted a song and came up with lyrics that went with the story from the book. Then we created outfits and choreography that would go with the music. We all hope you enjoy our Animal Farm Remix!



Lyrics---
Alejandro
I know that we are dumb
And I know that we are just animals
But I just can’t deal with them anymore,
HUMANS


Fresh Prince Theme
Now this is a story all about how,
Animalism got flipped upside down.
And I’d like to take a minute just sit right there,
I’ll tell you how Napoleon made Manor Farm unfair
In the old Manor Farm born and raised
Working hard for Jones is how they spent there days
Pulling those cart, working all day
Complaing bout Jones’s evil ways
When the fat old pig had an idea
Started talking ‘bout chasing those humans away
He told all the animals, they got happy,
They said lets get rid of these humans and be free to go wacky!



Get Silly
Jones didn’t feed ‘em,
Da cows got mad!
They started to attack,
Da other animals joined,
And they kicked them out with their bags!
Da Rebellion! X8
Da pigs took over
They did very well
No one missed Jones
And they all ate well
They worked in da fields
And they worked very hard
But Snowball had an idea
But Napoleon didn’t like
So there was a Brouhaha
And Napoleons dogs attacked
Snowball disappeared
Now everything will be bad!


Don't Stop Believing
just a small town farm
working hard for all their rights
the pigs ordered them to build
whi-hi-mildddd
they followed all the rules
do what the pigs tell them to do
even if it would
ki-hilllll themmmmm
suspicious changing the rules
but what else can they do
for they are all scared of what might happen in the night


Nothin’ on You
Beautiful pigs
All over the farm
I could be fighting but my life would be taken
But we got nothing on Napoleon
Nothing on Napoleon
They might say oink
I might say he-haw!
Walk on two legs and I walk on four
Cuz they are better than us
Soooooo much better than us!


Shots
Get worked done!
If u arent hungry cows and horses
Get ready to get fed up!
Lets do it!
Oink oink!
Napolean
You know it squealer
All of the animals
Moo neigh quack
When I walk in the barn all eyes on me
I make em’ work till they fall
Nothing is free
I make him write
All kinds of rules
Cuz we love to walk
On only to legs
Work x16
ANIMALLLS!

New Outlook on Life

AUTHORS NOTE: This is a piece I wrote based on my experience when I was in church one day. I saw this little girl who I didn't even know and somehow she managed to change my life.

I see this girl, who can barely hold her head up. Who can’t speak much at all even though she is eight years old. Tears well up in my eyes as her family struggles to take her up to the altar at church to receive her 1st Communion. This is a girl who has struggled with autism her whole life and keeps pushing forward, and this makes me think of how lucky I really am.


1 million to 1.5 million people in America today have autism, I personally don’t know anyone with this horrific disease, but if over 1 million people have it I am bound to run into someone who does have autism and sure enough I did. My sister had her 1st Communion on May 1st, 2010 this was supposed to be one of the happiest days ever for my family but for me it was a sad and defiantly eye opening event. For the 1st Communion I had reserved seats in the church which happened to be right across from a child who has autism. This girl was eight years old and was receiving her first communion today. I watched as the mother and father struggled to get this girl in her wheel chair and push her up to the altar, but when she couldn’t eat the bread I thought to myself that family struggles with their child everyday and they can’t complain but they still keep fighting when they could’ve given up already. Then I thought, I complain daily on many non important things when I really should be treasuring these things and be thankful for what I have.

This family has inspired me to keep moving forward and be thankful for what I have. I don’t even know them but seeing them keep fighting has really touched me. Many people probably go up to them daily and say how sorry they are and that they know what they are going through but truly they don’t know. I can’t picture if I were to be autistic or if my family and friends were. Autism is a terrible disease that people can’t escape from, each day they just dream of being a normal family, but then they wake up.

Be thankful for everything you have, and never live down any moment. My life changed on May 1st, 2010 when I realized that people have it worse than me and that I should be the last one complaining. Every day I think of that family and treasure every minute of my life.

Anna's Struggles

a response to My Sister’s Keeper

Every night I wonder What if Kate died? I am sure my whole family is thinking that but for me it means a lot, because I am the reason Kate is alive today, I am her protector, I give her life, but my family doesn’t recognize me as much as they should. Not only is Kate at risk of dieing so am I.

My life has probably been the craziest out of everyone in the world, I was born for one reason, and one reason only that is to give my sister what she needs when she needs it. Kate has leukemia and I am the recognized donor, but now besides donating blood and cells I am being forced into donating one of my kidneys. It’s one thing to find out that you were born for one reason, and now I am being held to donating organs to my sister. One minute it’s a kidney, what’s next?

I had to take a stand, stand up for what I believe in, I must fight back. It’s not that I don’t love my sister, it’s that I should have a choice on if I want to keep donating to her. Sara, my mother, would not listen to me she would not understand my reasoning, saying that people might actually realize why I had to get help, from a lawyer.

My case must’ve been a weird one for my lawyer, I don’t think he knew what to say. He probably thought Oh look it’s just another kid wanting to sue their parents, but he was wrong I just wanted a right to my own body. Kate was devastated that I made my choice, she told me that I was her only friend. I worried that she would die every night and that my choice could impact her disease. Of course I felt bad and didn’t know if I should go through with my decision, but what I needed was for someone to support me, to comfort me, so I moved in with my Dad at the fire station.

Sara is furious with my choice to move in with my father down at the station, but he will not tell me that what I believe in is wrong or that I should be ashamed of my self for choosing to kill my sister. I wish they would just give me a choice. I don’t want to kill my sister, but I need to do what my gut is telling me.

AUTHORS NOTE: I wrote this piece based off of the book My Sister's Keeper. This is a great book about a family struggles while their daughter has cancer. I wrote in the perspective of one of the main charaters who has to fight for the right to her own body.

Seasons of the Earth

AUTHORS NOTE: I wrote this piece before spring break when I was wishing for summer to be here, but then I realized why rush the beauty of the four seasons? I thought that winter was a drag, but when you look at it in the view of being part of something greater it is beautiful. The four seasons are a truly beautiful thing that are part of something bigger, the world.

Everything happens,
whether we like it or not
that makes the world spin round.
When the world is spinning the weather changes
creating the four seasons.

Everything’s dead,
silent,
Nothing happens in the cold crisp air
but when the snow melts and the grass shows
only one thing can be coming,
spring.

The flowers bloom and the birds chirp,
to mean that there’s hope,
a new beginning.
Humid air rolls in bringing new fashions,
swim suites which indicates that…
Summer has come.

Warm air fills my lungs as I run to the beach
the cool water rushes against my feet
I know this won’t last long though,
because the crisp air whips through my hair.
School shopping is right around corner,
Autumn is here.

Yellow, red and orange fill the sky
As the leaves fall from the trees
And shorter days approach.
The snow begins to fall just as quickly as the leaves did,
Winter is back.

The seasons brings beauty to the world,
giving us a change,
a new outlook on things.
The four seasons give us a new vision for the world.

A Day at the Beach

AUTHORS NOTE: When I was in Florida I went to the beach daily to search for shells and shark teeth. It was truly an adventure with my family and that's where my inspriation came from.

A day at the beach is supposed to be relaxing right? That's not the case for my family though, because there is always something going on when we're at the beach.l This hectic day is a true adventure.

Hitting the beach is an adventure, as always but during our Florida vacation this year we spent our time at the beach searching for sea shells and shark teeth. Many of the Florida beaches we went to this year were known for their spectacular shark teeth finds and beautiful shell discoveries. Of course my siblings and I dove into the finding opportunity.

Heads low, eyes sharp, searching for just one thing, shark teeth, although along the way you may find some neat shells.You want to quit but you know that the next time the water level falls there will be shark teeth waiting for you to snatch the up. Finding shark teeth is not an easy task, because you have to have good eyes and quick hands which many people do not have as a skill. To put the art of finding shark teeth into three simple words, concentration, luck, and patience. Those are the three key things you need to have to be successful.

Besides working hard to find sea's creation while you're on the beach a little relaxing never hurt anyone. Being at the beach with my family is crazy and for sure I have some great memories that I will never forget. One thing is that beaches are the building blocks for great memories.