Why Did I Let Him In?!?!

      As soon as Holden Caulfield entered my cab, he asked me if I knew what happened to the ducks in Central Park during winter. He seemed to be quite avid about the ducks, so the affable person that I was, told him that I thought they migrated to somewhere else. Instead, he rebuffed the idea, and he kept on asking me the same question over and over again. The conversation seemed interminable. So, I gave him my grimace look, and went on a tirade on how fish have it rougher than ducks.

     I might have demeaned myself a little too much, so I looked back at him to apologize; but the poor, irascible idiot just sat there whispering “ducks” over and over again. Now he starts to talk to some kind of imaginary friend (judging by the fact that there was no one in the cab). I believe the “imaginary friend’s” name was Allie. Seriously, a nineteen year old kid still having an imaginary friend, even I could tell that he was a recluse who needed a “doctor’s” attention.

     The weirdest and only phrase that I could remember him saying was: “Will you, Allie, help me embark on my journey to you?” I can’t believe that I was driving a disturbed, little boy. I asked him where his parents were; his response (in a four year old’s voice) was that he had no clue.

     Now he simulated to be some kind of James Bond character; some drunk guy who got shot with a pistol. He also pretended to have a gun, a first aid kit, and that he was king of the world. He held up his “gun” and pointed it at me. He told me to take him to Central Park instead of his house. He said he wanted to see the ducks. When is he ever going to stop thinking of ducks….

     The ride went on for what felt like an hour; an hour of insanity. So when I dropped him off at Central Park, the idiot that I was decided to wait for him because I felt too bad for him (and because he seriously needed help). When he came back, he looked dehydrated. The poor guy looked like he was dying of thirst; and at the same time, he was extremely wet. I told him to get dry, and that he might get pneumonia. He told me he felt like getting it-seriously, was he that crazy?

     I tried to take him back home as fast as I could. I made an endeavor to not yell at him, or to be so gruesome to the poor kid. When we finally got there, he paid me a fourth of the money that he owes me. I decided not to say anything because, judging by how demented the kid is, his folks wouldn’t even be able to afford his treatment.

Fooled, By an 8 Year-Old

     It was a peaceful evening and everything was in order. When, out of nowhere, my sister yells out: “Prashan drew a mustache on all my posters!” you might I think that I would, but this time, I actually didn’t… so while explained to my mom that it wasn’t me, and it was probably one of my sister’s irresponsible, immature, little friends, she grounded me for “lying” to her and for “insulting” the monsters my sister calls “best friends”. So while I stormed off to my room, I was thinking of the most devious plan.

     As most of you know, there are some objects that electrocute you when you click on a specific trigger. My sister had a pen that does that. So I had a simple plan in mind, switch the pens that my sister had and place the new, electrifying pen on her desk. That way when I ask her to draw something with a pen (which she usually does), and make her click on her fate….

     After homework; actually, after everything was done, it was time to put the plan in action. I go to my sister’s room and kindly ask her to draw a cow. But, she had the pen on her hand, have I missed the torture, have missed the suffering that would have been witnessed? No, she hasn’t found out about it. I ask her why she doesn’t use the pen I snuck into her desk. She said that it wouldn’t open. I took the pen and clicked onto my fate instead.

     The electrocution had a more stinging effect than I had remembered. I look at her, and she immediately told me her diabolical plan. She knew the pen was the secret object my grandfather gave her, she knew that I was trying to get revenge; she knew that I would click on that pen. After she had told me about that, she ran to my mom and twaddle tailed again. After my mom screamed at me again, I walked back to my room thinking of how prudent I was to fall for a dumb trick….

     I confess that if you try to get revenge, don’t do it because it will come back and bite you in the ass; 3 times harder. So I’m pretty much confessing that I’ll never try to get revenge on someone… only if it’s necessary.

Still Lackadaisical

He was in his room,
freedom has been confiscated,
thinking of so many ways,
to mutiny,
still learning to embark,
on that journey of his.

His image, still needs to be depicted,
learning how to pilfer for it survival,
yet, not conscientious.
Still on that slovenly stage,
willing to show audacity.

Still causing rankles,
to other people,
never serene.

Still lackadaisical,
still chained to the house,
that he calls a nightmare.

Why rebuke,
on prudency,
why do you always have
that inkling, that the person is wrong….

Oh Holden

I see you rotting
in that madman place,

I see you
being modest, honest, and a liar.

I hear you
tell us your devastating story,

I hear you criticize;
criticize your brother, your father, your mother.

I see you, I hear you,
behave like a child, act irresponsible, and act immature.

I see you wanting to raise the white flag,
I hear you scream,
but your ignored, unacknowledged.

I see you chained
to that place of insanity.

Oh Holden, if only
you listened, you heard, you saw,
you wouldn’t be telling us,
about your tragedy.

Book Report: Ranger's Apprentice 2: The Burning Bridge

     Ranger’s Apprentice 2, the Burning Bridge, by John Flanagan, is currently one of the most interesting books I’ve read so far. So the author, John Flanagan, was born in Sydney, Australia (May 22, 1944). His written 9 other books and they are all a sequel to Ranger’s Apprentice. These books are the only thing that made him famous; and they are already making a movie based on the first book: Ranger’s Apprentice 1 Ruins of Gorlan.

     The main character of the story are: Will, Horace, Gilan, Halt, Evelyn, Erak, Morgarath, and Alyss; but the main protagonist is Will. Will might still be learning how to be a Ranger, but he still does a great job at doing it. His likes to help, and when his friends are in trouble, he’ll do anything to rescue them. So you can also say that Will is very honest, almost never lies about anything. The same goes for Halt, who is a grim and cruel mentor to Will; but during the book, you find out that his actually a nice person in the inside. Gilan used to be Halt’s student. But, Rangers only use bow and arrows, and a small dagger in case the enemy came close; Gilan, on the other hand, was trained onto using a sword. So you could say that Gilan is the only Ranger that wields a sword. He is very nice and nothing like Halt.

     Evelyn is a mistress, who assumed her maids identity because she’s the daughter of the king. She is very friendly and for some reason she felt comfortable around Rangers. Erak is a Skandian, a separate tribe that is introduced in this book. He most of the time is very mean and cruel, but when he captured Will and Evelyn, he showed sympathy and mercy. He and his army saved them from Morgarath (and coincidentally, they worked with Morgarath to invade Araluen and conquer it). Speaking of Morgarath, he is the villain of the book. He desperately wants to conquer Araluen (the kingdom where Will and his friends are from) and he bargained with Skandians help him with his second attempt. Horace is one of Will’s best friends. He very trustworthy and always curios…. Alyss is a very polite mannered person. I found her quite annoying because she was always correcting your grammar… like your mom/dad does.

     The theme of the book was to always rely on your friends when you desperately need help. The moral value of the story was to never abandon a friend in need, especially if that friend saved your life more than 3 times. The other value that the book showed was to never feel guilty if something happened to his friend; if you do, it could lead you into some serious problems.

     I think the plot was handled very well; there were only some unnecessary descriptions in the book. Apart from the cliffhanger that author left (which has tempted me to read the third book), the conflict of the book was when Will discovered Morgarath’s battle plans, but suddenly found out that they were phony (when he was with Horace and Evelyn) and had to somehow alert the castle of this discovery.

     Will and his mentor, Halt, are in the field riding back to their home (Araluen). They encountered 3 Wargals (Morgarath’s army) along the way and killed them. But while Will endeavored to kill the last Wargal, he panicked and was almost hit by the Wargal if it wasn’t for Tug (Will’s Horse) who blocked the hit. When the whole mess was over, they acquired Morgarath’s battle plans. Seeing how Will never acted like that, Halt decided to send him with Gilan and Horace to Celtica and warn them about the war that was going to take place in 2 weeks; according to Morgarath’s battle plans.

     While Will, Horace, and Gilan went to Celtica, it was completely deserted. Gilan knew that Celtica wouldn’t do this unless they were attacked because, if Celtics moved, they wouldn’t have left their valuables; but on the other hand, there wasn’t any sign of a fight. She claimed to be the maid of her mistress. Her name was Evelyn. She confirmed Gilan’s prediction and told them where the Celts were; but most likely captured by now. Gilan Decided to investigate this more so he went deeper into Celtica, while Will and Horace took Evelyn back to Araluen. Along the way, they encountered more Wargals and followed them to a cave and a bridge that the Celts were constructing (by force).

     Will went into the cave and discovered that Skandians had been working with Morgarath. As he returned back to Evelyn and Horace, he encountered a dyeing Celtic. He questioned him about the bridge and he finds out that the bridge was used for crossing the Three Step Pass (a passage that takes you to Araluen, but couldn’t be crossed). He also finds out that the battle plans that he and Halt were phony and Morgarath was going to attack from the front with Wargals, and from the back with Skandians. While he told this discovery to Horace and Evelyn, Evelyn suggests that they should burn down the bridge. So as they did that, Horace went back to Araluen to warn them.

     While Will and Evelyn tried to burn down the bridge (and succeeded), they were captured by Skandians and were enslaved by them. Horace got to Araluen in time to warn everybody about the new attack. While he was there, he met Gilan who too, returned. Then Gilan told the king about Evelyn, who actually turned out to be the king’s daughter assuming her maid’s identity, Cassandra. So as the king still had hope for his daughter, he sent some of his men to kill the Skandians and to kill Morgarath; who has no clue that the king discovered his diabolical plan. So when the fight was over, Morgarath surrendered and challenged Halt to a 1 hand combat. Morgarath has some hatred towards Halt because Halt sabotaged Morgarath’s last attempt to take over Araluen. As much as Halt wanted to accept, the king kept on telling him not to. In the end, Horace challenged him by mistake.

     Somehow, Horace defeated him with luck, but was still injured in the fight. After the fight was over, Halt races across the fields for Will, which was being taken with Evelyn to the Skandian ships. The ships will take them to their territory, which is known to us as Antarctica.

     So this all that I’m going to tell you about the book because I don’t want to ruin the ending for you. Even though this book (262 pages) was short and easy, it included a lot of action, drama, mystery, and a very interesting ending. I recommend it to anyone who loves to read books that pertain to those qualities and love to read about fantasy fiction novels.

My Mother

Is Indian,
is Japanese,
with a touch
of British.

My mother is a peacock,
a lioness when I’m bad,
an angel when I’m good,
a famous chef when I’m hungry.

My mother is a teacher,
when it comes to homework,
an astrologer shaping my future,
a doctor when I’m ill.

A friend when I’m in need of help,
an unpaid chauffeur,
that takes me to the movies,
a bank, when I need to waste money.

I Hate It When People Wake You Up

1.       I hate Spanish class. It’s not the teacher or anything; it’s just the language… I prefer English, not Spanish.

2.       I love cheese. I don’t know why people hate it; I mean, it tastes so good, and especially if it’s in say, a burger or hotdog.

3.       Some people love being sick to skip school and stuff; but, I actually hate being sick. You always stay at home; not doing anything at all, always taking medicine which I end up forgetting, and worst of all, feeling like crap….

4.       Okay, so I like little kids and all, but I hate it when they just stare at you like as if their mind has gone completely blank and starts to wonder: “Is that kid 13??”, “Is he taller than me???.”

5.       I hate it when someone (my parents) has to wake me up because I had to wake up at some point. I mean, I don’t care if it’s 1:30 PM or 2:00. Oh and I hate it when my parents send my sis to wake me up. She literally pushes me off the bed, and if that doesn’t work, I guess a little water will work….

6.       No matter what time I sleep in the day, and then the next day or… hours, still make me extremely sleepy. So I’m sorry Mrs. Meadows for not being able to read properly when I have to read at loud….

Memoir Monday-Charging Your Mind

     I walk in Mrs. Brown’s- woops, sorry. Mrs. Meadows room. So it’s a typical morning, and everything seemed to go all right. I here Mrs. Meadows say: “Okay, comparative analysis.” I take my laptop and open it. As usual, Nicholas makes a face to the noises my computer makes- turning on, logging in, successfully logging in, and last but not least, Skype. I open my document, and then Matthew suddenly asks for my laptop. He was holding a USB, so I knew it was because of two reasons:

1.       He needs to print something

2.       He needs to revise something.

     Since I don’t have a portable printer (ruin our lives) I guess he needs to revise. I gave him my laptop for about 20 minutes. Then oh shit, forgot to change the battery plan from high performance, to power saver. So when I got my laptop back, the battery was from 80%, now down to a 34%. Okay, so it might last. After 30 minutes (I think it was 9:28) Mrs. Meadows asks me to read my comparative analysis. I’m sure everyone knows this by now, I hate reading out loud; especially if the work is done by me. So while I was praying for some miracle to happen, I read my topic sentence. About halfway of reading it, my laptop just went black. Laptop has officially gone to forced stand-by and won’t turn on until I put the charger in. After explaining what just happened, I hear Mrs. Meadows words reverberate in my ears: “Bring a charger!” Then I hear the words that I had hoped for: “Time is up”. And I had Matthew to thank for that. So after that day, I learnt that bringing your charger helps your laptop stay alive for the rest of the day, even if it means saving your life by not reading out loud in class. J

Free Spamming For Everyone!

     Okay, homework was done and I still have spare time. I click on Facebook, first post I see is Dyvons: Is there free clothes day tomorrow? I completely forgot about that… so I put in his status (exact words… don’t criticize about the grammar Nicholas): “IDK lemme check”. So I open my Skype. Oh cool, Matthew is online; I’ll ask him. I type: “Matthew, you there??” No answer. I decided to bug him: “if you’re not online, then I’ll spam you, you there?” No answer…. “MATEITO! ARE YOU THERE????” No answer. Then I wrote: “fine then, let the spamming begin” Then I began to write random phrases and letters till he answered. He wrote: “OMFG 140 notifications! Are you crazy” Then I wrote: “Okay so my question is, IS THERE FREE CLOTHES DAY?!?” he answered “NOO, I didn’t go to the freaking meeting… remember?” then I wrote: “whatever”.

     Then my blackberry rang… facebook, someone must have answered. I open up facebook. Stephanie Hue: “ohh no, Anna (well I think it was her because Dyvon had to go and delete all of the comments….) told me that there wasn’t any.” Okay, no free cloths day, got it. Then out of nowhere, AJ comes in and suddenly comments: “I know what we should do, since Dyvon isn’t answering, let’s spam.” Then he spells out spam and a bunch of other words in each comment. So in Skype, mostly everyone involved in the conversation was like AWW CRAP why is it AJ who usually starts to spam when the host isn’t answering. Then we ended up spamming Dyvon until he answered; which lasted about 10 minutes because apparently, Dyvon was online the whole time….

Why Won't You Stop Nicholas!?!?!

     Ah yes, its facebook; a place where people love to be affable or despondent. So I make a simple status (no way for anyone to criticize on) “Go Brazil!!” People, of course, will object to that. Next day, 3 notifications; all from that person, the person who calls himself a sage, the person who causes abhor to everyone in facebook, the irascible person was Nicholas Brands Smit. The person who has to go on an interminable tirade on every status…. Now, why are all critics like this? I mean, if it doesn’t involve you, don’t say anything at all. I open my status; all I can see is a huge profound paragraph (possibly 2 pages long) describing how my status was amiss, and how imperative it is for Netherlands to win. Now I think critics like Nicholas live in a very reclusive life. The only way they can interact with anyone in any way is to criticize on what people say. Now I see people entreating Nicholas to stop haunting their facebook.

     But no, Nicholas has to go on and on how Maradona is a drug abuser and how Argentina is going to play like crap this world cup…. Then when someone finally proves him wrong, Nicholas comes out of nowhere and derives a link from Google; describing how his right, and how the person failed and how he should get a life. Well, critics like Nicholas should get a life themselves… I mean, they complain about how we don’t have a life when the critics themselves are sitting in the computer 24/7 looking for their next prey.

Yes Nicholas, Grammar isn't Everything

1.       I get extremely annoyed when Nicholas has to “criticize” everything that people say, and how he just has to write a tirade just to prove one point.

2.       I hate it when I’m in the bus and people just start singing out loud while the song the is playing. I mean, there are people trying to sleep and people who want listen to their own music *cough* me.

3.       A lot of people think I’m addicted to MW2. Truth is that I’ve actually gotten bored of MW2, and now I don’t play the PS3 much; and when I play, it’s mostly Assassin’s Creed 2.

4.       Okay, so me and my sis got new TV’s. That’s good and everything, but the truth is, I’m actually a bit jealous of her. I’ve got a plasma, and my sister got a TV that is the size of a computer desktop; but her resolution is a lot better than my plasma….

5.       I hate typing with correct grammar. I actually prefer typing/writing with short and easy words, like bcus (because), and yes Nicholas, even if it means to leave out one letter.

6.       So fireworks are nice and everything, but if I’m too close to where they shoot fireworks, I try to run away to a much longer, safer distance. And all because of what to me at camp….

7.      Last Saturday, when I made popcorn, it wasn't a pleasant sight. I almost caught my new microwave on fire; and all because I put the timer to 2 min.

Rash

I hopelessly look at my medicine, not finding the energy to get up and to take them after I’ve been tucked in. As the days went by, red dots began to pervade my left and right arms. After one week of complaining about my “red dots”, it even spread onto my face. Even as this irascible rash spread thought my body, I have still ignored my medicine.

     It’s been one week already, one whole week of no school; all, because of this annoying rash. Finally, I decide to take my new “doctors prescribed medicine”. Day by day, the rash began to disappear. By the time day 3 had been instilled into my memory, my rash was gone, school had been a part of my life again, and most importantly, I didn’t sit around my house doing nothing anymore… and I have my medicine to thank for that. That day I learned that medicine actually helped you and wasn’t just a waste of time.

She was Perfect

He stares into her face;

Her eyes

Blue as a sapphire,

And her hair

Was golden.

She was perfect

He wants to move,

He wants to speak,

Yet, he doesn’t do anything.

Now she looks at him.

He hides

His, now red face

She gossips to her friend,

He conjectured,

That it was about him.

The sound of her voice,

Was as sweet as honey.

She now walks over to him.

He tries to run,

He tries to pretend his invisible,

But,

He doesn’t do that.

Instead he looks into her,

He endeavors to make out a “Hi”

But his efforts have succumbed,

As she walks right past him

And flirts, with the other boy.

Wordly Wise Wednesday: Dear Diego...

          Guess Who
Bruce Woodbury Beltway
Las Vegas, Nevada 89081
   September 8th, 2010




Dear Diego,


Hey, what’s up? I’ve got a lot of things to tell you about my trip to Vegas. I guess what I’m about to tell you are stuff I just can’t wait to say. Like how we saw a strip club while we were waiting for the new show called V. By the way, the people in Vegas are so spontaneous. I mean, half the people here are drunk either in the morning or in the afternoon. Oh and I even a met a famous writer who wrote many anthologies.

While I was walking by the streets, there would be people handing out cards that had phone numbers on hookers (I kind of realized this when I looked down at the floor and the saw the cards thrown out). I guess almost no one took the cards and called the hookers because they probably thought that the hookers might be guile towards the caller and steal all of his cash. Then the next day, I saw the same people doing the same thing. From their disposition, I guess that they’ve been doing the same thing every single day; and by the heat that is introduced to Vegas every day, I’m pretty surprised that they haven’t passed out.


From,
Anonymous

Things You Never Knew About Me

1. I honestly think that what we are doing (Confession Tuesday) is really stupid. I mean, who really wants to tell people about their confessions; it’s supposed to be a secret kept to ourselves….

2. Before, people would always call me Prashy. But, as time went on, people started to call me by my normal name… Prashan. Well I admit that I kind of miss being called Prashy.

3. I like to listen to any type of music; except for those retarded Justin Bieber songs, those Jonas Brothers songs…. Pretty much everything my sister listens to.

4. Every time someone tells me a joke, and when they finish saying, I most of the time, pretend to laugh at their jokes. Don’t take it seriously; it’s not you, it’s just that I’m not in the mood to talk/laugh when you say those perverted or the normal jokes.

5. When I put save on this document, my laptop froze. And after 10 min. of trying to unfreeze it, it reboots; where as making me, redo this whole confessions again.

6. I never study for a quiz/test, and I always manage to get an A or B as a result for not studying.

7. A lot of people think that I love math, and they also think that’s one of the reason why I’m good at it, but the truth is, I actually hate math and I find it to be torture for me to do it for homework every single day of my life.

Memoir Mondays: Injections

     I used to think that injections were for when your parents got angry and you got and injection as a punishment. Unfortunately, when I was younger, it would be a coincidence for me to get my parents angry and have an appointment for a blood test or a vaccine the next day or week. I started to realize this when I started to trouble my parents less and less as I grew up. I started to realize that this wasn’t true when I was about 5 or 6 years-old.
     It all happened when I was at home. I was being a good boy, bringing in good grades, behaving good, etc. Then, out nowhere, my mom would tell me that I had a doctor’s appointment (I was sick then). The next day, while we were in the car, I would ask my mom if I had behaved good or bad. She would tell me that I was a good boy and the last time I behaved badly was about 2 months ago….Then I would think that it was a new record and that she’s keeping track of all the things I did bad and, let’s just say, “returned the favor” to her for making her angry….

Finally, I asked her why she was giving me the injections and she told me the truth. The truth about getting an injection wasn’t really because I was behaving badly; but because it was necessary for my health. That day taught me that I didn’t get injections because of my bad behavior, but for my health and for helping me to prevent from getting sick.

Slice of Life Thursday- The Worst P.E Class Anyone Could Ask For

I walk into the gym, talking to Caterina about the small pen she found. All of a sudden, Coach Henter says, “Prashan, give me the phone in your pocket.”

“What! What makes you think that I have my phone in my pocket” I reply knowing that she was right.

Then Eduardo interrupts, “Because it looks like a square in your pocket”. Of course, Eduardo had to be the one who got my blackberry confiscated…. So after she told me that I could get it back at the end of the day from Mrs. Scott, I walk into the big gym; where of course, people were complaining about their confiscated cell phones. Then Coach Dean came to my group (group 3) and tells us that since it’s raining, we have to play Frisbee in the small gym. Okay, we might hate playing Frisbee, but playing INDOORS is WORSE. And it wasn’t in the big gym; it was in the small gym.

So after agreeing to that, and changing our clothes to our usual P.E uniform, we went to the small gym. Teams were picked, everything was set, and we started playing. Then all of a sudden, the 3rd graders show up and mess the whole thing up. So we ended up being in G3; playing ping pong, chasing Alejandro all around the room to get the racket from him, and playing with jump ropes.

I mean, could I ask for a better day….

Confession Tuesday

                                                           My List of Confessions

1. I forgot to take my medicine and each time I remember, I never find the energy to get up and take it.

2. I never comb my hair when I come out of the shower on the weekend.

3. I’m not much of a dancer.

4. I always leave my homework last minute.

5. I always forget to read my book.

6. I want to completely shave off my mustache (even though my parents aren’t letting me do that until I’m 15…)

7. I drew a mustache on every Justin Bieber and Jonas Brothers poster in my sister’s room (only when I was very angry at her).

8. I wish that every single piece of meat was healthy (like bacon, ham, beef, pork, etc.) so that I could eat it every day.

9. I suck at analyzing poems…

10. The new 3-D is terrible… I miss the old 3-D when things would just pop out of the screen and into your face.

11. I ALWAYS chew gum in class.

Victim's/ Hostage's Point of View

     It’s been six hours now; six hours of being held as a hostage. The suspect was clad with many clothing articles to disguise his appearance; most importantly, his grimace look that I simulated in my mind. He seemed to be very gingerly because of the many cops that surround the shop. It was taking too long for the cops to storm in and save the day. I knew that sooner than later, I would have to do something about this madman. I take a cursory inventory of what can create an abrasion gruesome enough to make him unable to move when I hit him. The only thing I could see was a plastic sword for kids…



     Now, I don’t know if that’s going to pierce his skin; but from my experience, it could be VERY painful if hit with enough of force, and it was the closest thing next to me; all of the lethal things were next to him-kitchen knives, forks, etc. Now I hope for a distraction, a type of distraction that may make him look away from me. Then, there’s an explosion at the back door. He immediately gets up and run towards me. By the time the cops made their way to us, he had a gun right next to my head. Finally, there was another explosion at the front door; but we were already expecting that from TV shows and movies.


     Then he knew that he was outnumbered. He tilts his head up, and sees how many cops there really are. One of the cops sees that he got distracted, and reacts instantaneously. He shoots the suspect in the leg. But unfortunately, you know how the phrase, if I go down, you go down with me. So he made an endeavor to shoot me on the chest. I felt my blood dehydrate my body. I knew that my life had succumbed; but I surmised that him holding me as hostage, and him shooting me would corroborate enough to put him at least ten years in jail. I close my eyes and see pitch black. All of the sudden I feel an electrifying feeling, feeling that made me open my eyes. I see the ceiling; I turn around and see two cops with defibrillator.

Sick

     I walk over to my mom’s room. Right before I go in, I make my face look as if I was sick. I look at my mom, and tell her my symptoms- stomachache, headache, pain in the chest, and that I couldn’t swallow. Then she said the magic words that I hoped she would say- “You’re not going to school tomorrow”.

     The next morning I would wake up with my mom right next to me. She gave me an antibiotic pill; I swallowed it. After 20 minutes, I ran to the bathroom. Suddenly all of the symptoms that I had told my mom had been attacking me; but worse. When it was over, I go to my mom and tell her the truth; the truth about me acting like I was sick to avoid school. I can tell she got very angry. She told me that I could have died for lying like that. That day changed my life. Now I know that the next time I act like I’m sick, it could cost me my life….

What I Hope Will Happen This Year

There’s an unread, ignored, and forgotten book on my bed;
waiting to be read.
This year I hope
to be more of a book worm. Get back
to the books that were left behind,
those that were half-way finished,
undone
or those that weren’t even read
at all…

A PS3 controller
was lying on my desk;
always played with
and never taking a rest.
This year
I plan to leave my PS3 controller behind,
and be introduced
to the real world.
Start to play more sports
that aren’t in the virtual world,
use the bicycle
that hasn’t been admired in years,
and, to get a breath of fresh air.

The six-stringed instrument
was in my closet;
untouched,
unplayed.
Its melody,
not being able to touch
other people’s hearts.
This year
I plan to play the guitar more.
I’m going to release the melody
that’s trapped within the guitar
and make it shine
above
the other instruments.

Nutritious snacks
were on the table,
calling
for my attention.
Instead,
I ignored it
and gave my complete attention
to junk food.
This year, I plan to devour
healthy foods
and ignore
junk food;
like it was meant to be.

For years now,
people have made remarks
over my uncut,
untrimmed,
and unshaved mustache.
This year,
I plan on shaving my mustache completely.
Only then,
the remarks will stop.