Phoebe Day

Mrs. Miller

Publishing Class

September 30, 12

Birthday

The most important date I will always remember is, 9/29/00.  My birthday was last Saturday. I was looking forward to this day for months and months. I was finally 12 years old. The age of everyone else in my grade. I woke up early and I felt older. I was with my friend and I was ready to take on the day right as my alarm went off.  We walked over to breakfast and I ate a big meal. While eating, many people complimented me by saying happy birthday. 

        Although most people stay up until they were born, I didn’t.  I couldn't stay up until 3:44 because I had had a party that night and I had so much sugar that I was so tired.  My friend and I went to bed at around 11:00 PM and we were fast asleep right as we jumped in our beds. The whole day was wonderful! 

         Right after breakfast, we went over to the turf and played FH for about 3 hours. We then waddled over to my mom’s office, very sore.  Right  after that, we went over to lunch where we, again, ate a big meal.  Time flew and it was already 1 o’clock. Mariah and I sprinted over to the turf to watch the varsity FH game to learn a thing or two.  It was a very fun time! She eventually left and I was left at the turf. Then my other friend popped out of know where and we hung out at the gym. I was at the gym until 5:30 PM. The night went by quickly after eating popcorn while watching a movie at my neighbor’s house. The day was AWESOME!!

Autumn- By Liesl

clear blue skies
over
red turning leave
green-gold fronds
kissed by Autumn's
tender lips.

Patchy green fields
turning bronze
beneath Jack Frost's breath.

The smell of smoke
drifts on cool crisp winds.

I remember
apples turning red
leaves brittle
and raked into large piles.

I smell winter
a colder gust
brought by Northern Wind
reminds me of snow
soon to come.

Autumn in New Hampshire by Lindsay

                 New Hampshire defines "beauty" when autumn rolls around. Different colored leaves adorn the trees that sit upon the rounded mountains, and the crinkle-crunch sound of stepping on leaves becomes a familiar noise.
                 In autumn, it seems that the air always smells of crisp apples, ready to be picked from some of the orchards here. A surplus supply of apples usually means there is going to be homemade apple crisp for dessert--yum.
                 Oh, how great it feels to live in such a beautiful place, with open country all around and plenty of trails in the forest to walk, the branches intertwined and the different shades of color looming overhead, and a layer of fallen leaves covering the ground.
                  Oh, my beloved New Hampshire.

The Artichoke

The tantalizing aroma fills my nose. Steam wafts up from it like tentacles reaching to the sky. Water drips off of the dark green leaves. It is smooth and in the shape of a ball. I tear off a piece and dip it in the sauce. Hungrily I scrape off the "meat" with my upper teeth. An explosion of flavor hits my mouth, satisfying every taste bud. I sigh in happiness. I quickly devour the succulent vegetable, stopping when I get to the delicate heart. After tearing off each hair, I bite in to the rich heart. It tastes delicious.

Little Red Riding Hood Poem-Elizabeth

Little Red 

Little Red was walking

through the woods one day.

She carried a basket and wore a cloak

and skipped and sang away.

She was on her way to see

her sick old Granny dear

and she set out on her journey

without a single fear.

While she was walking,

Red was greeted by a creature.

A spitting, sputtering, drooling wolf

who really wanted to eat her.

She stopped to pick some flowers

and kindly share some wine and cake.

For Little Red didn’t realize

the wolf’s big stomach ached.

He followed her through the forest

and quickly snuck ahead.

He ate her poor old Granny

and hopped into her bed.

When Red arrived at Granny’s

the wolf called for her to enter.

She came in and the wolf swallowed her down

and licked his lips, “So tender!”

The mean grouchy wolf was satisfied

with his evening snack.

But a kind old man saw everything

and that man was a lumberjack.

He stormed into the cottage

and disturbed the wolf’s quick rest.

He cut him open and saved the two

and killed the foul pest.

Red and Granny thanked him

and he told them to stay secure.

They would keep away from wolves,

that, they knew for sure.

 Little Red Riding Hood had been through

many, many dangers.

But after this incident,

she learned to never speak to strangers.

*I thought it would be fun to complete a piece from one of our first classes. Please give me suggestions so I can finalize it.

The Beach

Salty air
Shovels, motes, and castles
grains of sand squeeze between toes
waves wash them clean
heels sink deeper
children yelling, cheering having fun
happiness surrounds me
I smile

Dentists

Scrape. Cringe
Scrape. Cringe
the grinidng
of metal against enamal
makes me want to crawl
out of my own skin
away from that atrocious noise.
Poke. Ouch.
Poke. Ouch.
Dentist pokes metal tool
against tender gum,
already sore
from too much poking
Tickle. Flinch.
Tickle. Flinch.
water and toothpaste
spray my face
as she works the toothbrush
around my mouth.
Ugh. Mom.
Ugh. Mom
you know how much
I dislike
going to the dentists.

Last Day of Summer scene

             The soft thuds of the boy's bare feet running on the grassy earth is mixed with my mom's voice, calling his name. As he was out fishing with his friends at the pond, I spent my day basking out in the sun, drinking sweet ice-cold lemonade and reading a book. But now, as the sun goes down, and the smell of my mom's cooking wafts through the house to my nose, I know that tomorrow, summer is basically over, and backpacks will need to be set out, lunches will need to be made, and alarm clocks will need to be turned on, prior to returning to school the next morning. 

              As soon as school starts, the air has a different, autumnal feel to it. It's kind of hard to describe, but when walking through town, the ambience has a chillier, more down-to-earth feel to it, instead of the more outgoing atmosphere during the summer when the sun would beat down and the gentle breeze coming off of the lake would brush against your face. I'm going to miss those days. Only 180 days until I get introduced to summer once again.

              "You did your summer math, right?" My mom is asking my brother a question in the kitchen. Even from my room upstairs I hear him groan.

Gamer's Lament

It seems I have no life
playing video games in the dark.
And when I play Xbox online
I make many rude remarks.

I only stop to eat and sleep
and I never get any fresh air.
The curtains are closed to stop sunlight
from leaking into my lair.

My skin is pale, my hands are sweaty
as I franticly press the buttons.
Dandruff falls from my head
and I smell like rotten mutton.

My pupils are wide as watch the screen
easily beating a level.
But then I lose and I freak out
my rage and anger equal to the devils.

I think I should quit at video games,
and move out of my parents basement.
Maybe try to find a job somewhere
Real life--I'm about to face it.


by Noa

             What Must I Do?-Elizabeth

What must I do
to tell you I love you?
What must I say
to make you understand?

Must I bring you to the beach
and write it in the sand?
Must I spell it out
among the stars?

Don't you hear what I'm saying?
Why don't you understamd?
Can't you see it?
You're hurting me.

Must I fly you around the world
and spell it out in the most romantic places?
Must I rearrange the planets
and oceans and forests, in the shape of a heart?

I'll write you a note
and I'll leave it on you pillow.
So that when you read it before bed, you can
dream about how much

I love you.

Obama

Five students.  1 teacher, and many smiles.  The publishing class was invited to see Barack Obama and many others speak.  The day of the event was a Friday afternoon.  We had to leave school pretty early.  So I got to school that morning at around 7:20.  I wanted to get there early so that I could grab my books.  The 6 of us all gathered in the parking lot of our school in well-dressed clothes.  We all were very excited for this event! So without further of due, we hopped in the car and got on our way. The drive was about an hour and 45 minutes.  On our way, we stopped at Dunkun Donuts and got refreshments and something to eat.  Finally we got there and it was packed. We took a shuttle that took us to the field where he was speaking.  We had to wait in line for a long time.  An hour had past and we were past the medal detectors and the security and found our places to sit for a little while.  We knew that it was going to be a wait until they started speaking so we got out our notebooks and started writing.  That was what we were there for anyway. It didn’t take as long as I expected because after writing for about 5 minutes, they started talking and we all stood up. A few people that I didn’t know started talking about their experience of voting the past year for Obama and how they think that everyone should vote for Obama.  Then one more person talked about kind of the same thing, then he finished his speech.  There was a very long wait until the next speech so we sat down and wrote some more.  I looked up and saw everyone start standing up again so I followed everyone’s lead.  All of a sudden a man came up and introduced Joe Biden! He came running onto the stage!!!   He seemed like a very nice man.  He talked for about 15 minutes then said,” Now I’m about to introduce a man who is very similar to the man that they’re going to bring to the stage.”  I knew that that meant something good was about to happen; so I got out my friend’s video camera and started videoing.  I was so happy that the camera started shaking and I started sweating even more!  Finally, as the music came on, Joe said, “NOW INTRODUCING… GOVERNOR, JOHN LYNCH!” Even though I had already seen him a lot and met him in person 3 times, it still made me excited and I still yelled and screamed very loudly.  John Lynch talking for about the same amount of time.  I didn’t see it coming but all of a sudden, he repeated Joe Biden by saying,” NOW, INTORUCING… THE MAN YOU ALL CAME HERE TO SEE… YOUR PRESIDENT, BARACK, OBAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”  You wont even believe how loud it got!! I screamed louder than I have ever screamed before. I couldn’t even believe that I was so close to the president of the United States!  I took so many videos of his various speeches that I think I finished all of my friend’s memory on her camera.  During one of his speeches I could have sworn that he looked right at me.  So I waved at him and he smiled and gave me a little nod.  I felt shivers go down my back. I was also a little surprised that I understood what he was talking about.  I was very interested about what he had to say.  It made me really want to vote for him even though I’m not old enough.  After the whole speech Joe Biden, John Lynch, and Michelle Obama and Jill Biden walked out and got pictures taken.  We went out and stood in line for the shuttles.  3 hours past and the busses had finally come and we got in our car and drove.  We stopped for ice cream and the small was 7 SCOOPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We got home and it was the best day ever!! But the bummer was that I couldn’t make it to my FH game and they lostL but we have plenty other games to make and not plenty times to see Obama J

Thanksgiving 2009--Liesl

One of my most favorite, funniest memories was when my family, my cousins, and my grandparents headed down to South Carolina for Thanksgiving one year. My cousins had a house down there, so we rented a house that was about a 15 minute bike ride from theirs.

Our house was a light blue, one story house with a central room that was two stories high, and all the rooms branched off from that. Outside was a line of palm trees that gave the house some privacy from the road the ran in front of it. The foliage was thick, and the Spanish moss hanging down from the branches gave the impression that you were in a jungle somwhere far away from the rest of the world. The beach wasn't far away, and we could ride our bikes there whenever we wanted to. I remember being happy, just hanging out with my family and having fun in the ocean, but the best time I had was after Thanksgiving dinner.

All the grown-ups were in the dining room lingering over dinner, but the four kids: me, Lilly, Gus, and Mae had escaped to Gus and Mae's bedroom. All of us had been given multiple servings of apple pie and ice cream, so we were all on a sugar high, not to mention bored. We started off by playing hide and seek, and one thing escalated into another, and soon we were jumping between beds, dislodging mattresses and generally making a huge mess.

After about an hour, my grandparents came in to tell us that it was time to go home. They were dismayed to find that they couldn't open the door. Because, when a mattress had slid off the bed, wedging itself between the bed and the door, we had unintentionally locked ourselves in. Our grandparents managed to get the door open enough to tell us to move the mattress and let them in. The look of shock on their faces when they saw the mess was enough to make anyone laugh.

Untitled-- for now CONTINUED--Lindsay

                              (Beginning of) Chapter 2

              The distant sound of jumbled conversations travels throughout the long vehicle. Only a few other kids are on the bus, besides me, and I am slightly disappointed because I was genuinely hoping the background noise would disrupt my negative thinking. Instead, though, I sit back and allow my thoughts to wander and drift wherever they please.
               There were a lot of things I wasn't thinking about-- homework that I didn't do, forgetting to eat breakfast this morning. Those normal, everyday thoughts had no place in my mind today. It wasn't a regular day, although I wish it was.
                As I sit up straighter in my seat, I realize one thing: there is no way I can even try to avoid my problems. I am going to have to face the facts and find a way to deal with my emotions. No matter how many mood swings wash over me today, I will be prepared. I will get through the day.


Chapter 2 will be continued.
This is my first draft of this, so please comment your suggestions-- they would be super helpful!

....The walls seemed to be rippling like water as they enclosed Claire. Claire stopped 5 yards from the door, gasping for breath as she watched in awe and terror as the walls seemed to undulate like they were liquid. The walls suddenly stopped 5 feet away from her. Out of the wall came a hand. Claire screamed in terror. The had from the wall reached out as if to grab Claire and drag her in to the wall with it. As the hand groped at her, she backed up, cowering.
"This can't be happening. This can't be happening!" Claire repeated to herself, terrified.
As she backed up to the other wall, another hand grabbed her back. She flailed about trying to resist the hand's iron grip as it pulled her closer and closer to the wall. It was too late she was pulled all the way into the wall which seemed to be made of a liquid-like substance. She took one last breath before she was completely engulfed. She felt the liquid like substance everywhere as she accepted her fate. She finally ran out of air and she sunk into darkness.






EDIT: Next week I will post a revised, better version of the WHOLE story

In Need of Title-Elizabeth

Will they remember me?
Thats a stupid question. Of course they will. How could they not? They all hate me. None of them believed me. Tomorrow I'm going back, after 2 years at the other school. I roll over on my stomach and press my forehead into the cool, finished flooring. I close my eyes and try to think about Brian. We have been best friends since kindergarten. He'll be glad to see me, he believed me. But people change.
      I doze on and off but finally  force myself to get up and hastily  jot down  a page long book review that I saved for last minute. I drag myself upstairs to the kitchen and grab an apple. We haven't had dinner together, my dad and me, since he sent me away. He's always at work, not that I care.
      I toss the core in the trash and stomp back down to my room, stopping to look at the picture frame laying on my desk. I pick it up and run my fingers over the rigged glass from when mom threw it at the wall. We were one big family then. Mom, Dad, me, and Sydney. We are all holding hands and standing in the waves of the ocean. My smile is so big, but Sydney's is even bigger. She always had a great smile.
       I was in 5th grade when that picture was taken. Now I'm about to enter 8th. My stomach churns whenever I think about it. I sigh out loud and wrap the picture in an old tee shirt and put it up on the highest shelf in my closet. I slam the closet door and collapse on my bed. I don't even bother to take off my Converse sneakers or even empty the trash like I'm supposed to. Dad won't notice.



(Need suggestions for boy's name!!!)

To Find Who I Am (2) Liesl

To Find Who I Am

How far do I have to go
to find out who I am?
how far am I willing to go?

Do I travel the world?
I can’t though.
I’m too young,
and I don’t have the money
maybe in another twenty-five years.

Do I play twenty questions with myself?
Even though I feel like
I don’t know myself well enough
to even begin
to know where to start?

What do I like?
What do I feel strongly about?
What do I want?
Who do I love?
Who am I?

I have a feeling that I am going to find out soon.
It is like the poet W. I. Thompson said
“When we come to an edge,
we come to a frontier that tells us
we are now about to become more
than we ever have been before”

And I have reached that edge
I have reached that frontier
and I am going to take the leap of faith
I am going to jump
fly into oblivion
and find out
Who
I
am

Puppy Paragraph extended--Phoebe

I feel little, sharp teeth nibbling on my toes.  I pull them away and tend to my little wounds; and watch them move on to the next foot.  Their little, wet noses brush my leg as I pat them on the head. I feel their soft, gentle fur, and pick it up and hug it! I never want to let go.
It was time to pick one. My mom chose first and picked the little one next to my shoe, chewing vigorously. It was then my turn to pick one. I looked around for a long time. I had finally made my decision. It was the darkest fur color, the chubbiest, and the sleepiest. He was sleeping under the wheelbarrow that had brought them all out. I pointed at him and my mom and I looked at each other and knew, that that was the one.

-Phoebe

2 Poems- by Liesl

Emotions

Fury, hate, fear, greed

Swirling torrent overwhelms
Red, black, orange, green
Colors fly
Behind closed eyes
Threatening to devour
Who I am

Excitement, love, joy, hope

Riding on a wave of emotion
Purple, pink, blue, yellow
Colors fly
Behind closed eyes
Drowning out
All the hate



To find who I am

How far do I have to go

To find who I am?
Do I play twenty questions
With myself?
Do I say,
Who are you?
What do you want?
And I tell myself
I know what I want
I want a place
With no hate
A place to love
And be loved

(untitled-- for now) By Lindsay

              My best friend, Jenny Hayes, was kidnapped exactly one year ago at age thirteen. Jenny Hayes was taken at 1:11am by an unknown intruder as she was asleep. How do I know this? On her bedside table was an inscription:

1:11. Gone.
-unknown

Jenny was my best friend. Jenny meant everything to me. Jenny is gone.

             And now, I stand here, waiting for the bus, wearing only some worn out jeans with holes, a windbreaker and old, fallen-apart Nikes, kicking stones across the cracked street on this frigid late-November morning-- the anniversary of my best friend's disappearance. Wiggling my toes to keep them from going numb, I sigh and am thankful that my mind is distracted by the frigid weather so as not to think about anything else too intently. But how can anything really distract me when only a year ago, Jenny and I were standing in this same spot, waiting for the bus to come and drive us to school. Our discussion is still burned into the back of my mind, although I barely even thought about it at the time.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Jenny asks.
I look at her in the corner of my eyes and her green eyes look back at me with great empathy.
"There's this kid," I hesitate, then continue, " He's a ninth grader who goes to our school, and yesterday, as I was walking  to the bus he told me he would beat me up if I didn't give him some cigarettes tomorrow. Today is tomorrow, Jenny. I have no cigarettes." I talk quietly, trying not to make a HUGE deal out of things.
"No worries, my friend. I bet you could take down some ninth grader thug, any day." 
A smirk forms on my lips. 
Jenny always knew what to say.


More coming next week!!!

The House--by Noa

It was dark outside. The wind was blowing as Mark and Claire walked up the pathway. The house was   an old Victorian home and years of being unattended left it in shambles. Legend had it that anyone who set foot in the house never came out. Mark and Claire were about to try their luck. Standing on the porch, Claire hesitated.

"You think the legends are true?" asked Claire

"Heck no! It's just a story to scare little kids," replied Mark confidently

"Yeah, you're right," said Claire.

With that they opened the door. It creaked so loud that Claire jumped.

"Come on you wuss," Mark laughed.

They took a couple steps in and the door slammed shut behind them.

"Must be the wind," said Mark.

They proceeded to go up the stairs to the balcony.

"Hey check it out! It's a bathroom!" Mark said laughing.

He rushed in and mocked sitting on the toilet when suddenly the door shut with a click.

"Mark?" Claire yelled, frightened.

There was no reply. Claire whimpered. Suddenly a bloodcurdling scream emanated from the walls. Claire screamed herself, but was drowned out by the horrid noise. She ran down the stairs, hands over her ears. The scream stopped. The house started to creak. She looked around franticly. Out of nowhere the walls started to squish in as if it were a scene from Star Wars. As she sprinted toward the door she noticed something odd about the walls....

More next Tuesday!