Monday, October 6 - Persona Poem

 

What Is A Persona?

 

It’s another hot day here on the coast,

These days are always my favorite,

These kinds of days are always the best.

It’s perfect for another day for fun in the sun,

And time for rest.

On these special days, I’ll walk on the hot sand,

And let the cool blue ocean waves wash over my legs.

I’ll wear my favorite sun hat and stroll the beach,

My red bikini strapped to my body,

And shoes kicked by the shore,

I’ll spend another day in the waves.

Collecting sea shells in a bucket,

Going for a swim, sitting on the sand, I’ll have as much fun as I can.

A bonfire party at dusk,

The music will play, everyone I know will be there,

And maybe some that I don’t.

I’ll meet them there too.

We’ll dance on the sand and go for a surf,

Laughing, splashing, just being young,

We’ll be wilder than the waves and just as free.

Just like every Saturday, I’ll be relaxing at my home,

The beach.

Monday will come and school will be in,

They can take my week,

They can steal my time,

But they won’t take away my sun or my sand,

Not on my Saturdays at our local beach.

Thursday, October 2 - The Frog Prince

 

The Original Story

 

                On a very beautiful and sunny day, a young girl working on her family’s farm went outside to tend to the farmyard as usual. Slipping on her boots and hat, she set out to get her chores done. Washing the barn, feeding the animals, and plowing the fields, the girl worked for many hours until the sun began to set. The girl, now tired and in need of rest, headed to the family’s nearby pond to wash off her boots and enjoy the sunset before going in for dinner. Scrubbing off the dirt and mud from her boots, the girl sat by the water and looked over the trees towards the orange sky. As she sat there and enjoyed the evening air, a small frog hopped out of the pond and rested next to the girl. She turned to look at the frog as it let out a croak to get her attention.

                The farm girl smiled at the frog and lifted it into her hands, looking at his small green face. “Hey there little guy,” she laughed. “I know I’ve seen many critters such as yourself around this pond before, but you look different than the rest.” The frog merely blinked at the girl. “I’m Melissa by the way,” she spoke. Extending out a pinkie to the frog, she waited for him to introduce himself. The frog dipped his head and put his hand on her finger, as if he were saying hello. “You’re pretty smart for a frog, you know that?” Melissa said. The frog let out a loud boasting croak, making Melissa laugh. “I like you,” she said. “You seem like a nice little guy. Why not come live with me inside for a while? It’s probably nicer than being out in a cold pond at night anyway.” The frog let out a little nod in return to Melissa’s words. With the sun now finally set, Melissa jumped up and dashed back to her farmhouse, the frog closed in her hands.

                After convincing her parents to let their tiny guest stay there for a few days, Melissa and the frog were inseparable. He sat on her shoulder as she worked during the day, swam in the pond at sunset while she sat on the shore, she let him sit next to her at dinner and eat off of her plate, and he would rest on her pillow at night while she slept. On the third morning of this cycle, Melissa woke up to see that the little frog was gone. “Where’d you go little guy? Did you fall off the bed?” Melissa asked in a tone full of worry as she began searching the sheets and under her bed. “Where did you hope off to?” As Melissa’s anxiety began to grow, she heard a gentle knock on her bedroom door. Before she could say a single word, a male voice rang out clearly.

                “Open the door, my farm girl dear; open the door your true love is here. Mind the words that you told me by the pond on the sunset night three nights ago.” Melissa stared blankly at the door as she approached it. Twisting the knob and pulling the wooden slab open, an unexpected visitor stood there. A handsome young boy with the most beautiful green eyes Melissa had ever seen leaned in the door way, a smirk worn on his face. He told her that he had been cursed into being a frog by a spiteful magical creature. “You broke the spell by bringing me into your home and showing me true hospitality for three days and nights. Now, I only have one wish. Not your mother’s pearls, not any family jewels or gold. I want something more precious.”

                “What would that wish be?” Melissa asked, still shocked and in awe about the situation. The boy took her hands and held them tight. Melissa’s cheeks flushed crimson as the boy smiled at her and gently kissed her cheek.

                “You,” said the boy, “have broken this cruel charm, and now I have nothing to wish for but that you should allow me your hand in marriage. We will be wed for as long as we both live.” Not hesitating on her answer, Melissa took him by the hand and rushed down the stairs to tell her parents about the news. Although reluctant at first, the parents respected their daughter’s wish to marry the boy she had come to love deeply. Melissa’s fiancé was welcomed into the family almost immediately. He called his parents had told them of his condition; they both nearly had heart attacks at the news! For the next few years, the boy lived with Melissa on the farm, tending to their eight horses, plucking the feathers off of the chickens, and harvesting the crops. At the right age, Melissa and her handsome love married and lived happily together for many years.

Wednesday, October 1 - Fairy Tale Characters

 

 

Little red hood, bobbing along,

Little girl singing a song

Through the forest and down the road,

Straight down a path to her grandmother’s home.

Smoke burns through the sea of twisted up trees,

Bird song and gunshots can be heard,

Fights on the streets and crimes in the woods,

Little Red, you’re in the hood.

Tiny girl as sweet as can be,

She skips happily and merrily on her way,

To her grandmother’s cottage

On the other side of town,

Straight passed the rugged area of the downtown.

She finally arrives and knocks on the door,

Following a rhythm that’s a secret to the rest,

She opens the door and peers inside,

And sees a scene that she really detests.

The large scary wolf stood in front of her grandma,

His arms out and ready to steal.

“Aw nah I don’t think so,” Tiny red sang.

“You city hoods don’t mess with my gang.”

With just a basket, a twig and some yarn,

Little Red sent the wolf yelping away,

Far far away.

The two sharing a light embrace,

The little red hooded girl said,

“Don’t worry Mama G, I got you.”

Monday, September 29 - I'm Weirded Out

 

The Song That I Listened To While Writing This

 

                “As soon as I arrived, I could sense that something was out of place…” That’s as much as I had typed up on my computer. This was so frustrating for me, I couldn’t think of anything else to write! I mean, of course I could write some suspenseful story following this simple phrase, since this was what I was told to do in class, but nothing is coming to me. October is coming up in just a few short days, so writing a scary story to go with that given prompt would really make sense wouldn’t it? Well, that’s just something that I can’t seem to do right now. Now don’t get me wrong, I love Halloween and I especially love the genre horror. I have a huge soft spot for scary stories and movies, that’s something that I can’t emphasize enough. However, nothing is really coming to me. Looking around the room, it seems like a lot of people are already done with their stories. I bet their tales are creepy or dramatic, but me? Nah, I don’t think so. I mean, we were told to write a story starting with the given phrase, so I don’t think that I’m doing anything wrong here. Why not write a story describing how hard it is to write a story? It’s still a story isn’t it?     

                As far as I’m concerned, I’m pretty sure that I’m thinking out of the box here. Sure, writing a generic scary story to follow the prompt is something that I could do, but why not do the opposite of what people will expect? Maybe a few of my peers ditched the simple and expected scary story idea like I did, but do you think anyone else in the room was crazy enough to do what I did? I don’t think so. This is creative writing, so why not get a little more creative? The word is in the class description anyway. Heck, it’s even in the title! You other writers hearing or reading this know what it’s like to have writers block. It really sucks! So that’s why I decided to let me story take a different turn.  A little bit of laughter goes a long way, so maybe I could get a few chuckles out of writing this.

Thursday, September 25 - Bad Mistake

 

Keep Kids Safe On The Internet

 

                  It was my fifth grade year and I was currently attending Elementary school. My class had been in the library that day, working on the computers for an assignment. The teacher at the time said that after we had finished our assignment, we could all use the computers freely. Naturally, my friends and I all sat together on one row. Now having free time, we decided to look around at random websites. I’m not sure how, but we all ended up on this weird ghost website. The site had pictures, videos, and stories about ghosts. Being kids, we saw interest in what the website had. I mean, it wasn’t blocked or had anything inappropriate, plus we were curious to see what was on there. Nothing was too scary or eye-popping, we were just scrolling around through the pages out of boredom anyway.

                All of a sudden, one of my friends had told the rest of us to click on this one video that was in the video streaming area. “The one with the rocking chair,” they said. “Just watch it.” So, we all followed what they said and clicked on the video. My friend to the left scooted closer as we clicked play. It was just a video of a chair rocking back and forth. There wasn’t anything that scary or even paranormal about it. Anyone could rig a chair to do this. That’s when things got interesting. Let’s just say that I wasn’t ready for what came next.

                The video played on as the chair slowly rocked. My heartbeat was slow and calm, while my eyes were locked on the screen. Suddenly, there was a pop up. This incredibly frightening ghost woman runs to the screen and screeches. A huge rush of panic hit me as I squeaked loudly and threw my hands to my face. I hunched over in my chair, completely shocked and terrified at the sudden outburst that came from the video. As I hid my face in my hands, I could feel tears prick at my eyes. I blinked them away when I felt a hand be placed on my shoulder as the teacher and my friend tried to comfort me. “It’s okay, it’s not that bad after you look at it for a while. It stops being scary,” my friend on the left told me. I thought she was crazy. No way was I going to look back at the screen. Although, I reluctantly lifted my head at the teacher’s request. Avoiding the stare of the computer, I focused on my peers and other students in the library. People had their eyes focused on me due to the loud squeak and small scene I had caused. I could feel the adrenaline and anxiety course through me, causing my stomach to do a backflip.

                My face heated up out of embarrassment as I turned back to my friends and teacher. She told us to stay off of that site and get onto ones that we were familiar with for the remainder of the class. We nodded and closed out of said website. For the remainder of the day, I couldn’t look at my classmates. While they totally forgot about the incident and brushed it off, it was still a big deal to me. Out of embarrassment, I pretended to be reading a book all day to avoid people. From my friends’ coaxing, I stopped trying to hide my face from everyone. The embarrassed and anxious feeling wouldn’t leave me for the rest of the day. I guess you could say that my big mistake was scrolling around on websites that I was unfamiliar with. You should always be wary and cautious when it comes to the internet, especially as a kid. There are just some things on there that people don’t need to see.

Wednesday, September 24 - Endearing Quality

 

Do You Think You Are An Ambivert?

 

                 I personally feel like one of my better qualities is my openness to people. Although I may have a harder time communicating with people and conveying my feelings to them, I am a people person and love interacting with others. Even if I am just sitting there quietly with someone, I am content. Being an ambivert, I find it easy to be around people, even if our words are few. My introverted attitude around new people could possibly not show my more bubbly side, but I don’t think that’s too big of a problem. I love people and seeing other people’s perspectives, as well as listening to them talk. It’s always pleasant to talk to someone similar to you, but it’s more enlightening to hear someone’s view on things as well. It isn’t very easy for me to go out of my way to talk to people, but don’t worry, I’m more than ready to sit back and listen to what you have to say with an open ear and open mind.

                My openness doesn’t just apply to people, it also applies to my interests and hobbies. I like things from music and art, all the way to science and history. I could sit through a romance, horror, comedy, or action movie easily. My open and back and forth personality makes it easy for me to like a lot of different things. Philosophical or creative, science or fantasy, rock n’ roll to orchestral, my wide view stretches across to many different subjects, people, and activities.

Tuesday, September 23 - Strange Fruit

 

The Information I Used About Mangos

 

                The Gaumful, also known as the egg-bearing fruit, is a sweet type of fruit found in the south and south-eastern areas of Thailand. They are red with dark purple, curled, tassels on the exterior, and have a harder, waxier exterior. The interior is softer and is colored sunset orange. Now their appearance might be strange, the stranger part of this food is what’s found on the inside. If you carefully cut open one of these fruit, you can find a curved, white egg growing inside of them. Being a newly discovered food, it is unsure if animals, insects, or even the fruit themselves are responsible for this. We are unsure if this egg is edible or if it contains any sort of organism or seed inside of it.

                Despite the fact that these fruits grow eggs inside of them, they are still edible and quite sweet. After you extract the egg, you can use the shell of this fruit to fill it with practically anything. You might want to be careful with what you fill it with though. The insides have a type of nectar that coats the inner shell that gives the fruit its sweetness. According to natives of Thailand, mixing a spicy filling with the sweet shell is very popular and loved.

                There are no known relatives to it, but some research point to mangoes as a distant relative to them, due to very similar inside taste and consistency, as well as being grown and harvested around the same area. Thailand is known to be one of the top mango growers in the world, coming in third, just under the People’s Republic of China and India. Since the Gaumful fruit is similar to the mango and grown near them, it wouldn’t be a surprise if they started being harvested and sold world-wide along with the mangos.

                Gaumful fruits seem to not only survive, but thrive in Thailand’s hot, humid, and rainy climate. From this information, we can assume that the egg-bearing fruit could also survive in countries near the equator where rain and heat are present. Tropical southern islands might start importing and growing these fruits of their own when more are harvested and raised.

                Thailand is not currently exporting many of these fruits, but it is now widely eaten and sold to inhabitants in Thailand. Many are cut open and filled with many different flavored fillings, such as, spicy, sweet, salty, and other fruit flavored pastes. Since they are a hit in Thailand, they might become popular with the other people of the world.