My Brother by
Monica S
To my dearest brother, To those who knew you,
you were a shining star; a man who could accomplish anything he
wanted, a man whose main goal in life was to make others happy. If
there was a crowd, it was always you in the center with a funny
story or antic dote, always laughing like you had nowhere else to
be, no other care in the world and no pain at all. But those who
really knew you knew of some of the pain you felt. They knew that
behind that heart of gold and smiling face was a man who never truly
experienced happiness or peace within himself. You were a man who
took life hard and never got over the things that hurt you. A man
who defined “tears of a clown”, but it wasn’t just your pain you
carried; you took on everyone else’s pain as well, because that’s
who you were. You met a stranger in pain and suddenly you were in
pain with them. The love and compassion you had for your fellow man
knew no bounds, it is not understandable to the average person, but
then again you were far from average. You were able to accomplish
things that an “average” person wouldn’t have even tried to do. You
had the ability to make things happen around you. You always had an
open heart to anyone who needed it and it didn’t matter who, what,
when, where, or why. You gave the shirt off your back to someone
when it was requested of you, because that’s who you were - that’s
just the kind of soul you had. I wish you would have realized how
many people admired, cared, and loved you. Maybe just maybe if you
would have known it would have alleviated some of the pain you
carried. I hope that wherever you are - you are looking down at us
and you see all the people that thought the world of you, and that
you realize the mark you left on this world and I hope that it gives
you comfort. You are missed by so many and your memory will live in
our hearts forever. We will never forget you and we will always love
you. We miss you now and forever.
The Election: A
story written by Deirdre Peara
"Josephine?"
"What?" I said as I looked up from my algebra at Adri. She was
wearing mismatching converse, bright green suspenders and knee
length rainbow socks. It seemed as though her life mission was to
break dress code.
"You're voting for me right – for president?" she looked nervous as
she spoke.
"What? Of course I am! You're my best friend!"
"Great". She said sticking a 'vote for Adri' sticker on my forehead.
"Err…
thanks". I said unenthusiastically, pulling it off and placing it
over my green sweater, and onto my chest. "Can I read your speech?"
"Uhh.
Naw. I uh. I gotta go. The bells gonna ring and I haven't finished
my science homework. Ciao, Josie."
"Adri…
do you even have a speech prepared"? I asked cautiously.
"Well. I don't know! I kind of forgot… You know how I am with
reading in front of large crowds? Like the time at mass?"
How
could I forget. The image of Adri passing out when she was supposed
to read a scripture at mass suddenly popped into my head. "But, oh
Adri. What are you going to do! You have to give your speech next
hour?"
"I
dunno. I'll just… Talk to them. And pretend that I'm, like, speaking
to my brother or something". Adri said in a worried tone.
"So
you're saying you're going to yell at them like a mad person and
then lock them in a closet?"
"Shut
UP!" She swatted my arm, and there was a rather tense silence
between the two of us. Until – "You write it."
"W-what?"
"YOU
write it! You won that Merit Scholarship for writing that stupid
essay on God."
"You're acting like an idiot. I can't just write you a full length
speech to say in front of the entire school in 45 minutes!"
Sometimes she was just SO idiotic. There was no way that I was doing
this. No way. It was against all logic. She couldn't make me do it.
I refuse.
~*~
45
minutes later she was sitting in front of the entire student body
holding the speech I had written for her during Social Studies.
She
looked nervous.
And
pale.
And
on the urge of throwing up.
While
on her left, Katie Chamberlin was sitting looking as smug as ever,
and on her right, Maddie Barton looked as though she had mostly the
same symptoms as Adri. Except Maddie was so beautiful, that it was
probable that if she were to trip on the way to the podium and fall
flat on her face, that no one would even notice.
Mr.
Rutledge, the principal, walked to the front of the auditorium.
"Attention: students, teachers and parents. Welcome. I will not bore
you with a speech of my own, but let us put our listening ears on
for our candidates." Golly, he still treats us like fourth graders.
"Firstly: Madelyne Barton."
Though Maddie was beautiful, she was also incredibly stupid. She had
6 pieces of paper clamped to a clipboard, all of which had 36
sized-text on it.
"Hello everyone… Uhm yeah. In case you don't know me… I'm Maddie – I
mean. I'm Madelyne Barton." Hah. As if no one knows who you are.
"Yeah. So… If I'm elec… aleckt… elected, yeah. If I'm elected your
school presidence, I mean president, then I will work for the
students and with the students, meaning you guys. So… yeah. Thanks."
And
with that she walked and sat in her foldaway metal chair.
Mr.
Rutledge walked up again. "Hokay. Next speaker is… Kathleen
Chamberlin.
Before he had even finished stating her name, Katie was already up
on the podium. Except… why didn't she have a speech?
"Hey
children. I'm Katie. You all know that because Mr. Ratledge… I mean…
Mr. Rutledge just said my name. So anyways, if you elect me as your
president, the first change I will make is to get rid of that Beef
Vegetable Stew that we're served every Wednesday. No offense to Mrs.
Altehophen or anything, her lasagna's great… but seriously. Icky.
More like Beef Vegetable Puke, yeah?"
Someone in the audience cheered.
"Next
change to this pathetic attempt of a school. The uniforms. What is
up with them forcing us into these ugly green sweaters and navy
skirts everyday? How do we solve this problem? By rebelling and
wearing stupid accessories like suspenders to make yourself stand
out?" She shot a look of hatred at Adri. "No! If elected, I will
demand MORE non-uniform days and FEWER detentions for having your
shirt untucked, or your skirt too short."
The
teachers are too strict here! Why must they act like they're the
wardens and we're the prisoners out of our cells? Think about it,
and vote Katie Chamberlin for Student Body President of 2005-2006.
It's the only logical choice!
Everyone cheered like as she returned to her seat, and gave Adri a
deadly smirk.
Mr.
Rutledge walked back up to the front of the room. "Next up," He said
looking hard at the piece of paper on which Adri, Katie and Maddie
all had their names on. "Ah-dree-ah-na Var-chett-uh."
"Adriana Varchetta." Adri corrected with more courage then she had.
She walked slowly to the podium looking much like she did when she
passed out at church. When she finally got to her destination, she
stood there for several seconds looking as though she had forgotten
why she was standing in front of the entire student body with the
speech I had prepared for her clutched so tightly in her hand.
"GO
ADRI!" I shouted into the tense silence she had created. Many people
laughed while Mrs. Pollack shushed me. Adri seemed to remember why
she was there.
Okay.
Hello. My name is Adri Varchetta," she spoke nervously while staring
a hole into her paper, speaking slowly and in a monotone voice. "And
I am running to be your class president. I am not running for
popularity, for something to put on my college applications, or just
for the fun of it. I am running to make a difference.
Our
school is a family, and I think we should start acting like one,
instead of being so klee… klee-key… uhh…" Oh god. She couldn't read
my cursive. I wanted to shout at her that the word was 'cliquey,'
but I'd surely get a detention. She stared at me with wide eyes,
like a cat that had just heard a can opener. Then she cleared her
throat and spoke again. "Okay. I'm not going to read this." She
crumpled up my speech and threw it behind her, where it hit Katie
Chamberlin in the head. Many people laughed, which seemed to boost
Adri's confidence.
She
smiled and spoke again. "Alright. So guys… I really think that like…
like we need to stop pretending like we know who we are, already. We
don't know who we are, none of us do. We all have problems, we all
are going through a lot right now, and it's stressful. Well, that's
high school, guys. We're going to go through tons of weird,
depressing, and awkward stuff… and there's no way that we're going
to be able to stop that. There isn't a magic button.
Maddie and Katie were talking about how if they were elected they
would improve high school, we need to stop thinking about what we
can change about Alphonsus High, and what Alphonsus can change about
us.
"The
next couple of years are going to crucial, life changing and amazing
for us. All of us. These are the last years we get to act like kids
and get away with it! Because that's what we are, we're just kids!
Pretty soon we'll be going off to college, and none of us will get
to… go to school dances, stay up late talking on the phone to our
best friends in the whole wide world or go weeks without cleaning
our room."
"If
you elect me, I can't do much more… except be here for you. All of
you. If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here. Even if you
don't elect me, I'll be here for you. I know how challenging and
scary this can be for the freshman, and how pressuring and busy this
can be for the seniors." There was a long, ten second pause. Adri
seemed to have run out of ideas of what to say. And then she took a
deep breath, and said in a very serious tone. "Vote for Adri."
And they did.
A Poem by
Leah
I Said Goodbye
Dead, shot, killed.
Gone from my life forever.
I hold you in my arms and your blood rushes down to my soft white
hands.
Red, fluids of red, gashing everywhere from that one little bullet
hole.
Your choking, trying to talk, even breathe.
Gurgling blood spits out of your mouth splattering little dots on my
face.
You take one breathe, one last breath and you let your throat
muscles relax.
Your drumming heart beat gets softer and softer.
I kiss your red lips one last time as if I were a vampire.
Goodbye I say and you answer in silence
A Story by Shahar
It happened on the
second month of the big vacation between 9 grade and 10 grade.
I got a call when I was at friend's house. I came back home as fast
as I could and then I found that my father was injured. He worked in
the garden, as he does every free time he has. He sawed the tall
trees which surround our garden, with a disk-saw. My father stood on
a flat piece of wood, and when he lowered the saw it didn’t
completely stop spinning. When the saw touched the wood, it just
changed its direction to my father’s leg (a bit upon the foot).
After a long surgery, my father’s leg was put back in place.
I guess it is reasonable to say that if I could change one thing in
the life of a person close to me, it was that what I just told-
wasn’t occurred.
The situation now is that my father can’t do many things perfectly:
he can’t walk too long distances, cant run and more. Though he walks
without a problem, and it is even hard to distinguish between his
walking and other people walking, I and especially him would be
happier if that thing hadn’t happened!
I know no one but his body can make that change and make his leg
flawless, so I just can hope his body will cure itself successfully!
Poems by
Kristen Carpenter
Pain is hard to feel
If it's all you have
ever felt...
My friend told me everyone has a true love But is love true?
My Dad told me to think before I speak
Even when I do, he doesn't hear me!
Mom told me not to write anything I don't want read
But I need to be
heard...
These kids are so judgmental, and mentally violent
Ha Ha Ha Ha
They like to see me in
Pain, I don't.
You know one day I stared at the sun?!?!
Then looked down at the grass...
...I saw lights of colors
I thought, is this what it looks like when you die?!?!
I tried to kill myself once (very dumb)
But then thought of my friends and family...
... Hey Mom and Dad
I wasn't selfish this time!
I write poetry to keep me alive,
But I feel as if I am dead...
Pain is hard to feel
If it's all you ever felt...
Just not right
If the stars shown in the daylight
and the sun showed at midnight
Then obviously things wouldn't be right
If a rabbit went neigh
and a cat ate hay
then what would we have to say
If a stuffed animal talked
and we did not
then no one would have thought
If all Stories rhymed
and went by time
that wouldn't be fine
If the one you love
you cannot hug
look at hole, you just dug
If a point was trying to be made
and then went in vain
ha, it did, I am insane
Running thoughts
I am very tired, and
sick,
My mind rotted, and my soul shrunk,
my heart is black, my eyes are red,
I realized my clothes are either too tight or too loose,
I am too fat, and too
skinny,
My hair is too frizzy, or too flat,
my feet are too large,
Or too Small
My fingernails are too white, or too black
My Goth pants attract
attention I'm in love
My brain hurts, my knees are sensitive,
My jewelry is all silver,
gold sucks
Blogs let me talk about nothing
My space lets me reach friends
AIM and Yahoo are my best kind
My best friend is a whore
Maid of honors are whores
so I am a whore
I love my sisters
I like to sing
my weenie is peach, but hurts
I would kill someone for who I love
I would Love someone for killing me
I want money from Asia
Man kind sucks
I like monkeys better
we did not evolve from monkeys
God loves you
Jesus loves you
Somebody loves you
I love You
I love Timmy
I hate you
I can sing alto
Sopranos suck
My brain is dead
